Last Totem Novel - Chapter 412
Chapter 412 Differentiation
Just as the Temple Princess’ personal effects auction was in full swing, an auction was being held at the Prague Auction House in Silver City No. 9, Elk City, 10,000 kilometers away. Compared to the former, the number of people in the arena was very small, but the bidding situation was much more intense.
Today’s auction was an old commercial district in the northern part of Elk City. The owner of this land was the Julian family, one of the eleven nobles in Silver City. Because of the decline in financial resources in recent decades, the Julian family auctioned off a piece of land every once in a while.
At this moment, in a corner of the auction house, a young man with red hair and red pupils was letting out a sigh. His name was Zobran Julian, twenty-one years old, and he was the third in line to succeed the Julian family.
Originally, more than half of the land in Elk City belonged to the Julian family, but now less than 20% remained. Looking at the dwindling land, Zoboran felt deeply helpless.
In the past 50 years, with the overall expansion of Silver City World in the Otherworldly Plane, the nobles and various commercial groups in the northern part of the central continent had flourished, and various major powers had sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. However, the central aristocrats, who had inherited for hundreds of years, were gradually defeated in the round after round of commercial competition, and the ownership of the land was also greatly reduced.
What caused all this was naturally related to the mismanagement of the nobles in the central region. They had been at ease for hundreds of years, so their momentum was naturally inferior to that of the new powers. However, a large part of the reason came from the secret support of the nobles in the West.
In the Silver City world, the five nobles led by Mordleton were the most shameless and cunning. They were good at splitting up forces, twisting themselves into a force, and then gradually splitting up other forces, leaving all potential opponents in a state of disarray.
For a thousand years, they have pursued an elite policy, absorbing only the best elites and then spared no effort to differentiate any potential threats. For example, the middle aristocrats, who were also great nobles of the ancient times and had bloodlines connected to each other, would often be burnt to the pulp by them, releasing cold arrows behind their backs, stabbing knives, and digging holes of all kinds …
There was no other reason. Any existence that might threaten them was the target of their attacks, even their relatives were no exception.
But helplessly, ever since the beginning of human history, the central continent had been in constant strife. Nobles of all sizes and forces had never been unified. The thing the western nobles liked to do the most was to support whichever side was weaker, forever dividing the central continent.
Even though the nobles of the Central Region were extremely disgusted by this, they were unable to change the current situation. They could only cooperate while being betrayed. Of course, this was not because they were cheap, but because they had to make concessions in order to maintain their dominance. If they could change it through hard work, their ancestors would have changed a thousand years ago and wouldn’t have been disgusted until now.
Right now, the consortium power of the central continent had already expanded to the point where the great nobles of the central continent were unable to contend against it. Only then did the great nobles of the West realize that they had to join forces with Qi to suppress the external forces.
However, the current situation was no longer something that could be changed by commercial actions alone. If the cards were to be reshuffled, they would have to rely on means of war. However, this was not the time for a civil war. On the one hand, swarms of bees and insects surrounded him like packs of wolves, while on the other hand, the demons were eyeing him covetously. The spatial rifts on the two dark planes were like cones attached to bones, giving them a headache that wasn’t easy to deal with.
With that thought in mind, the auction of the next piece of land began.
“The starting price for an area of 11.65 hectares south of the Deer Horn Theatre and north of the Lens Commercial Centre is 400,000 gold coins per hectare. Each bid should be no less than 3,000 gold coins.”
“Four hundred thousand.” “Four hundred and three thousand.” “Four hundred and six thousand.” “Four hundred and nine thousand.” “412,000.” The merchants raised their bids one after another.
“500,000!” At this moment, a crisp voice sounded from the VIP seats, announcing a price that caused an uproar in the audience. Julian looked up. As he had expected, the bidder was Zhao Linglong of the New Moon Alliance. Over the years, the New Moon Alliance had been crazily absorbing the land of Elk City. Now, they already owned 37% of the land. As long as they reached 51%, they could reorganize the Elk City Council and become the main ruling party.
Elk City is the largest city in the central continent, its economic and political status is very high, second only to the central Silver City in the western continent. If the New Moon Alliance were to obtain Elk City, they would become the rulers of the central continent.
“Five hundred and three thousand.” After a moment of silence, someone offered the latest price. Obviously, the major powers would not allow this to happen.
“600,000!” Zhao Linglong once again offered a sky-high price.
In an instant, everyone fell silent. This price was already nearly 50% higher than pure commercial purposes. No businessman was willing to harm his own interests excessively. As a result, the Crescent Alliance finally bid for this piece of land, taking a step closer to the 51% ownership of the land.
