Michael imdiately transferred himself back to tropolis using the shadow he left on Jimmy.
As he opened his eyes, he saw that he was standing in the middle of the street looking up at a large building made out of stone bricks. And at the very top of the building was the na; DAILY TRO.
He looked around and saw people coming in and out of the building holding newspapers in their hands. Many of them were small kids the sa age as him, probably working as newspaper boys that shouted Extra! Extra! in their usual route.
He even saw a glimpse of the front page title, which said; {Boy with Quad-elental Mastery?!}
"Michael, you’re here!"
Jimmy approached Michael and led him out of the sidewalk and near the walls of the Daily tro.
"What is it?"
"I finally found sothing about that thing you wanted to know."
"That thing?"
"Yeah, the auction!"
Michael rembered that he asked Jimmy to keep his ears out for any talk about the auction in tropolis.
Back in Batchrock Town, when he first t the Legacies, he distinctly rembered them talking about an auction that was about to occur in tropolis.
He wanted to participate in this auction because it had the potential to have one important item that he desperately needed:
The Spirit of Old.
According to Alaric and the others, the auction this ti around is rumored to have Soo as one of their premier items to be sold off.
Back then, he wasn’t that interested in participating in this auction. Now, he considered it as a necessity.
He needed that Soo. Even if it was just one drop, he would spend an enormous amount of money to buy it.
"Did you really? When and where’s the auction taking place?!" he asked with a lot of enthusiasm. Jimmy was even taken aback, never realizing that this auction ant so much to Michael.
"There’s this large auction house in the middle of tropolis. They’re called Barnaby’s Vault. The items that they sell are so valuable that they only do an auction once a year. And still, they are able to beco the biggest auction house in tropolis!
Almost everyone in tropolis wants to participate in the auction. The Legacies, for sure, will have a spot. It’s probable that the Duchess and her family would also attend the auction."
The people Jimmy ntioned were considered high ranking in the tropolis social ladder. He had no doubt that they, especially the Legacies, had extrely deep pockets that rivaled or even exceeded his own. Of course, he wouldn’t back down from a show of wealth. That was the one thing he had a lot of.
"Do you know what kind of items they’re auctioning off?"
"I’m not sure. The list of items is kept a secret by the auction house until the night itself. However, there have been so rumors that it will include an extrely priceless liquid that the Legacies are keeping their eyes on."
That’s gotta be Soo, Michael thought. His excitent for the auction was growing by the second.
"How can I participate in that auction?" he asked, visibly excited.
Seeing his expression, Jimmy couldn’t help but purse his lips. He looked hesitant to ruin Michael’s mood.
"Unfortunately, Michael...the auction is only reserved for those that have a high enough ranking in the Golden 500. They want to make sure that the people participating in their auction have enough money to bid on their items. The Golden 500 is their way of ensuring that."
That definitely put a hamper in Michael’s excitent. The Reborn company was in the 450th spot in the rankings, which wasn’t bad by any ans. However, he wasn’t sure if it qualified for such a classy event.
"What’s the minimum ranking needed?"
Jimmy sighed. "It’s reserved for those ranking 400 and below."
"Oh...that’s not bad," Michael muttered.
Their 450th rank was given to them a long ti ago. They have improved and expanded their business multiple tis since then. By all ans, Reborn should be much higher on the rankings by now.
"I told you before that Angora City doesn’t have the right authorization to increase your ranking, right? That’s the reason why I even went to tropolis in the first place. The Daily tro is authorized to increase a company’s ranking up to the 200th rank.
So, I thought that if I presented them with all the articles I wrote about Reborn, they would recognize your company’s success and increase your rank by at least fifty spots."
Michael didn’t like the look on Jimmy’s face.
"Yeah..."
"Well...I failed. As it turns out, they don’t accept my evidence as sothing true. They think I’m lying, those skeptics! Anyway, they won’t increase your ranking in the Golden 500 unless you prove those claims here in tropolis.
They want hard evidence. They want you to show that you’re worthy of a better rank by accomplishing that in the tropolis market."
Michael used to not care much about the rankings since it never affected his business. For all he knew, it was just a nice title that people recognized.
But now, it was what separated him from his beloved Soo.
It was unfortunate that he had to ’prove’ that he deserved a higher rank. Unfortunately, he had only officially sold 7000 sales in the tropolis market. Those people that gathered at the festival didn’t count because it didn’t amount to any sales.
Still, he didn’t get discouraged. He was going to prove Reborn in tropolis anyways with or without the need for a better rank.
Once he established his business in Main Street, his rank would naturally increase.
"I’m sorry. I failed as a journalist!" Jimmy cried out.
Michael had to console him. "It’s fine. By the ti we finish construction on Main Street, we’ll get that rank in no ti."
Jimmy slapped his own chest, showing a look of determination on his face. "I shall make sure to docunt each and every achievent that Reborn can do, I promise you that!"
"Good! I’ll look forward to it," Michael said.
And just as he was about to leave, Jimmy suddenly rembered sothing.
"Wait, Michael. When I was in the Daily tro headquarters, I was able to have a glimpse of one piece of news they’d been working on.
They are doing a piece on a particular family in tropolis. The article talked about their downfall, and their failure to keep up with the other Legacies in tropolis. Despite their na, they were unable to live up to expectations."
Michael was intrigued. "There’s another company in the Legacies? Who are they?"
Jimmy looked at Michael, confused. "You don’t know them?"
He looked back at Jimmy and mirrored his confusion. "Why would I know them?"
Jimmy gestured for Michael to co closer, before looking around warily, as if not wanting others to hear their conversation.
"It’s because they’re Vanderbilts!" Jimmy revealed.
Michael’s eyes widened. "Vanderbilt?"
This was the first ti he had ever heard that na aside from his parents.
He should have known. tropolis was the gathering of inheritors from all major conglorates in the world. Of course, there was going to be soone from the most successful conglorate in the world!
He had just separated from that na for so long that he almost forgot about it.
But as he thought about it now, he realized it was common sense. The Legacies used to be Alaric, Aerith, Bobby, Flarexis, and the unknown Vanderbilt—mirroring the five biggest conglorates in the world.
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