Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 717 - 599: Auction

Chapter 717: Chapter 599: Auction

"How many of us?" 102 turned around.

"101 is ranked 101st, and 102 is ranked 102nd," Shallow Dream said nonchalantly.

"Ah!" 102 wanted to fight to prove himself.

In the distance, Jin Yuxiu suddenly sprang into action, leading several weaker Battle Witches as they flew downwards, chasing after something unknown.

"They seem to place great importance on the security of this place," Shallow Dream observed.

"The International Trade Building is a place with a long history," Kanako stepped forward.

"There’s no ’nation’ here, so what’s with the name Jialong Slope International Trade Building?" Shallow Dream did not understand at all.

"It was established before the trade wars, back when the Eastern Hemisphere was dotted with countries big and small – Xia one, the Northern Archipelago one, eight in the Southern Region, nine in Taiya, and Peaceland was a diarchy empire jointly ruled by kangaroos and emus. Then advanced ships arrived at the Northern Archipelago and other places, the nobility were forced to relinquish power at gunpoint, foreigners invested in building railways, mines, factories, and... companies."

"Those from the Western Hemisphere?" Shallow Dream understood.

"Yes, Caucasians. Caucasians demanded and seized like pure tyrants. With capital backing from the Taixi Continent and the New Taixi State, their expansion was unstoppable. Soon, the concept of national territory was crushed... you know, differentiating people is not conducive to the cross-regional flow of labor resources. An array of borders leads to the existence of tariffs, weakening the free market of fully-fledged competition. Thus, the landscape of the Eastern Hemisphere was reshaped, and nations were no more."

"Caucasians are detestable," Shallow Dream said subconsciously.

"That’s why Lu Sizhou is advocating for us to unite, to bring the entire Eastern Hemisphere together to stand toe-to-toe with the Western Hemisphere. You know, companies obliterated the trace of ’ethnicity,’ but we can still distinguish ’us’ from ’them’ by skin color, which paradoxically offers us the possibility of unity on a broader spectrum, whether this is humanity’s fortune or humanity’s curse," Kanako said with a smile.

She walked into the main venue area, looked down from the elevated platform, where luxurious leather chairs surrounded the large round table, laden with crystal glasses and fresh flowers. People were already taking their seats.

Kanako led her companions to their reserved seats by the organizers. The auction was full of masked figures wearing mechanical masks or optic concealment implants that obscured their vision, representing secretive forces that dared not show their faces. Other major companies had their own delegates.

"Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing doesn’t seem particularly intent on buying anything," Shallow Dream peered on tiptoes, having grown taller since joining Nestor Corporation, but still conspicuously short.

"Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing is busy with the major case of acquiring the Southern Territory Rubber Company and isn’t too concerned about the affairs in Jialong Slope. If they can secure 75% of the world’s rubber production, some industries and mysterious paintings won’t even catch their eye," Kanako’s eyes moved to the auction stage, where the bidding had already begun invisibly.

An auction is a strategic challenge. If one spends all their money in the early rounds of bidding, they lose leverage for potential auction items later on; however, if one holds back in the early rounds, they can only helplessly watch others pick over the leftovers.

Her strategy was also simple; either go all out to secure an item or completely abandon it, avoiding getting trapped in a vortex of inflating prices, which would reveal her intent.

"Could the painting be a fake?" Shallow Dream wondered aloud.

"If they try to fool us, Jialong Slope will be destroyed. The creditors from Switz Bank are also present; they reserved four of the paintings," Kanako saw the armed debt collectors at the edge of the venue.

The first item called was a semiconductor smart factory owned by the Jialongpo Yongyi Group.

Technology companies eager to fill gaps in their industries immediately exerted their strength, pushing its price to a 50% premium in an instant. Currently, companies were in an awkward state of being simultaneously rich and poor; they had cash on hand but nowhere to invest, leading to increased production losses. Thus, they pinned their hopes on a technological breakthrough that would lead to a new industrial upgrade.

After careful consideration, Kanako did not join in. The Nestor Corporation already had many money-burning scientific research projects, and Miyazato Kazama was like a bottomless pit swallowing up funds.

Next, the Yongyi Group began auctioning off a large-scale refining company in the Cold Bay Industrial Zone, including four modern refineries.

The mega-corporation Near East Providence and the renowned Namisis Group both joined the competition.

The refining industry was a pillar of Jialong Slope. As an important port in the Southern Region, refining could greatly reduce local fuel prices, incidentally leading to lower transportation costs for aircraft, shuttle machines, and ships.

In the Eastern Hemisphere, the demand for processing crude oil into finished products was also incredibly strong. Acquiring this refining company was beneficial in every respect.

Kanako allocated half of her funds for the bid, and after half an hour of contention, she successfully purchased the refinery with 100% of the shares for 450 billion, establishing Nestor Corporation’s position in Jialong Slope with a daily processing capacity of over 750,000 barrels of oil.

To recover costs and continue operations, the Yongyi Group proceeded to sell off numerous banks, insurance, and trust companies they owned, but these companies found no takers, all valued below 40% of the normal price.

Kanako decided to acquire several companies with a complete business model and an active network for 20 billion, planning to restructure them into the Xisheng Business Safe Company, facilitating her continued profitable operations.

Other intercontinental investors continued to devour and divide Jialong Slope’s various businesses on sale in aviation, maritime, logistics, urban development, postal services, food, and other industries. Kanako also purchased parts of the assets, continuing to expand Nestor Corporation’s enterprises in Jialong Slope, with the intention of forming an impregnable commercial empire.