The bid of twenty thousand didn't scare the others away.
Instead, it sparked a more excited bidding war.
"Twenty-one thousand!"
"Twenty-two thousand!"
"Twenty-five thousand!"
"..."
"Thirty thousand!"
"Damn it, I'm going all out, I bid fifty thousand!"
A brief clash drove the price to a new high.
Fifty thousand StellarCoins was a price that had exceeded eighty percent of the past container prices.
Upon reaching this price, many people became noticeably more cautious.
The Abel brothers just watched quietly, no longer bidding.
Then, Daniel suddenly bid, "One hundred thousand!"
Everyone froze at the same time.
They turned their heads to look at Daniel, their faces turning strange.
Among the numerous treasure hunters present, if you asked who was the wealthiest, it was undoubtedly Daniel.
Everyone knew that he earned fifty million StellarCoins on his first time participating in the auction.
If he was determined to bid, nobody could beat him.
Many people had already chosen to give up in their hearts.
Allen whispered a reminder, "Mr. Roberts, even if this container does contain stolen goods..."
"There's no guarantee of how much those items are worth. What if they're just average-quality collectibles? They wouldn't be worth one hundred thousand StellarCoins."
Daniel nodded, "I know."
Of course, he knew.
The system had given the value of the goods in the container.
Whether it was stolen goods or not, the value of 2.8 million StellarCoins couldn't be changed.
Seeing the price had only reached one hundred thousand, Robert looked a bit dissatisfied.
After all, in his view, with the bait he had thrown out, it was enough to ignite these gamblers' betting fervor.
The bidding should have gone far beyond this.
So, he declared loudly, "Rumor has it that the personal museum of that rich man from Country E even has an authentic Edvard Munch masterpiece 'The Scream' from the 19th century. It's just unknown which container the robbers have put it in."
Robert's words sparked a light of astonishment in everyone's eyes.
'The Scream'!
A world-famous masterpiece!
The last transaction was over twenty years ago, with a staggering auction price of 119 million!
That was a priceless treasure in the hundreds of millions!
Unexpectedly, there could be such a top-notch item among the loot.
In an instant, everyone was stirred up.
"I bid one hundred and ten thousand!"
"One hundred and twenty thousand!"
"One hundred and fifty thousand!"
"Two hundred thousand!"
"Screw it, I can't take this anymore, I bid three hundred thousand!"
"I bid... eight hundred thousand."
This bid turned all eyes towards him.
Daniel, noticing the gazes, kept his composure.
Eight hundred thousand was indeed his bid.
"Holy crap, has the streamer lost his mind?"
"The last bid was only three hundred thousand, and he's just gone and added five hundred thousand on top of that?"
"That's not how you bid in an auction!"
"Ah! Looks like the streamer has fallen for Robert's tall tales."
...
The crowd looked at Daniel, their faces sporting strange expressions.
They all thought that Daniel's sky-high bid was out of his mind.
The chance of the container holding stolen goods was just thatโa chance, not a certainty.
Moreover, even if there were stolen goods, they might not be worth much, let alone be that renowned painting, 'The Scream'.
Five hundred thousand had been the highest price to win a container so far.
Yet here he was, shouting an astronomical price of eight hundred thousand.
He was truly nouveau riche, making impulsive and reckless bids!
Daniel was pleased with everyone's reaction.
Only he knew the value of the goods in the container.
The others were just making wild guesses.
Instead of letting them bid bit by bit, he decided to bid a high price that would bring them back to their senses.
Courage was always a momentary rush; once people come to their senses during the process, they become cautious.
Looking at the crowd, as expected, they all furrowed their brows and became more hesitant.
Barring any surprises, he had secured the container for eight hundred thousand.
A net profit of 2.3 million was more than enough.
Daniel smiled.
Robert also knew that the price had reached its peak.
He scanned the crowd and saw that no one seemed to be planning to bid again.
