7: Chapter 7: Scarcity Marketing, The First Auction of Abyss Divine Wine

Levi's brain completed the switch from surprise to calm in a mere tenth of a second.

In his past life, countless experiences of surprise inspections by clients and being called into last-minute reports by his boss had already forged his nerves to be tougher than a stone at the corner of a city wall.

There wasn't even a ripple of emotion on his face, but those pitch-black eyes instantly became bottomless, like two high-speed precision instruments frantically analyzing the sudden situation before him.

Trouble? No, perhaps this was an opportunity.

He didn't rush out immediately to greet them. Instead, he turned around and issued a series of commands at high speed to the subordinates behind him who were still out of the loop. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable decisiveness.

“Morg, go to the cellar immediately. Take all our existing finished wine, every single bottle, and move them to the dining table in the hall. Arrange them neatly. Remember, exactly twenty bottles—not one more, not one less.”

The Halfling cook was stunned for a moment, but seeing the Lord's emotionless gaze, he immediately jolted and scrambled toward the cellar.

“Iron Hammer,” Levi turned his gaze toward the dwarf who was still ecstatic about receiving the fine wine, “I need you to do me a favor, a very important favor.”

Iron Hammer was holding that keg of 'Lava Flame,' polishing the barrel with his sleeve like it was a precious treasure. Hearing this, he looked up warily. “My wine... you can't go back on your word!”

“Of course I won't,” a faint, barely perceptible curve formed at the corner of Levi's mouth. “I need you to go to the backyard immediately and pile up all those damp wood scraps left over from your cutting. Light them. Remember, no open flames—I want thick smoke, as much as possible. It's best if the entire castle backyard looks like it was just scorched by a fire dragon.”

Iron Hammer's brain couldn't process it for a moment. Set fire to his own workshop?

What madness was this Lord up to now?

But he glanced at the wine keg in his arms, then at Levi's eyes which seemed capable of seeing through a person's heart, and finally chose to trust the man who could produce 'Lava Flame'.

He muttered “Madman” and waddled toward the backyard, carrying the wine keg.

Finally, Levi's gaze fell upon Evelyn.

“Evelyn,” his voice softened slightly, “in a moment, no matter what I say, do not be surprised. What you need to do is cooperate with me. You will be our... most important star tonight.”

The succubus watched as this man remained calm in the face of crisis, methodically setting up a scheme she didn't understand at all. A strange light flickered in her dark red pupils.

She didn't ask why, but simply nodded gently. It was a near-instinctive trust born from her observations over the past few days.

Having arranged everything, Levi finally straightened his slightly worn noble casual wear. His face wore that standard, enthusiastic yet slightly apologetic smile typical of a project manager meeting a client as he stepped toward the castle gates.

The castle's drawbridge had already been lowered. Dorian's flamboyant carriage, emblazoned with the Eldridge Family's lion crest, was parked at the entrance.

He was currently introducing something with great gusto to several young nobles traveling with him, his expression full of the ostentation of someone who had discovered a new continent.

Those nobles wore clothes far more magnificent than Dorian's and were adorned with expensive magical jewelry. Their every gesture carried the arrogance unique to the inner circles of the Royal Capital.

They casually sized up the dilapidated castle, the contempt in their eyes almost unconcealed.

“Oh, my dear Levi!” Dorian, being sharp-eyed, was the first to see Levi. He opened his arms wide in an exaggerated welcome. “I've brought you new guests, new business! These are all my close friends. After hearing my description of the divine taste of ‘abyss kiss,’ they couldn't even wait for the Royal Capital's ‘Spring Festival’ and rushed here overnight just to have a taste of that nectar from the abyss!”

“Welcome, everyone. Welcome to my humble Blackstone Territory.” Levi gave Dorian a warm hug while quietly scanning the new guests, taking in their expressions.

He aptly showed a hint of bitterness and difficulty, sighing, “Dorian, my friend, you've come... at a truly unfortunate time.”

Just then, a thick plume of black smoke laden with moisture billowed into the sky from the direction of the castle's backyard. Though there was no visible flame, the massive pillar of smoke was enough for anyone to assume a serious fire had broken out.

“My God! What is that?!” One sharp-eyed noble pointed at the smoke pillar in horror.

Dorian was also stunned. “Levi! Is your castle on fire?”

A look of “grief” and “helplessness” aptly appeared on Levi's face. He shook his head heavily and said in a raspy voice, “It’s not the castle, it’s my winery... Sigh, just this afternoon, our new equipment suffered a serious malfunction during testing, which triggered a fire. Although everyone is safe, almost everything... everything was destroyed.”

His words were half-true and half-false, explaining the thick smoke while shifting everything to “force majeure.”

Hearing this, the faces of Dorian and the other nobles changed instantly.

“The equipment is destroyed? Then... what about the wine?” a blond noble asked urgently; he was clearly the real target customer.

