Chapter 539: Jeffrey City, where Demigods gather
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When Archibald and Seel arrived with their teams, Hobert immediately assigned them tasks: "Go and inspect the towns and villages. Now that the True Creator's power has left, many people should have turned into monsters!
"Your first task is to clear out these monsters. Your second task is to take these converted people and spread the name of the 'Creator'!
"Archibald, announce the name of the 'Creator' to the Beyonders in the army and tell them how to pray. If you encounter large-scale resistance from True Creator believers, pray to the 'Creator' immediately.
"If you encounter out-of-control monsters, eliminate them immediately! If you encounter ordinary people showing obvious signs of losing control, eliminate them immediately!"
With the Aurora Order losing its rule over this territory, the True Creator's gaze has left this place. The balance within those believers who had accumulated a large amount of madness and distortion was broken, so they will turn into monsters.
As for the so-called "ordinary people showing obvious signs of losing control," Hobert is temporarily handing over the power of life and death of the new territory's people to the Defense Force in order to eliminate those unstable elements.
Many times, those unstable elements are easily nipped in the bud before they become unstable!
But if you report to Hobert at this time, you will miss the best opportunity.
Of course, in order to prevent the Defense Force from becoming a source of chaos, Hobert added: "But you must not seize the property of the locals! Once discovered, in addition to returning the property, you will also be discharged from the military!"
Watching the Defense Force leave with those converted believers, Hobert suddenly realized: Could he use the 'Nation of Disorder' to establish an instant information communication mechanism?
Then the 'workers' of the 'Nation of Disorder' will have new business to handle.
Hobert left the church location and began to sit in the port.
At noon, Conrad, as the third echelon, arrived with his team. In addition to bringing many grassroots officials, he also conscripted construction workers from the construction site and transported a large amount of supplies, temporarily responsible for the logistics of the Defense Force.
The already dilapidated pier became lively. With the experience of the last time, the construction workers set up stoves and cooked meals at the pier, and set up tents in advance, ready to live here for a while!
In the afternoon, they will also establish camps in various towns under the protection of the Defense Force, so that the Defense Force stationed in various places can have hot meals and tents to live in.
After lunch, Angus and other members of the Special Operations Department returned, which marked that the Aurora Order's Beyonders on the surface had been driven away or killed.
Hobert said to Angus: "You first lead the first team to station here and cooperate with the Defense Force's cleanup operation. When the situation here stabilizes, you must also leave a Sequence 6 and several team members to guard!"
He said to Helen: "You lead the team back to protect Jeffrey City!
"In addition, you two captains must compile statistics on battle damage and merits as soon as possible. The martyred members will be dealt with according to previous precedents."
"We have already done a preliminary statistics." Angus said, handing Hobert a report that had been prepared long ago.
Helen also prepared a similar report and handed it over together.
Hobert nodded. After they left, he simply looked at the report and found that the two captains' reporting styles were completely different.
Angus had the determination to break away from the Tudor family and completely dedicate himself to Hobert, so his report did not consider the interests of the Tudor family at all.
From last night until now, the Special Operations Department has eliminated a total of 58 Aurora Order Beyonders, including the three 'Shepherds' eliminated with Archibald's help.
The first team eliminated 36 enemies and seized 9 Sealed Artifacts. 4 of these Sealed Artifacts were found on the enemies, and the other 5 were Sealed Artifacts formed by the enemies.
Angus also noted in the report: Beyonders of the 'Secrets Supplicant' pathway are prone to lose control before death and turn into Sealed Artifacts.
The first team seized a total of 31 Beyonder characteristics from Sequence 9 to Sequence 5, and the members are willing to exchange these Beyonder characteristics for merits.
As for those Sealed Artifacts, because there are already application regulations for Sealed Artifacts, the members are also willing to exchange the Sealed Artifacts for merits.
This shows that the members of the first team also completely disregarded the interests of the Tudor family.
