The Gentleman at the End
Chapter 424 - Chapter 424 Chapter 423 Taking Down

Chapter 424: Chapter 423: Taking Down Chapter 424: Chapter 423: Taking Down Except for extremely rare customers like Yi Chen, who were directly recognized and branded by the duke, ordinary people wanting to enter the auction had to undergo a triple check.

1. The total value of personal ancient coins and carried items must exceed thirty thousand.

2. Individuals must present proof of affiliation and a guarantor’s certification, or the limit of condition 1 increases by twenty thousand if they cannot.

3. At the time of admission, an individual’s physical constitution is checked, and they must possess certain “rare” traits, or else the limit of condition 1 increases by twenty thousand.

Those who can meet the three conditions and enter are naturally either wealthy or noble.

Yet Yi Chen seemed full of doubts,

He watched the ‘Skin Slave’ who was pulled onto the stage. The figure had extensive necrotic tissue throughout their skin, which was dark and festering, and even though they were dressed, the exposed skin’s poor structure was still visible around the neck and wrist gaps.

Yi Chen’s gentleman’s clothes were made from low-quality skin blended with Yellow Skin, which, thanks to the concealment and camouflage abilities of Yellow Skin, was nearly undetectable by any Skin Slave. Furthermore, it enabled him to sense the other party’s physical condition.

Currently, the Skin Sensing informed Yi Chen that the Skin Slave brought onto the stage could die at any time; their skin was at the “verge of decay.”

“Golden Mask.”

When Yi Chen called out this name, an attendant in a tailcoat and Golden Mask immediately came to the box seat.

“What do you need, esteemed Mr. William?”

“Why is that Skin Slave appearing in the auction? Their physical condition is terrible, on the verge of death, and could even potentially cause a regional infection.”

Following Yi Chen’s gaze and pointing, Golden Mask immediately replied:

“Are you talking about Mr. Archim Cross?

Indeed, during the physical check at entry, his condition was the worst.

It seems he came to the auction hoping to buy something related to skin, but sadly, no such item appeared, and now he has been forcibly brought onto the stage for auction, which is quite pitiful indeed.”

“Why is such a person still allowed in?”

“Because he meets the conditions~ Apart from carrying a large amount of cash, he also has some interesting things… Oh! My gosh, how could I possibly divulge a customer’s privacy like this, I am so dead; I really shouldn’t have made such a mistake.”

As soon as these words were uttered,

Golden Mask immediately pulled out a Golden Demon-suppressing Mallet and held it vertically through his own head, dying on the spot!

The moment of death, both the mallet and the Golden Mask dissolved into golden liquid and seeped into the floor, leaving a body stripped of facial skin and bones, with the brain exposed.

Soon,

a group of attendants wearing Golden Masks entered the box, quickly dealing with the corpse and cleaning the floor.

“I truly apologize for the mishap in my duties just now, please don’t mind it.”

“It’s okay…”

As the Golden Mask left, Yi Chen became even more puzzled–how could such a well-off Skin Slave end up in this situation?

“Is it because he committed severe crimes at the Skin Factory and was exiled? As he has not had fresh skin supplies for years, has his own skin become so ulcerated?”

At this moment, the Yellow Skin within him communicated through text.

Such Open Source Skin Slaves in the Old World could live normally even without supply from the Skin Factory. The ulceration on his body most likely results from external injuries, some permanent curse, or perhaps, he ventured too deep into ‘skin-related illnesses’ and lost control, and now, he’s come to the duke’s place to try his luck, hoping to get a perfect new skin for a full body skin replacement.”

Exiles have been stripped of their qualifications to live in the Skin Factory, so the Skin Factory won’t impose any further punishment.

If someone crosses the ‘exile punishment’ line, then it’s a death sentence; on the spot, they will be redone into a skin, maximizing their value just before death.

He must have encountered one of the three situations I mentioned, and you should pay close attention to that

Listening to the explanation from the Yellow Skin, Yi Chen pondered and called Golden Mask again.

“By the way, if there aren’t any suitable items for auction on this person, and no one would buy even if he were sold as a slave, how would he be handled?”

“Rest assured, the starting bid for slave rights is just one coin, even a single finger would find a buyer, since everyone attending the auction has been verified by us, even if they are near death, they have their value.”

