The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 91: First Bids, First Temptations
“Have there been any new discoveries these past few days?” A middle-aged man in an old short-sleeved shirt with holes in it stood in front of Wood. As he shook Wood’s hand, he asked in a low voice.
Wood shook his head. He gave a look, and the chief immediately saw William standing outside the crowd, along with Ferraler beside him.
Many ordinary people might not be familiar with Ferraler, but Wood’s chief knew him very well. He knew almost everyone in this city whom he needed to pay attention to, and naturally, he also knew Ferraler, the aide-de-camp beside the mayor.
William being connected to the mayor made Wood’s chief feel that things were a little troublesome. Before a higher-level governing authority took action, the investigation of William might involve certain legal protection acts.
To ensure that city administrators were not subjected to political persecution and political crushing during their administrations, thereby causing adverse effects on the region, related personnel generally would not be investigated during the term of a city administrator.
If the mayor of Sabine City believed that investigating William was an attack on him, even the investigation targeting William might be temporarily suspended. They would have to wait until the mayor of Sabine City’s term ended before restarting the investigation.
Wood’s chief felt a little nervous. If they could obtain evidence of William’s crimes before William and the mayor had substantive contact, then they could indict William first. At that point, the mayor would naturally avoid contact with such a criminal.
But all of this had one prerequisite. They had to have substantive, definite evidence. Otherwise, the court would not approve their next actions.
Wood shook his head. His chief’s expression became somewhat grave. Then, led by Wood, he sat down in Wood’s “camp.”
Wood had used lake blue. He liked the color, so the chairs in his one hundred seats were all covered with lake-blue dust covers.
One after another, more unfamiliar faces came holding his flyers and sat down in his camp. Quite a few of these people were active police agents. Their purpose in coming here was to assist Wood and help him successfully break into William’s circle.
Originally, Wood’s chief had only wanted to come make up the numbers so Wood could complete the task smoothly. But from the present situation, time was extremely tight.
They had to make Wood gain William’s approval as soon as possible, and the best method was to make him look like the person who could help William succeed.
As time passed, more and more people arrived at the scene. William had long since made the corresponding preparations. He had prepared two thousand seats, arranged in a circle around the assembly area. This would ensure that people on every side could see the goods being displayed, and that the host could hear their bids.
The people Ferraler brought also joined in maintaining order. Reporters would record the entire event, and it would be on local video news by tomorrow night at the latest, so there had to be at least a little official presence at the scene.
Aside from these people, the Warehouse District’s security guards, even some blue vests, voluntarily stayed here, helping William maintain order while watching the show.
In this society where the economy was growing more depressed, people needed something fresh to stimulate their numb nerves.
At two fifteen, nearly three thousand people had come to the scene. Those without seats simply found places to stand. Even the rescue team had come to prevent sudden accidents or dangers. In short, everyone was very expectant, and very curious.
“It’s starting...” Following William’s words, the host and his assistants all stepped onto the stage. At the same time, a large number of goods were transported onto the platform. The somewhat noisy venue also quieted a little. Although there were still people speaking in low voices, overall, the feeling of clamor was already gone.
“I am very pleased that on a day like this...” The host was someone William had hired from the court proceedings side for six hundred dollars, four hours for six hundred dollars. In addition, William had to pay one hundred twenty dollars for round-trip travel expenses and one day’s lodging.
Sabine City did not have a formal auction house, and therefore had no professional auctioneer. A good auctioneer could very effectively drive the atmosphere on-site, create small conflicts, and repeatedly set record-high transaction prices.
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