After the battle, 9 members of the first team will have the opportunity to be promoted. Hobert recalled the Beyonder characteristics in his hand, which were enough for these members to be promoted.
The last part of the report was the casualty situation of the first team. Because this battle was a surprise attack, and the situation was very unfavorable for them in the early stage of the battle, the casualties in this battle were greater than the previous attack on the Blood Sanctify Sect. A total of five members died.
Looking at the second team's report again, in theory, they should have killed 22 enemies, but they only handed over 1 Sealed Artifact and 12 Beyonder characteristics. Obviously, the other Beyonder characteristics and Sealed Artifacts were handed over to the Theosophy Order.
This meant that only 2 of their members were eligible for promotion.
The second team also had three deaths. Hobert calculated that he would have to compensate about 36,000 gold Lire in total this time.
But compared to the gains, this compensation is nothing.
Hobert asked Fors, who was beside him, to prepare the money and wait for the relatives of the martyrs to collect it.
That afternoon, all the spoils were concentrated at Hobert's place.
When Angus came to deliver the spoils, Hobert, who had been prepared for a long time, said to him: "Although your current merits are not enough to obtain the Beyonder characteristic of 'Disciplinary Knight', your performance in this battle was good. I am making an exception to give you the Beyonder characteristic of 'Disciplinary Knight' in advance.
"You must explain this clearly to the members, because my fief in Longtail Island needs a Sequence 5, so I gave you the Beyonder characteristic in advance. The merits you owe will still need to be made up for in the future."
Angus tried hard to hide his ecstasy: "Yes! I will explain it clearly!"
So Hobert gave Angus a total of 10 Beyonder characteristics, including 'Disciplinary Knight'.
In addition to the Beyonder characteristics for Angus, there were also 6 'Sheriff', 2 'Interrogator', and 1 'Judge' Beyonder characteristics.
Those who are eligible for promotion to 'Constable' are basically new members. According to Hobert's exchange rules, it is more difficult to exchange for 'Interrogator'.
Those who obtained the Beyonder characteristics of 'Interrogator' and 'Judge' were basically members who had accumulated merits in the previous battle.
Hobert said to Angus: "In addition, tell the members of the Tudor family that if anyone's family members want to become Beyonders, they can apply to the Special Operations Department for clerical work or to work in the town government.
"If they perform outstandingly, the Lord's Mansion will provide the 'Arbiter' potion for free."
Generally speaking, members of Beyonder families have received a certain amount of education, at least more educated than the residents of the territory.
The issuance of this decree should further alleviate the shortage of grassroots personnel.
For Hobert, he can also make use of the 'Arbiter' Beyonder characteristics in his hand.
People who join the Special Operations Department are generally Beyonders, which makes the 'Arbiter' pathway Beyonder characteristics in Hobert's hand useless.
Now Hobert has as many as 14 'Arbiter' Beyonder characteristics. If he sells them, he won't be able to sell them for much money, so it's better to make use of them.
Watching Angus leave happily, Hobert smiled slightly. With so many incentive methods this time, it is estimated that more members of the Tudor family will come to join him, and he doesn't need to actively poach them.
Even if the patriarch of the Tudor family comes to him, Hobert is not afraid. At this time, Christian should have been promoted to 'Chaos Hunter', and 'Bull Devil Monarch' and 'Great Sage' can still be used multiple times, and he himself is a demigod, enough to stop the Tudor family's demigod from questioning him.
Besides, the family members themselves are willing to come, so what qualifications does the patriarch have to question him?
Suddenly, Hobert felt the digestion of his own potion. He was slightly stunned: As expected of 'Earl of the Fallen', his potion was digested as soon as he thought about how to harm people!
Then he thought: It may also be that he caused the members of the Tudor family to betray, which caused the potion to be digested, after all, betrayal is also an immoral behavior.
While Hobert was summarizing the rules of potion digestion, Helen also came to hand over the spoils.