The New Moon Alliance was an organization that only had a history of several decades. It originated from the Notre Dame system and was composed of a portion of the nobles and consortia in the territory. They uphold their own ideals, advocate atheism and democratic republicanism, and have many supporters all over the world.
However, these foolish people have never understood that freedom and democracy are not given by a single person or organization. Everything was just a change of skin and then the dictatorship of the ruler. True freedom and democracy originate from the strong desire of the people. Just like the Northern descendants back then, treating honor as their life and hurting their dignity meant bleeding. And they generally have a high degree of consciousness, in this case, the upper class will have to make concessions.
If it weren’t for the glorious battle 180 years ago, the descendants of the north would definitely have developed into one of the most powerful races in the world. This was because they had used their Great Wall of Flesh and Blood to prove that they were a race without a single coward or traitor.
Zobran’s elders often taught him that the Northern survivors were the most respectable group and the most worthy example of their mistakes. Their success stemmed from their pride, and their destruction stemmed from their pride. Only those who survive can write history and become the final victors.
Zoblen had a different view of this. How could a kneeling knee stand upright? How could he take back his lost dignity? Thousands of years ago, Mordleton and Lombardi were very similar to the survivors of the north. In their world, they would either conquer them, be friends with them, or wipe them out completely. There would never be a second of subordination to slavery. Back then, the battle between Lombardi and Northas was so fierce that it was far from being recorded in historical records.
It was precisely because in their dictionaries, there was never the word “surrender”. They would rather fight their last soldier than give up a single inch of land, which created the current grand occasion. If the nobles of the Central Region had such an awareness, they wouldn’t have had to endure the restriction of the nobles of the Western Region as early as two thousand years ago.
The first time one succumbed to this thought, there would naturally be a second, third, and innumerable times.
Time passed by inadvertently. Thinking about it, the auction ended. Before leaving, Zhao Linglong, who was passing by, saw it and nodded to greet, “Good morning, Second Young Master of the Julian Clan.”
“Hello, Miss Zhao Linglong, the Northern President of the New Moon Alliance.” Zobran replied politely. Actually, he didn’t want to talk to the other party. After all, the other party was one of the big insects that devoured their clan.
“If there’s land to sell in the future, you can talk to me privately. Perhaps the price will be more suitable.” As she spoke, Zhao Linglong smiled and handed over her golden business card.
“Alright, we will seriously consider your proposal.” Zoboran nodded.
“Then, I’ll take my leave first. Good luck.” Zhao Linglong made a “goodbye” gesture and left the venue.
Looking at the swaying figure gradually disappearing, Zoboron gritted his teeth and viciously scolded, “Little bitch, smash!” Then, he tore the business card into pieces, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the wastepaper basket.
A few days later, at noon, in the Golden Triangle, thousands of kilometers away from Elk City, two graceful figures were walking side by side beside a quiet snow mountain and lake in the mountains of Phillos. At this moment, there was a misty snow in the sky, scattering all over the ends of his hair and shoulders. Although it was the end of spring, the elevation here was over five thousand meters, and the temperature had dropped to minus ten degrees.
‘”My princess, you’re really hard to date” said the tall, round-shouldered girl in a light blue priest’s robe.
“Of course! There are many people who want to go out with me!” Another girl in a white dress, shorter and more well-proportioned, smiled and said.
“I think I smelled something …” “This smell is stinky and beautiful.” “Hmph ~ I haven’t seen you for months. You’re getting more and more arrogant.” “No ~”
“Still saying no, look at your nose. It’s almost up to the sky.” You Ge said.
“Sorry ~ Ling Lan can’t see his nose.” Mu Yu Ling Lan smiled and said.
“Hmph ~” You Ge wrinkled her nose and let out a soft snort. After a moment of silence, she looked at the calm lake and suddenly suggested, “Little girl, let’s swim ~”
“Is there no one else here?” Mu Yu Ling Lan looked around and asked.
“It’s hard to say” You Ge replied irresponsibly.
“What if someone sees me?” Mu Yu Ling Lan asked.
“He’s lucky.” You Ge said naturally.
‘”Shameless little demon ~” Mu Yu Ling Lan said.
“I’ve heard of 50-step laughing and 100-step laughing. I’ve never heard of 50-step laughing and 100-step laughing.” You Ge pouts and says.
“Humph ~” “Come ~ Smile for me.” ‘”Hmph ~” Mu Yu Ling Lan looked down on him.
“You want to fight?” You Ge’s expression changes as he asks.
“Come on ~” As he said that, Mu Yu Ling Lan twisted her waist and bumped into her. The provocative meaning was self-evident.