You've Been Played
Five years of cooldown ended, and Li Aozi began continuously researching the secrets of this Omega Energy.
Even now, he still couldn't fully control Calamity. He could only roughly guide disasters into a relatively specific area. Moreover, Calamity was a typical "cannon against a mosquito" Omega Energy—the higher the precision, the more absurd the mana cost.
If it triggered a fire or a flood, Calamity barely consumed any energy. But if you tried specifying a direction for the fire or a certain scale for the flood, the mana cost skyrocketed to a ridiculous level.
Still, other than the echo effect of [Gravity], [Calamity] remained the only power that could achieve long-term, cross-spacetime influence over others. As a fate-type Omega Energy, its special effects were unparalleled.
[Maybe only after obtaining the genuine [Fate] Omega Energy can I truly figure out how [Calamity] works.]
While pondering this, Li Aozi continued using the Omega Energy to meddle with the auction.
Out of the 360 buyers, over 170 had already been affected by Calamity, quite a significant number.
For some, maybe they came across some upsetting news while scrolling on their phones, which ruined their strategy and influenced their bidding.
Others kept running into misfortunes—maybe their child's tantrum put them in a foul mood, and then a lover's coy demands dazzled them with romance, so to impress the beauty, they abandoned all cost concerns and overpaid.
These people were in fact rather innocent. They might not even know Li Aozi personally.
But this time, Li Aozi didn't plan to spare the Crystal Tower, regardless of who was innocent or not.
If you can't distinguish who's a hostage and who's a terrorist, the best approach is to eliminate all targets that won't cooperate.
As for #016, #190, #122—those three received particularly focused attention.
Because not only did Li Aozi curse them personally, he also remotely cursed the planets they'd bought at auction.
At first it was minor disasters like wildfires and lightning storms, then it escalated to earthquakes and tsunamis. With massive tremors rocking the lands, local races and civilizations were hit hard. That was followed by various man-made catastrophes.
If those three buyers weren't undercover shills, they were likely some shady deal-making academic clans behind the scenes.
Cursing such people caused Li Aozi no remorse.
"Anyway… the finale's coming up. Time we prepared our moves."
Nikita remained perplexed from start to finish. His initial plan was merely to help Li Aozi inflate prices on some planets that were strong on the outside but weak within, so those who'd inspect them later would regret it bitterly.
But Li Aozi went further, making practically all the auction buyers feel they'd been fleeced.
Including himself.
Influenced by Calamity, Li Aozi's colonial body malfunctioned seven or eight times. The worst was a myocardial infarction—had his body not been a colonial shell, everyone on White Candle Star would be attending his funeral right now.
"Most people probably have little money left at this point. Faced with White Candle Star—already no longer of real importance—they likely won't bother competing."
Li Aozi gradually withdrew Calamity's effect. Unfortunately, he wasn't a [Plunder]-type [Gambler] ascendant with the ability to see his own luck stat. Judging by the two times he choked on pizza, his luck was probably on the low side right now.
"Still have to be careful, because there are two participants who haven't done anything yet."
Nikita pulled up the data and pointed at the screen:
"#99 and #210."
"Indeed."
Li Aozi rubbed his chin:
"Ever since the auction started, those two haven't placed a single bid."
Having not bought any items, Li Aozi couldn't track them or use [Calamity] to make them lose a little money.
"Of course, maybe they don't care about the available planets and just came for the show—but since White Candle Star is the last big item, they might blow all their resources on it."
Nikita cautioned:
"You'd better stay on guard."
"Certainly." Li Aozi nodded. "I've been hiking prices the entire time. Maybe I've already caught a lot of hatred. White Candle Star is saved for last, so during the final bidding, my true aim will definitely be exposed."
"By then, people may swarm you." Nikita reminded.
"Relax, I've got it." Li Aozi said. "I'll be more careful next."
Another planet went on the block, and Li Aozi promptly joined:
"Fifty-six million, two hundred thousand!"
"Wait, didn't you say you'd be cautious? Why are you bidding again?"
Nikita was baffled.
"Just throwing a decoy."
Li Aozi had prepared to mortgage his assets; he had to get White Candle Star:
"Right now I have 120 million in cash plus 37 million in assets, for a total of 157 million Anjin. That's nearly double White Candle Star's starting price. Frankly, it's still a bit risky."
