Except for extrely rare custors like Yi Chen, who were directly recognized and branded by the duke, ordinary people wanting to enter the auction had to undergo a triple check.
1. The total value of personal ancient coins and carried items must exceed thirty thousand.
2. Individuals must present proof of affiliation and a guarantor’s certification, or the limit of condition 1 increases by twenty thousand if they cannot.
3. At the ti of admission, an individual’s physical constitution is checked, and they must possess certain "rare" traits, or else the limit of condition 1 increases by twenty thousand.
Those who can et the three conditions and enter are naturally either wealthy or noble.
Yet Yi Chen seed full of doubts,
He watched the ’Skin Slave’ who was pulled onto the stage. The figure had extensive necrotic tissue throughout their skin, which was dark and festering, and even though they were dressed, the exposed skin’s poor structure was still visible around the neck and wrist gaps.
Yi Chen’s gentleman’s clothes were made from low-quality skin blended with Yellow Skin, which, thanks to the concealnt and camouflage abilities of Yellow Skin, was nearly undetectable by any Skin Slave. Furthermore, it enabled him to sense the other party’s physical condition.
Currently, the Skin Sensing inford Yi Chen that the Skin Slave brought onto the stage could die at any ti;
their skin was at the "verge of decay."
"Golden Mask."
When Yi Chen called out this na, an attendant in a tailcoat and Golden Mask imdiately ca to the box seat.
"What do you need, esteed Mr. William?"
"Why is that Skin Slave appearing in the auction? Their physical condition is terrible, on the verge of death, and could even potentially cause a regional infection."
Following Yi Chen’s gaze and pointing, Golden Mask imdiately replied:
"Are you talking about Mr. Archim Cross?
Indeed, during the physical check at entry, his condition was the worst.
It seems he ca to the auction hoping to buy sothing related to skin, but sadly, no such item appeared, and now he has been forcibly brought onto the stage for auction, which is quite pitiful indeed."
"Why is such a person still allowed in?"
"Because he ets the conditions~ Apart from carrying a large amount of cash, he also has so interesting things... Oh! My gosh, how could I possibly divulge a custor’s privacy like this, I am so dead;
I really shouldn’t have made such a mistake."
As soon as these words were uttered,
Golden Mask imdiately pulled out a Golden Demon-suppressing Mallet and held it vertically through his own head, dying on the spot!
The mont of death, both the mallet and the Golden Mask dissolved into golden liquid and seeped into the floor, leaving a body stripped of facial skin and bones, with the brain exposed.
Soon,
a group of attendants wearing Golden Masks entered the box, quickly dealing with the corpse and cleaning the floor.
"I truly apologize for the mishap in my duties just now, please don’t mind it."
"It’s okay..."
As the Golden Mask left, Yi Chen beca even more puzzled—how could such a well-off Skin Slave end up in this situation?
"Is it because he committed severe cris at the Skin Factory and was exiled? As he has not had fresh skin supplies for years, has his own skin beco so ulcerated?"
At this mont, the Yellow Skin within him communicated through text.
≮Such Open Source Skin Slaves in the Old World could live normally even without supply from the Skin Factory. The ulceration on his body most likely results from external injuries, so permanent curse, or perhaps, he ventured too deep into ’skin-related illnesses’ and lost control, and now, he’s co to the duke’s place to try his luck, hoping to get a perfect new skin for a full body skin replacent."
Exiles have been stripped of their qualifications to live in the Skin Factory, so the Skin Factory won’t impose any further punishnt.
If soone crosses the ’exile punishnt’ line, then it’s a death sentence;
on the spot, they will be redone into a skin, maximizing their value just before death.
He must have encountered one of the three situations I ntioned, and you should pay close attention to that≯
Listening to the explanation from the Yellow Skin, Yi Chen pondered and called Golden Mask again.
"By the way, if there aren’t any suitable items for auction on this person, and no one would buy even if he were sold as a slave, how would he be handled?"
"Rest assured, the starting bid for slave rights is just one coin, even a single finger would find a buyer, since everyone attending the auction has been verified by us, even if they are near death, they have their value."
