As soon as the barbecue grill was placed on the shelves, a wave of excitement was immediately welcomed in the market.
What was worse was that… The seller marked a surprisingly high price of 100 liters of water. They also added a few words in the note: "Any interested buyer can search for the title of the post [BBQ rack 12138]."
When Chen Changan clicked into the post, he realized that there were 23 people who replied to the post.
His heart skipped a beat. 'This is an auction!'
As expected, the uploader 'Watanabe' pinned his new post on the forum. "My friends, I believe you all know about the shark meat skewers over the past two days. Every time you buy and sell them, the profit will be three or four times higher. Furthermore, the shark meat skewers are often charred; otherwise, the price can rise further. With my barbecue grill, the profit will only be greater."
Chen Changan's face flushed. Sometimes, he was too engrossed in the forum and forgot about the barbecue, which resulted in the meat being burnt.
The bidders weren't a group of ordinary people either. They began to complain about the barbecue grill.
"Your barbecue grill is damaged. If there's a hole and the fire falls on the raft… The rope on the raft is of poor quality. If it burns and the raft falls apart, won't it be over?"
"Yeah! Also, if you don't post detailed data, who knows what other problems it might have."
"The only way to make a huge profit is through exclusive business. If I buy a barbecue grill, can I get three or four times the profit?"
Watanabe immediately turned on the mute mode. If he didn't stop talking, he would become a broken recorder. "Ahem, there's a limit to the number of pages that can be displayed. Everyone should focus on the auction. The main items are drinking water, wood, and metal. The base price is five liters of water."
'This user lacks water!' Chen Changan's lips curled up slightly.
Compared to shark barbecue skewers, freshwater was his true exclusive business. There would always be a few percent of the non-members who failed to obtain a water source twice in a row. Every time Chen Changan sold freshwater, they would crazily bid for it, causing the price of freshwater to rise.
As Chen Changan continued to export distilled water, freshwater resources became hard currency in the trading market. It had the functions of value scale and means of payment. Even the wood and metal that Chen Changan needed became popular.
One liter of water could be exchanged for two liters of urine, 15kg of wood, 25kg of shark meat, or other heavy metals.
Watanabe lifted the ban, and the auction for the barbecue grill started.
"Five liters of water!"
"Six liters of water!"
"Six liters of water and five kilograms of wood!"
"Six liters of water and 15 kilograms of wood."
"F*ck, buy my a*s. Don't you guys want to drink water?"
After only a few minutes, the high price forced many people out of the bidding war. However, more people poured out of the trading market.
They were all 'exploitees' who had bought shark meat skewers and distilled water, but they couldn't resist Chen Changan. They could only hope that they would also become 'exploiters.'
The grill was their hope of becoming an exploiter.
"Seven liters of water; I want the grill!"
"Seven liters of water and five kilograms of firewood!"
The bidding started again, but Chen Changan still didn't make a bid. He was trying to determine which of the bidders was Watanabe's alternate account.
If Tuo was to make a bid, they would be used, and the price would rise.
Most importantly, Chen Changan couldn't expose his identity. Until now, he was the only one selling freshwater. He had sold nearly 100 liters of freshwater in total. Due to the high price, he was known as a water merchant.
The big fish that Watanabe wanted to catch was Chen Changan himself.
Only Chen Changan could offer a premium.
By buying the barbecue grill, he could continue to maintain the profits of monopolizing the business.
But was Chen Changan willing to do that?
After pondering for a long time, Chen Changan made his first bid. "Five liters of water, a round barrel, and a dagger."
The dagger was a weapon that Chen Changan had exchanged two liters of water for. He had to avoid bidding too much water in order to prevent his identity from being exposed.
"I'll offer nine liters of water. Just wait to eat my skewers in the future!"
Another new account statement.
Chen Changan himself had a bunch of alternate accounts, so he naturally wouldn't fall for it so easily. He was almost certain that the bidders after seven liters of water were all alternate accounts.
Chen Changan was different from the average person; he was a fake reviewer and had been in the game for a few years. He was very knowledgeable.
In a normal bidding process, raising the price quickly and scaring the bidders was the common strategy of the buyer.
However, this method was useless against 'Tuo.'
Chen Changan slowly typed: "Five liters of water, a round barrel, a dagger, and a pound of kelp."
This was Chen Changan's tactic. "He can be as strong as he wants, Breeze Wind Mountain!"
No matter what price Tuo offered, he couldn't follow him.
It had to be priced like gold!
The more Chen Changan was unwilling to part with the money, the more he hesitated. Only then could he act as a bidder who was forced to the end.
"This friend here, you must bid higher than the previous one before you can speak." As the owner of the grill, Watanabe spoke for the first time.
"Oh, sorry. I was wondering if I should keep following." After about 20 seconds, Chen Changan slowly typed: "Five liters of water, two round barrels, one kilogram of kelp, and a dagger."
Only a pound more kelp than 'Tuo.'
To normal bidders, this was a provocation. However, every increase in price meant a huge risk. This was because the true bidders might run out of money. Once they exceeded the bottom line of the true bidders, the item would fall into their hands.
Tuo hesitated a moment and then typed, "Nine liters of water plus ten pounds of wood."
Chen Changan sneered. "Since you want to catch a big fish like me, I'll let you know what it means by 'the Kun is so big that the fishing rod can't catch it.'"
He quickly said, "You have so much water in your hands. Don't tell me you're the small account that sells water to unscrupulous merchants?"
Counterattack!
Cheng Changan labeled Watanabe as a water merchant.
The surrounding bidders also joined in.
"Okay, I caught you. Hei~"
"B*stard, go and sell your water!"
"Pui!"
Watanabe was once again silenced, but he was in a difficult position this time. He clearly wanted to catch the big fish, the water merchant, but his alternate account was labeled as the water merchant. He typed bitterly with his main account: "Everyone, let's focus on the auction."
With the ban lifted, Chen Changan was in no hurry to speak.
Delay time! The purpose was to screw up Tuo's thoughts.
In the end, Chen Changan made another bid. He still insisted that he only had five liters of water; he couldn't expose that he was a scumbag who sold water. Hence, he typed: "Five liters of water, two round barrels, a pound of kelp, a dagger, and 15kg of shark meat."
For a long time, 'Tuo' said nothing.
Chen Changan won the bid.
It might not seem as heroic as a few million or tens of millions of Spirit Stones, but in the ocean doomsday, every single drop of water was enough to save a life.
"Transaction agreed!"
"Congratulations, you have obtained a damaged outdoor barbecue grill!"
A broken barbecue grill appeared on the raft.
Chen Changan checked the grill's attributes.
[Broken outdoor barbecue grill]
Quality: White
Durability: 35 / 100
Description: A barbecue grill made of alloy materials. A portion of the parts is old. Once the barbecue lasts too long, sparks might leak out of the grill.
Access: 20g of chili powder, 20 sticks of 13-fragrance
Evaluation: Be careful of fires at sea!
Chen Changan smiled. 'No wonder Watanabe wasn't willing to make money. He was afraid of fire.'
Although the raft's original wood was soaked in seawater and was unafraid of fire, once the sparks burned the ropes binding the original wood together, it would cause the raft to fall apart completely.
But Chen Changan was not worried about this.
He could barbecue on the ship! He would solve the problems that arise!