MTLNOVEL Chapter 320: Another Fragment
"The third auction item is this crown. Even we don't exactly know what it does, but its name is Crown of the Black Sea," Mr. Crow explained as he pointed toward the black crown, which held a crimson ruby at its center.
All eyes turned toward the crown. Its shape was majestic and intimidating, and what struck everyone even more was the aura it radiated.
It felt like some kind of divine aura—something beyond the comprehension of mortals, an aura that seemed to reflect the presence of the gods themselves.
Even so, many people considered it ridiculous, perhaps even a scam... How could a crown possibly have a divine aura?
Anything divine should be tied to demigods or even actual gods—beings who stood at the absolute pinnacle of existence. If this item were truly divine, surely the demigods would've acted to take it for themselves.
"These damn Bandits actually think they can fool us?"
"Maybe they don't even know themselves. In any case, there are many powerful people here. I doubt they'd dare attempt a scam."
"True. Still... even if the aura's fake, it looks way too real." The participants began murmuring among themselves.
Despite many of them seeing the crown as a joke or even a scam, there were still plenty who found themselves drawn to it.
And one of them was Daniel. Sitting in his VIP room, he was staring at the crown—and more precisely, the crimson ruby embedded in it—with awe and fascination.
"You like the crown? I wouldn't waste my time. That 'divine aura' is definitely fake. But I'll admit, whoever made it did an amazing job," said Serys as she noticed the look on his face.
But Daniel ignored her. His blood was boiling, and he felt an intense sense of familiarity and connection to that crimson ruby.
In fact, he already had a strong guess as to what the ruby actually was.
"The starting price for the crown is one million gold coins," the auctioneer announced, and the bids began to come in one by one.
"One million, five hundred thousand gold coins."
"One million, seven hundred thousand."
Although the price was rising, it wasn't explosive like before. The increase was slow and steady, and within just five minutes, the auction hall fell completely silent.
"If there are no further bids, this crown will be sold in three seconds for the price of two million and three hundred thousand gold coins," the auctioneer called out loudly.
He then began the countdown, but just as he was about to say the final number, another voice rang out.
"Three million gold coins."
Everyone turned, shocked, trying to see where the voice had come from—and quickly realized it was from one of the VIP rooms.
"Three million gold coins? Haha, excellent. Our thanks to one of our special participants," Mr. Crow laughed and continued,
"The Crown of the Black Sea is officially sold to the special guest, Lady Rabbit, for three million gold coins!"
"Three million? That's just throwing money into the trash."
"Why would anyone pay that much for a scam?"
"It's true what they say—some people have money but no brains."
The regular participants began mocking.
From their perspective, spending that much money on that crown was pure stupidity. The person who did it must've been a complete fool.
Meanwhile, in the VIP room, Serys sighed and glanced at Daniel.
"Why do you want that crown?" After all, she was the one who placed the three-million-gold bid on his behalf.
She was seriously confused. The crown, aside from its so-called divine aura, didn't seem special in any way—and it was obvious that the aura was probably fake too.
Still, she had gotten to know Daniel a bit, and she knew he wouldn't waste money on something worthless.
Could it be that he knew something the others didn't?
"It's nothing special. I just thought it looked beautiful," Daniel replied with a smile.
Serys only snorted. Did he (he) think she (she) was stupid?
At that moment, the communication talisman placed in the room by the auction house activated, and a voice came through.
"Thank you for your purchase. Would you like to make the payment and receive your item now, or wait until the end of the auction?"
Serys didn't respond and simply looked at Daniel. After all, this was his purchase.
"We'll pay now," Daniel nodded.
Suddenly, the communication talisman transformed into a small, swirling black hole.
"Please deposit three million gold coins."
Without hesitation, Daniel pulled three million gold coins from his inventory and poured them into the small black hole, which devoured everything.
During the second trial of the Tower, he had acquired a great fortune. While he still couldn't compare to the ultra-wealthy families or major factions, three million gold coins were nothing more than a joke to him now.
Once the payment was complete, a black crown with a crimson ruby at its center slowly rose out of the black hole.
"We hope you're satisfied with your purchase." The black hole then reverted to a talisman.
"Technology really has advanced," Serys muttered, watching the paper-like talisman turn into a black hole and then back again.
It was the first time she'd seen something like that, and she had to admit—it was a clever system.
But Daniel ignored her and picked up the crown, running his fingers lightly over the ruby. His blood began to boil even more intensely.
It wasn't just his blood. Even his heart was pounding in his chest.
He removed the ruby from the crown, stored the crown back in his inventory, and focused all his attention on the gem.
At that same moment, a system message appeared before him.
[Congratulations on obtaining an item of rank ?????]
[Name: Fragment of the Heart Of God (2/6)]
[Rank: ?????]
'So it really was what I thought,' Daniel smiled.
He had acquired the first fragment of the Heart Of God during the second trial, but due to time constraints, he hadn't had the chance to search for the others. Truthfully, he hadn't even known where to start.
But now, by sheer luck, he had found another one. Four fragments still remained.
He was eager to see what would happen once all six pieces were assembled. What exactly was the Heart Of God—and what could it do?
Meanwhile, the auction continued steadily. One item after another was brought forward. Some stirred excitement, others barely caught anyone's attention.
Still, every single item sold for over a million gold coins, generating immense profit for the auction organizers.
So far, nothing else had appeared that caught either Serys's or Daniel's interest—at least, not until the final item. The next one was the very weapon they had come here for.
But just before that weapon was brought out, another item appeared that managed to capture Daniel's attention once again.