Three Golden-Scaled Crystal Fish floated quietly on the golden surface of the water, their pale bellies turned upward.
Each one was worth several billion Jenny.
Three of them meant over ten billion.
And just like that, they were gone.
Leib crouched beside the pool, staring at the three dead fish, his face twitching with pain. He had run casinos for over twenty years; he had seen every kind of storm and handled every kind of rare treasure. But now, his hands were trembling.
Not from fear.
From heartache.
"...Teacher."
He took a deep breath, turned his head, and looked at Saitama standing ten meters away.
"Could you... move back a little farther?"
Saitama blinked, then obediently took five steps back.
"Like this?"
"A little farther."
He took another five steps back.
"Like this?"
Leib glanced at the fish in the pool. The remaining fish were still swimming around leisurely, their bellies no longer turning upward.
"...That should be enough."
He let out a breath of relief.
Saitama stood twenty meters away, leaning against a stalactite with a bored look on his face.
"How much longer..."
"Soon, soon." Leib wiped the sweat from his forehead. "First, we need to solve the problem of who can get close."
He turned around and looked at the other five.
"We tested it just now. Mr. Leorio can get within three meters without scaring the fish. Who else wants to try?"
Genos stepped forward.
"I'll try."
He walked to a point five meters from the pool and stopped.
Five fish in the pool instantly rolled over, their pale bellies exposed.
Genos: "..."
He silently stepped back.
"The energy fluctuations from a mechanical body are too strong. To the fish, they're like constant low-frequency noise." He adjusted nonexistent glasses. "I'm not suitable for getting close."
Kurapika