Yi Chen continued to inquire: "If the slave rights are auctioned off, how are his possessions and money handled?"
"Once the slave rights are successfully auctioned, his money and belongings will be held by our chamber of comrce and returned to him after a ten-year period.
If he dies during these ten years of servitude, the ownerless property will naturally belong to us."
"Understood."
[Forced Auction] begins,
The atmosphere in the room reached its climax,
Generally, the audience invited on stage could produce an item worthy of the auction,
Even though so were very reluctant, or might even risk losing a treasure they had desperately acquired, they had to auction it off, lest they end up sold as slaves and possibly lose their lives along the way.
After all, the Duke’s Chamber of Comrce was mainly frequented by gamblers, who, once they bought a slave with considerable abilities, would maximize their use, heading straight to the Extrely Dark Land or even seeking out the Duke for highly risky gambles.
When it was ti for the forced auction to move to the sixth person, who was a skin slave nad Archim Cross,
Yi Chen had already sensed through the skin that this person carried no valuable items, and he was even ready to purchase the slave rights for this man.
However, an unexpected event occurred.
Suddenly, the man tore off his outer coat, the leather wrapped around his body, the padding, the bandages, and the tal armor plates, and all, revealing his festering, gangrenous, and decaying skin.
Many of the patients present felt quite unwell at the sight,
but Yi Chen, on the other hand, widened his eyes, taking the opportunity to get a clear view of the man’s skin condition, even feeling a strange throbbing in his heart.
"Could this guy be intentionally revealing his terrible condition, trying to make himself not get sold? No... with a starting bid of one coin, considering the many weird patients here and those with bizarre tastes, soone will definitely place a bid."
As Yi Chen was puzzled, an even more stimulating event unfolded,
the skin slave used his fingernails to slice open his skin along the body’s midline, or rather, he slid it like a ’zipper’.
When the cutting was finished,
the man instantly moved, stepping out from between the layers of skin, leaving the perfectly peeled gangrenous skin remaining in place, still maintaining a standing position.
Neither the skin slave himself nor the peeled-off skin shed any blood, or rather, the blood inside had long been blocked by the extensive gangrenous areas.
A rasp of voices ca from his throat, "I will sell this high-level skin infected with ’Gangrenous Purulent Dermatitis,’ a limited skin which the skin factories can no longer produce,
Even if the skin condition worsens due to so underlying reasons, completely beyond my control, I believe at this point in ti, such skin will fetch a good price.
Please, Duke, verify it."
The Duke didn’t even look, but simply raised his palm to signal that the peeled-off skin t the auction standards.
The custors below were looking at each other, for they had little desire to buy such skin which the skin slave himself could not handle or control, and which was decaying and dying.
But soone did make a bid.
50,
200,
500,
1000,
10000,
Just as soone yelled out a price of one thousand, suddenly a bid of ten thousand ca from a corner, everyone turning their heads to look,
The bidder was a diminutive old man whose head was thrice the size of his body, with a naplate on his chest, apparently affiliated with a research organization from the Old World.
His purpose was also quite clear, planning to buy this special skin for use as research material.
Just as he thought he could easily secure it,
from a top-level custor’s suite on the third layer of the venue, a bid ca in, 20000.
Doubling the previous offer, an assertive presence.
The old man intended to bid higher, but when he glanced towards this closed suite, he imdiately felt a ntal oppression from his brain.
Clearly, the premier custor sitting inside had quite a formidable brain, even superior to the brain he had cultivated for years.
The direct doubling of the bid also showed a determination to secure it,
Competing against such a high-class custor with an exceptional brain would likely lead to no good end, so the old man had no choice but to cease, raising his shrunken palm to indicate no further bids.
With a strike of the Duke’s gavel, the rights to the skin were awarded to the mysterious high-class custor.
Sitting in the suite, Yi Chen, having succeeded in his auction tactics, also revealed a satisfied smile, but he soon sensed sothing amiss.
"Hmm? Exactly doubled to twenty thousand coins, isn’t this price precisely the ’royalty fee’ the Duke gave ..." then Yi Chen glanced again at the spotlessly cleaned floor, recalling the scene of the Golden Mask’s suicide, and shook his head.
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