Chapter 59: Auction

Ninja Novice Village,

The impending auction tugs at the heartstrings of all players, especially the major factions, all of whom are determined to secure the Resource Map and Family Token.

Everyone understands the significance of the Family Token.

Three Family Tokens mean that three major factions will stand out and become true factions recognized by the game rules.

Although it is clear,

These three Family Tokens are just the beginning; given the nature of the game merchant, it is highly likely that new Family Tokens will continue to appear later on.

However, the significance of the first batch is ultimately different.

Just like the Mist Alliance that achieved the first kill of the Ghost General, although the losses were heavy and they almost bankrupted Kirigakure through microtransactions.

But the harvest was equally immense, allowing them to firmly establish a foothold in the game and recruit countless solo players, remaining the largest faction in the game to this day.

First place.

Always possesses immense appeal and influence.

This is also the reason why Fang Yi chose to auction the first three Family Tokens instead of setting a fixed price directly.

Just at this tense moment,

An event occurred that shocked all players.

"The leader of the Merchant Alliance has been killed in the real world!"

"I heard that a faction was wary of the Merchant Alliance's financial power and directly assassinated the merchant leader in reality while they were playing the game."

"Now the Merchant Alliance is in disarray, all fighting for the position of leader, each harboring their own ulterior motives; I'm afraid they have no heart for the Family Token auction. This move is truly vicious."

A player shook their head repeatedly and said: "They can only blame themselves. Although they are merchant players, their combat power is definitely no weaker than a Jonin if they can reach the position of leader. They wouldn't have died if they had made even a little bit of a scene; who told them not to even buy a protective shield."

A protective shield can protect the safety of a player's real body while they are in the game.

The price is not expensive; it is unexpected that the dignified leader of the Merchant Alliance was unwilling to spend Reward Points to purchase one. Their death is not unjust.

This incident caused the number of players purchasing protective shields to increase sharply.

No one can guarantee they won't be ambushed. If it were a matter of being outskilled, that would be one thing, but if one were to be inexplicably assassinated while logged into the game just to save on rewards, they would regret it to their very core.

"The Merchant Alliance was supposed to be the faction with the best chance of auctioning the Family Token; it's such a pity."

There is no merchant who is not treacherous.

Through buying low and selling high, this group of merchants, who originally held lowly statuses in the real world, huddled together for warmth and ultimately possessed financial power no weaker than the Five Great Ninja Countries.

After all, merchant players are not skilled in combat; various equipment and items pass through their hands and are then sold off. While maneuvering back and forth, their strength hasn't improved much, but their wallets have constantly bulged.

"Although the remaining Mist Alliance is vast, they have hunted powerful Pollution Sources one after another, so their financial power is likely the weakest."

"I am more optimistic about the Rock Troops. Although they don't have many players, they are all elites from Iwagakure. They might go all out for the Family Token this time!"

"Have you all forgotten the newly emerged Organization, Dawn? The financial power possessed by that woman who claims to be a noble from the Land of Rain is simply a mystery. By the way, is the Land of Rain really that rich in reality?"

This auction has nothing to do with most players.

They all know this is a contest between major factions, and some players have even privately opened betting pools to gamble on who will end up with the Family Token.

The one with the highest support among them is actually Konohagakure. Players all feel that Konoha, which has been silent for a long time, must be well-stocked with provisions right now, and who knows, they might be planning something big.

【Auction Begins】

A circular hammer icon appeared at the bottom of every player's panel; touching it allows entry into the auction house.

In an instant,

All players could see the items for auction and the information of the bidders.

At this moment,

The people of the Mist Alliance were all gathered together.

Terumi Mei's brows were tightly furrowed. Just as the players guessed, Kirigakure truly could not come up with much money.

However, they possessed a large amount of low-level equipment, so while the Merchant Alliance relaxed their vigilance, they dispatched one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to kill the leader of the Merchant Alliance in reality.

This caused the Merchant Alliance to be leaderless, and they began to scramble for the assets left behind after the leader's death, having no time to participate in the competition for the Family Token.

They took the opportunity to sell all their low-level equipment to the merchants at low prices, gathering a large amount of funds.

It would be a huge loss if they couldn't snatch a Family Token.

"Mizukage-sama, the funds are in place."

"Good, no matter what, we must secure the Family Token!"

The other Ninja Villages also showed their unique skills, trying every means to scrape together funds, waiting to rush in as soon as the auction started.

【First Item (Si Hun Sen Lin 【East】) 30-Day Lease】: Starting bid 5000 Reward Points.

The large screen scrolled slowly, revealing the first item.

The players' breathing grew heavier; they all understood the value of this item.

Si Hun Sen Lin is a massive forest complex covering the entire Death Soul Mountain Range, consisting of four areas: East, West, South, and North, possessing a large amount of Death Soul Wood, Ghost Soil, and other resources.

Before the Ghost Mage was hunted, large areas were occupied by the Ghost Legion.

If players wanted to gather resources, they had to risk attacks from the Ghost Legion. A moment of carelessness would mean returning to the city, and it would take half a day to run back again.

But now,

The game merchant has actually planned out a central area. After leasing it, players can build a Defense Wall to block the ghosts from entering the leased area, and all ghost aura within the leased area will be dispelled, making it impossible for ghosts to condense.

This means that a large area of the ghost forest will become a Safe Zone, which can be mined at will by whoever wins the auction.

【Huangtu: 8000 Reward Points】

【Sunagakure Elder: 10,000 Reward Points】

【Light of Mist: 12,000 Reward Points】

The auction price was quickly driven up.

Terumi Mei clenched her fists and said: "Chojuro, gather the Reward Points of all the Mist ninja, and promise them that the Ninja Village will provide compensation afterward."

Although the lease is only for 30 days,

everyone can see clearly that a full 30 days of independent mining rights is enough to obtain a massive amount of Reward Points from the resources mined, and then use those Reward Points to firmly occupy this gold mine.

It looks like a 30-day lease, but in reality, if nothing unexpected happens, it is a permanent mining right.

"Yes."

Chojuro nodded with a serious expression and quickly began contacting the players of Mist Village.

In the end, Terumi Mei obtained the lease for the Si Hun Sen Lin (East) at a price that pained her greatly.

【Light of Mist has obtained the 30-day lease for (Si Hun Sen Lin 【East】) for 120,000 Reward Points, congratulations!】

Black text appeared before the eyes of all players.

"Mist is truly wealthy and imposing; I heard they are still training Life Players, yet they still have spare money to auction for a Resource Map."

"The sea is full of treasures, unlike Sunagakure, which is so poor their underwear has holes in it—go ahead and be jealous!"

"Bastard, how dare you mock our Sunagakure! If you have the guts, give me your address; I will kill you!"

"I still favor Konoha; they are definitely brewing something big!"

Amidst the discussions of all the players, the subsequent auction items were gradually unveiled.

The remaining parts of the Si Hun Sen Lin were divided up by Cloud and Rock, while Sunagakure narrowly managed to auction off the smallest area of the Si Hun Sen Lin for 90,000 Reward Points.

Originally, there was another bidder with the nickname 【Land of Waves Tycoon】, who was wealthy and imposing, but he was warned by Sunagakure and, at the cost of a death threat to wash the Land of Waves in blood, he was forced to give up the auction.

(End of this chapter)