Chapter 116: Chapter116-Barry's Painful Experience
Seeing Barry's predicament, John couldn't help but chuckle.
He casually summoned a black flame to melt the ice at Barry's feet, allowing him to move again.
Barry looked at John with a mixture of confusion and disappointment. "Master John, why did this happen?"
"This level of monster has developed intelligence. Even though you've signed a contract, you can force the frost fox to do certain things, but physical contact isn't one of them. Moreover, the most important thing is that this frost fox is male."
"What? Male? But... it's so beautiful. How could it be male?"
"Beauty is a trait of the species, unrelated to gender. In the end, restricting the species to fox-type monsters was already quite difficult, Barry. The quality of the sacrifices you provided was inconsistent; this was the best I could do."
There was one thing John thought but didn't say aloud.
Damn it, if you like furry animals, wouldn't it be better to keep a cat or dog?
I put in so much effort to summon a monster, not to satisfy your strange fetishes!
However, considering the conveniences Barry provided, John quickly let it go.
"But Barry, if you want to get close to it, try to build a good relationship with it. Right now, it's been suddenly summoned and forcibly contracted as your monster. Anyone would have a hard time accepting such an experience.
So, if Barry can make the frost fox like you, your peculiar habits probably won't be rejected."
"Me? Build a good relationship with it?"
Barry was taken aback, instinctively glancing at the frost fox.
The frost fox also looked back at Barry.
Facing those azure blue eyes, Barry pulled a mournful face and lamented, "Master John, what should I do?"
"It's simple, just cater to its preferences. Barry, this is a gradual process, and isn't this what you chose? If you just wanted a strong monster as a henchman, we wouldn't need to go through all this trouble, right?
So, cheer up! I believe you will succeed!"
Hearing this, Barry opened his mouth, his lips twitching, but he couldn't argue. He could only nod with a bitter smile.
"Since Barry is satisfied, this monster can serve as a down payment. Over the next few days, I will bid on the items I've marked. As for the payment, I'll leave that to you, Barry. Is that okay?"
"No, no problem, but Master John! Please, don't bid too aggressively, alright?"
"Don't worry, Barry, I'll be reasonable."
...
"75 million! Damn it, trying to outbid me? You've got guts! Come on! If you dare bid again, I'll make sure you go bankrupt!"
The next day at noon, in the auction house, inside VIP Box 2!
Qing, with his voice resonating, shouted into the microphone, his tone commanding.
After witnessing John's auctioning prowess yesterday, Qing got excited and insisted on participating in today's auction on John's behalf.
Since they had already reviewed the list, and John was only interested in the ten marked items, he decided to let Qing handle it.
As it turned out, John overlooked one thing: Qing had little concept of money.
To Qing, as long as someone else was footing the bill, he didn't need to worry about whether the price was reasonable.
He just wanted to have fun.
So, after just four rounds of bidding, Qing successfully raised the price of an item from a starting bid of 15 million to 75 million, a fivefold increase!
To be honest, it was really impressive!
Especially when they heard Qing's bid, the players who had originally wanted to compete instantly quieted down.
Who could compete with such a wealthy patron?
But sitting backstage, watching the auction process, Barry felt like his heart was bleeding!
By his estimation, the value of this item was at most around 30 million.
Bidding up to about 30 million would have scared off any other competitors.
But Qing casually raised the bid by 50 million in one go.
While Qing might be thrilled, Barry was in agony.
Every single piece of gold was his hard-earned money!
And this wasn't the first time.
For the previous item, Qing also paid about 20 million more than Barry had anticipated, claiming ownership in a very grand manner.
At this rate, the expenditure could exceed his expected budget by 40% or more. He couldn't let Qing continue this reckless behavior!
With this in mind, Barry immediately halted the auction and canceled Qing's bid.
He rushed to VIP Box 2 where Qing was.
"Damn it, what's going on? Why is the auction paused? Is my last bid not counted?"
Inside the box, watching the host trying to calm everyone down, Qing frowned and muttered, "Pausing is one thing, but why cancel my bid?"
"That's because, Master Qing, your bid was unreasonable."
At that moment, the door opened, and Barry entered with a sigh, walking over to Qing with a look of helplessness. "Master Qing, your bid... it doesn't follow the rules!"
"Rules? What rules? You tell me, isn't the rule of the auction that the highest bid wins?"
"Yes, that's true."
"Then there you go! I made a bid they couldn't match and bought the item. What's the problem?"
"You're not wrong, but... your bids are really unreasonable! Who raises the bid by 50 million in one go? That item isn't even worth 50 million!"
"Don't worry about it. I can bid whatever I want. It's my money, and you just need to pay. Why do you care so much? What? Are you planning to back out?"
Qing shrugged, clearly not taking Barry's warnings to heart.
Now, it was Barry's turn to have a headache.
If John were here, he could reason with him and appeal to his emotions, getting John to restrain himself a bit.
But Qing? With his build and demeanor, he was clearly not the reasonable type. Barry was even afraid that if he said something wrong, Qing might beat him up!
It was Barry's oversight. When he agreed to John's terms, he forgot to mention that John had to participate in the auction himself.
"I'm not trying to back out, Master Qing. You misunderstood. How about this: since you're here for the auction, let me bid on your behalf? As long as we get the items Master John wants, isn't that enough? We can try to spend less money wherever possible."
"Ugh, you're so stingy. You said you'd pay, and now you're worried about how much I'm spending? Fine, fine, this auction is no fun anyway. The more I bid, the more annoyed I get. Just handle the bidding yourself."
Qing's enthusiasm was almost entirely spoiled.
He decided to let Barry take over.
Since he couldn't enjoy himself, there was no point in participating.
As long as they could bring the items back, nothing else mattered.
Seeing Qing finally compromise, Barry sighed in relief and had the host resume the auction.
As for the item, the bidding started over, and thanks to Barry's keen business sense, he secured it for only 27 million, saving 48 million compared to Qing's original bid.
Meanwhile, Qing, taking advantage of Barry's distraction with the auction, had already left and gone to the Adventurers Guild to drink.
"Next up is the last item. The remaining items in today's auction are of no use to Mr. John. After this item, Master Qing, please come to the back. I have a few bottles of fine wine I'd like to share with you..."
Barry wiped his brow and turned around to invite Qing, but seeing the empty box, he was stunned.
"Where... where is he?"
How could such a big person just disappear?
"Did he leave because he was unhappy with my attitude? This is bad, very bad. If this angers Master John... Peggy, stop the auction! Today's auction is over. I need to leave immediately!"