So, he said with a smile, "In that case, this container will be finally sold for eight hundred thousand..."
His words were cut off by a sudden voice.
"I bid... one million!"
This remark immediately drew everyone's attention.
Surprisingly, the bid came from Joseph Thompson, who had just fainted.
He came back?
Daniel was surprised and a bit worried.
He had just dislocated Joseph's shoulder blade, so it was likely that he wouldn't let Daniel secure the auction easily.
Seeing Daniel's concern, Abel slapped his shoulder and said in a low laugh, "Don't worry, he doesn't have the money."
Then Abel shouted towards Joseph Thompson, "Joseph Thompson, know your limits. Where did you get a million from? It wouldn't be in the currency with the lowest exchange rate, would it?"
The crowd broke out in laughter.
Joseph Thompson's face reddened as he yelled, "Of course, it's one million StellarCoins! I might not have cash, but I have a family castle!"
Whoa!
He turned out to be a rich heir.
Daniel was taken aback.
Allen, standing nearby, whispered, "Don't let him scare you."
Daniel asked, "Is it fake?"
Allen waved his hand, "Not exactly, there is a castle."
"But it's an old medieval thing. You walk inside, and dust falls from the ceiling. It's basically a dangerous building."
"The cost of maintenance and upkeep is expensive as hell. No one wants to buy it. At most, it's worth five or six hundred thousand, and that's if anyone is even interested."
Daniel touched his nose, a small unconscious movement he made when deep in thought.
A medieval castle... there could be priceless antiques hidden in some corner.
It seemed he should make time to visit these castles.
His thoughts returned to the auction.
Joseph Thompson had raised the price to a million.
The others had clearly given up, and everyone's eyes turned to Daniel.
After a moment of thought, Daniel raised his hand and said, "One million two hundred thousand!"
Robert's eyes twitched, the excitement in his eyes hard to hide.
The commission from this container was already higher than his annual bonus.
And these two seemed ready to continue the bidding war.
Excited by this, Robert announced, "One million two hundred thousand StellarCoins! This has broken our Container Hunt auction's highest transaction record!"
"It seems that today's auction item holds a particular appeal for these two gentlemen. Mr. Roberts has bid 1.2 million StellarCoins. Joseph Thompson, are you going to continue?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Joseph Thompson shouted, "One million two hundred and fifty thousand!"
After shouting, he intentionally gave Daniel a disdainful smile.
"I'm going all out with you, I'm going to get what's inside!"
Daniel calmly replied, "One million three hundred thousand."
Joseph Thompson immediately followed, "One million three hundred and fifty thousand!"
Daniel: "One million four hundred thousand."
Joseph Thompson: "One million four hundred and fifty thousand!"
Daniel, frowning slightly, quietly said, "One million six hundred thousand."
Joseph Thompson shouted directly, "One million seven hundred thousand!"
This price stunned everyone present.
Even the viewers in the live stream were shocked.
"1.7 million StellarCoins, that's insane!"
"Damn, this is getting my blood boiling, I can hardly resist shouting a bid."
"It seems they won't stop until they reach two million."
"But seriously, we have no idea what's inside, yet they're bidding recklessly. Aren't they afraid of making a loss?"
"Streamer is someone who made a cool fifty million, so two million is just like us losing two hundred, it won't even make him flinch."
"True, go for it, streamer!"
Ignoring the barrage of comments from the live stream, Daniel looked at Joseph Thompson with a frown, his mind filled with confusion.
There's something off about this guy, Daniel thought.
If he was holding a grudge because Daniel had dislocated his shoulder and was seeking revenge, a couple of bidding increments would suffice.
There was no need to persist this obstinately.
Was he not afraid that Daniel would suddenly stop bidding?
No.
Something was definitely wrong.
Did he already know what was inside the container?
Considering this possibility, things made a lot more sense to Daniel.
The price had escalated beyond a simple gamble.
It had become a high-risk game.
That meant Joseph had to know what was in there!