Chapter 175: Veridia
"Veridia?"
At that moment, Patience chimed in with a timely explanation:
[Planets in the galaxy are divided into three types: Garbage Stars, resource planets, and Veridias.
Garbage Stars have few resources and little to no life, making them generally not worth exploiting.
Resource planets contain vast amounts of resources. Only The Federation and those with a permit from The Federation are qualified to develop them.
Veridias, in addition to having abundant resources, are home to at least ten thousand different species of flora and fauna and have already formed a complete ecosystem.]
However, the risks of developing a Veridia were dozens of times greater than those of other planets. What’s more, this particular planet was located in The Rosette Galaxy.
The Rosette Galaxy had only been discovered in the last century, and Starfarers were still largely unfamiliar with everything within it.
Not to mention, the Navi Auction’s description of this Veridia was extremely vague.
There was no mention of the planet’s size or its specific conditions.
Whether the planet harbored intelligent life was a crucial question. If not, it was fine. But if it did, anyone wishing to develop it would have to obtain the inhabitants’ consent.
Furthermore, interstellar law stipulated that the ecosystem of a Veridia could not be damaged during its development.
This was because a Veridia had another name: Colony Planet.
A planet with a complete ecosystem was by definition highly suitable for life. This meant that while extracting resources, it could also be transformed into a habitable world.
But all of this came with prerequisites.
Even so, with a starting price of one hundred million, the bidding shot to three hundred million in the blink of an eye.
The pace outstripped that of any previous item in the auction.
But it wasn’t over.
The price continued to climb.
This time, the competition was mainly between the people in the private boxes. The crowd on the main floor had fallen silent.
"Box seven, nine hundred million going once..."
The items at the Navi Auction were kept secret. Even those in the private boxes who might get advance notice would only find out just before the auction began.
No one had known beforehand that a Veridia would appear at this auction, so most people’s available funds were limited, especially after a portion had already been spent on earlier items.
Even if they tried to raise more funds now, it would take time.
Just then, Moira Lynch suddenly raised her paddle. "One billion."
Everyone: ...
’Seriously? The titans in the private boxes are fighting, what’s a young girl like you doing getting involved?’
’One billion... are you sure a little underage girl like you can even come up with that much money?’
Before Lily could react on stage, a voice from one of the private boxes called out, "One point two billion."
"One point three billion," Moira Lynch followed immediately.
Moira Lynch sat in her seat, her arms still crossed and her expression calm, as if one point three billion was just a number to her.
But in reality, Moira was starting to panic inside. After the previous few auctions, her funds had shrunk considerably. She had just over one point five billion left. She was now gambling—betting that her opponent couldn’t come up with this much money on such short notice.
"One point four billion!" the person in the box shouted again.
Judging from the tone of their voice, they were starting to get angry.
But would Moira Lynch be afraid of them?
"One point five billion!"
At this point, the auction hall fell so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"One point five billion, plus two top-tier items," the person in the box declared once more.
To have pushed her opponent to this point... The crowd looked at Moira Lynch with admiring gazes, while secretly trying to guess her identity.
’A young girl with this much guts must have an extraordinary background.’
But at that moment, all Moira Lynch could think was, ’You can do that?’
’Not enough money, so you make up the difference with items.’
’In that case, I can do that too.’
"One point five billion, and two Red Celestial Eyes."
Moira had originally planned to offer the Golden ones, but she didn’t want to drag this out any longer. It was better to end this quickly.
She had done her research beforehand. Both the Golden Celestial Eye and the Yeti Horn were considered top-tier items, but the Red Celestial Eye was on a level far above the Golden one.
This time, even the person in the private box fell silent.
On the stage, Lily looked at Moira and spoke. "Young lady, making reckless bids at the Navi Auction can get you blacklisted."
Moira Lynch flipped her palm over, and two red orbs appeared in her hand.
Back when Snowy was eating her other items, Moira had been quick enough to snatch a few away, but most of them had still ended up in Snowy’s stomach.
"You can verify their authenticity on the spot."
Seeing how composed she was, Lily’s heart started to pound. ’Could they be real?’
In no time, an old man with a graying beard came jogging out from the back. He carefully took the two orbs from Moira Lynch’s hand.
After a thorough inspection, the old man nodded at Lily on the stage. "They’re real."
This time, it was Lily’s turn to be stunned.
It was the first time she had ever seen someone willing to part with a Red Celestial Eye.
’Does this person not know how precious a Red Celestial Eye is?’
While a Veridia was also incredibly valuable, it came with enormous risks. The Red Celestial Eye, however, did not.
If used properly, the value of a single Red Celestial Eye was in no way inferior to that of a Veridia.
Even Lily, who was accustomed to grand occasions, couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.
Without a doubt, Moira Lynch, by winning this Veridia, had become the biggest winner of the auction.
Of course, that was just her own opinion.
After the auction ended, others wanted to come over and make conversation, hoping to seize the opportunity to probe into Moira Lynch’s identity.
But Moira Lynch gave them no such opportunity, following a staff member backstage instead.
The handover procedure for a planet was complicated; she knew that from her experience with Mochina and the three Garbage Stars.
But this was the Navi Auction. Moira Lynch looked at the certificate in her hand. The staff had settled everything in less than ten minutes.
After collecting her other auctioned items, Moira Lynch declined their offer to stay and chose to leave.
’I was originally planning on giving Cathaya a backdoor entry to the auction two months from now,’ she thought. ’But it seems that’s not necessary anymore. I’ll just give them this Veridia, and we can split the profits fifty-fifty.’
’In the future, even if I do nothing at all, I can live the life of a landlord, just lying flat and collecting rent. It’s simply wonderful.’
But before that, she still needed to compile all the interstellar laws related to planetary development, to prevent Cathaya from making any mistakes during the process.
According to interstellar law, if a major error occurred during development—such as damaging the ecosystem or starting a conflict with the native inhabitants—The Federation had the right to forcibly reclaim the planet.
On top of that, Moira Lynch, as well as Cathaya, which would be responsible for the error, would have to pay a hefty fine.