Chapter 519: A Half-Hour Delay
What the host just said made all the rich tycoons that were on the verge of death feel the chill and become extremely serious.
Just one dose left!
Not even the Mandala Lab could guarantee when the next dose would be developed. Maybe it would take several more years, but would they still be alive by then?
For those that weren’t being tormented by a terminal illness, they wouldn’t understand the pain of living the remaining days of life under a countdown.
It didn’t matter how much money you had, when the doctor tells you that you have a terminal illness, no matter how rich you are, you would be scared and unwilling to give up the life in which you got to enjoy all the nice things in the world that money can buy!
At this time, I’m afraid that the monologue of any rich man would be: If I can be given a chance, I’m willing to exchange my wealth for health!
But now!
When there was actually a dose of medicine before you that allows one to trade money for health, what else were they waiting for?
This was the last dose left on Earth!
There won’t be another one left after this one is gone too!
One must say, even though one of the only two doses of serum was used already, it would only bring up the remaining one’s value! Right now, due to Hawking’s recovery, this medicine had been lifted to an inestimable value!
At this time, a wealthy tycoon directly stood up and said, “Can I ask, do you accept foreign currencies?”
The Host: “I’m very sorry, right now, we are only accepting US dollars.”
“Then I request for the auction to be postponed for half an hour!” the tycoon strongly advised.
“Why? Just follow the preset course of the auction, why are we allowing it to be postponed?” some other tycoons that had enough cash ready also immediately retorted.
They knew how many eyes were on this medicine. So, if people could eliminate some competitors with some unfair advantages, they wouldn’t hesitate to do so.
Indeed, after that tycoon said that, it immediately caused strong dissatisfaction from several local tycoons from the Middle East.
“This is unfair for people from foreign countries!”
Some local tycoons snorted. “Since you are here for the auction, why didn’t you prepare the money in advance?”
Immediately, the conversation got ugly as some people began quarreling.
The host and organizer obviously weren’t stupid. They knew it would be better the more prepared people were.
“We estimate that the majority of our guests here probably need more time to prepare, so, to show our respect to our guests that have traveled far to be here, we will postpone the auction for thirty minutes. Once the countdown ends, we will start immediately,” the host announced.
“Excuse me, what will be the beginning bid price? You should mention it first, and that can scare off some irrelevant people that don’t have the wealth to compete,” some rich and powerful tycoon snorted and said.
“The medicine will start at $100 million, and each increasing bid cannot be lower than 10 million!”
“Very good!” There was no objection.
Those media reporting all wondered, “Are people really cool with these prices? I can’t even make that much money if you give me 30 more years to live, and even if I have that much money, I would rather spend the rest of my life in luxury than get medicine like this.”
At this time, other people scoffed at that comment. “I really hope you get cancer sometime in the future, and then you will know the feeling of despair. Those terminal illnesses can really wear away your willpower and make you collapse both physically and mentally. Things only matter if you are still alive, and if you are not, then nothing matters anymore. If you don’t have the energy and health to enjoy luxury, what good would having a crap ton of money do? In the face of terminal illnesses, all of your money is as good as paper!”
As soon as the decision to postpone the auction was announced, those guests that weren’t prepared enough immediately picked up the phone and began dialing.
Even those that were prepared began dialing to get more money. They all called their contacts to temporarily summon all their wealth to banks in the M Nation as soon as possible.
“Hello? Linda? Yes, I’m at the auction, you saw it too on TV, it’s miraculous! It can save Dad’s life! Yes, no matter how much, hurry up and mortgage all the assets we have, get as much cash you can and wire it onto my card in the M Nation. Hurry, we only have half an hour!”
“Hello? Gul’dan, don’t stop me, the medicine is real. I’ve decided! Today, I will get it at all costs! Even if I become a homeless person! I have connections, I can rise to wealth again, but if I die, then nothing matters anymore, understand? I know you want to inherit my money after I die, but let me tell you, if you don’t wire over all the money we have, I won’t give you a cent! I will donate it all to charity!”
“Hello? Lawyer Fang, if you are watching the live broadcast, you already know. Please put all the assets under my name on collateral to secure as much as cash as you can and wire it to me immediately. Listen, if you fack this up, you don’t have to come to work tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry, Boss, at the moment Mr. Hawking woke up, I’ve already got everything prepared!”
“You are such a competent lawyer!”
Lin Chuxue watched as the people around her frantically made phone calls. Some were worried that they wouldn’t be fast enough and even began cursing on the phone. It was obvious how crazy they have become because of the drug. Seeing all this, Lin Chuxue said to Xu Cheng, “Looks like we won’t join the party tonight.”
Xu Cheng: “If you want, I can also bid for you.”
“Nah, I’m scared.” Lin Chuxue smiled. “Look at all these people, they are either desperate to live themselves or they are desperate to get it for their family to save lives. But, even if I get it, I was just going to use it to preserve my youth. If those tycoons knew about it, wouldn’t they find all kinds of ways to torture me in the future?
Xu Cheng: “In fact, not all of them are here to save a life. I feel that there are a few out there that just want to see if they can get lucky. It’s already said that there’s only one dose left, and as long as it’s a reasonable and affordable price, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get it and keep it in case of future emergencies. Or you know, if someone like a Dubai royalty or Steve Jobs (wasn’t dead yet when this chap was written) gets sick, they could obviously sell it to them at a ridiculous return on investment. There are too many people with money, and when it was them in the situation of facing a terminal illness, whether it is a couple of hundred million or a couple of hundred billion, people would probably even use all of their wealth and also borrow more money to buy this to extend their life.”
Half an hour later, the auction continued as planned. During this process, the police already called in reinforcements to guard around the medicine, the only dose that was left in this world. At a time like this, anything crazy could happen.
Lin Dong told Xu Cheng, within that half hour, some tycoons even tried to directly contact the Mandala Lab, trying to see if they could go through the backdoor to intercept the medicine, and wondering if they could use any assets as collaterals too.
But, they couldn’t find the contact information anywhere, and when they try to ask the auction house, they obviously wouldn’t leak Lin Dong’s information.
When the host walked back onto the stage, he announced, “Now, the auction will officially begin! Everyone, please go back to your seats! For whoever that successfully wins the auction, we will provide treatment for him on the spot, and let him leave this auction house with their health and youth restored!”