Chapter 362: Get Rich
The Municipal Square, where the Lagos Clock Tower stands, is the center of the city of Lagos.
The land here, even in the current economic depression, is still very valuable.
The streets surrounding the Municipal Square are spacious and neat. Compared with other places in the city, they are spotlessly clean.
Hall of the streets are lined with tall buildings. These buildings have different styles, including spire towers and classical symmetrical styles. In short, they are all very beautiful.
· On the streets, the people coming and going are basically all kinds of exquisite and luxurious private carriages.
The carriage's carriage is made of fine wood and coated with fine paint, which shines in the sun. The curtains at the windows are also made of gorgeous plush and inlaid with colored glass.
Although it is called a carriage, in fact most of the people pulling the carriage are tamed alien beasts with the blood of earth-line creatures, and they are extremely powerful.
The people getting on and off the carriages were all nobles and wealthy businessmen dressed in gorgeous clothes.
The flow of people on both sides of the street is not small.
Crunch.
A black four-wheeled carriage, which was slightly plainer than those private carriages, stopped in front of a majestic building at the corner of the street.
Of course, this is only compared to those private carriages. Whether it is the body made of fine oak or the exquisite patterns decorated on the doors, it shows that it is not cheap.
The curtain of the carriage was opened, and a middle-aged man with a big belly appeared from it. He slightly bent his knees, and in an almost standard posture, he landed steadily on the stone slab on the ground, making a dull but elegant sound.
Subsequently, another woman emerged from the carriage, she must be an attendant. She held up her skirt and carefully stepped out of the carriage, her steps light and steady.
After the maid got out of the car, she quickly walked to the middle-aged man and stood to the right behind the middle-aged man. She folded her hands in front of her and intertwined her fingers gently. Her posture was dignified. She always maintained an appropriate distance of about two steps from the middle-aged man and her eyes were staring at the ground.
The maid's face was pretty, so she attracted some people's attention.
The middle-aged man stood in front of the building, raised his head slightly, and followed the delicate stone carvings on the building's facade upwards, finally landing on the huge bronze signboard directly above.
"Collins Auction House".
The font is beautiful and is coated with gold powder, so it shines with golden light under the sunlight.
This is the largest auction house in Lagos City and is affiliated with the Corinthian Chamber of Commerce, the richest chamber of commerce in the city.
The level of trade and commercial development in Lagos City is far inferior to that of Dorne City, which is a county town, and these two are the basic indicators that determine the number of auction houses in a city.
Therefore, there are only five auction houses in the entire city. The name "biggest" sounds loud, but in fact it is just the first among the five auction houses.
At the entrance, the huge arched doorway is supported by four thick stone pillars, the surfaces of which are carved with complex and elegant arabesques.
Three marble steps lead to the simple and heavy double oak doors. Next to it stands a stone statue: a man in a top hat holding an auction hammer.
The middle-aged man, Gaode, who had changed his appearance through [Disguise +], took a deep breath, straightened his collar, and took Aisha, who was pretending to be his servant, up the stairs and walked into the lobby of the Corinthian Auction House.
As soon as he entered it, Gaode felt his eyes light up.
The spacious hall is gorgeously decorated, with exquisite magic crystal lamps hanging from the dome, and soft light shining through the glass gaps in the dome onto the marble floor.
At this time, a staff member wearing a black tuxedo-like uniform had quickly come over and bowed slightly, "Sir, do you need any help?
"I would like to sell a precious thing in your bank, help me introduce your person in charge."
That worker. The staff member glanced at Gothe's clothes without leaving a trace, and then glanced at Aisha standing behind him, and immediately responded with a professional smile: "Sir, please wait a moment, I will report it right away."
A moment later, the staff member appeared again: "Sir, please follow me, Mr. Wilson is waiting for you in the reception room."
Gao De nodded slightly, with a big belly, and was led by the staff through a long corridor and arrived at the elegantly decorated reception room.
There is a long carved oak table facing the door of the room. Behind the long table, on a soft leather seat, a middle-aged man with meticulously combed hair is facing away from Gothe, admiring the paintings on the wall.
"Mr. Wilson, we have brought the guests." The staff member said respectfully.
Then, Mr. Wilson slowly turned around, his eyes were sharp, and his eyes revealed a shrewdness and calmness.
