170 Diehard Fan (1/2)

As this was the first time Silver Wing's e-sports department was taking part in the auction segment, Wayne viewed it with utmost importance. Since there was lots of funding, manufacturing of the team jerseys had been done with the finest materials. Yesterday, when they had been preparing this set of Fang Zhao's clothes, Wayne had personally watched as his staff cleaned and tidied the clothes then wiping the captain's badge till it was sparkling before putting it on.

It could be said that, even if this set of clothing was placed in a store, it would not be sold at a low price. The production cost for these clothes was at least 2,000 to 3,000. With a starting bid of 10,000, three times the cost, it was not considered very high. Wayne had estimated the clothes to be auctioned off for around 35,000, which was considered really high. This was when comparing with past examples of popular e-sport athletes.

If no one bid for it, Wayne would let some internal Silver Wing staffers bid for it in the shadows and jack up the price.

Supporting one's own interests from the shadows was a method that every e-sports club employed. On the surface, it would look better, and Wayne had felt that if the price were not jacked up to at least 1.8 million, he would be letting down Silver Wing's brand.

However, Wayne was now staring with his mouth agape at the figures that were still rapidly shooting up.

Eight hundred thousand... 1 million.... 1.5 million... 2.3 million...

Looking at the bidders, there were some displayed IDs and some anonymous IDs. When it came to online bidding, some people were unwilling to reveal their personal information and would set up an anonymous profile. Confidentiality was something that Fiery Bird permitted.

Passing the 1 million mark, the number of bidders fell drastically, and when it reached 2 million, there were basically only five or six bidders left.

Even if Fang Zhao was a hot topic and his popularity was on the rise, he was still a newcomer to the gaming circles. As it was only a set of team jerseys, 35,000 was already considered a premium and even entertainment media outlets would exaggerate it, but now, the price had been jacked up so high...

In the conference hall, some people watched the SilverLight team with a profound look. To jack up the price, Silver Wing were really going all out.

Wayne's face was rigid. Drooping his head, he sent a message to his staff in the shadows. ”That's enough! Stop jacking it up!”

Only appropriate price jacking was considered good work. Overdoing it was not beneficial! This bunch was so unprofessional.

The looks of people in the surroundings made the self-declared thick-skinned Wayne feel like he was on fire.

However, the person in charge of the shadow operations pleaded innocence. ”We didn't. It really isn't us jacking up the price. There has simply been no chance for us to step forward!”

Eh?

It's not our own people jacking up the price?

Wayne was really flabbergasted. Was it really Fang Zhao's diehard fans bidding?

Watching the figures on the screen, the current bid had already passed 2.7 million and was still climbing towards 3 million.

Currently, there were only three active bidders left.

Wayne leaned toward Fang Zhao and muttered, ”That 'Little Leaf' currently bidding, do you know him?”

”Yes.”

”Oh? Who is he?” Wayne was curious.

”Ming Cang.”

Wayne: ”...That former headmaster of the Qi'an Academy of Music?”

”I just received a message from him. He says his son, Ming Ye, is recovering well, so he decided to win this set of team jerseys as a memorial day gift for Ming Ye,” Fang Zhao explained.

Wayne nodded his head. ”So that's it.” If it was Ming Cang, he could understand.

Fang Zhao's ”100-Year Period of Destruction” series had provided a treatment direction for Ming Cang's sick son. There was hearsay that the treatment effects were going well and Ming Cang was very grateful toward Fang Zhao. Whether he really wanted to get it as a gift for Ming Ye or he was simply using this situation as an excuse to help out, either way, that pleased Wayne.

Wayne asked Fang Zhao about another ID that was still in the bidding war. ”What about 'ATreasuredKnifeDoesNotAge'?”

”My great-grandfather,” Fang Zhao replied. The old master had said he wanted to root for his great-grandson.

Wayne's facial muscles trembled. ”...The old master is really awesome.”

The three remaining ID's were ”Little Leaf”, ”ATreasuredKnifeDoesNotAge” and ”Anonymous.” Two IDs were known; only the anonymous one was left.

”Do you know who the anonymous ID is?” Wayne quizzed.

”No idea.” Fang Zhao was puzzled too. He really did not know.

As they were talking, the figures on the screen changed once more, and many people in the conference hall could not help but exhale sharply.

Looking up at the current bids, after ”Little Leaf” had bid 3 million, the bid had suddenly risen to 5 million. The caller was Anonymous.

It was just a set of team jerseys, not some limited edition item or a treasured belonging of a certain great master that had passed on. It was just the clothing of a newcomer that had risen to prominence. Although there was a captain's badge and Fang Zhao's reason for temporarily withdrawing, there was no need to be so excessive! This was utterly excessive!

Silver Wing's self promotion? Otherwise, who else would fork out 5 million just to buy a set of clothing?

Zaro sneered as he told his manager, ”I have no idea which idiot would actually spend 5 million to purchase such an ordinary set of clothing.” Raising his head, he realized many pairs of eyes were on him, and although it didn't happen a lot, he was enlightened and knew what the stares of these people actually meant.

Zaro raised his voice slightly. ”What are you staring it? That wasn't my bid!”

Nobody could be blamed for looking at him this way. In the hearts of many, throwing money around had always been Zaro's style. Just yesterday in the leisure district, he had still been talking about wanting to poach Fang Zhao over to Wireless e-Sports Club, and the latest bid being a massive jump from 3 million to 5 million was totally in the style of what Zaro's sort would do.

Following Zaro's outburst, nobody suspected him any more. Although Zaro had all sorts of shortcomings, he wouldn't go so far as to lie about this. People that were familiar with Zaro's style knew that if this Senior Master really wanted to bid, he would not use an anonymous ID. He would want to let the whole world know he had money and then bid excessively. This remarkably foolish person had too much money.

Ultimately, Fang Zhao's set of team clothing was sold to the highest bid of 5 million. This left many people shocked, and the internet started to boil once more. Chat rooms and forums were all discussing this.

And everyone's conclusion after discussing was that such a high bid could only be a diehard fan of Fang Zhao or a self-promotion scheme by Silver Wing!

More people were inclined to believe the second possibility and felt that it was surely a means of self-promotion by Silver Wing! Their internal staff had purposely raised the price!

Whether it was those present in the conference or the online viewers watching the live broadcast, they all felt the same way. Even if Silver Wing had officially announced that their internal staff had not taken part in the auction, nobody believed them.

”Isn't this the highest ever bid in any year?”