Even goblins are dangerous in this other world!

Page 140

The woman in the white dress began to introduce:

"As you all know, the Flood Lizard is a powerful mid-level monster around Rauwanpu. A first-tier Flood Lizard can be comparable to a second-tier low-level monster in terms of combat power."

"Furthermore, the Water Lizard grows extremely fast, reaching the third tier in about ten years. Due to the water lizard's subcutaneous air sacs, many scholars have recently discovered that the water lizard has the potential to become an underwater mount. The egg you see here was also obtained by a fourth-tier being from Rauwanpu by chance."

After the woman in the white dress finished speaking, Luo Xiu used [Scrutiny] to observe the emotional state of everyone present.

It was found that most people were in a negative emotional state, either bored or disappointed.

Lillian and Lilina on the left and right sides were no exception; Lillian, who had a more carefree personality, even yawned.

Luo Xiu was somewhat puzzled, since the egg sounded quite good.

Lillian, who was standing next to him, noticed him looking around and said:

"Hey, you're not interested in this stuff, are you? Are you an alchemist?"

"Is this egg only usable by alchemists?"

Luo Xiu asked questions when he didn't understand.

"What else can we do? She said so much, but did she say anything about whether the egg can be domesticated after it hatches?"

Lillian reached out and wrapped her hand around her ponytail, a disdainful expression on her face as if she had already seen through it all:

"A monster is a monster. Even if it hatches from an egg and is raised from a young age, it can never be tamed. Its only use is to conduct experiments on monsters and study their growth process, body structure, and so on."

"What scholars say about the potential of something to become a mount is all nonsense. Those scholars are always saying that this has new potential and that has new potential, but none of them have actually achieved it."

"I thought there would be some good stuff at this auction, but the opening items are of this caliber. I should have come back four days later."

Lillian looked very unhappy.

Luo Xiu, however, truly learned something.

Indeed, the auctioneer's tactics of highlighting strengths and downplaying weaknesses left this auction novice somewhat confused.

There is currently no way to tame the monster, but the auctioneer keeps talking about how powerful the egg will be after it hatches, which makes him vaguely feel that the monster that hatches from the egg may be tamable.

But then he remembered the third-tier demon bat in the arena. It could obey the female person in charge of the arena, so perhaps the method of taming it had been found, but had not yet been announced.

Soon, it was time to fill in the price.

Luo Xiu picked up the card, thought for a moment, and wrote down a string of numbers on it.

Lillian, who was standing nearby, was restless and secretly peeked over to look at Luo Xiu's card.

"Lillian!"

Lilina spoke up to stop her.

But Luo Xiu didn't care much. He was just filling it out for fun. If he were really interested, given his rank, he wouldn't let Lillian see it.

Wow! You filled in 88! Where did you come from, you nouveau riche?!

Lillian's eyes widened.

"Lillian!"

Lilina spoke again, her expression now showing some anger.

Seeing her cousin's expression, Lillian obediently shut up.

“Mr. Shoep, although Lillian was a bit rude, the price you quoted is indeed too high. I estimate this egg is worth at most 3 gold coins. If you want to get it, 4 gold coins should be no problem.”

Lilina whispered to Luo Xiu.

Luo Xiu shook his head:

"It's okay, I didn't enter 88 gold coins."

Hearing this, Lilina felt relieved, thinking that Lillian must have misread it.

But Lillian, standing to the side, was somewhat unconvinced. She could see it clearly; it was obviously 88.

That guy in the cloak must be incredibly vain.

After a while, staff from the Chamber of Commerce came and took away the signs from everyone's hands.

Lillian looked toward the auction stage, waiting for the person on stage to announce the final auction winner and the bid price.

To demonstrate to everyone that there are no behind-the-scenes deals in the arena, the price of each item is announced after the auction so that everyone can make a comparison.

The auctioneer picked up a scroll that someone had given him and opened it.

Lillian stared intently, her expression inexplicably tense.

She still had a childlike mentality and wanted to prove that Luo Xiu had lied and that she hadn't said anything wrong.

"The final winner of the first item was..."

The woman in white drew out her words, trying to heighten the crowd's anticipation:

"Congratulations to No. 34 for winning the bid at 5 gold coins!"

Lillian looked at Luo Xiu in disbelief. She had just clearly seen Luo Xiu write "88"!

Luo Xiu felt the intense gaze directed at him from the side, but remained calm and composed.

He did write 88, but it was 88 silver coins.

It's a pity I couldn't take a picture.

The following lots were of a slightly higher quality than the first, but they were not particularly amazing.

The atmosphere on the field plummeted as a result, and some people even got up and left.

Perhaps this auction wasn't a major one, which is why Botha entrusted it to his nephew as practice.

"Gentlemen!"