"I heard that you have something extremely precious that you want to get rid of from us. I wonder what it is?"
Gothe clapped his hands lightly.
The next moment, Aisha behind him took out an exquisite ice crystal jade box from her arms.
Aisha didn't move, she just raised her hand slightly, and the jade box floated forward, finally stopping above the long oak table.
Then, with a slight "click" sound, the lid of the box was opened by an invisible force, and the ten crystal clear ice jade sycamore leaves contained in it all floated into the air and were displayed in front of Wilson's eyes.
This action made Wilson's eyes flicker slightly.
But the next moment, he couldn't care about anything else and couldn't help but lean forward slightly. His eyes glanced back and forth on the ten ice jade sycamore leaves, with a trace of imperceptible surprise and solemnity flashing in his eyes.
He noticed the mysterious power contained in the leaves, which was mysterious and powerful.
“What is this?” Wilson asked.
"Ice jade sycamore leaves, soaked in water, and drinking it can increase the upper limit of the mage's mental power. A first-level mage can increase his mental power by about 30, but it is only effective for the first time you drink it." Gothe said calmly.
"Increase the upper limit of the mage's mental power?" Wilson, who had always been calm, couldn't help but be moved when he heard this, and his face changed slightly.
Although it is only a slight change, it is enough to show the extraordinary effect of the Ice Jade Sycamore Leaf.
After all, as the head of the Corinthian Auction House, Wilson has seen countless treasures in his daily life. He is well-informed, and ordinary objects will not cause him any trouble at all.
“Sir, can you wait a moment? I need to ask an appraiser from our firm to come over and appraise this object.” Wilson quickly regained his composure and said politely.
"Well, try to be as fast as possible, I'm in a hurry." Gothe said casually.
Auction houses naturally don’t believe whatever you say, they have to follow their own process, which is very reasonable.
Wilson nodded, and then gave instructions to the staff who were still waiting nearby.
After a while, an old man with some white hair and wearing a gray mage robe walked in.
"This is our auction house's chief appraiser, Master Harris." Wilson first introduced Gothe.
"Mage Harris," Wilson then nodded to the old man and said, "This guest said that these ice jade sycamore leaves can increase the upper limit of the mage's mental power. Please help identify it."
Hence, he took a few steps forward and came to the ice jade sycamore leaves. He stretched out his hand and touched one of the ice jade sycamore leaves that was still floating in the air.
When Gao De saw this situation, he raised his eyebrows subconsciously.
In his vision, he could clearly see the fluctuation of magic power, flowing along the fingertips of Master Harris and gradually towards the ice jade sycamore leaves.
In fact, this fluctuation of magic power is not detectable, but Gothe had already opened the Mandora Magic Eye when Master Harris entered the room, so all energy flows were invisible in his eyes.
However, he made no other moves and allowed the magic power to flow on the ice jade sycamore leaves.
Because Gothe recognized what Master Harris was doing.
It is a rare spell [Appraisal].
Cast [Identification], specify an object, and keep in contact with it during the casting process. If the object is a supernatural item or other magical object, the mage will be able to know its properties and how to use it.
As the spell continued, Master Harris's face became more solemn.
After a moment, he withdrew his hand and said in a deep voice to Wilson: "What this gentleman said is true. This ice jade sycamore leaf does have the effect of improving the spiritual power of the mage." Hearing this, Wilson also breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to Gothe and said eagerly: "Sir, you want to entrust our auction house to help Are you busy auctioning these ice jade sycamore leaves? "
"Don't worry, our Corinth Auction House is the most authoritative auction house in Lagos. If you hand these ice jade sycamore leaves to us, through the operation and promotion of this auction house, we will definitely help you get a high price for them, and we only charge half of the transaction price."
Gaode just shook his head calmly when he heard this.
"Sir, the commission of half the transaction price is not high. After all, we will also spend a lot of effort to help you with pre-heating publicity, which all costs money."
Before Wilson could finish speaking, Gothe had already interrupted him.
"I believe in the strength of Corinthian Auction House, but I am in urgent need of funds now and can't wait for the auction to start, so I hope to sell them to your company at a fixed price."
The core business of the auction house is to accept entrusted auctions, but usually it also accepts the purchase of treasures at a fixed price, and this situation is not uncommon.
