As time ticked by, the information on the big screen remained unchanged.
[1. ’100-minute Visa Time’]
[2. ’None’]
Standing at the center of the auction area, Deng Lei was evidently excited, because his plan, once successful, would break the Imitator’s setup and show all auction players another possibility.
However, with only one minute left in the auction time, things changed.
[1. ’200-minute Visa Time’]
[2. ’100-minute Visa Time’]
Obviously, another player had placed a bid.
Deng Lei paused for a moment, then angrily exclaimed: "Who is it? Knowing it’s a trap, why step into it?"
No one responded.
Deng Lei looked at the information on the big screen, his expression turning grim.
After a moment, a voice said: "It’s fine, letting the person who bid 200-minute Visa Time steal the auction is also acceptable, as long as he’s willing to evenly split the Gold Coins."
Deng Lei glanced over and noticed Tang Qing appearing indifferent, speaking casually.
Deng Lei frowned: "How do you know he’ll evenly split the Gold Coins?"
Tang Qing shrugged: "How do I know you’ll evenly split the Gold Coins?"
Deng Lei was momentarily speechless, caught off guard by the question and unsure of how to respond.
Huang Shengjie wasn’t surprised at all: "Of course, such a plan is impossible to succeed."
From a rational perspective, Deng Lei’s plan is indeed good, but it is destined to be unimplemented because players simply cannot trust each other.
For other players, whether Deng Lei will split the Gold Coins after stealing the auction is completely unknown, with no way to enforce or guarantee it.
Since that’s the case, why not just bid an additional 100-minute Visa Time to snatch it yourself?
Moreover, all players in the auction area are free to move; those who become members of the Anti-Smuggling Team, and Gold Digger players without gold sand in hand, can place a bid anytime they pass by.
Therefore, Deng Lei’s plan to evenly distribute the acquired Gold Coins to all players in front of the auction table is unrealistic.
At the last moments of the bidding, the prices finally spiraled out of control, beginning to alternately rise.
From a 200-minute Visa Time, it quickly jumped to a 5000-minute Visa Time, then went up to a 10,000-minute Visa Time.
Although the auction time is only 10 minutes, as long as someone places a bid in the last moments, it will be extended by 30 seconds, up to a maximum of 3 extensions, totaling 1 and a half minutes.
In this one and a half minutes, players have enough time to bid repeatedly up to dozens of times.
This auction’s price continued to alternate upwards until the final 15-second countdown after the third raise, both parties were still raising the stakes.
[1. ’36,000-minute Visa Time’]
[2. ’32,000-minute Visa Time’]
Many players have realized it’s a trap, yet the slow growth of initial bidding amounts still creates an illusion for many players, leading them to bite.
Once the top two are locked in, entering the mutual bid-rising phase, escaping becomes exceedingly difficult. Only with a high bid at the last moment can they ensure being the top bidder and grab the item.
Huang Shengjie frowned: "These people... don’t learn from experience, do they?
"For such an obviously trap-like auction mechanism, you should just not participate."
But this was just his initial thought; soon he realized this mindset was too optimistic.
For the average player, resisting such temptation is really difficult.
Because early bidding prices are extremely low, players always see the possibility of acquiring more than 30,000 gold sand with extremely low Visa Time; therefore, they cannot help but bid something out of a ’what if’ mentality.
When multiple players attempt to bid, ultimately, two unlucky ones always get stuck.
After another three to five minutes, a new auction began.
[Fifth auction begins.]
[Auction content: 32,300 gold sand.]
Auctions in the early game have intervals of three to five minutes, as few players can gather over 30,000 gold sand early on.
To successfully initiate an auction, players need not only a certain degree of luck but also to break through the Anti-Smuggling Team’s blockade.
Overall, the interval time between auctions is shortening.
Perhaps soon, auctions of different rounds can achieve seamless connection.
...
Huang Shengjie looked toward the ’Auction Item Pickup Point’, again seeing an unfamiliar player stepping forward to take away their won Gold Coins, with a similarly unpleasant expression.
Clearly, his final bid far exceeded his expectations, but he had to sacrifice to resolve the situation.
Yet, just as he was about to turn and leave, Tang Qing walked over from the side and said something to him.
Due to distance, Huang Shengjie couldn’t hear the conversation between the two, only vaguely perceiving some negotiation was happening.
Then, Tang Qing instructed another member of the Anti-Smuggling Team to press the ’Inspection’ button on the player, who in response voluntarily handed over some Gold Coins.
The exact amount, however, couldn’t be determined.
Huang Shengjie frowned: "What’s happening? Looks like... Tang Qing is buying Gold Coins?
"The Anti-Smuggling Team can play this way?"
Evidently, this is an action that only players in the Anti-Smuggling Team can perform.
For general Gold Diggers, wanting to exchange Visa Time for Gold Coins under the game mechanics is not freely doable.
They can only go to the ’Trading Area’ as a ’Visa Time Provider’; whether they can exchange for Gold Coins, and what the specific ratio would be depends on luck.
But Anti-Smuggling Team players are different, because the ’Inspection’ action can compensate 30% of the suspected amount to the other party, thus they can directly reimburse 15,000-minute Visa Time based on the maximum suspicion amount of 50,000.
Tang Qing should be using this method to immediately reimburse the other party Visa Time in exchange for part of their Gold Coins.
Moreover, this transaction can happen multiple times, provided waiting for a 10-minute Exemption from Inspection period to end without other Anti-Smuggling Team interference.
"But the question remains... why would Tang Qing use this method to exchange for Gold Coins from others?
"This method carries risks; if after the inspection ends the other party doesn’t give the Gold Coins, it becomes troublesome, offering less assurance than using the ’Trading Area’.
"However... after all, this is face-to-face trading where you can see who the other person really is, providing stronger constraints.
"Tang Qing is also a player skilled at reading people; perhaps he can see that the player has high chances of honoring the agreement, which is why he chooses to buy from them.
"Since the other party is willing to sell, that means Tang Qing’s purchase price must be higher than 1:1, for example, exchanging 15,000-minute Visa Time for 13,000 Gold Coins, thus the other party has no reason to refuse.
"Even though the player’s cost for acquiring gold sand might be higher, selling at such a price allows them to at least cut their losses.
"But why does Tang Qing want gold coins? Why not go to the trading area or participate in auctions himself?
"...Well, he wants to mitigate risks.
"In the trading area, one may not match with buyers truly interested; participating in auctions himself could end up trapped, so directly purchasing from players who already acquired gold is more beneficial even if it’s at a slightly higher ratio.
"The only question is... what does Tang Qing want with these additional Gold Coins? If it’s merely for the final settlement, then it’s undoubtedly a loss.
"Because the settlement counts as net profit, using more Visa Time to exchange for Gold Coins results in a negative return.
"What’s the biggest difference between Gold Coins and Visa Time?"