Yi Chen continued to inquire: “If the slave rights are auctioned off, how are his possessions and money handled?”

“Once the slave rights are successfully auctioned, his money and belongings will be held by our chamber of commerce and returned to him after a ten-year period.

If he dies during these ten years of servitude, the ownerless property will naturally belong to us.”

“Understood.”

[Forced Auction] begins,

The atmosphere in the room reached its climax,

Generally, the audience invited on stage could produce an item worthy of the auction,

Even though some were very reluctant, or might even risk losing a treasure they had desperately acquired, they had to auction it off, lest they end up sold as slaves and possibly lose their lives along the way.

After all, the Duke’s Chamber of Commerce was mainly frequented by gamblers, who, once they bought a slave with considerable abilities, would maximize their use, heading straight to the Extremely Dark Land or even seeking out the Duke for highly risky gambles.

When it was time for the forced auction to move to the sixth person, who was a skin slave named Archim Cross,

Yi Chen had already sensed through the skin that this person carried no valuable items, and he was even ready to purchase the slave rights for this man.

However, an unexpected event occurred.

Suddenly, the man tore off his outer coat, the leather wrapped around his body, the padding, the bandages, and the metal armor plates, and all, revealing his festering, gangrenous, and decaying skin.

Many of the patients present felt quite unwell at the sight,

but Yi Chen, on the other hand, widened his eyes, taking the opportunity to get a clear view of the man’s skin condition, even feeling a strange throbbing in his heart.

“Could this guy be intentionally revealing his terrible condition, trying to make himself not get sold? No… with a starting bid of one coin, considering the many weird patients here and those with bizarre tastes, someone will definitely place a bid.”

As Yi Chen was puzzled, an even more stimulating event unfolded,

the skin slave used his fingernails to slice open his skin along the body’s midline, or rather, he slid it like a ‘zipper’.

When the cutting was finished,

the man instantly moved, stepping out from between the layers of skin, leaving the perfectly peeled gangrenous skin remaining in place, still maintaining a standing position.

Neither the skin slave himself nor the peeled-off skin shed any blood, or rather, the blood inside had long been blocked by the extensive gangrenous areas.

A rasp of voices came from his throat, “I will sell this high-level skin infected with ‘Gangrenous Purulent Dermatitis,’ a limited skin which the skin factories can no longer produce,

Even if the skin condition worsens due to some underlying reasons, completely beyond my control, I believe at this point in time, such skin will fetch a good price.

Please, Duke, verify it.”

The Duke didn’t even look, but simply raised his palm to signal that the peeled-off skin met the auction standards.

The customers below were looking at each other, for they had little desire to buy such skin which the skin slave himself could not handle or control, and which was decaying and dying.

But someone did make a bid.

50,

200,

500,

1000,

10000,

Just as someone yelled out a price of one thousand, suddenly a bid of ten thousand came from a corner, everyone turning their heads to look,

The bidder was a diminutive old man whose head was thrice the size of his body, with a nameplate on his chest, apparently affiliated with a research organization from the Old World.

His purpose was also quite clear, planning to buy this special skin for use as research material.

Just as he thought he could easily secure it,

from a top-level customer’s suite on the third layer of the venue, a bid came in, 20000.

Doubling the previous offer, an assertive presence.

The old man intended to bid higher, but when he glanced towards this closed suite, he immediately felt a mental oppression from his brain.

Clearly, the premier customer sitting inside had quite a formidable brain, even superior to the brain he had cultivated for years.

The direct doubling of the bid also showed a determination to secure it,

Competing against such a high-class customer with an exceptional brain would likely lead to no good end, so the old man had no choice but to cease, raising his shrunken palm to indicate no further bids.

With a strike of the Duke’s gavel, the rights to the skin were awarded to the mysterious high-class customer.

Sitting in the suite, Yi Chen, having succeeded in his auction tactics, also revealed a satisfied smile, but he soon sensed something amiss.

“Hmm? Exactly doubled to twenty thousand coins, isn’t this price precisely the ‘royalty fee’ the Duke gave me…” then Yi Chen glanced again at the spotlessly cleaned floor, recalling the scene of the Golden Mask’s suicide, and shook his head.