Chapter 165: Planet Auction Sparks Controversy
On this silent night, the system’s voice suddenly rang in the ears of every player.
Players who had just fallen asleep shot up the moment they heard the voice, then scrambled to get dressed.
They muttered and cursed as they threw on their clothes.
"Didn’t they say the game was once a month? It’s only been a little over half a month..."
But as they were halfway through getting dressed, they realized something was wrong.
This system notification didn’t seem to be related to the game.
[Notification: The [Don’t Miss It] shop is about to hold its first-ever auction. Item for auction: planetary development and agent rights. The auction will last for two months.
Whoever offers the highest price will win the planet’s development and agent rights.
Developing a planet is an extremely dangerous undertaking. Therefore, please prove your ability to the planet’s owner, SoySauceDrunkard.]
After delivering its final sentence, the game system vanished again, leaving the players of Caelus stunned to the point of numbness.
What had they just heard? The planet’s owner... SoySauceDrunkard!!
They were still worrying about their next meal, and this person already owned a planet.
Was this fair?
I’m asking, is this fair!!
Many people opened SoySauceDrunkard’s Don’t Miss It shop, only to discover, to their astonishment, that this person didn’t own one planet, but two.
Was this the gap between players?
Moira Lynch had originally planned to set a one-month deadline, but considering that people might not be able to gather anything good in such a short time, she thoughtfully extended it to two months.
Besides, the Earth Soil needed a month to terraform the two planets, and she also needed time to understand the situation on them.
After setting up the announcement, Moira Lynch glanced at the endless stream of new messages in her backend, decisively closed the game, and propped her chin on her hand. ’A lot of people are probably going to lose sleep tonight.’
She opened the game forums. Messages were refreshing at an insane rate of dozens per second.
A quick look at the content showed that, without exception, everything was about the planets and the auction.
[Doremi: Is the great SoySauceDrunkard here? Do you need another hanger-on for your entourage?]
[SmileAndLookTenYearsYounger: Great SoySauceDrunkard, I’ve been a professional flatterer for twenty years. I guarantee I can make you feel completely comfortable. Please take me in.]
...
[HalfDreaming: Am I the only one curious how SoySauceDrunkard did it? That’s a whole planet we’re talking about!]
[LovesSoySauceChicken: Who says I’m not curious? I’m dying of curiosity! I’m begging SoySauceDrunkard to release a tutorial!]
[NightRainColdStars: You say that as if you could get a planet too just by having a tutorial.]
Aside from these players, an ornate Golden Dragon would occasionally appear at the top of the forum. These dragons, without exception, were all trying to contact SoySauceDrunkard.
Some also wanted to ask about the two planets.
After all, Moira Lynch’s shop showed nothing other than the two planets up for auction.
They knew nothing about the two planets.
But nothing could be done about that. The two planets were still being terraformed, and everything would only be finalized after a month.
Closing the game forums, Moira Lynch couldn’t help but rub her eyes. The endless stream of golden special effects was about to blind her.
A single Golden Dragon effect cost ten Gold Coins. ’If these people are so rich, it’d be great if they bought more things from my shop instead.’
「The next day」
The buzz around the event hadn’t died down. In fact, it seemed to be getting even more intense.
Now, opening any feed on your phone, you’d see it was almost entirely about SoySauceDrunkard, the Don’t Miss It shop, and the planet auction.
Moira Lynch opened her game’s backend, ignored the flood of messages, and found Redlight at the top of her pinned list.
As expected, since yesterday, Redlight had been persistently harassing Moira Lynch at a rate of one message per minute.
[SoySauceDrunkard: Aren’t you tired?]
[Redlight: Mr. Lynch, you finally answered me.] This was followed by an emoji of someone crying with joy.
On the other side of the base, Timothy Murphy shot up from his chair.
Seeing this, Chase Shepard and the others waiting in the room immediately crowded around him excitedly.
"How’d it go? Did SoySauceDrunkard reply to you?"
Timothy Murphy nodded excitedly.
"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and ask about the planets. If you can, try to subtly inquire about where he got them," Chase Shepard said.
The higher-ups had already held a meeting about this and unanimously agreed that it was an opportunity they absolutely could not miss.
Moreover, with the current situation on Caelus—the extreme heat had just ended, immediately followed by an insect plague—they didn’t know what other disasters were waiting for them.
Although they were holding on for now, the extreme heat alone had caused them heavy losses. When they could no longer endure, emigrating to another planet might be their best option.
"Okay, I’ll ask right now."
[Redlight: Mr. Lynch, since we know each other so well, could you do us a favor with the planets?]
[SoySauceDrunkard: What kind of favor?]
[Redlight: We want the development and agent rights for one of the planets.]
After sending the message, a nervous Timothy Murphy looked at Chase Shepard behind him. "Do you think he’ll really agree to this?"
Chase Shepard didn’t answer immediately, but from his solemn expression, it was clear he wasn’t entirely confident either.
While the group waited nervously, Moira Lynch didn’t reject them outright.
[SoySauceDrunkard: Do you have any idea how risky it is to develop a completely untouched planet? There’s a fifty percent chance you’ll lose everything, down to your last pair of shorts.]
Moira Lynch wasn’t lying about this. According to interstellar statistics, the risk of developing a new planet was enormous.
The process required a massive investment of manpower, resources, and capital.
Even if you managed to get through that difficult period, there was a high probability that your returns would be far less than your investment.
This time, Redlight didn’t respond immediately. A long while passed before another message arrived.
[Redlight: We’re willing to take that gamble.]
Being timid and afraid of failure would only keep them trapped where they were. Only by daring to take risks could they break their existing shackles.
[SoySauceDrunkard: In one month, I’ll send you the specific details of the two planets. It won’t be too late for you to decide then.]
[Redlight: Why in a month?]
[SoySauceDrunkard: I just got my hands on those two planets myself. You have to give me some time to get familiar with them.]
With that, Moira Lynch closed the chat window, ignoring Redlight any further.