"I haven't officially notarized these assets, so the Crystal Tower officials have no clue. Naturally, those at the auction don't know, either."
"But everyone else has been bled dry by me."
Li Aozi crossed his legs, lips quirking upward.
"Since I'm already the public enemy, anyway…"
Hearing this, Nikita's eyes brightened:
"Ah, I see—you want to pick some planet early on, drawing everyone's fire and jacking the price, then deliberately 'take it hard' so they focus on that, reducing the siege against White Candle Star at the end!"
"Brother Nikita," Li Aozi said, "finding the right planet to serve as a 'decoy' shouldn't be too hard for you, right?"
"Hmph, you think I've roamed the universe for years just for sightseeing?"
Nikita flipped through the listings and quickly locked on a suitable candidate:
"This one!"
......
"Still can't figure out #077's motive?"
Naliya asked coldly.
Bidder #077 had jacked up prices 26 times already, yet their wealth really could handle it, so the auction staff turned a blind eye.
After all, the Planetary Resources Office was on a political mission. The more Anjin they extracted, the better it was for the Crystal Tower in its current predicament.
Naliya didn't care about such small money. However, her fiancé's weak attitude and incompetence left her profoundly disappointed.
While it's normal for a dragon to have hundreds of partners in a lifetime, one still wants them to be of high quality.
Naliya crossed her legs, placing one foot on her fiancé Antifa Molodiya's head, her thin heel lightly piercing his scalp, blood trickling through his hair and staining his purple-blue cheeks.
"They—they're investigating… He might not be a simple buyer, maybe he's an official shill—"
Antifa lay on the floor, struggling to operate the auction and use data analysis to find key info.
But nothing he tried could unravel the other side's purpose.
"Could it… be an AI account planted by the government?"
"Then you'd be the first workshop heir to get scammed out of 236.2 million by an AI, my dear Mr. Molodiya."
Naliya spoke bluntly, her golden dragon eyes showing no hint of help.
"He's obviously not a bot. Figure it out, or you can pay that 236.2 million yourself."
As a citizen of a genuine Narrative-level civilization, Naliya lacked for nothing material. She merely strove to fulfill her grand narrative's mission, continually carrying out that narrative's will.
Part of that involved guiding other civilizations to adopt the 「United Group」 viewpoint, so they'd join in furthering that narrative together.
「United Group」 can tolerate ugliness, stupidity, apathy, criminals, and madmen—but it cannot abide losses or unprofitable mediocrity.
Naliya's job was helping others fulfill that narrative. Only by turning Antifa Molodiya into a consummate capitalist good at generating profit could she achieve her life goals, thus meeting her duty as a citizen of the narrative.
Even Wendy Destis, watching this brutal scene, was horrified.
"Uh, Young Master Antifa,"
For the sake of preserving her sanity, Wendy couldn't help reminding him:
"He keeps throwing around decoys. I suspect he's merely demonstrating his real purpose. Maybe we'll see what it is soon."
"—Yes! Exactly!"
Antifa, nearly driven insane by one calamity after another, seemed suddenly clear-headed. He steadied himself and stared at #077's bids:
"Official intel says he has at most 120 million. Which means he won't aim for anything above that. Moreover, he's been wasting money raising prices, so if he overextends, people will definitely gang up on him later."
"So eventually he'll reveal his hand. There are 12 items left. His target must be around that 120 million range."
"That leaves only three viable ones: Polis Star, Rainbow Shadow Star, and White Candle Star."
Their listed prices are 99 million, 110 million, and 80 million, respectively. Anything above 100 million is unlikely to get a big markup. At first glance, the cheapest, White Candle Star, might be his goal.
No!
Antifa suddenly recalled:
Though he wasn't there at the time, White Candle Star got wrecked by Remaining Moon, then purged by the [Mechanical Society]. According to internal info, over these past few years, it's been undergoing educational resource transfers—it doesn't have that much value left.
Maybe 30 million, tops.
#077's constant price-raising can't be for that planet.
"It's Polis Star!"
Antifa exclaimed:
"Polis Star has 30 million inhabitants who can be developed into Zeta-tier quality troops. Down the road, the Crystal Tower will need to recruit. Give it five years, they might be trained into capable mercenaries. By then, they'd recover the cost from the Crystal Tower and gain goodwill."
"Without a doubt, #077's target is Polis Star!"