Before leaving, Nieyan instructed Guo Huai that since they had decided to play this game, they should go all out. They shouldn’t just focus on Carol City, but expand their operations across all cities in the Grailan Empire and the Saturn Empire. If they could pull this off, it would bring a huge profit to the Bull Tribe. Nieyan and Guo Huai prepared three million gold coins for this plan. Compared to the entire market of gems and magic rune stones, three million gold coins weren’t much at all. If the plan succeeded, three million gold coins could capture about 10% of the market transactions.
Nieyan didn’t limit this opportunity to the Bull Tribe alone. He sent messages to Ban Xing De Hu Li, Falan, A Chen, and others, letting them also get a piece of the profits.
After briefing Guo Huai, Nieyan took 3,000 javelins and their launchers and headed out to level up.
After Nieyan left, some “sellers of magic rune stones and gems” appeared in the streets and alleys of various cities. They shouted loudly, selling gems and magic rune stones in large quantities at very low prices. As soon as this advertising campaign started, it caused a sensation. Gems that were originally worth a thousand gold coins were now sold for just five or six hundred. Hundreds of gold worth of gems and magic rune stones were now priced at only twenty or thirty gold coins. Rumors quickly spread among the players, saying that gems and magic rune stones were about to drop significantly in price, and some players had already bought them at very low prices. There were even rumors that certain players had discovered a secret shop exclusively selling gems, where they could be bought for just a few gold coins. These players then resold them on the market, making profits of hundreds of times their initial investment, allowing many to strike it rich.
Whether this rumor was true or not, players couldn’t be sure. After all, secret shops selling various rare items weren’t uncommon, and similar incidents had occurred several times before. Previously, scrolls of web spell were quite expensive on the market, but after news broke that a certain secret shop sold them at very low prices, the price of web spell scrolls plummeted and remained low ever since. It was possible that there really was such a secret shop selling gems at low prices.
Generally, high-level players always kept some gems in their warehouses. When they saw the sudden sharp drop in gem prices on the market, they felt heartache like never before. Usually, they would sell their equipment because items like armor would depreciate over time if left in storage, but gems were different. Gems had consistently high demand yet low drop rates, so their prices often surged. Many players stockpiled gems and occasionally sold a few.
Gems had always been a hard currency. Some players kept good equipment in their warehouses but were reluctant to sell them for gold. However, they could still trade gems for equipment, as this was a common trading method on the market.
Some high-level players only accepted gems, not gold, for their equipment sales, resulting in their warehouses accumulating large quantities of gems. Gems accounted for a significant portion of their total assets. Now, with the sudden depreciation of gems, their assets shrank by several percentages, making them feel like their hearts were bleeding.
They couldn’t yet confirm whether the rumors were true. Some people were unwilling to sell their goods, while others, sensing the unfavorable trend, rushed to auction houses to sell off their gems. However, at this point, players preparing to buy gems for crafting their equipment were reluctant to make purchases. Buying now might result in losses. If the rumors were true, and there really was a secret shop selling gems at low prices, gem prices would plummet within a few days, allowing them to craft their equipment at a fraction of the current cost. Buying gems now was clearly not cost-effective.
Those with gems wanted to sell them quickly, while those wanting to buy gems continued to watch and wait. The market suddenly cooled down, and gems at auction houses began to go unsold, accumulating in increasing numbers. Some players, eager to sell, could only lower their prices, but as prices dropped, more people chose to wait and see.
As a result, the entire gem market became chaotic, with increasing stockpiles of gems going unsold, leaving many players truly desperate to sell.
The players dispatched by Guo Huai were very effective in creating hype. The rumors spread like wildfire, and within a day, nearly all players were discussing the massive price drop in gems, urging their friends to sell while they still could, warning that waiting would only result in further losses. Just a short while ago, gems that had sold for a thousand gold coins were now going for five hundred. Soon after, they couldn’t even fetch three hundred. Lower-tier gems, worth just a few dozen gold coins, might be purchased by players in urgent need, but high-value gems priced at hundreds or even thousands of gold coins were generally left for patient buyers waiting for further price drops, as these were no small sums.
Outside the auction house in Carol City, more than ten players gathered; they were part of the same team preparing to go out and level up together. Their conversation quickly turned to gems.
“I heard gems are on a massive sale. The price of a level 5 fire resistance gem has dropped from a thousand gold coins to five hundred. Let’s wait a bit longer. If it drops to three hundred, I’ll buy one to socket into my armor,” said the team’s main warrior.
