Dragon's Awakening: The Duke's Son Is Changing The Plot-Chapter 380 - 379 - Two Million.

An hour later.

The auction panel glowed like a miniature sun before Raven’s eyes.

Lines of divine text flickered, blinking with every new bid. And at the top of it all—a number that made even him pause for a second.

[Current Bid: 1,000,000 Divinity]

Raven leaned back, arms crossed, a slow grin spreading across his face. "One million... for a glorified selfie."

Omni, lounging in tattoo form on his wrist, whistled low. "Boss, that’s not a selfie. That’s divine inflation made sexy."

Raven smirked. "Not wrong."

The screen blinked again—not from a bid this time, but from a flurry of furious, glowing messages.

[New Bid: 1,001,000 Divine Merit! Message: "RAVEN, END THIS NOW AND I’LL LET THIS BE!" – Goddess_Luria.]

That, however, was just one of her bid-comments.

She had been sending many such messages.

Sometimes, she would ask him not to finalize the bid and increase the amount, while other times, she would curse the other bidders, telling them to leave the bid, or she would find them.

Raven, however, read through the threats as if he were scrolling through spam mail. "She’s really losing it."

"Oh, she mad mad," Omni said with a chuckle. "I can feel the estrogen-fueled thunder all the way here."

"I was expecting half a million tops," Raven said, rubbing his jaw, "but this? She’s basically paying to stop herself from being humiliated. I almost feel bad."

He was being honest, as he hadn’t expected the bid to rise this high.

The only reason it did was because the goddess joined, and since she didn’t want to lose the monopoly, she kept raising the bets.

Omni, however, snorted, not believing Raven’s words. "You? Feeling bad? I’ll start planning your funeral the day that happens."

Raven merely chuckled, looking at the new notification—the real entertainment, which came from a bidder who was continuously taunting the goddess.

[New Bid: 1,001,001 Divine Merit! Message: "Once I get this image, I’m going to make it public." – Anonymous Bidder #47.]

[New Bid: 1,001,002 Divine Merit! Message: "Might even hang it in the Celestial Hall. Everyone should appreciate good art, right?" – Anonymous Bidder #47.]

[New Bid: 1,002,000 Divine Merit! Message: "YOU FILTHY WORM! I’LL FIND YOU AND SKIN YOU ALIVE!" – Goddess_Luria.]

Raven couldn’t help it—he burst out laughing. "Oh, she’s biting the bait hard."

Omni wheezed, "This is divine slapstick gold, boss."

The goddess was clearly panicking, spamming caps-locked curses with enough divine power to melt an angel’s halo.

But the "Anonymous Bidder" wasn’t relenting either.

[New Bid: 1,002,001 Divine Merit! Message: "Auction’s confidential, sweetheart. You can’t touch me." – Anonymous Bidder #47.]

[New Bid: 1,003,000 Divine Merit! Message: "I CAN AND I WILL!" – Goddess_Luria.]

Raven chuckled darkly. "If only she knew who she’s yelling at."

Because the brave, taunting bidder was Bumble_Fluff_69.

The same pink, cloud-like deity who, at this very moment, sat in his sugary domain, trembling so violently his body was basically a milkshake.

He typed each line with a nervous swirl of mist, whispering to himself, "Please don’t find me, please don’t find me, please don’t find me..."

Meanwhile, Raven’s grin slowly faded as he noticed how slow the bid-comments from Bumble were becoming.

That was when Raven received another personal message from Bumble.

[Bumble_Fluff_69]: "...Um... maybe we should stop now?"

Raven’s eyelid twitched, as this was the fifth time this wimpy god had said the same thing.

"Oh, for f—" He began typing furiously.

[Raven]: "What the hell are you doing? Don’t chicken out now! You’re the one who started this ’I’ll make it public’ act, and it’s working! Now, keep going!"

His anger wasn’t uncalled for, as this god, who was doing nothing at all, was thinking of quitting.

Yes, Raven wanted a pushover like him to be his first partner, but this was too much.

So, he continued.

[Raven]: "You’re getting forty percent, Bumble! FORTY! I’m the one who put this up, I’m the one talking trash through you, and you’re telling me you’re scared of a bluff?"

Bumble’s reply was a shaky one-liner.

[Bumble_Fluff_69]: "S-She said she’ll find me!"

Raven slammed his fist on the desk. "SHE CAN’T FIND YOU! It’s a confidential auction, you ball of whipped fear!"

Omni cackled. "Boss, he’s shaking so bad I bet his clouds are raining tears."

[Raven]: "You listen to me, Bumble. I’m selling something you were too scared even to list. You’re getting a clean 40% cut just for sitting there pretending to be a tough guy."

[Raven]: "I could have chosen any other god, but I picked you. You’re protected under my name AND Grandpa_Hot_Pot’s shadow. You think she’ll pick a fight with a goddess who simmers people alive for mispronouncing their title?"

[Raven]: "If you back out now, not only will I keep the profits—I’ll make sure the others I deal with will avoid ever talking to you."

Silence followed.

Even Omni went quiet. The weight of Raven’s words hung in the air like a guillotine.

Then, far away in his puffy domain, Bumble sat motionless—head drooped, the sugary mist around him dull and still.

He’d always been timid and always avoided risk. He thought being polite would keep him safe.

But now, with the goddess threatening divine retribution and Raven’s fury shaking his core, something snapped inside him.

He exhaled—a trembling, misty sigh.

"...If she’s going to kill me anyway," he muttered, "then I might as well die satisfied."