"The performance of the second team this time can only be said to be neither good nor bad." Hobert took out the wooden box containing the Demoness of Affliction ingredient: "So Angus got the opportunity for exceptional promotion, and you can only get one main material."
After this battle, the strength of the first team will be greatly improved, while the strength improvement of the second team is not very obvious.
Helen smiled sweetly: "This is already very good."
As long as she gets this main material, she can also complete the promotion through the Theosophy Order.
However, she couldn't help but sigh in her heart. She had made so many contributions to the Theosophy Order, and it took her several years to get only one Sequence 5 main material.
And here in Hobert, she only participated in two battles and got another main material.
I believe that after this battle, the members will complain about the Theosophy Order.
Because some team members could have been promoted, but because they had to hand over the spoils to the Theosophy Order, they could not get the opportunity to be promoted.
It is precisely because the strength of the second team is limited, so they can only go back to defend Jeffrey City, which makes them even more lacking in opportunities to make contributions.
Watching Helen leave with some disappointment, Hobert actually felt the potion further digest.
This is a bit wrong. He obviously didn't continue to poach the Theosophy Order's corner, so why would the potion have further digestion?
However, Hobert soon learned the reason: Seel rushed to report that the Defense Force had completely controlled the west bank of Full Moon Lake and presented Archibald's spoils.
Hobert immediately realized that this was the digestion of the potion due to the 'rule'.
After becoming a 'Baron of Corruption', the potion will be correspondingly digested by establishing effective rule in the territory or having certain interactions with the people of the territory.
As for the potion name 'Earl', it may mean that you must have at least an earl's territory and conduct effective rule for the potion to be effectively digested.
Hobert recalled Ethel's words. The entire South Colson area was previously an earl's territory. Now this territory is all his. After driving away the people of the Aurora Order, a huge change occurred for the people on the original west bank, which prompted Hobert's potion to digest a large part.
This gave Hobert new motivation for establishing effective rule over Longtail Island.
After resolving the urgent matters, Hobert sent Fors back to the east bank and asked her to sit in the east bank.
However, the backyard of the Lord's Mansion has become a ruin and is difficult to repair for a while, so Hobert carried the 'Traveler's Gate' to Greenlawn Manor and installed the 'Traveler's Gate' here.
At the same time, Fors, under Hobert's care, was promoted to 'Astrologer'.
Originally planned to be promoted on Monday, but it dragged on until now.
Because the acting of 'Trickmaster' was very successful, this promotion did not have too much danger. After completing the promotion, Hobert felt a lot more at ease, after all, 'Astrologer' is like an enhanced version of 'Seer, and can foresee the arrival of danger most of the time.
After settling Fors, Hobert continued to sit in the west bank.
In the evening, Bishop Simpson, wearing the bishop's robe of the Earth Mother Church, came to Hobert's tent to congratulate him on unifying the South Colson area.
After chatting for a while, Hobert talked about his new territory: "Is the Earth Mother Church interested in preaching in Longtail Island?"
Of course, I am interested!
Bishop Simpson smiled: "I don't think the church will refuse any opportunity to spread the Earth Mother's glory."
"But there is a condition!"
Simpson was slightly stunned and made a "please speak" gesture.
"I will need a lot of rubber in the near future, and I heard that there are many rubber trees on Longtail Island!" Hobert's conditions had been thought out long ago: "I hope the Earth Mother Church can help increase the production of rubber trees."
Simpson breathed a sigh of relief: "This is simple, I can apply to the church to send a 'Biologist' or 'Druid' with research in this area to lead the team!"
Hobert asked: "Can it increase production by three times?"
"Three times? Is the requirement only that low?"
It was Hobert's turn to be stunned: "How many times do you expect it to increase?"
"At least five times the original rubber trees, and if we cultivate new varieties, ten to twenty times is not impossible!"
Hobert thought: Then what do I need oil for?
