As soon as Blake's words left his mouth, the cemetery fell into a pin-drop silence.
Everyone was stunned at his audacity.
Suddenly, the silence was cut short by a taunting scoff.
"Pfft!" A member of the expedition team couldn't help but laugh, and the laughter spread like wildfire in the cemetery.
Even the audience in the livestream could not hold in their laughter!
"Blake, please, stop joking around, okay? If you're jealous of Captain John's formation, just say it. There's no need to make up such nonsense just to make us laugh!"
"The formation intensified the Yin Qi? But where's the Yin Qi? Why can't I see it at all?"
"Captain John's probably so done with this kid."
The comments started flooding in wildly, ridiculing Blake yet again.
Everyone treated Blake like a clown; a naive boy who refused to admit his wrongdoings and helplessly clung onto his pride.
This guy was way too entertaining!
...
John Jones himself was also amused by Blake's hilarious actions!
Should this high school student be labeled as a coward, or was he just plain obstinate?
'Yin Qi?
'The weather was faring well, how would Yin Qi have formed?
'Okay, go on.
'I'd like to see how long your stubbornness will last.'
John Jones looked at Blake with a mocking smirk.
Then, he ignored him, and switched his focus back to the livestream instead. It was time to begin his real plan–money!
That's right.
The reason why he had abruptly fished out the twenty crosses was to take the opportunity to make an influx of money.
As for the formation...
In this day and age, formations were just a fluke! How could they even work?
Stop joking...
Thinking of this, Captain John faced the camera with a wide, perfect smile. "Alright, dear viewers, let's leave it to Blake to solve the Yin Qi problem.
"Let's return to our main topic, shall we? About this cross...
"I saw a comment asking me about the origin of this cross.
"In fact, a hundred-year-old man gave it to me when I went on an expedition to an ancient sacred organization in northern Europe in the past.
"He said that the cross was made by a mysterious Christian priest hundreds of years ago when the Black Death was raging in Europe during the Renaissance.
"At that time, everyone who wore the cross survived the fatal global pandemic.
"It has been more than 700 years, and this cross has been passed down ever since. More than twenty masters have cast their strongest spells on it.
"These spells have been constantly stacked on top of each other, and now, the cross is extremely powerful against evil power! As long as you wear them, you can protect yourself from the invasion of evil magic.
"Using more than twenty crosses to create a formation grants it the ability to exorcise evil spirits!"
John was passionate as he spoke.
Upon hearing about the origin of these twenty crosses, the viewers in the livestream immediately became excited; from just an ordinary cross, they were now priceless valuables!
"F*ck! I told you these crosses looked amazing. I didn't expect them to have such origins."
"A treasure all the way from the Renaissance period? Isn't this considered a cultural relic then? I thought I would be able to buy it somewhere..."
"I'm so jealous. It would be great if I could have such a cross. If it's from the Renaissance... looks like I can't afford it..."
"Guys, let's not all be discouraged. Maybe Captain John wants to sell this cross. Let me ask, Captain John, how much are you willing to sell the cross for?"
"That's right, Captain John. Name your price and make me give up on my hopes of ever getting it!"
"Captain John, we can't afford to buy the cross anymore, now that we know how precious it is. Can we at least buy a picture of it? One with your signature on it?"
Questions rolled in the comments section, with everyone curious about the price of the cross.
When John Jones saw this incoming excitement by the netizens and the flourishing interest for the cross, the corners of his mouth slowly turned upwards, knowing how close he was getting to his goal.
The fishes have taken the bait...
Then, putting on a conflicted expression, he wondered, "The price of the cross...?
"That's..."
It was as if he had been put into a difficult position as he frowned and sighed.
"The old man could tell I was fated with this cross back then, so he only gave me a total of 100 crosses.
"Not long after, I took out more than a dozen and gave them to my close friends.
"Also, a few have gone missing due to black magic.
"Now, there are fewer than 70 left.
"So, to be honest, these are actually pretty priceless goods...
"However, I do realize that everyone is very interested in this cross. Many people seem to really need it as well... so..."
As John Jones said this, he peeked at the livestream hesitantly and found that the comments section was in an uproar.
There was even someone who offered 30000 dollars to buy a cross.
Therefore, he quickly regained his composure and continued to lead the people on by appearing to be 'conflicted' with his decision of releasing the crosses for purchase.
"Alright, I'll bear the pain of losing my precious treasures. I'll tentatively fix the price of this cross at 50000 dollars a piece.
"Considering that these items span from 700 years ago, this price isn't really all that profitable. After buying it, some would casually sell it and earn another 20000 to 30000 dollars for themselves. However, I don't recommend doing that.
"I'm putting this kind of treasure up for sale only to ensure everyone's safety. Don't tarnish its honorable history.
"Of course, I definitely can't afford to sell all 70 of them, so I'll only be selling 30 of them.
"It'll be on a 'first come, first served' basis.
"After 30 pieces are sold off, I won't sell the others no matter how much money is offered to me."
Up to this point, John Jones was pretending to be troubled, and sighed. His face was filled with an expression that looked as if it was a difficult parting.
This caused the viewers in the livestream to go nuts.
A number of wealthy netizens threw out their prices, and the comments section slowly seemed like an auction bidding session.
"F*ck! It's only going for 50000 dollars? Say no more, Captain John. I'll take all 30 of them! I'll give you 1.5 million dollars!"
"Only selling 30 of them? Captain John, a little more! This isn't enough at all!"
"When are you going to start selling? I can't wait to start bidding!"
"Captain John, I'm willing to raise the price by 10000 dollars per piece. Can I reserve five pieces first?"
"You want to reserve five pieces just because you're going to raise the price by 10000 dollars per cross? Heh, I'm going to raise the price by 20000 dollars. Reserve 10 pieces for me, please!"
"Cut it out, I'm going to raise the price by 30000 dollars!"
...
All the loaded people in the livestream were hysterically putting out their prices and were desperate for John Jones to notice.
In the eyes of these people, a 700-year-old cross that had the ability to ward off evil spirits for 50000 dollars didn't cost much at all!
The exploration's livestream, which had originally been filled with a terrifying atmosphere, was completely changed at this moment, as if it had become a large-scale live broadcast room for auctioning goods.
Everyone seemed to forget about the fact that the livestream was taking place in a cemetery, and treated the expedition like a marketplace.
However, why would Captain John even care about that?
The buzz in the comments section and the amount of cash offered was all he wanted!
This exploration of the cemetery had certainly not been in vain!
After all, the crosses in his hands had only cost him a few hundred dollars.
If he could really sell each of them for 50000 dollars this time, he would make a fortune!
...
Captain John was preoccupied with daydreaming about the wealth that was soon to be his, while Blake appeared to be getting more distressed by the minute.
In his Yin-Yang eyes, he could clearly see that the position where John and the others were standing was now covered with layers of ghostly Qi that had stacked up to dozens of meters tall!
Not long after, the green ghostly Qi started overflowing around the area; some were condensed to form a huge eyeball and a huge skeleton hand…
This resulted in the formation of a huge, green, grotesque figure that stared down at the expedition members intimidatingly from above.
It slowly extended its hand out and swept across the twenty crosses that John had previously set up.
In an instant, the twenty crosses on the ground went up in green, ghostly flames.