He raised his fluffy head, eyes glowing with a pink flame of divine determination.

Then, he typed a message to Raven.

[Bumble_Fluff_69]: "I understand, sir. I was wrong. I’ll work for that 40%."

Raven’s lips curved up slowly. "That’s the spirit."

Omni grinned. "Ooooh, he’s gonna pop off now."

And pop off he did.

The next message appeared, and it wasn’t timid.

[New Bid: 1,003,001 Divine Merit! Message: "Hey, Luria, I’ve seen holier things in a tavern bathroom." – Anonymous Bidder #47.]

[New Bid: 1,004,000 Divine Merit! Message: "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" – Goddess_Luria.]

[New Bid: 1,004,001 Divine Merit! Message: "You heard me. You’re charging divinity daily for a JPG. You’re basically a celestial scam artist with pretty lighting." – Anonymous Bidder #47.]

Omni froze. "Oh. My. Boss. He’s unleashed."

Raven blinked, actually impressed. "Where was this energy until now?"

[New Bid: 1,004,002 Divine Merit! Message: "Tell you what—once I win this, I’ll send a free copy to your followers. Consider it charity." – Anonymous Bidder #47.]

The auction went wild. New bidders dropped out, afraid of divine wrath, leaving only the goddess and Bumble. The bid counter spiked like a divine heartbeat.

[Current Bid: 1,500,000 Divinity.] {Divine merits and divinity are the same thing.}

[Current Bid: 1,600,000 Divinity.]

[Current Bid: 1,700,000 Divinity.]

Omni laughed so hard that his words were shaking. "Boss! This puffball’s going nuclear! I told you, quiet ones are always the most deadly!"

Raven chuckled, his violet eyes gleaming as he watched the chaos unfold. "At this point, she’s not even bidding for the photo—she’s bidding to erase her shame."

[Current Bid: 2,000,000 Divinity.]

The moment the number hit that mark, Raven lifted his hand. "Alright, stop."

Bumble froze mid-insult.

[Bumble_Fluff_69]: "Stop? But if we stop now, she’ll get the photo back! We won’t be able to finish the plan—we were supposed to make it public!"

Raven exhaled through his nose, watching the glowing digits dance on the screen. His smirk returned—sharp and confident.

"Relax," he said, his tone smooth as silk. "I said stop bidding, not stop winning."

Omni hummed with mischief. "Ohhh, I know that tone. We are about to rob the heavens, baby."

Raven tilted his head, eyes glowing faintly violet as the divine auction timer ticked down.

"Omni," he murmured, "let’s teach this goddess what happens when she plays in my market."

Soon, the auction timer hit zero.

[Auction Ended.]

[Winner: Goddess_Luria – 2,000,000 Divine merits.]

The room fell silent—save for the faint hum of the divine panel fading to black. Raven leaned back in his chair, the corner of his mouth twitching up.

This was his first scam, and he had already earned two million from it, so he was happier than he could ever be.

After all, the amount he earned in this one bid was more than what he had in total.

That was when Raven’s screen blinked. A message appeared.

[Goddess_Luria]: "Thank you for ending it. I knew you’d come to your senses."

Raven stared at the glowing text for three seconds. Then he closed the chat without replying.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Came to my senses, alright."

Switching tabs, he opened the private channel with Bumble.

[Raven]: "Auction’s cut is 5%, so that’s 1,900,000 left. You get forty percent—760,000 Divinity, clean."

A moment later, a ping. Transfer complete.

But Bumble was focused on something else.

[Bumble_Fluff_69]: "Uh... sir? Didn’t we... lose the bid? You said we were going to win even if he stopped the bidding. So, how...?"

Raven smiled faintly, fingers hovering over the keyboard. "Oh, you sweet puff of fear—"

Before he could finish, another notification exploded on-screen.

[Goddess_Luria]: "WHERE IS MY IMAGE?! THIS—THIS ISN’T WHAT I BOUGHT!"

Attached was an image.

Raven opened it—and started laughing so hard he nearly fell off his chair.

It was a crude stick figure: messy lines, uneven circles, and a badly drawn halo.

Beneath it, in barely legible divine scrawl, the caption read, ’Totally the Real Goddess Luria™ – Handcrafted by Raven.’

Omni was wheezing now. "Boss! I’ve already seen it once, but I can’t stop my laughter even now!"

Raven wiped a tear, still grinning. "Of course, you can’t. The ’auctioned image’ is my handicraft, and nothing I make can be normal."

As he said that, he sent a new message to Bumble, attaching a glowing file.

[Raven]: "Relax, puffball. We didn’t lose—we just made her pay two million for a doodle. Here’s the real photo, for storage."

The message was sent with a soft chime.

Bumble opened it—and froze. His misty form rippled violently as his wide eyes reflected the divine image inside.

Meanwhile, another message popped up from Luria, her divine aura literally bleeding through the screen.

[Goddess_Luria]: "WHAT. IS. THIS?!"

The chatbox seemed to tremble from her fury, but Raven only smiled, leaning back, voice low and amused. "Welcome to business with me, Goddess."

And somewhere in the Celestial Network, Bumble whispered, trembling, "...what have I just gotten myself into?"

He didn’t realize it yet, but he was going to become one of the most trusted gods of Raven in the future, and the scams they would do together would make this one look like child’s play.

For now, however, he was panicking, wondering when he would be banned from the auction website.

The poor guy didn’t even know that Raven was far from being some reckless god, as he already had everything planned, and this thing he did just now was only the first part of his plan.