“In order to save the equipment, most of the raw mash and finished product were... were lost.” Levi’s tone was full of regret. He stepped aside and made an inviting gesture. “The smoke and dust are heavy out here; let's go inside and talk. Despite this misfortune, the hospitality of House Byron must not be neglected.”

The group walked into the castle hall with apprehensive hearts.

Upon entering, their gazes were simultaneously drawn to the long dining table in the center of the hall.

On the table sat twenty exquisite black bottles arranged neatly. The bottle bodies reflected a faint luster under the dim candlelight, and the blood-red wax seals at the mouths looked like beating hearts, radiating a mysterious and lethal temptation.

Evelyn stood quietly by the table. She had changed into a simple but clean maid's gown. The black fabric made her snow-white skin stand out even more, and her dark red eyes shimmered in the candlelight as if they held the stars within.

Her presence added several degrees of allure to those twenty bottles of wine.

“Fortunately... fortunately, this last bit was stored in the cellar...” Levi pointed at the wine, his tone like that of a survivor who had just lived through a catastrophe. “These are the final twenty bottles. Furthermore, since the equipment was destroyed and the core components need to be rebuilt by dwarven craftsmen, I’m afraid... Blackstone Territory won't be able to produce another drop of ‘abyss kiss’ for the next three months.”

The air in the hall froze instantly.

The excited expressions on the faces of the expectant nobles were quickly replaced by disappointment and chagrin.

They had come with a mindset of seeking novelty and social climbing, thinking they could easily buy this new curiosity and show it off in their circles. Who would have thought it had become a discontinued item?

“Only twenty bottles?!”

“We won't be able to drink it for three months?”

“Are you kidding me! I turned down the Duchess's dinner party just to get here!”

Complaints rose one after another.

Levi listened quietly. When their emotions were mostly vented, he slowly raised his hand, signaling for silence.

“I understand how everyone feels perfectly,” his voice was full of sincerity and apology. “But things have come to this, and all I can do is try my best to make amends. For the sake of fairness, and to not disappoint the passion of those who have traveled so far, I have decided that these final twenty bottles of ‘abyss kiss’ will have their ownership determined in the most impartial way.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, and said word for word, “We will hold an on-site bidding. The highest bidder wins.”

An auction?

The nobles were stunned.

They were used to using money to buy goods, but they rarely used this method to fight over a bottle of wine.

This format instantly elevated the status of ‘abyss kiss’ from an ordinary commodity to that of a ‘rare treasure.’

Levi didn't give them much time to think; he glanced at Evelyn.

Evelyn understood and took a step forward.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

Instead of quoting a price like a vulgar auctioneer, she spoke softly, her tone laced with a touch of dreaminess and reminiscence: "Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps you only know that the taste of 'abyss kiss' is unparalleled, but you may not know that every drop of this liquor contains a story of protection and sacrifice..."

She once again recounted, with great emotion, the story she knew by heart—about the ancestor of the Byron Family who ventured deep into the abyss, met the Succubus Queen, and finally brought back the 'Soul Spring.'

Her voice naturally carried a peculiar magic; at times low and melodious, like a lover's murmur, and at other times high and impassioned, like a battle horn.

Everyone in the hall was deeply captivated by her narration, as if they had witnessed that legend in the abyss with their own eyes.

As the story reached its end, Evelyn's eyes flickered, releasing a barely perceptible charm. This power was not enough to control one's mind, but it could amplify the emotions deep within.

"... Therefore, 'abyss kiss' is not just wine." Her voice seemed to ring directly in the depths of everyone's soul. "It is the crystallization of a hero's blood and tears, a witness to a love that transcends races. It allows you to feel a trace of ancient power while tasting the ultimate delicacy. That power can nourish your spirit and help you regain mental clarity and vitality when you are exhausted. It is not a luxury, but a necessity for the strong; it is a symbol of status, taste, and power."

As soon as she finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent.

"A symbol of status and power"—this phrase struck like a heavy hammer against the hearts of these hot-blooded, face-conscious nobles from the capital.

"I bid forty gold coins! For two bottles!" Dorian was the first to jump out.

As Levi's "plant," and also as someone who genuinely loved this wine, he couldn't wait to shout out double the price, attempting to seize the initiative.

"Forty gold coins? Dorian, are you trying to dismiss a beggar?" A tall red-haired noble beside him immediately sneered, holding up three fingers. "Sixty gold coins! I want three bottles!"

"Hmph, how stingy. A treasure that can nourish mental power, and you measure it with gold coins? I bid one hundred gold coins! Also for three bottles!" Another well-dressed, arrogant-looking noble did not show weakness.

The atmosphere at the scene was instantly ignited.

Vanity, the desire to compete, and the possessiveness over "limited editions" acted like three dry gales, fanning the flames of desire.

Prices began to soar crazily at an unbelievable speed.

