Huang Shengjie instantly thought of the answer.
"It’s ’freely usable’!
"In this game, it’s quite complicated if I want to give someone visa time directly. There isn’t anything like a ’visa time exchange ticket’ in this game.
"You can only use methods like trade, auction, inspection, etc., but these methods have their limitations.
"Gold Coins are completely unrestricted and can be freely given to any other community’s player.
"So strictly speaking, Gold Coins are the only freely circulating currency in the game... Tang Qing must be exchanging Gold Coins at a higher premium because he has a larger plan that requires a lot of Gold Coins."
Huang Shengjie couldn’t figure out what this larger plan was because he still had to escort the players from Zone C and couldn’t wander freely and observe the situation.
Just then, Huang Shengjie saw a familiar face walking through the rest area towards the trading zone.
Lin Sizhi.
He was carrying a small golden suitcase, glanced briefly to confirm the situation in the auction area, and then headed straight to the trading zone.
Because they couldn’t communicate, Huang Shengjie didn’t say anything, just watched him leave.
"It seems Lawyer Lin should have also found a player from the Anti-Smuggling Team and successfully obtained Exemption from Inspection, then he can go to the trading zone to cash in the gold sand.
"But why didn’t he cash it in the auction area? Did he find a way to bypass the trust issues among the trading zone players?
"With Lawyer Lin’s skills, this shouldn’t be his first time cashing in gold sand, so he’s probably done it once before."
Huang Shengjie wasn’t sure of Lin Sizhi’s specific situation but assumed it was reliable enough, so he shifted his focus back to his own strategy.
...
The auction was still going on, with the initial bids still increasing very slowly.
But Huang Shengjie knew these were traps; eventually, there would always be players who fall for the temptation of cheap deals. The previous auctions had demonstrated this more than once.
The only difference is that the further it goes, the more fiercely the players fall into the traps.
Just then, Huang Shengjie noticed that a player from Zone C had appeared for a meeting point: Zhang Jing was standing with a suitcase, waiting in front of the turnstile.
According to the strategy Huang Shengjie had set earlier, he was to assist outside Zone C, first escorting players from Community 23; Peng Xinyuan would assist outside Zone A, first escorting players from Community 2.
Once things were more settled, they would swap roles.
Huang Shengjie approached the turnstile, and as per the original plan, if no other Anti-Smuggling Team came to interfere, he wouldn’t need to rush to inspect Zhang Jing but could escort her personally.
This way, he would save an inspection attempt.
However, upon seeing Zhang Jing, another Anti-Smuggling Team player immediately came over, also waiting outside the turnstile.
Obviously, with an Anti-Smuggling Team presence in the Gold Panning Area, these high-yield players would inevitably be targeted. The more rounds they play, the higher the rewards, and the greater the risk of being guessed by the Anti-Smuggling Team.
If Huang Shengjie wasn’t there to assist, Zhang Jing would only have two choices: get stuck in the Gold Panning Area unable to leave or gamble on the Anti-Smuggling Team player guessing wrong.
But now she had a new choice.
Zhang Jing and Huang Shengjie quickly and tactically switched turnstiles.
The moment Zhang Jing crossed the turnstile, Huang Shengjie pressed the ’Inspection’ button before the Anti-Smuggling Team player could.
The Anti-Smuggling Team player didn’t say anything, simply gave Huang Shengjie a meaningful look before leaving.
Huang Shengjie went through the motions, inputting ’1 gold sand’ into the machine, then confirmed the inspection.
[Incorrect guess, inspection failed.]
[1 minute of visa time automatically compensated to the other party.]
As a result, Zhang Jing gained 10 minutes of Exemption from Inspection time, which should be enough for her to cash in the gold sand.
"Head to the auction area," Huang Shengjie suggested.
Zhang Jing clearly intended to do that too, as previous auctions always swapped more visa time than the amount of gold sand, making it obviously more worthwhile than the trading zone. Anyone could see it.
She reached the auction area and checked the bidding platform status.
About 3 minutes remained until the current auction ended, considering up to three extensions of 30 seconds each, which meant it could end in no more than 4 and a half minutes.
No other players were in line to auction gold sand at the auction table, so once the current auction ended, Zhang Jing could directly submit her gold sand as the ’item up for auction.’
Once submitted, the Anti-Smuggling Team could no longer inspect her.
In other words, as long as the ’Exemption from Inspection’ time protected her until she submitted the gold sand for auction, she would be fine.
Zhang Jing did a quick calculation, finding she had enough time, so she decided to wait.
...
[The fifth auction has ended.]
[Auction content: 32,300 gold sand.]
[1. ’27,000 minutes of visa time’ (successful bid)]
[2. ’17,000 minutes of visa time’ (failed bid)]
Seeing this result, Huang Shengjie and the auction area players were surprised.
"Someone actually managed to snag a bargain?"
Compared to the previous auction results, this one had cooled off a bit, and in fact, the top bid secured with significantly less visa time than the value of the gold sand.
It seemed the second bidder kept their head, stopping their loss.
Even though they forfeited 17,000 minutes of visa time, they ensured they didn’t create more sunk costs by continuing to invest more time.
It’s hard to say if this was a gain or a loss, but one thing was certain: the top bidder was surely pleased with the outcome, having picked up a bargain.
Such unexpected results further fueled players’ hope for good fortune.
Even though many players realized the auction rules might be a trap, the possibility of a ’second bidder dropping out early’ still tempted players to take a risk.
The next auction would be Zhang Jing’s turn, which would count towards the group’s collective earnings for the eight members.
[The sixth auction begins.]
[Auction content: 48,700 gold sand.]
Huang Shengjie couldn’t help but feel invigorated; he hadn’t known how much gold sand Zhang Jing was carrying, and this number was far more than he anticipated.
Clearly, Zhang Jing likely took drugs, underwent extra round battles, and had a streak of good luck to quickly gather about 50,000 gold sand.
Compared to the previous auction’s 30,000 gold sand, nearly 50,000 gold sand was obviously more eye-catching and sparked the players’ bidding excitement.
Soon, some tentative bids emerged, although initially, everyone remained relatively restrained, and the competition wasn’t intense.
At this moment, Huang Shengjie noticed Lin Sizhi had returned.
However, he didn’t return to the Gold Panning Area, instead remaining in the auction area, observing the players’ auction activities.