NOVPUBTaking his gaze away, Grease Dome once again raised his hand: "Three million StellarCoins."
This time, Grease Dome raised the price by one million StellarCoins at once.
He provocatively looked at Daniel after naming his price.
This was his final bid.
If Daniel continued to raise the price, then abandoning his faithful follower Grease Dome and going to pester Daniel instead seemed like a good choice.
Daniel didn’t understand what was happening to Grease Dome’s body.
All he knew was that the current price was high enough, so there was no need to continue raising the bid.
After giving Grease Dome a ’be my guest’ gesture, he gave up on raising the price any further.
Daniel was only bidding to drain Grease Dome’s funds, and three million StellarCoins was more than enough.
On the side, Hols, who was selling the ’Great Old Ones Carving’, waited a moment before announcing, "Congratulations, you’ve won the ’Great Old Ones Carving’."
According to the schedule of ’Wild Treasure Hunt’, anything dug up belongs to the person who found it. Grease Dome taking the ’Great Old Ones Carving’ into his possession meant that he now fully owned it.
After Hols and Grease Dome completed their transaction, Hols came over to Daniel: "Thank you."
Many people wouldn’t want something as eerie as the ’Great Old Ones Carving’, and without Daniel’s help, he would not have fetched such a high price.
Daniel shook his head, "I was just trying to weaken the competition."
Daniel and Hols chatted casually as they watched the second round of digging in the treasure pit.
Like the first round, only one treasure was unearthed.
As the digging continued, the color of the soil in the treasure pit began to change, from yellow to a mixture of yellow and red.
The change in soil color indicated a shift in its composition, suggesting more items might be unearthed.
Daniel knew this, as did Hols, and so did the other treasure hunters.
As the host, Gwen also knew: "Unfortunately, only one treasure was found in the second round, but the good news is that the soil layer has changed."
"This means the probability of finding treasure in the third round will be higher. The real opportunity for everyone to make a fortune is coming. Keep it up, contestants!"
As she spoke, Gwen moved closer to the digging site. She was curious about the new soil layer.
The first shovel of the third round naturally started with Peter. Because of the soil layer change, the expectations of the ’Wild Treasure Hunt’ staff and the treasure hunters for this new soil layer were sky high.
Some who were close to the front watched intently, while others in the back craned their necks to see into the pit.
Quickly, Peter’s first shovel was dug out. Immediately, a keen-eyed treasure hunter saw a shiny object: "There’s something! The new soil layer is indeed more likely to yield treasures!"
Peter was also excited, and quickly squatted down to unearth the object. As he revealed it, there was a collective gasp from the crowd.
"Eh…"
The shiny object wasn’t a treasure from Atlantis, but a broken beer bottle.
This left Peter speechless.
He looked at the custodian sent by the government of Mauritania: "Your country has a long way to go in terms of environmental management."
The custodian was speechless, and embarrassingly scratched his face, "Sorry for the embarrassment."
The first shovel in the new soil layer turned out to be a blooper.
But this didn’t stop the treasures from being found one after another.
The fifth shovel revealed a heart-shaped metal decoration.
The thirteenth shovel unearthed an amber, within which was an unidentified insect.
One after another, discoveries were made in the treasure pit.
However, the value wasn’t that high.
Most of them were a few hundred years old, artifacts left behind by the residents of Mauritania, valued between forty thousand and two hundred thousand StellarCoins.
These treasures would be considered decent finds in a shipping container.
But in the ruins of Atlantis, they weren’t anything to write home about.
As a result, the enthusiasm of the ’Wild Treasure Hunt’ crew and the treasure hunters for the new soil layer had waned significantly.
At the edge of the treasure pit, Gwen turned to Daniel, "Next up, let’s invite our contestant, Daniel, to dig."
Daniel nodded at Gwen and took the shovel prepared by the crew, digging directly into the soil.
He threw the soil from the shovel aside, and surprisingly, two treasures rolled out.
One was a cubic centimeter of metal block, and the other was a snow globe with a mermaid princess inside.
