Abner did not respond. He merely narrowed his eyes and watched Ronan on the screen, watching this young man communicate with the people at the venue and everyone following it with a composure utterly mismatched to his age.
This was no longer like his first public lecture last year, when he had merely talked to himself within a professional field. Nor was it like the display at Zeolite Beach two days ago, which had been little more than a one-sided show of skill.
Ronan now seemed to be paying attention to feedback. At the very least, he had begun deliberately seizing people's attention and intentionally provoking their emotions, just like now...
"Since I'm standing here, I should fulfill some of an auctioneer's duties. Let's forget all those exaggerated descriptions on the screen and in the catalog. Frankly, they're wildly off-topic and utterly beside the point."
Ronan appeared to be returning to the subject and began introducing the auction item, but he started with a question again, seemingly quite willing to interact with the bidders present.
"How many of you think they're merely a set of equipment, merely the address of an abandoned laboratory? That they no longer have any practical value and can only satisfy the collecting obsession of a select few?"
No one answered. The bidders at the venue were less than enthusiastic in their response.
That was because a considerable number of them had yet to grasp the situation—at least, they had not figured out whether it would be better to play dumb, quietly slip away, or honestly cooperate.
The atmosphere at the venue was more or less awkward, especially in the eyes of those "observers."
Star Witch found it somewhat amusing. "This one really is full of resentment. But what use is there in losing his temper