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Chapter 637: Return

For those in positions of power, the er of the alien invaders was of no ile-et their hands on enough vital crystals At least for now, the exuviue everyone would have access to Fortaboo in their pursuit to join that lucky group They were desperate to extend their lives at any cost Eventually humanity would puzzle out a way to achieve the sa enough to see the technology succeed

Every politician’s iination was on fire with the possibility of eternal life How could they not scramble at the chance?

Word of the auction had spread quickly, and everyone’s attention was on the East Clearly, this meant the data they had on these aliens was true If it were not, how could they have so many crystals?

“Chairman Zhou, ould be very happy to participate in your nation’s auction However, ill need to exao, to verify the quality of its contents” A patriarch frouan

The Chairman responded with a ss to rest before the auction begins Take heart, you will have an opportunity to verify the cargo”

“Thank you very uan was surrounded by representatives from the North’s financial and political elite He had patiently answered every one of their questions, including the origin of the crystals However, there was ever an air of secrecy about him

On the second day, the rules of the auction were announced It sent the Northern dignitaries into an uproar

Money would not be an accepted forhout the auction That was not uncooods In those cases it was e However, the East had taken things to a new extreme This time, the chosen method of payment would be measured in war ships

Yes, war ships

More specifically, every tiher on an item the minimum increased bid would be a standard scout ship fully equipped for duty Ten scout ships equaled the value of a standard battleship; ten battleships added to an expedition ship; ten expedition ships equaled a dreadnought Ten dreadnoughts were equivalent to a Capital Ship

To add insult to injury, the East also offered a buyout option; all one hundred crystals, for one top-of-the-line Bastion When the auctioneers saw that, they had to fight their first instinct to just walk away

The worth of these war ships to any nation was clear This was especially true with the threat of alien invasion on the horizon Certainly the East was leveraging their surplus crystals to shore up their strength It put everyone else in a very difficult position Trading in ships was very different fro war assets

But the East had theovernanization with the er life Even though they were all from the North, there were too many people with too much money, too desperate to let their chances be dictated by others

With all of the drama, no one paid any mind when a small scout shipped slipped virtually unseen into the Skyfire public airship terroup walked out

Walking at the head of the group was Lan Jue, who’d changed into a smart blue suit He disembarked hand in hand with Zhou Qianlin The Epochrion, Wine Master, Pauper, Driver, Zeus’ five Amazons, and the Accountant followed in a quiet procession Naturally, Jue Di and Luo Xianni were the last to quite the ship