Ves rubbed his hands in clear anticipation of what was about to proceed.


    He had already spent a lot of time on hyping up the value and utility ofpanion spirits. Through the use of words, archival footage and a bit of promotional artwork, many of the mechers and associates who had attended this closed session developed a strong appreciation of his work!


    It was a rather odd sight. It was usually the mechers that looked down on second-raters. Now the situation had reversed because Ves introduced a product and a service that they could not provide themselves.


    He had be one of the many associates that the Survivalists found worthwhile enough to befriend. Now, their efforts literally bore fruit as Ves answered their call in a time of need and offered a solution that could potentially strengthen all of red humanity in a way that no one could imagine!


    This was all a part of a grand n.


    The conference organized by the Survivalist Faction served as a quick introduction to the possibilities of cultivation and E energy radiation. Ves was not the only person who attempted to do business by selling one of his staple inventions within the halls of the Khamatar Reign.


    As soon as the conference hade to an end, tens of thousands of talents and high-ranking leaders would return to their respective ces in red humanity''s space and begin to proliferate much of the powerful new boons introduced in the conference!


    The auction was about tomence. Ves did not feel the need to make it too formal or adopt a more formal process. Everyone here already received enough information onpanion spirits to understand the value of customized products.


    Ves had also been honest enough to state that a nkpanion spirit from a fruit had the potential to surpass a customizedpanion spirit based on growth, experiences and other factors.


    That depressed the value of a custom product, but not too much. There ought to be enough wealthy and resourceful guests among the 700 who attended this closed session who did not mind paying a small fortune in order to gain a head-start for themselves or their hand-picked dependents.


    Ves had to strike a bncing act. He wanted his service to have value, but not so much that the mechers forced him to ve away all of the time. By hinting that his capacity to operate on people''s spirits was limited, he should hopefully be left alone after he hadpleted his orders.


    Ves stood on a slightly elevated step and gazed at the people seated in front of him. Jovy meanwhile stood at the side as he got ready to track and value the uing bids.


    A new projection came to life that disyed five empty slots.


    "We do not have much time left, so let us do it like this. Each of you can voice your bids. As long as my friend and I ce a high enough valuation on your offer, it will show up in the top 5. Each of you will be able to ce a bid if you have not done so yet or revise your existing one if you are willing to make a greater concession. This bidding process will end when no more offers arrive that affect the top ranking bids."


    It might be better for Ves to string out the five possible opportunities one after another, but that would turn this session into an unseemly mercantile asion. This would not leave the best impression behind.


    He had to remind himself that the central theme of the conference centered around contributing to the survival of red humanity.


    It was not supposed to be a celebration where people selfishly tried to profiteer from this extinction-level threat!


    That said, no one worked for free. Many of the mechers and all of the associates wanted to make sure their own interests were being met. They would never endeavor to work so hard to save red humanity if their remuneration was insufficient.


    "Before we begin, I think I should rify my demands." Ves spoke in a more personal tone. "I am not in an acute need of MTA credits. It is all numbers to me. I am more interested in benefits that can help me transition my n from a second-ss pioneering organization to a first-ss one. Starships, advanced technologies, exclusive knowledge, long-term business contracts and anything else that can speed up the uplift process is helpful. I am particrly interested in any solutions that can speed up the learning process so that second-raters are able to learn all of the skills needed to qualify as first-raters."


    Thatst demand was a particrly important demand for Ves. As he worked to enable his n to y in the big leagues, he already knew that the majority of his nsmen would ultimately have to be left behind at the second-ss stage.


    The gap was just too great. Only the smartest, most talented and most-hardworking of second-raters would be able to follow Ves to this greater stage. The others would probably have little choice but to join one of the current or future branches of the Larkinson n that continued to operate in the middle zones.


    Ves still wanted to give the slowpokes a chance to gradually move their way up. As long as they performed well enough and made enough contributions, the n should be able to provide them with high-quality augmentations and other forms of assistance that would hopefully speed up their own efforts.


    Who knew if a new invention might emerge that would magically insert a lot of knowledge and proficiency in people''s heads. If the System was able to create enlightenment fruits, then others might be able to create simr products.


    It was not necessary for the substitutes to be as good. Ves only cared about whether it was safe and whether it was avable inrger quantities.


    The expressions of certain mechers frowned when they heard hisst demand.


    The truth was that the Mech Trade Association and by extension the Red Association did have methods to quickly elerate the learning process. It was one of the ways in which the mechers were able to get a lot of its recruited members up to speed.


