Everyone's eyes fixed on the man who had shouted that figure. His bloated body had risen from his seat, and beneath his transparent glass helmet was a grotesquely twisted face.
The people in the audience looked at him with all sorts of expressions: puzzlement, astonishment, but mostly admiration. After all, three hundred million Beli was an enormous sum to them.
The man seemed to relish the silence and shouted the figure again.
"I bid three hundred million Beli!"
He spread his arms, looking utterly pleased with himself, while his eyes remained locked on the Fish-Man curled up in the tank onstage. She had long, light brown hair and a sorrowful expression. If not for his helmet, his drool might have reached the floor. Don't ask where it went with the helmet on. You all know.
No one around him spoke. Satisfied, he sat down and, already grinning, ordered the man in a black suit beside him to go backstage.
Meanwhile, Barn, sitting farther back, nudged Rayleigh beside him with his elbow.
"What is it?"
Rayleigh asked in confusion.
"Raise your paddle?"
"Huh? Hey, Barn, we're out of money. We've already spent all three hundred million Beli."
Rayleigh sounded startled by Barn's request.
Barn merely gave a mysterious smile and said,
"Just raise it. It's not our money we're spending."
Seeing the mysterious smile on Barn's face, Rayleigh stood up doubtfully and raised the paddle in his hand.
"Three hundred and ten million Beli."
Compared with the Celestial Dragon's excitement, Rayleigh sounded far calmer. Of course, he hadn't stood up, either.
Yet those words, which meant little to Rayleigh, struck the Celestial Dragon's ears like a tremendous insult to his pride. He stood up furiously, his eyes filled with anger, though even more with surprise. It wasn't the higher bid that