Evelyn perfectly controlled the rhythm. She said no more, but every time a new bid appeared, she used her expressive eyes to give the bidder an approving, charming look, which was more effective than any verbal urging.

Levi stood quietly to the side, like an outsider watching the show, but his heart was pounding wildly.

He expected the price to rise, but he didn't expect it to be this crazy.

These nobles from the capital, their perception of money and the extent of their extravagance, far exceeded his imagination.

Finally, as the last gavel fell and the twenty bottles of 'abyss kiss' were snapped up, the total value they created reached a shocking number—four thousand gold coins!

The average price per bottle reached two hundred gold coins, which was exactly twenty times the original price!

The nobles who snatched the wine were high-spirited, carefully holding their trophies as if holding rare treasures.

And those nobles who missed the opportunity due to hesitation or slightly inferior financial resources were full of regret, their guts churning with remorse.

"Lord Levi, when... when is the next supply? When exactly?" A noble who failed to get any crowded over and asked eagerly. "Three months? Can it be faster? Price is not an issue!"

"Yes, yes, three months is too long!"

"I am willing to pay a higher price, as long as I can be the first to get the goods!"

Looking at their eager faces, Levi's face once again showed that perfectly measured look of difficulty.

"Everyone, it is not that I do not want to..." He sighed heavily. "The workshop was destroyed, and rebuilding requires a large amount of funds and rare materials, especially those precision parts from the Dwarf Kingdom. Not only are they expensive, but one also has to wait in line. I... I really am powerless."

As he spoke, he observed everyone's reaction from the corner of his eye.

Seeing the disappointment on their faces growing thicker—

"However..." He changed the subject, as if he had gone through a fierce internal struggle before making up his mind. "Since you are all so sincere, if I were to continue to delay, it would seem heartless. How about this: I am willing to guarantee with my personal reputation to launch a 'VIP Pre-order System'."

He cleared his throat and recited the draft he had already prepared: "You can now pay a deposit to pre-order the first batch of new wine in three months. To prioritize the rights of you 'VIP customers,' and to raise funds to rebuild the workshop, the pre-order price is set at sixty gold coins per bottle, and it must be paid in full. Quotas are limited, only one hundred bottles. Once the pre-order is full, subsequent orders will have to wait until this batch is delivered."

A pre-order price three times the original price! And it requires full payment!

To any normal merchant, this was an extremely harsh and even unreasonable condition.

However, to the ears of these nobles who had just experienced a crazy bidding war and knew well that 'scarcity makes things valuable,' this was simply great news!

Spending a mere sixty gold coins to lock in a bottle of treasure that was just bid up to two hundred gold coins?

How is this harsh? This is simply Lord Levi doing charity!

"I pre-order ten bottles!"

"I want twenty bottles!"

"Don't fight me for it, I want all the rest!"

No promotion was needed at all. The nobles, as if afraid they would miss out if they were a step too slow, rushed to Evelyn, who was in charge of registration, scrambling to take out gold notes and money bags.

Levi stood to the side, watching those gold notes printed with the emblems of major chambers of commerce being stuffed one by one into the money box he had prepared, his heart as calm as water.

He knew that starting from tonight, the fate of Blackstone Territory would be completely rewritten.

An hour later, the satisfied nobles left with their trophies and pre-order vouchers.

In the castle hall, only Levi and his three core employees remained.

Morg and Iron Hammer were completely stunned. They stared blankly at the huge money box on the table that was almost overflowing, the gold coins and notes inside shimmering with a dreamlike light under the candlelight.

They had never seen so much money in their lives; their brains had completely stopped thinking.

Evelyn's face also had a flush of shock; the way she looked at Levi had changed from initial awe to a near-fanatical adoration.

Levi took a deep breath, stepped forward, and reached into the pile of cold yet hot gold coins, feeling the heavy weight that was enough to change everything.

Four thousand gold coins from the auction, six thousand gold coins from the pre-order deposits.

Overnight, ten thousand gold coins.

He finally had the capital to overturn the table.

However, just as he was gripping the gold coins, feeling this hard-won success, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from outside the castle again.

Unlike the noise of the previous noble convoy, this time, there was only one fast horse, its hoofbeats as rapid as drumbeats, carrying an aura of killing intent.

A guard rushed in with a nervous expression, followed by a knight covered in black leather armor, looking dusty and travel-worn.

On the knight's chest was branded an emblem of a burning sun crossed with a holy sword—the mark of a messenger directly under the Radiant Empire royal family.

The messenger ignored everyone, walked straight to Levi, took out a letter tightly sealed with wax from his bosom, knelt on one knee, and presented it with both hands.

On that wax seal was the exact same royal mark as on his chest.

"By the Emperor's order, an urgent letter for Lord Levi Byron of Blackstone Territory."

Levi's heart skipped a beat, and a sense of foreboding welled up in his heart.

He took the letter, tore open the wax seal, and unfolded the high-quality parchment.