novelsite Chapter 61: Halftime
Chapter 61: Halftime
"Congratulations to Mr. Lionel, Mr. David, Mr. Fahad and Mr. Ma for winning the bid for the heavy-duty hydraulic and electric hybrid travel drive technology for 970 billion."
After the host announced the auction results, the auction was adjourned as instructed: "We will now take a one-hour break. The auction will resume in one hour. Please be seated on time."
"Phew~"
Upon hearing that he could rest, Lionel let out a heavy sigh of relief, then immediately led his entourage back to their room, his brow furrowing in a headache as he did so…
After this round of bidding, the people at the scene unknowingly split into four camps: the Squid Consortium led by him, the old-guard alliance led by David, Fahad, and Reza, the new alliance led by Starlink Horse, and a group of onlookers with their own ulterior motives.
That's why everyone got caught up in the bidding, and the winning bid for the competing item exceeded everyone's expectations.
Nearly 100 billion!
They managed to drive the price of a technology to nearly 100 billion!
The thought of that price made Lionel's heart ache, and he regretted it so much he felt like his guts were turning green.
If I had known this would happen, I would have been better off not filming any of the technology and instead acquiring the entire mecha technology through deception, trickery, or coercion.
Unfortunately, there is no medicine for regret, nor a time machine.
That's why Lionel's eyes suddenly turned icy cold: "Reza, I want you dead!"
After he stopped Yamada Tatsuhiko and Lee Jaehyuk, things probably wouldn't have escalated to this point if Reza hadn't intervened.
More importantly, among all these people, Reza is the easiest to bully.
Therefore, after Lionel finished his tirade, he turned to Nicholas and the others, whose faces were equally dark, and whispered, "Iraq cannot be allowed to continue to exist. It's time to eliminate those heretics!"
"It is indeed time."
Nicholas nodded slightly, then asked hesitantly, "However, the auction is our most important matter right now. Should we continue bidding?"
"..."
Speaking of this, Lionel fell into deep thought again, looking troubled.
If they want to continue bidding and acquire the last piece of core mech technology, they will have to do everything they can to raise the funds.
Because the transaction price for the next core mecha technology will definitely not be less than 100 billion.
This is why the auction was suddenly suspended midway: the so-called break was just an excuse for Zhou Luming to give them time to raise funds and try to raise the transaction price!
After all, this auction had nearly exhausted all the funds they had brought. If they continued bidding, no matter how excited they got, it would be impossible to reach a transaction price of nearly 100 billion, let alone higher than 100 billion.
As for whether the break will calm them down, causing them to stop filming or collaborate on sharing...
Their original plan was to achieve a low price and share the profits through cooperation.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. Man proposes, God disposes; and God's plans are no match for no plans at all.
Not bidding?
It's impossible to get them to give up the last core mecha technology right now!
Without the final core mecha technology, the payback period for the core mecha technologies they acquired earlier would be too long, and future profits would be low. More importantly, without all the core mecha technologies in hand, they would not be qualified to be one of the rule-makers in the mecha industry.
Therefore, no matter how painful it is, we must bid, bid desperately, bid no matter what, and we must get our hands on the last core mecha technology!
Thinking of this, Lionel couldn't help but curse again: "Damn heretics, damn Dongda, damn Zhou Luming!"
Why raise prices? Why not proactively seek to share technology with us? We are God's chosen people; everything in this world is a gift from God, and we should control it. Those heretics deserve to die!
After finishing his tirade, Lionel solemnly addressed the others, "We must continue the bidding, otherwise we'll be nothing more than squid at everyone's mercy in the mecha industry!"
After Lionel finished speaking, Maurizio squinted and said, "Gentlemen, why don't we stop bidding ourselves and instead fund Yamada Tatsuhiko and his team to bid on our behalf?"
That way, David and his team shouldn't deliberately raise prices to squeeze us out.
"It's no use. We all know that Yamada Tatsuhiko and the others can't possibly come up with that much money."
Once Yamada Tatsuhiko and his group can come up with that much money, David and his team will easily guess that Yamada Tatsuhiko and his group are bidding on our behalf, and the result will be the same.
Nicolas first rejected Maurizio's proposal, then offered his own: "In my opinion, we should let Reza win the last technology in the auction."
"Um!?"
Nicholas's words made Lionel and the others stop in their tracks. They asked, puzzled, "Nicholas, what do you mean?"
"Since we're going to eliminate those heretics anyway, let's just let Reza win the last mecha core technology in the auction."
In this way, we can both eliminate those heretics and obtain the final core technology of the mecha for free—a win-win situation.
After Nicholas explained, Lionel and the others exchanged glances: "I agree with Nicholas's plan. What about you?"
"agree."
After agreeing on the plan, Lionel's brow relaxed, and he nodded, saying, "Let's arrange it that way then. Let's hurry up and raise the funds!"
"..."
While Lionel and his group were secretly plotting, Tatsuhiko Yamada and Jaehyuk Lee were also scheming about how to divide the middle layer of the pie among themselves.
They have neither the ability nor the right to get involved in the top-tier industry, which is related to the core technology of mecha. Lionel and his team would not allow them to get involved either. Therefore, Tatsuhiko Yamada and his team's goal is to become the number one person after Lionel and his team, that is, the world's largest supplier of mecha parts.
The key to becoming the world's largest supplier of mecha components lies not in technology or cost, but in whether those at the top are willing to support them.
Will those at the top support them?
Definitely!
Because, apart from banks, they are currently the only ones with a large amount of cash that can be turned over in a short period of time.
Therefore, some of Lionel's group will definitely ask them for money or prevent them from lending money to others; it's even possible that all of Lionel's group will come to them.
In this way, they would naturally gain the support of Lionel and his group, becoming the number one person under Lionel and his group.
So, Tatsuhiko Yamada and Jaehyuk are now enjoying champagne, discussing future sales while finalizing their investment ratios and profit sharing, working together harmoniously and happily.
Meanwhile, David and his companions were caught in a bittersweet mix of emotions.
The sadness stems from the fact that I spent too much money, and it really hurts.
The joy wasn't because they had acquired two core mecha technologies, but because Zhou Luming had actually come knocking on their door with a beaming smile at this particular juncture.
It wasn't a gloating laugh, nor a condescending laugh, but a laugh like that of old friends meeting.
This means that their efforts have paid off!