Chapter 48 - Only Money Talks (2)

"The bandit village was the main headquarters of the bandits. It is geographically placed in front of the mountain path connecting the eastern region of the Pangu Continent to the capital. Each and every merchant caravan would be rich. Just think about how much money they had the longer the bandits lived there," Lance whispered, Mei's breath accelerating as she could only imagine how many demon spirit coins he had and multiplied it.

"You cheated us! You could have bought those priceless magical treasures with that amount of money. No wonder you chose to keep all the money in exchange for no magical treasures. You thieving snake!" Mei hissed, the servant in the V.I.P. Box standing far away at the door and unable to hear them.

"No matter where you go, two things talk in our world. They are money and power. Money in terms of currency and power in terms of cultivation or the mage equivalent. With money, you become the loan shark who rules all but has to buy people to protect your investments. With power, you can take what you want but fall to the level of banditry as you lack the money to buy what you want. With money and power, you are the king. You do not have to take what you want and have the power to protect what you have," Lance grinned. "Me? I prefer to be a king rather than a loan shark or a bandit. You? You have the power but lack the money. You are a bandit in the making."

"That is a rather vain way to view things," Mei commented.

"That's life," Lance said as he sipped some cider while Item Numbers 8 to 10 were sold off. "Why do you think the children of noble clans are arrogant assholes? It is because their clans have the money to buy cultivation resources and the elders and patriarchs to provide the power to protect them. It's that simple; it’s vain," Lance shrugged.

"Now, Item Number 7 is a book from the southern continent. It is a continent of mages and magic. Thus, this book contains multiple spells and a cultivation method that allows even a practitioner to become a mage," the curator began, silencing the audience. "It also contains practitioner techniques as well. It is called the Necromonicon, the book of necromancers. Written by a late Earth Mortal who delved into the mystic of magic. It also comes with mysterious black chains that the necromancer uses to refine souls and control the unbreakable chains. The starting bid is 30 million demon spirit coins."

"Take this," Lance said to the servant, taking the storage ring of the servant and transferring 300 million demon spirit coins into it, ensuring a total bid of 400 million.

"50 million!" a man cried.

"70 million!" another said.

"100 million," the crown prince above said, silencing them all as none dared to antagonize him.

"Hmph. A pervert prince silences your tongues? 150 million," Lance smirked, causing others to look at him in shock.

"Who the hell are you to bid against me? 160 million," the crown prince, unable to see Lance below, said.

"And so a bitch barks. How annoying. 170 million," Lance replied.

"Who are you calling a bitch?" the crown prince shouted.

"What does a dog say?" Lance asked.

"Woof?" the crown prince frowned.

"And so you're my bitch. You barked, and your cultivation is weaker than a slave. How do I know? My slave is a female of the Meteor Vessel Stage, and you barked when I commanded. If you're not a bitch, how is your cultivation weaker than a slave whose status is even less? Too funny," Lance chuckled. "The crown prince barks when I ask. Truly like a female dog barking at its master. You must have bought the Libido Statue because your dick was too small. Not that I measure my own; I'm not that desperate. Still, it seems you're not much of a man."

The people below could not stifle their laughs as the prince shook with anger, saying, "You dare mess with me? 180 million! You better silence that mouth or I will have my men rip out your tongue!"

"181 million," Lance smiled. "Are you trying to start a fight? Here? Of course, you can't start a fight here. How will His Imperial Majesty feel after discovering you wasted so much money buying a Libido Statue? The second-highest bid was 4,500, but you bid too high. I mean, I'm rich and all, but you bid 100,000 against 4,500. Isn't that like being a gold digger who sold her body to a big pocket? You gave my slave quite the shock, right slave?"

"Yes, master," Mei said. She didn't care anymore as it was the crown prince. Seeing the prince so lustful, perverted, and wasteful; she would have disowned such a boy if she were his mother. She had no qualms about Lance's plan to kill the man to let Shen Dong ascend the throne.

"Then I bid 200 million! Let's see who goes any higher than that!" the crown prince roared but was stopped by a royal guard.

"Your Highness, the emperor said you can only bid higher than 200 million on the main item being auctioned. You cannot pay for it," the guard said.

The crown prince grit his teeth and bid, "200 million. Beat that!"

Lance laughed maniacally and said as he held a single demon spirit coin in his hand, "200 million raised one lone demon spirit coin."

"This fucking bastard!" the crown prince roared, stopping as he attempted to go over the rail and attack Lance below.

"And so, the second target will come," Lance whispered as he sat in his chair, rubbing his hands with glee. "We're done with this continent and will return as our true identities in the future. No one will know it was us. HAHAHA!"

"We're going to kill him openly?" Mei asked.

"You want to save the innocence of beautiful women everywhere? Gut the jerk and stomp his head into a meat patty," Lance laughed.

"What about the guards?" Mei asked.

"What about them? If I threaten to poison the whole city, how could they stop us? They have a prestige to uphold and ambassadors of foreign nations to protect in the capital or risk war," Lance said as the curator looked around.

"Are there no other bids? Sold to the young man of V.I.P. Box 7 for 200 million and 1 demon spirit coin," the curator said, people stifling laughs at the absurdity while many hated the perverted prince and wondered why the hell the emperor made him crown prince. Eldest didn't mean greatest, and this pervert was an insult to eldest children everywhere.

"A magical bracelet, profit of a hundred million, a book of the dead, and a broken great sword," Lance noted as he had his glass of apple cider refilled. "Only six items left. Should be fun."

"We already made enemies of two V.I.P. groups," Mei sighed. "We'll make them all our enemies at this rate. Well, the palace cannot interfere as they have other priorities. I better slip away while I can."

"Mei," Lance said, disrupting her thoughts as she leaned her ear towards him. "Leave this place and exit your disguise. Meet me by the caravans. They should have left by noon. Catch up to them and travel with them. I'll catch up after I settle my affairs. I got one man to rob and another to behead. I might have to kill their companions and run from the guards. You're not me. You'll die. What I have done is not evil. They threatened me and will attack me first. Their death is necessary to win all future battles."

"You could have done all this with as little bloodshed as possible. You could have assassinated them," Mei sighed.

"And spoil the fun? We need chaos in the capital. The crown prince needs to die publicly. The emperor will be forced to attend due to the damage to imperial reputation caused by the pervert prince and attempt to bring another child into the spotlight so people forget his shame," Lance said.

"He'll recall Shen Dong to the capital to do some public task that the people will approve of," Mei realized.

"The crown prince is dead, Shen Dong and all the other children have their status raised, and those children will fight over who would lead the next faction to fight against the second prince. The emperor benefits from the infighting as rival factions would keep their powers in check. In the end, the crown prince is just another name forgotten by history," Lance smiled. "Just because an action is taken in public, does not mean the consequences are immediately known. Many things happen in the shadows when we least expect it. The way to win, while among this den of vipers, is to control what happens. If you want something done, make the first move and create all the changes on the battlefield. Then, their lives are yours for the taking. Mei, you know me. I never lose. Never. In the end, I always win, and my enemies are the ones who bleed. Go now, before they decide to have people stalk us."

"Yup. Negative progress. The sadistic narcissist is back again," Mei thought as she bowed and left the V.I.P. Box.