Second half of the auction.

Compared to the overall atmosphere of the first half, the second half felt more intense than usual. The moment the group entered the auction hall, they felt as if the air was choking them. Then again, Kazuichi instantly assumed that this was all because of the intense scent of the Hybrids which saturated the room so much he could literally taste their smell.

"Ah shi~ here we go again, huh,’ Kazuichi mumbled as he returned to his seat. Before he sat down, however, he caught Hinokami’s scent on his seat as if he stayed there the whole time. Kazuichi had no idea if it was on purpose, but he certainly didn’t feel good about it.

And speaking of not feeling good, Kazuichi sort of concluded that it was Hinokami who sent all those Hybrids at them. He recognized that some of them stood beside him when they interacted with each other a couple of moments ago.

Adding to that, Hinokami had fewer Hybrids around him right now. And the moment they entered the auction hall, Hinokami looked shocked, befuddled. This was because he was fairly certain that his subordinates would win against their group.

After all, they did have two infected in their group, and he sent more than a dozen Hybrids. Based on the numbers, there was no way they’d have lost. But now, there was no doubt about it, they had been defeated by two Hybrids.

"What the— it was two against more than twelve, right? How could they defeat them? Shouldn’t Hybrids be on par with each other? And not to mention, my subordinates weren’t subpar at all!"

He gritted his teeth, but he was careful not to show too much of his expression since that would make it all the more obvious to Kazuichi’s group that he was the mastermind of the attack. Heaving a sigh of defeat and disappointment, Hinokami sat down in his seat.

There was nothing he could do about the outcome, so the mature way to go was to accept it.

Nevertheless, those were just his one-sided thoughts. Right now, a change was shifting, and he wasn’t even aware of it. From the front seat, the three other stronghold leaders started smiling. Clearly, they were brewing something in the pot, and it was bound to happen sooner than later.

Whatever it was, Hinokami had no idea about it. Because of his defeat, the cogwheels started turning and it would lead to someone’s downfall.

"All right. I’m guessing that’s everyone? Let’s proceed to the second half of the auction." The auctioneer clapped his hands with a fake smile plastered on his face. He was exhausted, but he had to keep up the facade of a cheerful attitude, or else he’d fail as the auctioneer.

Professionalism over the mind.

Once again, the auctioneer cleared his throat, and he brought out a meteorite ore out of nowhere. Just like the format of the first half, he had to get everyone’s attention on the first item, that’s why he commenced the second half with a bang— taking out one of the most precious items in the outbreak.

"We have he— I guess everyone knows what this is, huh?" He exhaled with a modicum of chuckle since he saw almost everyone raise their hand.

Everyone was eager to put up a price on the meteorite ore. It’s as if the first half of the auction was just the appetizer since all of them wanted to get the meteorite ore no matter what.

The only ones who didn’t raise their hands were Kazuichi and his group. He couldn’t be bothered getting the meteorite ore since he just received a huge one from Shig. Besides, he could always hunt Aberrants or Omegas if he wanted to get more. It would be more challenging, but it wasn’t out of the question.

Quite frankly, Kazuichi just didn’t want to compete with everyone when it came to the price. The bidders would be more enthusiastic this time around, and Kazuichi knew it would be a pain to deal with them.

"Ten million!"

"Ridiculous! Ten million?! Thirty million!"

"Fifty million!"

"Sixty million!"

From his peripheral vision, Kazuichi could tell that Hinokami wasn’t bidding at all. Instead, he just keenly watched Kazuichi, as if waiting for him to move or something along those lines. Honestly, Hinokami just wanted to interrupt Kazuichi whenever he bids, that’s why this time he didn’t bother bidding on the meteorite.

"I change my mind." Kazuichi let out as he raised his hand.

"One hundred and ten million," Kazuichi commented.

In a flash (and just as expected), Hinokami raised his hand to outbid Kazuichi. With a smile on his face that screamed of superiority, Hinokami raised the bid. "One hundred and fifty million!"

Kazuichi wasn’t the only one who understood Hinokami’s intentions. All the other bidders saw right through him, wondering why he was going through so much just to mess with a single bidder. Then again, they knew that Hinokami was a stronghold leader, so he probably had money to burn.

Then again, Kazuichi wasn’t a fool. He knew how to play the winning game when it came to this auction. As soon as Hinokami shouted out his bid, Kazuichi clicked his tongue and wore a desperate expression on his face— playing right into Hinokami’s hands.

He knew that if he were to react like that, it would force Hinokami to bid more when he raised the price.

"..."

"..."

"One hundred and seventy million!"

Unexpectedly, the next bidder wasn’t Hinokami, but Ayaka. With a wink, Ayaka smiled at Kazuichi while she pressed both palms in front of her. "I’m sorry, but I’m also going to bid for this one, Kazuichi," Ayaka whispered.

"Two hundred million!" Hinokami called out.

Another bidder also called for a ’two hundred million and a hundred thousand’, but Kazuichi instantly raised his hand to outbid the random bidder.

"Two hundred fifty million!" Kazuichi showed more of his desperation.

"Kugh~! Two hundred sixty million!" Hinokami returned.

"Two hundred seventy-five million!" Ayaka also screamed.

It was a three-way bid at this point, and no side was backing down. As for the auctioneer, he was just happy that he’d get more commission the higher the price goes, so he was totally okay with the three of them battling it out even though it might take a little bit longer.