Then, he asked a question that had been in his mind for a long time: "According to my observation, the priests and bishops of the Earth Mother Church generally like to help farmers improve the varieties of crops and vegetables, but in the Feynapotter Kingdom, you don't seem to participate too much in agricultural production?"
If the wheat yield in the Feynapotter Kingdom could also increase tenfold, one Feynapotter could feed the world's population!
Bishop Simpson smiled wryly: "Not every ruler is as considerate of ordinary people as you are."
He paused before further explaining: "In the eyes of the royal family and rulers such as the Prime Minister, the church should only manage people's beliefs. Priests and bishops are people who serve the gods and should not interfere in the specific rule of the kingdom."
Hobert nodded slightly. It seems that the church and the secular regime reached some agreements a long time ago. Even if the church has the strength to rule a kingdom, they will not do so.
Because their primary mission is to serve the gods, participating in specific administrative affairs would strip them of their sanctity and impartiality as clergy.
That's why the Beyonders of the Earth Mother Church deeply love the land on one hand, but are hesitant to actively participate in agricultural production on the other.
However, when Hobert and Grove took the initiative to ask for their help, it was a different matter; they appeared reluctant but were secretly overjoyed.
Bishop Simpson added, "I didn't quite understand this issue before, but in recent years, with a large number of farmers going bankrupt, I realized that the Church's non-participation in agricultural production is wise.
"If grain becomes cheaper, it will only lead to more farmers going bankrupt, and more people will go hungry!"
Hobert nodded, "Don't worry, I understand the situation."
He could, of course, hear that Simpson's words were reminding him not to focus solely on increasing production at the expense of the people's interests.
Simpson continued, "I have another matter here."
This time, it was Hobert's turn to gesture for him to speak.
"I hope to acquire a batch of characteristics from the 'Secrets Supplicant' pathway."
"Secrets Supplicant" pathway Beyonders are like rats crossing the street, despised by everyone, but their Beyonder characteristics are very popular with the orthodox Churches.
This is because the magical items made from these Beyonder characteristics generally have a wide range of applications. Although there is a high probability of negative effects such as the True Creator's maddening whispers, the base number of official Beyonders is large.
If this one uses it for three minutes and that one uses it for another three minutes, the negative effects of the magical item will essentially be offset.
"Come back tomorrow morning," Hobert said, "because the spoils of war have not yet been tallied. Once they are, I will sell you a batch.
"Well, Sequence 9 to Sequence 7 will be at the base price, and Sequence 6 and Sequence 5 will have some premium added."
Bishop Simpson readily nodded, "No problem!"
After seeing Simpson off and having dinner, Hobert finally had time to enter the "Nation of Disorder" to check the spoils of the battle.
Sitting on the "Iron Throne," Hobert first reached out to summon the Sealed Artifact formed by the "Black Knight." It was a square, scarf-like leather structure that seemed to emit specks of black starlight.
Its abilities were: "The holder can shepherd the souls of seven Beyonders, three of whom can be demigod-level souls. After completing the shepherding process, they can freely choose three of their abilities; can use flesh and blood magic to cause violent explosions in flesh and blood, causing certain mutations in the target's flesh and blood; can transform into a pool of flesh and blood, hiding in extremely small spaces, making it difficult for Beyonders below the level of angels to detect the holder's whereabouts."
In Hobert's view, compared to other Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts, the negative effects of this Sealed Artifact were not very serious: "This Sealed Artifact easily causes the holder to lose control. Those who already have a tendency to lose control will become very serious, and those who only have mild loss of control will become completely out of control; every ten minutes, a burst of whispers will be heard. If carried for less than ten minutes, it will not be heard, but it must be kept away from the Sealed Artifact for one hour to continue carrying it, otherwise the time will continue to accumulate. Some of these whispers are crazy and distorted, while others are methods to become stronger, but no matter which type of whisper, listening to too much can easily lead to loss of control or begin to devoutly believe in the True Creator."
