"Ye Yin," Zhang Menglong said, "I've always wanted to ask you a question."
"Mr. Zhang, are you wondering how strong my power is?" Ye Yin replied with a smile.
"Yes," Zhang Menglong answered.
"Well, those eight superhumans from America, killing them is as easy as killing chickens for me."
"That's so Versailles," Zhang Menglong thought, his guess was similar, but he was still astonished when he heard it.
"By the way, Ye Yin, if I were to take that Fighting Spirit Pill, would I also instantly become awesome?"
"That won't do," Ye Yin said, "Your body right now is just that of an ordinary person, and it can't withstand such a powerful drug effect. Moreover, this kind of elixir is just an aid. To develop your body's potential, you should use a step-by-step approach."
"Gou Dan, what does step-by-step approach mean?" Zhang Menglong asked, suddenly realizing something—although Ye Yin could read his mind, it seemed she couldn't detect Gou Dan's presence.
"That's a lot," Gou Dan said, "In the ancient martial arts system, internal cultivation methods are the foundation. In a fantasy world, cultivation techniques are the foundation. In the system of supernatural abilities, enhancing one's abilities is the foundation. You can unlock 'cred points' from a teacher and directly copy their cultivation techniques with cred points, of course, given your potentially infinitely strong abilities."
"It all comes down to cred points," Zhang Menglong figured, according to the rules set by his dad, if he didn't have enough cred points, Super God Academy would be useless, "But the more I hear about it, the more it sounds like I need to start cultivating."
"Of course, you can also learn directly from the teachers. In their classes, what you learn is not just those skills," Gou Dan reminded.
"I just don't know how many cred points acting cool can get me," Zhang Menglong thought with regret. In these past few months, he had acted cool no less than 80 to 100 times. If those could be converted to cred points, it would surely be a considerable number, right?
"If only I had kept a low profile back then!" Zhang Menglong sighed. In the past three months, he had acted as cool as he possibly could, now truly experiencing the moment of need when there was no coolness left to act.
"10.2 billion Euros!"
The numbers were skyrocketing, almost every country's representative was filled with fervor and determination towards that one Fighting Spirit Pill.
"Damn, are these people out of their minds?" Wang Ling had never seen such a crazy auction before. How could something sell for over ten billion Euros? Was scamming money really that easy these days?
"Do you think they are all fools?" Zhang Menglong spoke to Wang Ling.
"No, you don't believe in this stuff, do you?" Wang Ling found it absolutely unbelievable.
"Forget it, you wouldn't understand," Zhang Menglong sighed, "sooner or later, you'll find out."
"Crazy! These people are all crazy!"
"A damn pill has been bid up to 50 billion, how can these people have so much money?"
Indeed, under this fiercely competitive battle, the price of the Fighting Spirit Pill had surpassed 50 billion Euros, an almost inconceivable figure for everyone present. One must know, on the Forbes list, people worth over 50 billion US dollars can be counted on one hand, and that's including the value of their stocks.
To suddenly encounter more than a dozen people who could shell out 50 billion Euros in cash was ludicrous.
But even for many countries, 50 billion Euros was a significant amount. Finally, when the price soared to 60 billion Euros, the first person gave up.
Then the second, then the third, even for a country, their finances were straining under such a vast sum of money.
"Damn it, who would have thought they'd be so well prepared!"
"No worries, even if they end up with the item now, it's still unknown who will be able to take it out of Europe!"
"Hmph! Let them be happy for a little while!"
"In the end, only the representatives of Huaxia and America remained in the competition."
Had Zhang Menglong been in VIP Room no. 3, he would certainly recognize the middle-aged man sitting before the glass. It was none other than Lei Jun, the founder of the Xiaomi smartphone brand. Although also an entrepreneur, compared with people like Ma Yun, Lei Jun had established a brand of his own for Huaxia and was the person who had done the most charity work, which was why he was chosen to represent the country this time.
The man standing behind him appeared to be in his thirties or forties. He simply stood there quietly behind Lei Jun, but an oppressive aura that made hearts palpitate emanated from him.
"Who would have thought that the competition would be so fierce this time," the middle-aged man said with some gravity.
"74 billion Euros!" Sweat covered Lei Jun's forehead. The nation had only prepared a fund of 80 billion Euros, and he was nearly at his limit.
On the other side, America's representative was also not finding it easy. Even though their GDP was considerably higher than Huaxia's, and they had a vast land with a sparse population that made their per capita GDP significantly higher, the amount they invested in scientific research and military funding every year was tremendous.
Especially in recent years, huge amounts of funds had been put into the research of superhumans—to continually enhance these superhumans through biotechnology and make them stronger—spending money like water. They were not as wealthy as outsiders might imagine.
"80 billion!" Lei Jun shouted out his final bottom-line number.
"81 billion!" Unexpectedly, Lei Jun continued to bid higher.
"Mr. Lei!" The middle-aged man looked surprised; they only brought 80 billion Euros!
"I will cover this part myself!" Lei Jun gritted his teeth, "Although I don't know why Mr. Luo wants to buy that pill, since it's something the country needs, it must be very important. Consider this a modest contribution to my country!"
"Mr. Lei, on behalf of Huaxia, I thank you," the middle-aged man said gravely.
"82 billion!" However, America's representative shattered their hopes. Lei Jun had only brought a total of 1.2 billion Euros, and now he was honestly out of options.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Luo, this is all I can do," Lei Jun sighed.
"Don't worry, Mr. Lei," the middle-aged man said, "Even if the Americans win the bidding for this elixir, it won't be easy for them to take it back with them!"
"You mean..." Lei Jun's eyes widened, realizing that this auction was just a prelude to a larger scheme.
"When the auction ends, you should leave here quickly. Go from the east side and don't double back!" The middle-aged man's gaze hardened.
If the item were in their own hands, he was very confident he could leave safely with the Fighting Spirit Pill because all he had to do was run. Once near Huaxia's border, there would be people to meet him.
But if he had to take advantage of the chaos to snatch it, there would be much more uncertainty and danger—besides, they must get the Fighting Spirit Pill from their hands before they reached the Americas.
"100 billion Euros!" Just then, a sudden voice rang out through the venue, and everyone's gaze turned toward Zhang Menglong's room.
"It's that Huaxia man again!" Mars from America showed an expression of grinding his teeth in frustration.
The American representative had only prepared 95 billion Euros, plus 2 billion Euros brought by the Mars family. They were still quite short of 100 billion Euros.
And who knew if Zhang Menglong only had 100 billion Euros?
"Where on Earth is he getting so much money from?" The American mutant slammed a fist into the wall, punching right through it. Just when they were close to success, this Huaxia man suddenly came in to stir up trouble.
"Mr. Zhang, to be honest, this object won't be of much use to you. I hope you won't continue to compete, give us some face. Should you come to America in the future, we will certainly treat you with the utmost hospitality befitting a distinguished guest," the blonde mutant said, taking the initiative to speak into the microphone.
"I know that, indeed, this thing won't be very useful to me."
"Then you…." The mutant's eyes turned red with anger, knowing it's pointless, then why spend money on it at all!
"But," Zhang Menglong said with a maddeningly nonchalant tone, "I just don't want you guys to get it. Who let you snatch the Imperial Jade Seal from Huaxia earlier? That made me very upset!"