“Ladies and gentlemen!!!! Please have your seat! The event is about to begin!!” The M.C of the auction announced and everyone began to hurriedly take their seat in the large auction hall. Charles and Vera found a good spot amongst some other businessmen. “Charles, I hope you’re not bothered by what that man said.” Vera whispered, her eyes glimmering with pity. Charles smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I’m used to hearing such things from people like that. It hasn’t stopped me from achieving everything I’ve achieved. Besides, after the auction, he will learn to respect me.” Vera nodded. Within her, she believed that Charles was a very strong and humble man. She couldn’t imagine how much he went through in the hands of his ex-wife’s family. But he still remained humble. As everyone settled in the hall, the auction began. “Good day ladies and gentlemen. We are happy to have all of you here present for this auction. We have some breathtaking items up for sale and we can’t wait to start the bid.” The auctioneer’s voiced echoed across the hall. Charles glanced around the room and his eyes fell on Jefferson who was already glaring at him. He could read the fury in his eyes and Charles couldn’t wait to take him down during the auction. “The first item today is a 1960 painting by Clinton Mark!” The auctioneer began. “We are starting the bid from 10 thousand dollars.” “10 thousand dollars!” A hand shot up in the air. “20 thousand dollars!” Another hand. “25 thousand dollars!” The auctioneer waited for another hand but none popped up again. “25 thousand dollars going once! Twice! Sold!!” A round of applause erupted in the hall as the painting was taken away and replaced by another piece of art. This time, it was a gold necklace from Spain. “This necklace was made by 25 goldsmiths and it was rumored to have some kind of mystical powers. I’m sure everyone wants to try it out.” The auctioneer continued. “We are starting the bid with 100 thousand dollars.” “100 thousand dollars here!” A woman with a large swelling on her head stood up. She wanted the necklace because of the rumored mystical powers. She was hoping it could remove the tumor on her head. “120 thousand dollars!” Another bidder announced by the corner. The woman frowned. “150 thousand dollars.” She was bent on buying the necklace. “170 thousand dollars!” The second bidder challenged her. He was a middle aged man who was known to be a collector of rare gold artifacts. Unlike the woman, he merely wanted it to add to his collection. “200 thousand dollars!” The woman who had already exhausted her budget yelled out, hoping that the man wouldn’t bid higher. To her disappointment, the man’s hands popped up again. “250 thousand dollars!” “250 thousand dollars going once! Twice! And sold to Mr. Timothy!” The auctioneer announced and another round of applause erupted. The woman hissed loudly and stormed out of the hall in anger. After some bidding for several collections, the main auction began. The high-tech machines were revealed and everyone’s attention was drawn. “I know this is the moment that we have all been waiting for. We have three high-tech machines for auction today. We have the power based EBM printer, Exoskeleton safety suit prototype and the biggest one is AI powered Daqri headset.” The auctioneer showed them the machines. “Let the auction begin!” “I have to buy everything especially the Daqri headset,” Charles said to himself. “It’s definitely going to be the most expensive item on sale but it will also be great for my hotel.” His eyes darted to Jefferson who was just smiling. “The power based EBM is not just your regular printer. It can print metal products and it is the best for creating strong, weight-bearing pieces.” The auctioneer started. “We will start this bid with 1 million dollars.” “1 million dollars!” The CEO of scraperparts announced. “1.5 million dollars!” Another hand popped up. “2 million dollars!” “2.5 million dollars!” “3 million dollars!” “3.5 million dollars!”Like Vera said, the auction for the high-tech machines was highly competitive. But Charles had a plan. “4 million dollars!” The final hand popped up and silence fell across the hall. Everyone was staring at the man and also waiting to see if anyone would outbid him. “4 million dollars going once! Twi–” “5 million dollars!” Charles said, raising his hand. A collective murmur broke out in the hall as everyone stared at him. Jefferson froze in his seat, unable to believe that Charles was bidding 5 million dollars in the auction. “5 million dollars going once! Twice! And sold to Mr. Charles.” A round of applause was given