Only to Hobert, the negative effects of this Sealed Artifact were not serious, because he had a way to avoid them. As long as he carried a "Crystal of Order," he could neutralize the first negative effect.
And the second negative effect was even easier to avoid. He could use the power of the "Nation of Disorder" to seal it for one hour in just a few minutes, so Hobert could perfectly avoid the second negative effect.
In addition, the most powerful aspect of this Sealed Artifact was actually its "shepherding" ability. If it could shepherd three demigods, this Sealed Artifact could be raised by a whole level.
However, this was not easy to do. Demigods were already archbishops of orthodox Churches, and even if they didn't have any official duties, they worked in the former kingdom of gods as reserve forces.
For example, the Evernight Goddess Church was headed by 13 archbishops and 9 deacons, half of whom were demigod level.
Don't think that the Evernight Goddess Church only has 11 demigods. Hobert remembered that "Servant of Concealment" Arianna, who had helped Klein several times later, was the Matron of the Evernight Cloister, and the Cloister wasn't just her alone.
As far as Hobert knew, each orthodox Church had a similar organization, unifying some demigods and Sequence 5s who were not good at socializing in a "department," which could be dispatched immediately wherever power support was needed.
In the hidden organizations, demigods were the absolute high-level, and it was difficult to hunt them down.
So the "Black Knight" that Hobert killed today only shepherded the wraith of a "Imperative Mage."
The other Beyonder characteristics seized from the "Black Knight" were all at the Sequence 5 level, namely the Beyonder characteristics of "Desire Apostle" and "Demoness of Affliction."
However, his "shepherding" ability was stolen by Hobert at the beginning, which caused the "Black Knight" to lose an important attack ability.
This was the wonderful use of Sealed Artifacts. If it was a "Marauder" demigod, stealing the "shepherding" ability would actually be useless, because he had no souls to "shepherd," and could only cause the opponent to lose his most powerful attack ability.
For Hobert, this kind of help was very great, making it easier for him to launch further offensives.
Immediately afterwards, Hobert began to review the battle of killing a Sequence 4 for the first time. He felt that the "Black Knight's" tactics should be easily cracked by Klein, after all, he could find the opponent by just checking the spiritual threads.
Then Hobert realized that even if he hadn't stolen the "Black Knight's" shepherding ability, he could still kill the opponent, because the opponent had only shepherded a demigod-level wraith, and apart from the shadow ability that was hard to defend against, the explosions brought about by flesh and blood magic could no longer hurt Hobert.
Finally, Hobert thought of the effect achieved by using his two abilities in combination, such as "Disorder + Tampering," which could temporarily "strip away" some forces!
And "Distortion + Tampering" can distort things that Hobert doesn't know the specific situation of, or even what they are, but things that conform to some extraordinary laws.
However, the premise is that Hobert must be very clear about this law.
This made Hobert realize again: "Black Emperor" is really the "Shadow of Order," and can even have "combination skills"! Or skills that exploit loopholes in the rules of Beyonder abilities.
Overall, the harvest from this battle was not small, allowing Hobert to summarize some tactics for facing demigod enemies.
After naming the Sealed Artifact obtained from the "Black Knight" "1-109," Hobert tried to use "Power of Order" to change its shape, and finally turned it into a leather bracelet, which was more convenient to carry.
After putting "1-109" on the stone platform for holding Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts, Hobert went to check the spoils of war turned over by other team members.
Due to Archibald's timely support last night, the Special Operations Department won a considerable victory with few casualties.
When the Special Operations Department raided the West Bank at dawn, it was fighting with more people than the enemy, and with Hobert present, the entire West Bank battle only resulted in injuries, but no deaths.
And Archibald had already secretly indicated when he saw Hobert that as long as he could add a marionette, he could turn over all the spoils he obtained.
