Chapter 324: Tsunami Wave Orb
"The Tsunami Wave Orb, what we can confirm is that its specific function is to give the survivor a chance to gain the ability to control water from a distance."
"Starting bid... 400 kgs of fruit and vegetable food, or 200 kgs of meat food. Each increment must not be less than 20 kgs of fruit and vegetables."
"Now, the auction begins!"
As soon as the words fell, the venue first fell into a deathly silence, then instantly erupted into discussions that echoed throughout the entire auction hall.
Strangely, for this rather expensive orb, most people didn’t care about its price at all, but instead focused their attention on the orb itself.
"Controlling water? Is that really a superpower?"
"Holy moly, I’m finding the things in the Wasteland World harder and harder to understand."
"Director Lilith isn’t tricking us, is she? Is this ability guaranteed? Don’t just fool us with a blue marble, right?"
At this moment, no one present heard about this orb’s ability without being tempted.
Influenced by Earth’s film, television, or print works, they already had ideas about this ability in their minds, but they dared not confirm it.
This question truly hit them where it counted.
"Uh, everyone, I haven’t personally experienced the specific ability of this orb yet. The description I just gave is what is written when it’s placed in a Survivor’s backpack."
Lilith couldn’t be too sure about the orb’s use either.
As a shrewd businesswoman, the reason she dared to bring out such a good item for sale was because she didn’t know the probability of gaining an ability from this orb.
Having previously wasted a clairvoyance orb, Lilith didn’t want to rely on gambling for profit, which is why she decided to put this orb up for sale.
It was just to increase the success rate of the auction.
As soon as these words came out, the venue fell silent again for a while.
"If the Survival Platform says so, then why the hell hesitate?"
"Whether it’s true or false, I’m going for it anyway!"
"400 kgs!"
On the other hand, Vikram was still immersed in his analysis of the orb.
[Tsunami Wave Orb: Gold, one-time use. The user’s four-dimensional physique increases by 3 points each, with a 50% chance of gaining the special ability, Tsunami Wave. If the user already possesses a Water-type ability, there is a 70% chance for that ability to evolve. There is also a chance for Water-type attacks and abilities to develop into Ice-type abilities.]
[Tsunami Wave: With this ability, the host can freely control nearby water sources, or generate and control a mass of water on their own. Water attacks possess greatly increased power and control. As the ability develops, it may evolve into more advanced Water or Ice-related abilities.]
Vikram read the information analyzed by the system word by word, the first thing he understood, this orb can evolve his Water Mage, but since Water Mage was already evolved, he didn’t need that.
And for the second function, at first, he thought that what Lilith called a superpower was just a gimmick, most likely something not very useful like Night Vision.
But with the system describing it this way, Vikram was now utterly astonished.
The special ability granted by this orb was clearly like the Water user like he met in the ruins.
And with this, he now found how the first Awakened user appeared. And how they evolved.
Maybe later, the Awakened user children automatically generated the superpower without needing the orb like that.
He was also confused, that the people of Crimson Desire Shelter already become strong enough to defeat Legendary Zombies?
Others couldn’t discern the quality of the Tsunami Wave Orb, but Vikram saw it clearly; it was indeed Legendary-level.
And he has also found it by killing only Legendary Zombies, so without a supply crate at hand, he couldn’t think of any other way to obtain it besides killing a Legendary Zombie.
Thinking of this, a sense of frustration rose in Vikram’s heart.
He had a system, yet his exploration progress was actually not as good as the people of Crimson Desire Shelter who relied on their own hands.
Vikram stared at the auction item, muttering to himself with a blank look.
Although he didn’t require this orb mostly, giving in others hands wasn’t worth it. The origin of the orb or anything else isn’t important, just not giving in his enemy hand was worth it.
His gaze swept across the increasingly lively scene. The ability of this orb made everyone extremely envious. After the first Survivor called out a price, the other Survivors reacted and successively followed suit.
"I bid 420 kgs of vegetables! I want this orb."
"Bullshit! I bid 450 kgs of vegetables!"
"470 kgs, don’t fight me for it. I have plenty of food..."
Bids rose and fell, one after another. Many Survivors who hadn’t made a move for various items earlier now also joined in.
Were they truly not lacking food in their Shelters?
Of course, that was unlikely.
However, everyone knew that if this orb was truly so miraculous, as long as they got their hands on it and successfully gained a superpower, they would definitely be able to establish a firm foothold in the Wasteland.
It might even be possible to reshuffle the powers in the Wasteland with the ability of this orb.
