Shortfall

"750 million firthals!" The auctioneer announced the astonishingly high starting bid! "Number 142 has bid 750 million firthals for the Ancient Sarcophagus!"

The huge sum of money instantly caused the audience to fall silent. They expected the round of bidding to rise gradually starting from 10 million firthals. They never imagined a rich tycoon laying down 750 million firthals right from the start!

The shock achieved the intended effect. Finlay's startlingly high opening bid caused everyone who were pumping themselves up to compete over the Ancient Sarcophagus to be pulled out of their competitive moods.

A lot of people started to doubt whether they wanted to compete against someone who started at such a high bid. Number 142 indirectly showed his willingness to go to an extreme extent to win the Ancient Sarcophagus.