Chapter 256: Who Is the Master of This Corpse?

Everyone knew the auction was being held on the fifth floor. Forgetting all about the food, the crowd rushed toward the fifth floor in a single wave, eager to see the spectacle for themselves.

However, Moira Lynch had anticipated this and set an entry requirement on the fifth floor. To get inside, one had to have their assets verified.

Of course, to satisfy the crowd’s curiosity, Moira Lynch had thoughtfully arranged a live broadcast using the item she had previously acquired from the Crimson Dominion.

The representatives from Cathaya were Timothy Murphy and Chase Shepard.

The two of them had been to this so-called "VIP room" twice before to trade for Awakening Potions.

When they had visited before, it looked nowhere near as grand and upscale as it did now.

What was once a limited space now resembled a massive plaza, its edges stretching beyond sight.

Even with so many people trickling in, the area still felt vast and empty.

Inside this enormous space stood rows of square, white display stands, each holding one of the items up for auction.

In front of each stand was a detailed description and a field for entering a bid.

Chase Shepard couldn’t help but marvel at the sight. "How on earth did SoySauceDrunkard manage to pull something like this off?"

Moira Lynch heard every word he said and thought, ’Of course, it’s because I’m working with the system.’

’That wretched system. We’re supposed to be partners, but it still charged me a full ten thousand Gold Coins.’

Timothy Murphy looked around and whispered, "Good thing we have a clear objective. Otherwise, with so many items, it would take ages just to look through them all."

Besides, the items weren’t placed close together; there was a considerable distance between each display.

Just running back and forth constantly would be enough to exhaust anyone.

Fortunately, both Timothy Murphy and Chase Shepard were accustomed to high-intensity training. On top of that, they were players, so this level of physical exertion was nothing to them.

Soon, however, they discovered that in addition to the planetary mineral veins, there were some other items as well.

[Bone Marrow Cleansing Fruit: Removes impurities from the body upon consumption. 10,000 Gold Coins each (20/100)]

People ate all kinds of food, so it was inevitable for impurities and even toxins to build up in their bodies. This Bone Marrow Cleansing Fruit could actually wash them away.

Wasn’t this the kind of thing that only existed in novels?

But considering all the things SoySauceDrunkard had done in the past, the two of them found that the appearance of a Bone Marrow Cleansing Fruit here wasn’t so hard to accept after all.

The numbers below must have meant that there were originally one hundred, but now only twenty remained.

Still, wasn’t a price of ten thousand Gold Coins a bit steep? Besides, they had other uses for the money they had on hand.

And the effect of this Bone Marrow Cleansing Fruit seemed similar to the Bone Marrow Cleansing Potion from the shop. ’Could the potion be extracted from this fruit?’

It was just that the supply of Bone Marrow Cleansing Potions was far too limited; only one or two vials would appear once in a while.

What’s more, as the variety of medicines in the shop grew, the appearance rate of the Bone Marrow Cleansing Potion had noticeably declined.

But there was nothing to be done about it. After all, the stock was completely random, and even Moira Lynch herself had no control over it.

The total number of items had now increased from one thousand to two thousand, but the vast majority were still common medicines. Rare ones like the Bone Marrow Cleansing Potion didn’t restock very frequently.

Deciding to give it a try, Chase Shepard prepared to buy one and test its effects.

’If it’s effective,’ he thought, ’I’ll have Timothy Murphy see if he can negotiate a bulk deal with SoySauceDrunkard.’

However, before his finger could even touch the purchase button, the quantity of Bone Marrow Cleansing Fruits dropped to zero, and the display stand in front of him vanished.

In the few seconds Chase Shepard had hesitated, the Bone Marrow Cleansing Fruits were all gone.

Although frustrated, Chase Shepard now understood the importance of speed. From now on, he wouldn’t hesitate and would act decisively the moment he saw something he wanted.

Timothy Murphy and Chase Shepard had split up.

Since his objective had been clearly defined beforehand, Timothy would walk up to a display, see it wasn’t what he was looking for, and immediately turn away without wasting a second. He was the very picture of single-minded focus.

After weaving through countless display stands, his efforts finally paid off. He found it.

Below it was just a single, very simple line of description.

[Star Iron: A hard yet extremely lightweight ore.]

Seeing this, Timothy Murphy’s lips twitched.

Before the auction began, Timothy Murphy had sent a message to SoySauceDrunkard, asking if she could do him a favor.

He had only been trying his luck, but to his surprise, she had actually agreed—on a few conditions. They had to guarantee the surrounding environment wouldn’t be damaged during their mining operations, do their best to restore the area afterward, and monitor the mining activities of other countries.

Clearly, SoySauceDrunkard didn’t quite trust the other nations, especially Voryan.

Timothy Murphy had readily agreed, which led to the current situation.

The other mineral veins all had lengthy descriptions, while only a select few had just a single, vague sentence.

As a result, everyone else subconsciously assumed the ore from such veins was useless and focused their attention elsewhere.

At that very moment, countless people were watching the unprecedented auction, either from in front of their TVs or inside the "Don’t Miss It" shop.

Watching the attendees scurry back and forth across the enormous auction floor was inexplicably comical.

"This SoySauceDrunkard must be doing this on purpose. Did she make the venue this huge just to run everyone to death?"

Meanwhile, the topic of their discussion, Moira Lynch, was deathly pale and fighting a wave of nausea.

The Body Refining Worms had been roaming inside her for a while now. Their work was complete, and it was time for them to come out.

However, no matter how many times Moira Lynch tried, she couldn’t manage to vomit them out.

She could feel the Body Refining Worms right at the back of her throat, but they simply wouldn’t come out.

The feeling was not only agonizing but also carried the revolting sensation of swallowing down your own vomit.

"Why did it have to be today of all days?"

Moira Lynch lay on her bed, utterly devoid of hope.

Suddenly, Moira Lynch shot up in bed. ’I can’t go on like this.’

With that, she walked into the bathroom and began jamming her fingers down her throat over the sink, looking as if she were trying to swallow her entire hand and arm.

She was going to show those Body Refining Worms just who the real master of this body was.

After a bout of violent gagging and dry heaving, all the Body Refining Worms were finally out.

Moira Lynch worked her jaw, feeling like it had been stretched wide open from jamming her hand down her throat.

’That’s not so bad,’ she thought. ’Now I can stuff in a couple more bites when I eat.’