After a staff member approached the woman in the white dress and whispered a few words in her ear, she suddenly raised her voice.

"Due to certain special reasons, it has been decided to add a major item as the last item in this auction. Therefore, the items that were originally scheduled to be auctioned last will be auctioned earlier."

As she spoke, an item covered with a red cloth was brought to the woman in the white dress.

The woman in the white dress slowly lifted the red cloth, revealing an antique wooden box underneath.

The woman in the white dress reached out her fair hand and opened the wooden box.

With a "click," the lid of the wooden box popped open, revealing a fist-sized piece of jet-black metal lying quietly on the red silk.

The metal was irregularly shaped, with sharp edges and corners, but when light fell on it, it seemed to absorb most of it, leaving only a faint sense of darkness.

The appearance of metal instantly lifted the previously somber mood, and many people sat up straight on the sofa, showing great interest in the metal.

"As you can see, this is a piece of dark gold! It was originally intended to be the penultimate item in this auction, but it will now be auctioned ahead of schedule."

"I'm sure you're all very familiar with the name 'Dark Gold,' but please allow me to give a brief introduction. Dark Gold is the hardest metal ever discovered in the kingdom, making it a rare and precious material for both forging and alchemy. In addition to its hardness, it also possesses extremely high dark attribute, which is very effective against some light attribute skills and items."

"Dark gold is extremely rare; one might not encounter a piece even after many years. This particular piece is a treasured possession of one of our esteemed members, originally intended to support this auction. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, it has been moved up for auction. If any of you are interested in dark gold or wish to collect it, please do not miss this opportunity."

After the woman in the white dress finished her introduction, some conversations gradually began to fill the auction room. Some people started discussing with their companions about bidding for the item. Although it was a silent auction, it was just a change in the bidding method; normal conversation was still possible.

Luo Xiu looked at the piece of black metal, his eyes flickering slightly.

This time, there was no need for the woman in the white dress to provide a detailed introduction, as Dark Gold was described in great detail in several books he had read.

This is indeed a very high-grade material; if converted to ranks, it should be at least level five.

However, the dark gold color has some drawbacks, which the woman in the white dress did not mention.

Firstly, because dark gold is too hard, whether it is used for forging or alchemy, it requires a high level of skill from the operator, generally at least level five.

That's why the woman in the white dress specifically mentioned at the end that it was mainly for collection.

Secondly, there are too few pieces of this dark gold. If a fist-sized piece of dark gold is used for forging, it can only be combined with other metals, which raises the issue of whether several metals can be blended, further increasing the difficulty of forging.

Furthermore, its inherent dark attribute is too high, making it extremely unstable when used in alchemy, requiring the neutralization of multiple materials of the same level.

For all these reasons, dark gold is actually much less valuable and cheaper than materials of the same level.

But for some reason, Luo Xiu wanted to buy this piece of dark gold.

Just like the woman in the white dress said, dark gold is something you can only come across by chance.

Moreover, it is an excellent material for alchemy.

"Miss Lilina."

Luo Xiu spoke to Lilina on his right.

Lilina was taken aback; she hadn't expected Luo Xiu to initiate a conversation with her. Then, somewhat delighted, she spoke:

"Mr. Shoeb, what's wrong?"

"Could you please do me a favor?"

Luo Xiu spoke:

"I'm quite interested in this dark gold piece. I wonder if you know anything about its price? If so, could you tell me what price I could reliably buy it for? In exchange, please let me know if you have any needs, and I'll see if there's anything I can help you with."

Upon hearing Luo Xiu's words, Lilina quickly waved her hand and said:

"It's alright, Mr. Shoep. It's nothing difficult, just a small favor. I received news before I came that this piece of dark gold is among the items up for auction. The analyst I consulted at home estimates its actual value at around 90 gold coins. If you want to be sure you can buy it, it's generally safer to go for 50% more than that."

Luo Xiu nodded upon hearing this:

"Thank you, Miss Lilina. If you need any help later, you can go to the Knights and mention Schup's name; they should be able to find me."

Luo Xiu decided that from now on, the two identities would have a clear division of labor: he would be called "Shupu" in the Knights and "White" when he was out in the world.

As for Master Tata's student... the name he told his teacher was his original name, Luo Xiu.

He picked up a blank card, activated the "Scrutiny" function to scan the crowd, thought for a moment, and then wrote down a number below it.

This time, Lillian stayed quietly to the side. She wanted to watch, but Lilina was watching her closely.

She had just tricked her own cousin today, and knowing she was in the wrong, she didn't dare to do anything rash.

Soon, someone came and took the card away.

After all the cards were tallied, the woman in the white dress received the results.

She slowly unrolled the paper in her hand, and her pupils contracted as she looked at the result.

Everyone on the sofa noticed the change in the woman in the white dress's expression and couldn't help but speculate.