Therefore, the spoils obtained in this battle were also quite considerable. First, there were 11 Sealed Artifacts, Angus turned over 9, Helen turned over 1, and Archibald turned over 1.
As Angus said, it was easy for Beyonders of the "Secrets Supplicant" pathway to form Sealed Artifacts.
Ten of them were Sealed Artifacts of the "Secrets Supplicant" pathway, and one was a Sealed Artifact formed by a "Shepherd"! Only one was a Sealed Artifact of the "Criminal" pathway.
In addition, Hobert discovered a pattern: In this kind of large-scale Beyonder battle, the main gains are Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts, and Grade 3 Sealed Artifacts are only easy to obtain when an effective Beyonder rule is established.
After Hobert sealed each Sealed Artifact, he began to check the Beyonder characteristics obtained this time.
A total of 53 Beyonder characteristics were obtained in this battle, including 3 Sequence 5 "Shepherd" Beyonder characteristics, 10 Sequence 6 "Rose Bishop" Beyonder characteristics, and 18 Sequence 7 "Shadow Ascetic" Beyonder characteristics.
There were 15 Sequence 8 "Listener" Beyonder characteristics and 7 Sequence 9 "Secrets Supplicant" Beyonder characteristics.
These spoils cost Hobert 36,000 gold Lire and 12 Beyonder characteristics, as well as one Beyonder material.
This made him not only sigh: No wonder everyone wants to be a boss! They really earn a lot!
Hobert first divided a batch of Beyonder characteristics for tomorrow's transaction with Bishop Simpson.
Back in the real world, Hobert rested for a while, and then used "Traveling" to return to the East Bank, because today was the 29th, and there was a large auction going on. Hobert would auction off a "Judge" Beyonder characteristic at this auction, as well as the Grade 2 Sealed Artifact purchased from April.
Now the auction house, in addition to Hobert occasionally providing some attractive auction items, or Beyonder materials traded from Little Sun, and Beyonder weapons traded from Daly, is basically self-sufficient, able to collect some things every day, and also able to sell some things every day.
These things are all Fors is responsible for. Hobert resealed the "Reader" Sealed Artifact and gave it to her to use, so there is basically no need to worry about her being cheated.
Now the auction house's monthly income is nearly 30,000 gold Lire. If there are very attractive auction items in the large auction, the income will be even greater!
This money is basically used for the construction and daily expenses in the territory. It is precisely because of this income that Conrad and the others have the confidence to say that the construction of Jeffrey City will not require Hobert to continue investing.
This large auction attracted many forces to participate. Hobert even saw Bernadette wearing a hood in the corner, apparently she was interested in the Sealed Artifact after seeing the list of auction items.
This time, it was still a Beyonder weapon as the opening, and it is said that the rich people of the Feynapotter Kingdom are now very keen to get a Beyonder weapon.
Because this kind of weapon has a low threshold for use, and ordinary people can generally use it.
The next few auction items did not cause any waves either. The second-to-last auction item was the "Judge" Beyonder characteristic, and the bidding price quickly exceeded 12,000!
Although there was no "tyrant" like Ethel this time, the royal family also sent someone, who was the "Imperative Mage" Buck who was going to take over here before!
His order was to buy this "Judge" Beyonder characteristic, so this Sequence 6 Beyonder characteristic was finally sold for a high price of 16,500 gold Lire.
While disappointed, everyone then seemed to see hope: Since Hobert's auction house can get a "Judge" Beyonder characteristic, then it can definitely get a second one! You can try to trade privately!
The last auction item was that Grade 2 Sealed Artifact. After Hobert introduced the abilities and negative effects of the Sealed Artifact, he said: "As we all know, Grade 2 Sealed Artifacts, especially this kind of Grade 2 Sealed Artifact with relatively easy-to-avoid negative effects, are rare on the market!
"The starting price of this auction item is 8,000 gold Lire, with each increase of 1,000 gold Lire. Let the auction begin!"
