Frostfire Legacy

Aster quickly understood Tina\'s plan.

She kept quiet about how many orchids they had, creating a sense of mystery. The more orchids they sold, the more others would think that the next one could be the last, pushing the bidders to go all out.

They walked away from the portal and moved to the opposite side of where the medical tent was placed, setting up their auction spot without wasting any more time.

"Let\'s start with the first one we picked up! It\'s already been with us for 16 hours, and we used the best harvest methods to preserve it, ensuring it will remain in perfect condition for at least 24 hours!"

Lory pulled out one of the Orchids from the first batch and displayed it for everyone to see while Tina continued her pitch. "... Now, let\'s start the bidding for this one! Starting at 5 million with increments of 1 million!"

The starting bid was half of its regular price, but with only 8 hours left in the orchid\'s life, the others hesitated.

"5 million!" Finally, one of them raised their voice.

"7 million!"

"Twelve!"

"Fifteen!!!"

And with that, an intense bidding contest began, pushing the price from 10 to 29 million Tels before the orchid was sold. Tina smiled, earning 19 million over the regular price with just one item. Her plan was working better than anticipated!

The first batch of orchids sold within minutes, averaging 25 million Tels each. It wasn\'t anything crazy yet, as both Tina and the bidders were still gauging one another.

"Then, let\'s proceed to the next one!"

About five minutes later, after selling exactly 12 orchids, Lory approached Tina with a concerned expression and spoke softly but clearly.

"Tina, I ran out of orchids."

"...!"

Her words caused everyone who had been delaying their bids to freeze in shock. They had heard Tina say she had "a few" orchids but hadn\'t expected there to be only twelve! Cold sweat trickled down their backs as they realized they\'d missed their chance… but Tina\'s next words threw them into a frenzy.

"I see. Thanks, Lory. Cassy, let\'s start with your batch!"

There were more orchids!

Lory had 12 orchids in her pack, and since there were five more people in the group, they quickly calculated that Tina\'s party might have a total of 72 orchids. However, they had no idea they were playing right into Tina\'s hands.

"Alright, let\'s proceed!"

One after another, the orchids were sold. As the number sold approached half of the estimated inventory, the average price started to decrease, dropping to almost 19 million Tels per orchid.

"18 million! Going once! Going twice! SOLD!"

But after they sold the 50th orchid in half an hour, things heated up. As buyers began to believe that the inventory was running out, the bidding war became more intense, raising the price from 20 to 50 million! Each plant sold for multiple times its usual market price!

Some of those who had delayed their bids, hoping the competition would cool down, regretted their decision, while those who had already secured one or two orchids were elated. Tina watched it all unfold, her smile widening.

"Alright, let\'s go!" She announced. "51st item! Same description—harvested roughly 10 hours ago! Starting price of 10 million!"

As expected, the bidding war intensified. The peak came at the 70th orchid, which sold for a whopping 100 million Tels! The "last two" items went for 80 and 93 million Tels, respectively.

By the end, the buyers were divided into two camps: those celebrating their success in securing orchids for their organizations and those despairing over having missed out. Tina watched their reactions with satisfaction. Everything had gone exactly as she planned.

"That\'s it for the individual sale of the orchids!" She declared in a clear, authoritative voice, her announcement sounding like a death sentence to some.

But what she said next left the crowd stunned. "Now, let\'s begin batch-selling the remaining orchids! First up, a batch of five orchids, intertwined together and near-impossible to separate without damaging them! The starting bid is 80 million, with increments of 5 million!"

When Aster presented the batch of tangled orchids, everyone gasped. Those who hadn\'t secured an orchid yet thought this was their chance.

"100 million—no, 200 million!"

"Damn it! I need that orchid! 210 million!"

"Mr. ***, let\'s pool our resources and split the orchids afterward. 250 million!"

Within moments, the price ballooned. A fierce battle of wits and intimidation began, with some even forming alliances in their desperation to secure the orchids.

"405 million going once! Going twice! SOLD!"

"""YEAAAH!!!"""

In the end, a coalition of five small labs won the bidding war for the batch of orchids. They cheered, elated by their victory. Tina watched the scene unfold, barely able to contain her laughter.

"Then, let\'s move on to the next one! A batch of three orchids this time, harvested eight hours ago! Starting bid of 40 million, with increments of 2 million!"

"..."

Afterward, with the buyers unable to gauge the true number of orchids left, all 100 orchids were sold at impressive prices. By the end of the auction, the average price had soared to 75 million per orchid. Tina and her party earned a staggering 7.5 billion Tels in a single day.

Aster turned to the group, grinning. "Since this is all thanks to Tina\'s wits, we\'ll each take 1 billion flat, and she can keep the rest!"

No one objected—except for Tina herself.

"No way, darling. I\'ll just take a billion like the rest of you. You can hold on to the rest!" She whispered playfully as she wrapped her arms around Aster\'s chest from behind. "In exchange..."

"Gah! Stop that, you vixen!"

Kali, unable to watch the flirting any longer, rushed over to separate them.

"You may have multiplied the value of the orchids, but it\'s still just money! You\'re pushing your limits too much!"

"Huh? I belong to darling, and darling belongs to me!" Tina growled in retaliation. "What gives you the right to butt into our relationship?"

"You\'re not even in a relationship yet, you delusional woman!"

As usual, the two clashed, but Aster didn\'t bother intervening. He was used to their antics by now and knew they wouldn\'t let things escalate beyond control. After all, they were adults who knew when to stop—most of the time.