With this thought, many people were willing to empty their savings to try for this slim chance.
The bidding for the Tsunami Wave Orb continued to soar, jumping from the starting price of 400 kgs of food to 600 kgs in the blink of an eye.
"I bid 650 kgs of vegetables!" Snape stood up after bidding, looking at every survivor behind him.
"Everyone, for those who bid against me earlier, I, Snape, can overlook it, but for this orb, I hope everyone can give me some face and let me, Snape, have it."
"As long as I acquire this orb, I, Snape, promise that everyone can receive one kg of grain from me for free, how about that?"
"Afterward, if I gain a special ability with this orb, I also welcome everyone present to join my Green Wind Shelter."
Having been quiet for a while in the first half of the auction due to Vikram’s suppression, he actually tried to forcefully buy this orb again using his influence.
However, compared to his previous threats, this time, to avoid further public outrage, he chose to use bribery as a test.
Yet, this time, not only did Vikram not give him face, but the other bidders in their seats also completely ignored Snape’s nonsense.
Some even directly retorted, "Help you get the orb, and then turn around and join your Green Wind Shelter as your subordinate?"
"Why do all the good things go to you, old man? Should I give you another twenty thousand dollars?"
"Exactly, we were too lazy to bother with you before, did you really think you were hot stuff?"
"Giving everyone one kg of food, do you think you’re being very generous?"
"If you can’t afford the price, then get lost. Stop blabbering. If you don’t have money, others do."
"Director Lilith, I bid 640 kgs of vegetables!"
Snape’s face turned ashen from being rebutted by a dozen or so Survivors present, but what they said was perfectly valid and he couldn’t refute it.
Vikram, who took in this scene, made no attempt to hide his sneer, saying to Snape with a contemptuous tone, "Pfft! Brother Snape, your Green Wind Shelter is still lacking, huh? Why aren’t these people afraid of you?"
Snape’s face was ashen. He glared at Vikram, who was mercilessly mocking him, for a long while before gritting his teeth and saying, "Laugh, go on and laugh."
"When I get this orb, the first one I kill will be you, you little beast!"
"700 kgs of vegetables, this is all I have. Director Lilith, please sell me the orb."
A Survivor said with a pained expression, extending his hand in supplication.
The Tsunami Wave Orb, just like the clairvoyance orb, was also a special item that only offered a chance to gain abilities.
The difference was that its price had already been driven up to the highest of the entire auction.
Yet, even at this price, it still couldn’t deter other powerful Survivors from bidding.
"Heh heh, if you only have this much in supplies, don’t come out here to embarrass yourself."
"If your worthless pleading worked, why would we need these vegetables?"
The Survivor next to him mocked mercilessly, while once again raising the price.
From the calm smile on his face, it wasn’t hard to guess that the orb’s price was still a safe distance from his bottom line.
However, just as he was about to confidently continue bidding, intending to secure the treasure in his grasp...
Snape, seated in the front row, let out a sinister chuckle.
"Hahahaha!"
"Alright, since you all like to compete with me so much, I don’t mind. I’m not afraid of a battle of resources."
With that, Snape extended a finger, his lips moving slightly, "1 ton of vegetables!!"
"I’d like to see who else can afford that?"
As expected, at these words, not only did the previously mocked Survivor completely lose hope, but even the mocker, who had been so confident just now, saw his pupils contract.
He was considered one of the Survivors with ample supplies in his pockets at this auction.
Besides vegetables, this Survivor had even brought meat, which he was reluctant to eat himself, for this auction.
He had originally planned to rely on this backup to secure the orb.
Who knew what nerve Snape hit, going against convention and suddenly raising the price so much?
Although this price wasn’t his absolute highest, it wasn’t far off.
Having just shown off, it would be too embarrassing to be immediately slapped in the face, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and go for it.
"1 ton of vegetables, plus one hundred kgs of raw meat!"
"What? He’s even bringing out meat to trade, he’s really going all in."
Don’t be fooled by the large amount of vegetable reserves they seem to have; in reality, most of it consists of rotten leaves.
Under the current conditions, most of them can only grow such vegetables, and Director Lilith also tacitly approves.
Although the value ratio of vegetables to meat at this auction was 1 to 2, no one had actually traded meat so far.
After all, on the market, meat is in such high demand that people would snatch it up even at a 1 to 3 ratio for vegetables, let alone 1 to 2.
Just as they thought this orb would go to the Survivor who traded meat, the familiar voice spoke again.
"1.4 tons of vegetables!"