"9000!"
"10000!"
Buck calmly said: "12000!"
This price once again made ordinary nobles beyond reach.
Hobert said without showing any joy or anger: "Okay, 12000 once! This is a rare opportunity, is there anything higher?"
Bishop Simpson bid: "13000!"
"15000!" Buck showed the majesty of a demigod while bidding. He hoped to use his pressure to force Hobert to end the bidding quickly.
Compared to Ethel, Buck was a little petty, but it was very effective. The surrounding nobles sat in their seats honestly, not to mention bidding, they didn't even dare to breathe.
Hobert certainly wouldn't indulge such rogue behavior. He also showed the pressure of a demigod, which almost made the nobles in the front row kneel.
Hobert still said unhurriedly: "15000! This one has bid 15000! Is there anything higher? This kind of opportunity may not be available in recent months!"
"16000!" Simpson said, and at the same time, he also showed the pressure as a demigod as if he was not convinced.
Buck smacked his lips: When did this bastard Hobert advance to Sequence 4?
The demigod majesty he showed before made other demigods very dissatisfied.
So Jonathan, the vice president of the Theosophy Order, also showed the aura of a demigod: "18000!"
Buck opened his mouth: Another demigod came? This, this auction attracted some extraordinary organizations!
The feeling that several demigods gave people was different. Buck was extremely majestic, Hobert showed the characteristic of making people obey, Simpson would make people feel the continuous flow of life, and Jonathan would make people feel that the scene in front of them suddenly became very magical.
The other people who participated in the auction didn't dare to say a word. Some people wanted to escape, but their legs were shaking, and they didn't even have the strength to stand up.
Some people even wet their pants. They never dreamed that they would encounter several demigods fighting in the atmosphere just by participating in an auction.
In the corner, a loud male voice said: "20000 gold Lire!"
He also exuded the aura of a demigod, a very disciplined yet immensely pressuring presence.
Hobert was slightly stunned. That wasn't Bernadette! It was a demigod he didn't even recognize.
Buck swallowed, wanting to bid, but suddenly felt he lacked the confidence: Just a Grade 2 Sealed Artifact, why are so many demigods here?
Just as he hesitated, a crisp female voice called out, "23,000!"
A mysterious aura spread throughout the venue, weakening the other demigods' auras to varying degrees.
Except for Hobert, the other demigods were surprised: This is a Sequence 3.
They immediately turned to look, but strangely, no one could find the woman who had bid.
This surprised them even more. It was one thing for others not to find her, but they were demigods, why couldn't they find her?
"23,000 once! 23,000 twice!" Hobert smiled. "Any higher offers? 23,000 three times!"
Buck completely lost all confidence, wanting to raise his hand several times, but ultimately gave up.
"Sold!" As soon as Hobert finished speaking, the sealed artifact on the auction table disappeared, replaced by a check in the box.
"Wow!"
The pressure from the demigods gradually dissipated, and this action caused a burst of exclamation. Even the demigods present didn't see how the sealed artifact disappeared, or how the check got there.
Hobert shook his head with a smile: Like father, like daughter, so fond of showing off!
But this was also good. The mysterious Bernadette, who was 'only heard, not seen,' definitely gave these nobles and wealthy merchants endless fantasies.
Today, they were quite frightened, even losing their composure. If there wasn't something else to attract them, many might not attend the next auction.
Lost in thought, Hobert picked up the check and looked at it. Exactly 23,000 gold Lire, no more, no less.
After finishing the auction procedures, the Beyonder gathering began as usual. Hobert himself had a stock of Beyonder items befitting a platform like this, and with the accumulation of this period, he could satisfy most of the Beyonders' requests.
After the gathering ended, the auction officially concluded. The nobles and wealthy merchants began to relax in the already-built 'Reception Center' next door and discussed their experiences.