Some sellers, like Gaode, are in urgent need of funds, or do not want to experience the uncertainty of the auction process. They are worried that their treasures will not reach the expected price in the auction, so they will take the initiative to sell the treasures to the auction house at a fixed price.
If the auction house assesses that the treasure has a certain market value and profit margin, it will consider purchasing it at a suitable price.
On the other hand, for some treasures that have a clear market value, are easy to resell and have stable customer demand, auction houses are confident that they can sell them quickly at a price higher than the acquisition price. In order to save time and cost in the auction process, they will also choose to acquire them directly.
Hearing Gothe's words, Wilson fell into deep thought.
Treasures that increase the upper limit of a mage's spiritual power will naturally have no worries about sales.
Hence, what he was thinking about was not whether to accept the fixed-price method, but what kind of price he should offer to Gaode.
After a moment, he looked at Gaode, considered his words, and slowly said: "Sir, our auction house is willing to buy your ice jade sycamore leaves, but in terms of price, what do you mean?"
"3500 gorse coins." Gaode did not play ball with the opponent and directly made the bid.
The value of ice jade sycamore leaves, according to his estimate, is 300 gorse/piece.
However, considering its rarity and market demand for it, a premium of 20% to 40% is a normal range.
But the auction house has to make some money, so Gaode set a middle price.
Wilson's eyes flickered slightly when he heard the price. It was a little higher than his expected purchase price, but it was within the acceptable range.
After thinking for a moment, he finally nodded, "Okay, for this price."
Gothe showed a satisfied smile.
The price was negotiated and the follow-up procedures were quickly followed. After signing the corresponding transaction documents, an auction house staff member walked in holding a metal box that was one foot long and about half a foot high and wide.
"Here are your 3500 gorse coins."
"Elsa." Gothe waved his hand.
Aisha behind him immediately stepped forward and took the metal box from the auction house staff.
The 3,500 gorse coins plus the box itself weigh nearly 900 ounces. Aisha took the metal box with one hand without changing her expression.
She opened the metal box and quickly counted the number of gorse coins in it, then nodded slightly to Gothe.
"Happy cooperation." Gothe said with a satisfied smile, straightened his collar again, did not stay any longer, stood up and left the room under the gazes of Wilson and Harris.
Seeing Gothe and Aisha disappear, Master Harris moved slightly closer to Wilson and whispered: "This man is a bit strange. He doesn't look like a local. Do you need to send someone to keep an eye on him?" The spell [Levitation Technique] has a second-level mage with an excellent appearance and figure as his attendant. The origin of this person is definitely not simple. "
"Furthermore, he has a faint smell that is close to musk, but softer and more delicate than musk, similar to sandalwood, and has the clear smell of marine plants."
"This is the smell of ambergris!" Master Harris said softly.
Wilson nodded, "Not to mention the high price of ambergris, and the production is very small, often even if you have money, you can't buy it. The person who has this smell on his body shows that he is often in an environment filled with ambergris."
"It is not a wise choice to offend such a person."
"Indeed, for 3,500 gorse coins, it is not worth taking this risk." Master Harris exhaled slowly and agreed
Gothe took Aisha out of the Corinthian Auction House and got into the carriage that had been waiting outside.
The carriage started slowly, the wheels rolling on the stone road, making a "gurgling" sound, twisting and turning, and finally stopped at the entrance of a remote alley.
Gothe and Aisha jumped out of the carriage, paid the fare, and asked the coachman to leave first.
Then, the two of them turned into the alley and soon disappeared.
Haiyinrong Orphanage, in a room on the second floor.
Eight large and small metal boxes were all opened, and inside were full of golden gorse coins.
Gothe stood in front of the box, leaned slightly, stretched out his hand and gently fiddled with the gold coins. The sound of "clatter" was particularly clear in the silent room.
"Done." He breathed a sigh of relief.
In order to safely sell the Ice Jade Sycamore Leaf, he and Aisha went through a lot of troubles, visiting several auction houses, mage organizations and large magic material stores.
Collins Auction House was their last stop.
Fifty ice jade sycamore leaves were shot in eight shots.
A total of 17,000 gorse coins were exchanged, with an average of 340 gorse coins per piece, which was 2,000 more gorse coins than initially expected.