“Just a few days ago, I spent three hundred gold coins on a level 3 light gem. I regret it so much. Do you know the current market price? Eighty gold coins! Who in their right mind would buy gems now? I heard some players discovered a secret shop. High-value gems that cost one or two thousand gold coins there are only sold for a few dozen. They buy from there and resell them. I don’t know how much profit they make. Wait a few more days, and one thousand gold gems will drop to just over a hundred. Buying a gem for three hundred gold now will only result in massive losses!” interjected a Holy Word mage.
“Really?” the warrior asked, somewhat skeptical.
“Of course it’s true. A friend of mine actually went to that secret shop. He made over three hundred thousand gold coins just by reselling gems. By then, even level 5 fire resistance gems might not sell for a hundred gold coins. Luckily, I got the news early and didn’t keep a single gem in my inventory, hehe. In a few more days, I’ll be able to get myself a high physical resistance robe,” added an Arcane mage nearby.
“Wow, so profitable?” the nearby players gasped in astonishment, rushing to ask for more details.
Seeing everyone’s attention on him, the Arcane mage’s vanity kicked in, and he exaggerated the story even further.
As the saying goes, three men make a tiger. At this point, even if it was just a rumor, it had become reality.
Those without gems who wanted prices to drop pushed the rumors even harder. Those who had stored gems and hadn’t sold them in time sighed in frustration and rushed to sell off their stock. Buyers hesitated, while gem holders frantically slashed prices to offload their inventory. As a result, gem prices on the market plummeted, giving players a true taste of a rollercoaster ride.
This trend was even more intense than Nieyan, Guo Huai, and others had anticipated. Nieyan had predicted that gem prices would drop to their expected level within five days, but the rumors spread faster than they had imagined. By noon the next day, gem prices had already fallen far below their expectations.
Gems that had originally sold for as high as a thousand gold coins were now going unsold at auction houses for just over a hundred gold coins. This world was just too crazy.
“Nieyan, should we start our move?” Guo Huai asked. The drastic drop in gem prices made him feel uneasy. Would they still be able to sell these gems back at their original prices? He was quite anxious about it.
Nieyan checked the super trading channel and saw that auction houses were piled high with gems, five to six times more than usual. Everyone was dumping their warehouse gems into auction houses, and the sudden surge in gem quantities only strengthened everyone’s belief that there really was a secret shop. Otherwise, how could there be such a sudden flood of gems on the market?
Rumors now had evidence, making them even more terrifying.
Nieyan guessed that this price point was already the limit players could endure. If prices dropped any further, they would rather keep and use the gems themselves than sell them, as the sellers weren’t exactly poor people.
“Start buying!” Nieyan ordered. With his command, Guo Huai instructed his trusted men stationed at over 300 auction houses across the Grailan Empire and the Saturn Empire to start buying gems furiously, pouring out gold coins like water.
Three million gold coins were instantly spent, and the market’s gem supply only decreased by about 12%.
“The three million gold coins are gone,” Guo Huai said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. This was the most extravagant spending he had ever experienced.
“How are Fox and A Chen doing?” Nieyan asked.
“They’re also buying aggressively. Ban Xing De Hu Li has purchased 500,000 gold worth of gems. The War God Tribe has bought 600,000 gold worth. Falan has bought nearly 500,000 gold, and the Crazy War Alliance has bought 400,000 gold. The Light Holy Flame has bought 300,000 gold. Along with us, that’s a total of five million gold coins, all gone in a flash.”
Nieyan estimated that five million gold coins only accounted for about 20% of the total volume.
“Contact the Long Yue Financial Group and give them a chance to make some profit. We’ll sell off some items from our guild warehouse. Whatever money we can get, we’ll use to buy gems. There are a few loan sharks in the Grailan Empire and the Saturn Empire. Borrow as much as we can. Keep it discreet. This is a rare opportunity. Once it’s gone, there won’t be another one.”
“Loan sharks charge 10% interest every ten days. This money is quite risky. If gem prices don’t rise and we can’t sell our stockpile, the interest will keep piling up,” Guo Huai worried, afraid that the Bull Tribe might go bankrupt.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. In ten days, we’ll sell the gems and make ten times the profit!” Nieyan said. Their gem trading was far more profitable than loan sharks.
“Alright then, boss’s orders. If the sky falls, you’ll handle it. I’ll use the revenue from several fortresses as collateral to borrow from loan sharks!” Guo Huai gritted his teeth. Only Nieyan had the audacity to take such a risk and invest heavily in loan sharks. However, if they wanted to make money, there was no way to do it without taking some risks.
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