187: Like rowing against the current, if you don't move forward, you'll fall behind!

Xu Shian's thought process was simple.

Indeed, there were many 'Blue-Blues' still abroad, but compared to them, there were even more people who had contributed to the country and were still silently giving of themselves overseas!

The 'Blue-Blues' were the minority!

Besides, it wasn't right to just let this equipment gather dust in the Emerald Dream... so this money had to be made.

But those 'Runners' shouldn't expect any preferential treatment... what's the big deal if they die a few Times?

Based on the experience An Xixi, Old Li, and the others had in pulling people in, at most it was just a matter of dying three or four Times, right?

If the rhythm was controlled well, it was only a matter of a few decades of extra lifespan!

"Don't worry, as long as this thing has the effect of pulling people in, they'll buy it no matter what!"

Xu Shian comforted Sink.

He was dazed; were there really people this foolish in the world?

"What if they're unwilling? What if they go and farm the blueprints themselves?"

Xu Shian was dismissive.

"There's no Time left. A Level 30 Dungeon—do they think they can just clear it whenever they want?"

Sink now understood the strength of ordinary players; he couldn't compare the freaks he usually faced with those ordinary players.

"Then I still have over a dozen more here..."

Xu Shian looked at the attributes of these [Partner Summoners] and felt it was a bit of a pity... "Can we really not remove the [Craftsmanship Special Effect]?"

Sink shook his head speechlessly!

He had seen many black-hearted merchants, but merchants more black-hearted than a goblin were quite rare.

"What a pity!"

From those dozen or so, Xu Shian selected five companion summoners with the worst [Craftsmanship Special Effect].

Then he headed straight to the main city's Auction House!

He directly listed an [unstable partner summoner]. After thinking it over, he set the auction duration to 2 hours.

Starting Price: 50,000 Gold Coins!

Buyout Price: 100,000 Gold Coins!

Reflecting on it, Xu Shian felt he was indeed a bit unscrupulous.

What was the cost of this item again?

Twenty Gold Coins? Couldn't be more than that... but he had indeed spent a lot of effort to get its blueprint back then, so that could be factored into the cost... Thinking this way, Xu Shian's uneasy heart immediately felt at peace!

Think it's too expensive? If it's too expensive, then don't buy it!

Go hitch a ride on someone else's... World Channel message.

Shi Chuan: I just listed a [companion summoner] in the Auction House. It can solve the troubles of young masters stranded abroad. Those who need it can go buy it now... "companion summoner? Is it the item I'm thinking of?"

... "Holy crap, you really are unscrupulous... 50,000 Gold Coins, and the affix is even 'Unstable'..."

"In the Time you took to speak, it's already risen to 60,000..."

The price increase for this item was quite high and very fast!

When it reached 70,000 Gold Coins, someone directly took it for the buyout price of 100,000 Gold Coins... "Which brother just bought it? Can I pay to borrow it?"

"Which brother just bought it? Can I pay to borrow it?"

"Stop spamming the screen, another one has been listed..."

... "Why are the attributes on this one even worse than the last? Didn't the last one increase the success rate by 10%? Why does this one only increase it by 3%?"

Shi Chuan: The one just now was the best one... The summoners our guild uses to pull people in the Novice Village don't increase the success rate at all. Many people were only pulled over after dying several Times... With 100,000 Gold Coins in hand, even after deducting the Auction House's processing fee, it was a massive sum.

At the same Time, Xu Shian was filled with emotion.

Those who were rich on Blue Star could actually still be quite rich here. This was something he found very hard to understand!

Didn't we agree that everyone would start from zero together? How are you all so outstanding?

The appearance of the second [companion summoner] instantly cooled down the heated crowd.

They began to weigh whether this thing was actually worth 50,000 Gold Coins!

Another group of people began calling out for the first buyer on the World Channel... Because the other party had purchased it anonymously, even Xu Shian didn't know who it was!

Meanwhile, in a residence in Jinling City, Ze Province.

A young woman of eighteen or nineteen walked with steady steps into a small courtyard.

"Grandfather, the item has been bought!"

The girl looked at her grandfather, who had regained his youth; he now looked completely like a middle-aged man in his forties.

The middle-aged man was named Wang Guannan, the current head of the Wang family of Langya.

He was exactly 65 years old this year and had been lucky enough to enter the game in the first batch. Now, his appearance looked twenty years younger.

And the girl was the eldest granddaughter of his eldest son!

The girl's name was Wang Jingshu. Although she had been following her grandfather the whole Time, she was quite curious about things like original lifespan that transcended the boundaries of life and death.

"Grandfather, since we know there's such an Engineering item, why don't we just build it ourselves? Why pay such a high price to buy it?"

"Do you have the blueprint?"

"The Engineering shop owner said... because this product has major flaws, the shop doesn't keep it in stock! But he pointed out which Dungeon we can go to farm it. It's just that our strength is still a bit lacking..."

Wang Guannan nodded.

"But your second uncle and the others can't wait that long! Our Wang family has been positioned overseas for so many years. Right now, at least twenty thousand people are scattered across various countries... We cannot abandon those who have fought for the family..."

"Is it really that dangerous overseas? Then why did they go out in the first place?"

"Back then, the Xia Kingdom could deter the whole world. Others only dared to use underhanded methods behind our backs and didn't dare to act up to our faces, so there was no danger! But now it's different..."

The Times had indeed changed.

Once the authorities found out there was such a good item, they were also discussing whether or not to buy it!

"Can't we just borrow it?"

This was a young general... (When I wrote to this point, I suddenly realized that there aren't many young people among the high-level officials of various countries. If we say people over 65 entered a year late, these people shouldn't have come in... This bug is purely because I didn't think it through at the Time. I apologize! Let's just treat it as special treatment for official supervisors!)

"For an item like this, logically speaking, there are still many people busy working for our country abroad. Borrowing it to bring back those who have contributed to the country wouldn't be excessive!"

"Let's just pay to buy it! Right now, Time's strength is already unrivaled in the Myriad Realms game! Currently, their attitude toward us officials is still relatively friendly. We don't need to waste a favor over a matter of tens of thousands of Gold Coins..."

"I don't know how many [Summoners] are left. Chen He, go to the Auction House and buy two!"

There were indeed many official personnel stranded abroad... and while those who remained in the Xia Kingdom had their own agendas, with some even intentionally not reporting to the authorities.

But the groups stranded in foreign lands were extremely eager to return to the embrace of Mother Motherland, and had been actively contacting and communicating with the authorities... "Big shot, lower the price a bit. Look, this price is too high, we really can't afford it! No one is even bidding anymore!"

The outcry on the World Channel was loud, but unfortunately, Xu Shian was completely unmoved!

He had changed his appearance and was currently doing daily quests at the nearby Machinery Workshop!

After finishing the Machinery Workshop daily quests, he still had to go run the City Defense Force daily quests!

A while ago, because he went out to weaken the neighbors, he hadn't done military merit quests for a period of Time. He didn't expect that he had actually dropped from Private First Class to Private Second Class!

This military merit system deducted a fixed 1,000 points of battlefield contribution—which is military merit—every month!

In other words... in the bureaucratic system of the main city, one's status is like sailing against the current: if you don't advance, you retreat!