to him as the printer was taken away. “What’s really going on?” Jefferson asked himself, as he continued to watch Charles. According to Angela, Charles was a poor delivery man and he had also witnessed that. But how did he suddenly have the money to bid in an auction? Could it be that he was disguising as a poor man? He shook the thoughts out of his head and decided to focus on winning the bid for the AI powered headset. After all, that was his main purpose of attending the bid. He hoped to buy the headset and make a name for himself in the city. “That was really impressive.” Vera said to Charles and he smiled. In his mind, he hadn’t even gotten what he wanted. He knew everyone’s eyes were on the headset and he was bent on buying it. “The second machine we have here is the exoskeleton safety suit prototype. These suits can help you lift over 300 pounds of weight with ease. Imagine a real life iron man!” The auctioneer joked and everyone laughed. “Now, we are starting the bid with 8 million dollars!” “8 million dollars!” A head popped up immediately. “9 million dollars!” Another followed. “10 million dollars for that!” “11 million dollars!” The first bidder hissed. “12 million dollars!” As usual, Charles waited patiently for the bidding to progress. He was going to bid when the final amount was announced. The bidding for the prototype took longer than expected because many bidders were interested in it. “14 million dollars!” The bidding continued. “14.5 million dollars!” “16 million dollars!” “16.7 million dollars!” “17.5 million dollars!” “18 million dollars!” The final hand popped up and as usual, all eyes turned to him. It was the CEO of metablocks, the best producers of metals in the city. It was obvious why he wanted such a machine because it would help his workers greatly. The auctioneer cleared his throat. “18 million dollars going once! Twice! And–” Charles voice interrupted him once again. “20 million dollars!” Charles announced with a smug smile on his face. Immediately, everyone turned to him with so much speed that it looked like their necks would break. “This is impossible.” Jefferson muttered to himself, completely shocked. His jaw dropped as he saw the smile on Charles face like he was completely unaffected by the amount he was bidding. “It seems Mr. Charles is quite prepared for this auction.” The auctioneer chuckled. “20 million going once! Twice! And sold again to Mr. Charles.” A louder round of applause erupted in the hall and Charles couldn’t help the eyes watching him. Some of them were looking at him like he had suddenly grown two heads. “The third and final item for this auction is the AI powered Daqri headset. This headset lets you plan, design, track users, upgrade infrastructures and more in a virtual space.” The auctioneer revealed the headset which was locked in a glass box. “The auction for this beauty will start at 22 million dollars.” The hall was quiet at first because everyone didn’t expect it to be so expensive. Then the first bidder started. “22 million dollars!” Jefferson announced, rising from his seat. He turned to Charles and gave him a dirty grin. Charles immediately remembered the black card points given to him by the system and converted it to cash. That gave him additional 20 million dollars plus the money he had left. Just as he was about to bid, he heard a familiar voice. “25 million dollars.” Tyson stood up from his seat as well, his eyes piercing toward Charles. “Now, this is interesting.” Charles muttered to himself. Both his brother and Jefferson were present at the bid. “25.5 million dollars.” Jefferson said. “26 million dollars.” Tyson countered him. “26.5 million dollars.” The CEO of Platinum Hotel announced. “27 million dollars.” Jefferson continued, already shaking with fright. His budget for the bid was 28 million dollars and if anyone outbid him, he wouldn’t be able to buy the headset. “27.5 million dollars.” Tyson announced, standing his ground. “28 million dollars.” Jefferson bid his highest amount with his heart in his mouth. Tyson bit his lips in anger. His highest budget was 30 million dollars and Jefferson was threatening to outbid him. But he didn’t know that Jefferson had hit his maximum bid. Charles watched the display in amusement, calmly waiting for them to reach their highest bid. “30 million dollars!” Tyson announced. Jefferson plopped down his seat in embarrassment immediately Tyson outbid him. Meanwhile, Tyson smiled to himself when he saw Jefferson’s defeat. “30 million dollars going once! Twice! And–” “32 million dollars!” Charles voice boomed across the hall as he confidently rose from his seat.