Unlike before, when there was only a solitary auction house, the entertainment venues on the back of the mountain were beginning to take shape. Many nobles and wealthy merchants liked to spend money here because it provided them with a good social platform.
Normally, the wealthy merchants had no way to contact these nobles. Now it was different; they were all part of the 'Beyonder circle.' They could have a drink and chat, and after meeting more often, they gradually developed friendships.
Especially recently, after several beautiful and charming ladies and young women came here, many wealthy merchants and nobles almost lived in Jeffrey City.
Fors was secretly managing these businesses, and Hobert didn't ask about them. Once Fors became a 'Traveler,' Hobert didn't even plan to show up for the auction house's large auctions.
After everyone left, the couple sorted the checks and recorded the day's income in the huge auction hall.
Soon, Fors calculated the total income: "We actually made 47,000 gold Lire today!"
She exclaimed, "I wish we could earn this much at every auction!"
Ordinary small auctions could only bring in three or four thousand gold Lire at most. Large auctions at the end of the month, without very attractive auction items, could only bring in seven or eight thousand gold Lire.
Half of the auction house's profits came from offline transactions, and as the auction house became more and more famous, with more and more buyers and sellers, the proportion of private transaction income was still increasing.
"Just do this once every three months," Hobert said with a smile. "The more high-end something is, the scarcer it should be."
Fors nodded. "This money is enough to pay for the compensation for the personnel who died in this battle."
Hobert put his arm around Fors's shoulder. "There will also be an income from Bishop Simpson tomorrow, I don't know exactly how much, but the territory isn't short of money recently."
The two discussed the recent major expenses in the territory. It was foreseeable that some aid would have to be given to the newly acquired West Bank territory.
Moreover, Hobert discovered that the crops there were not growing very well. After the wheat was harvested, the local people had to immediately plant a season of staple food.
Before this season of staple food was harvested, some food aid might have to be given continuously.
But not too much aid, just enough to keep people from starving.
Leaving the auction house, Hobert looked at the brightly lit buildings around him. In the surrounding darkness, their brilliance seemed somewhat out of place.
Hobert suddenly thought that he could transport the wine from the wine cellar in the manor here to sell! Just leave enough for a few banquets.
Back at Green Meadow Manor, Fors said, "I am already an 'Astrologer.' If you are busy in Backlund or the West Bank, feel free to go."
The scene of Hobert sending her away from Backlund last night gave her the motivation to advance again. She had been thinking all day: If I hadn't been lazy, I would have advanced to 'Astrologer' a few days ago, maybe I could have helped Hobert.
The reason she was somewhat avoiding advancement was that the last advancement had left her with some psychological shadows.
"There's nothing much to be busy with elsewhere," Hobert said with a smile. "I need your help with a favor."
Fors immediately grasped Hobert's hand. "Tell me!"
"It might be a little dangerous!"
"Just tell me!"
"Help me do an experiment," Hobert said. "Next blood moon, pray to the 'Creator.' He might be able to help you get rid of the pain caused by the blood moon."
Fors immediately nodded. "No problem!"
Today she had already seen the image of the 'Creator.' Like Mr. Fool, he didn't give a sense of madness or distortion, so for her, praying to anyone was the same.
Hobert put his arm around Fors's waist and smiled. "Are we going to continue what we didn't finish last night?"
...
The next morning, Hobert appeared on the streets of Jeffrey City to reassure the people.
Because even those at the foot of the mountain could see the Lord's Manor destroyed by the enemy's raid, everyone was a little uneasy.
Hobert casually took a walk around the territory, and everyone could go back to work with peace of mind.
While chatting with the owner of a specialty store, Hobert suddenly sensed something and looked at the street ahead.
An old man wearing a hood slowly walked towards him. When he passed Hobert, he glanced at the cane in Hobert's hand and said in a loud voice, "Let me see your knife."
Hobert was certain that this was the demigod from the auction house yesterday, whose origins he didn't know.
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