[Item]: Mermaid Princess’ Crystal Ball
[Age]: 1.8 billion years ago
[Condition]: Pristine
[Details]: A music box from the Atlantis civilization, used by the mermaid tribe to aid sleep. It has calming and restorative effects.
[Appraisal]: A good piece of art with practical functions, it is recommended for collection.
[Market Price]: 30,000,000
[Buyback Price]: 23,000,000
Could it be that this snow globe isn’t a modern product?
Just a sleep-aiding music box valued at thirty million StellarCoins?
That’s crazy!
Daniel was surprised, then shifted his gaze to the metal block.
A cubic centimeter of metal.
It had an easily visible size, yet it didn’t take up much space.
This was the preferred size for metal collectors.
It was said that the richest person in the world had a complete set of metal elements from the periodic table, each of them a cubic centimeter in size.
[Item]: Nano Alloy Armor
[Age]: 1.8 billion years ago
[Condition]: Pristine
[Details]: Soldier armor from the Atlantis civilization. After cracking the code, it can turn into nano alloy armor strong enough to withstand a missile.
[Appraisal]: An impressive piece of defense, recommended for purchase.
[Market Price]: 1,000,000,000
[Buyback Price]: 910,000,000
The first thing Daniel noticed was the price, a whopping one billion StellarCoins! Only then did he read the description of the treasure.
Its defensive capabilities were so amazing, that it was indeed something to consider.
But...
The caveat here is that you need to crack the code.
It’s like having a safe without the keys and password, then being told there’s something in this ’safe’ that could rock the world.
This feeling of being so close yet so far was practically driving Daniel mad.
Just as Daniel was at a loss, the system’s voice timely rang out, "Host urgently requires knowledge of Atlantis civilization language!"
It went on, "To master the Atlantis civilization language, you need 10,000 exchange points. Would you like to exchange?"
Daniel rolled his eyes, his mouth twitching.
He hadn’t even started deciphering the Oracle Bone inscriptions and Mayan language, and now there was the Atlantis language to decode.
He had racked up a ’debt’ of thirty thousand points without actually doing anything.
Shaking his head, Daniel decided to put these things aside for now.
He couldn’t use this nano alloy armor for the time being, but with one shovel’s worth of digging, he didn’t have to worry about being eliminated on the first day.
At the edge of the treasure pit, a surprised voice exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, Daniel has just dug up two treasures with one shovel!"
The other treasure hunters crowded around, their faces filled with envy.
Grease Dome’s eyes were almost popping out of his head, gritting his teeth as if he wished to replace Daniel.
Hols, his monocle falling from his eye without him noticing, asked Daniel enviously, "Dan, can I buy one from you?"
Taylor laughed aloud at his side, "Hols, I haven’t seen you lose your composure like this in a long time."
...
In the RGB Bar of Golden Shores city, Hilton lifted his glass, looking at the pale yellow liquor inside.
Behind him lay a man, battered and bloody.
After downing the liquor, Hilton rose gracefully and looked at the bloody man, saying, "Sago, if you had given up resistance and handed over that deed to my son, he wouldn’t have had a conflict with that kid, Daniel."
"So, you see," he continued, "my son’s death is all on you."
As he spoke, Hilton’s foot landed on Sago’s fingers.
He stomped hard, crushing Sago’s fingers to a pulp.
Blood flowed out, spreading on the ground.
At this point, Sago was so weak he couldn’t even cry out, his eyes full of despair.
He no longer wished to continue living.
All he wanted was for Hilton to end his misery quickly.
Behind Hilton, one of his henchmen took a phone call.
After a few nods, he walked up to Hilton, "The ’Wild Treasure Hunt’ has started filming. Our inside man is in position. We’re just waiting for Daniel to slip up, and then we’ll take him down."
Hilton nodded, "Listen, I don’t want him to survive this week."
The henchman nodded, "Understood. I’ll have them expedite."
Hilton frowned, turning to look at him, "Expedite?"
The henchman flinched, lowering his gaze, "I’m sorry, sir. I’ll ensure they complete the mission!"