    It was actually the same kind of tech that the Polymath proposed to transform huge batches of hastily grown batch humans into ready-made soldiers and other service personnel!


    No matter what ws or sequ was associated with this high-tech solution, Ves wanted to try and see if he could secure ess for his nsmen!


    Ves spent another minute on exining his expectations for this auction before he opened the bidding process.


    "You may begin to ce your bid. You can do so by voicing it in the open. If you wish to be more discreet for whatever reason, you can transmit an encrypted message to Jovy Armalon, who will ce it on the list but keep the details hidden to the public if necessary."


    A lot of people voiced or transmitted their bids right away. Both Ves and Jovy had to maximize their mental capacity in order to quickly value and rank the opening bids.


    Of course, more than a few of the attendees just threw out low bids for fun or in the hopes that no one was willing to offer more. Ves and Jovy outright ignored them and focused on the more lucrative ones.


    It was hard to quantify the exact value of non-mary offers. Ves did not even try to do so. He settled for deciding upon their ranking instead, which was much less demanding.


    "7 million MTA credits."


    "15 million MTA credits."


    "130 million MTA credits!"


    "One first-ss superdrives fitted for sub-capital ships."


    "Just one? That is too modest. I will offer two first-ss superdrives!"


    "150 kilograms of phasewater."


    "I will agree to coborate with you on designing amercial first-ss multipurpose mech."


    "I will introduce you to the Harma Vess Family that has settled in the Zelmar Upper Zone. The family can help you source materials and open up new business channels when you are ready to market your products to first-raters."


    Ves tried to suppress his grin as more and more attractive bids continued to arrive. The projected list constantly changed as people tried to upstage the current top 5 offers.


    He found it challenging to determine whether a certain good or service deserved to be ranked on top of another attractive bid. There were many times where he and Jovy had to make quick and sloppy judgment calls because it would take too much time and effort to evaluate them properly.


    In any case, Ves went by his gut and relied on his feelings and intuition to navigate this exciting process.


    "I am the majority shareholder of a top imnt developmentpany." One of the Master Mech Designers spoke up. "Most of thepany remains stuck in the old gxy, but our local subsidiary in the Red Ocean has enough researchers and data to continue their development in this new age. I can offer you or your chosen candidate a chance to rece an outdated cranial imnt with a customized premium first-ss model that is adapted to the new variables."


    Ves'' eyes lit up. While he did not feel the need to rece his transformed and mutated bioimnt, his wife urgently needed this improvement.


    He could save a lot of MTA merits and give Gloriana a fantastic anniversary gift if he could secure this valuable boon!


    "My spouse and my children could make use of high-performing first-ss cranial imnts." Ves spoke as he set the Master Mech Designer''s attractive offer at the top of the current ranking. "If any of you are able to equip them with high-quality imnts, that would be great."


    High-performing cranial imnts were expensive and difficult to procure. They not only demanded the best first-ss exotics in order to produce the high-quality miniaturizedponents that made them work so well, but they also had to be designed, configured and installed by the top imnt experts in their respective fields.


    Only the most renowned and established imnt developmentpanies could service this exclusive market.


    While it was not that difficult for RA Masters to purchase this product for themselves, they were not able to buy it for others at an affordable price.


    These people had toe up with other ways to win an opportunity to obtain a custompanion spirit.


    "We have constructed a small but fully-equipped first-ss outpost on a in the Caesarion Upper Zone." An associate spoke. "We initially nned to use it as the base of our operations to support our expansion into the interior of the Red Ocean, but recent events have caused us to shift our strategy. We originally intended to disassemble the outpost and ship back the modules to the Agamemnon Upper Zone, but I will transfer ownership to you as long as you agree to exchange twopanion spirit quotas."


    Ves shook his head. "Two is too much. The Caesarion Upper Zone will soon be engulfed in the mes of war as it is too close to the current frontlines. By the way, please take into ount that 1 will only provide one quota per individual or group."


    This was still an incredibly attractive offer despite all of the pitfalls. Ves was not sure whether he would want to keep the outpost in its current location. If not, he could always arrange for it to be moved to the rear, though the location probably wouldn''t be as desirable due to excessive crowding.


    At this point, the bids started to slow down as the top ones were already pretty expensive.


    "Is there anyone among you who is willing to offer a first-ss starship?"


    Nobody obliged, much to Ves'' disappointment. The value of starships had skyrocketed even further after the greater beyonder gate got cut off. Even first-raters struggled to umte them given that they demanded a lot of expensive resources to build.


    No one was crazy enough to trade a starship for a custompanion spirit!