Plan Thwarted... On To Plan B!

"200 million."

The moment Hinokami said that a series of gasps were once again heard from the crowd as a number of them glanced at Hinokami. It was an understandable reaction though, since two hundred million yen was a lot of money.

There were a couple of rich people in the crowd as well, even the four stronghold leaders of the Yamanashi Prefecture were rich enough to put two hundred million on the table. However, there was no way they'd put in that crazy amount for an infected pomeranian, even they weren't that stupid.

"Sir, are you sure about this?" One of Hinokami's subordinates whispered. "I know we can afford the two hundred million, but we'll be severely crippled in the long run if we keep this up."

"Don't worry about it. I have a plan... I'm going to get everything they want and drain them their money at the same time." Hinokami whispered back.

Then again, he knew that his plan would only work if the other party would outbid his two hundred million offer. Quite frankly, he knew that he got a little too overexcited back there, but he knew that the group would really go for more than two hundred million since they were crazy enough to put out a hundred million on the line.

"Two hundred million, two hundred million. Anyone else? Going once, going twice..." The auctioneer dragged it on as he looked around.

"I'm sorry, Kazuichi, I tried to get it for you but I couldn't." Shig whispered at Kazuichi who was looking at him with his pupils dilated.

"What are you talking about? The gesture was more than enough." Kazuichi finally regained his composure after a split second, forcing a smile on his face. While he badly wanted to get the pomeranian, there was no way he'd pay two hundred million for it. Hinokami could have it, for all he cared.

"I'm really sorry This was just the second item so I couldn't risk more than a hundred."

"I mean... bidding that much was more than enough. Don't worry, and thank you for the gesture." Kazuichi said, patting Shig on the shoulders since he clearly was more disappointed than him.

Meanwhile, the auctioneer was still waiting for Kazuichi, but after sensing that Kazuichi had given up, he repeated the formalities before closing down the deal.

"Going twice? Going thrice! SOLD!" The auctioneer screamed, pointing his entire arm at Hinokami who got the infected pomeranian for 200 million.

It was clearly a steal, but the crowd wouldn't dare point that out since he was the one who bid the amount.

A series of claps was heard from the bidders since they couldn't help but applaud Hinokami's actions. Nevertheless, that didn't satisfy Hinokami at all, since his plan had utterly failed. He got too confident, fully certain that Kazuichi's group would bid more than two hundred and as soon as that happens, he had decided to fold.

But no, Kazuichi and the others just had to back down at such a crucial point in the bid that his initial plan ended up in failure before it even started. As much as Hinokami wanted to tug all his hair out, he knew that he shouldn't lose his composure in front of everyone else.

The fight had just begun, and although 200 million was a lot of money, he had a lot more where that came from.

"All right, for the next item..."

...

An hour and a half later,

"And that ends the first half of the auction. We'll be conducting a twenty minute break, so if anyone wants to go out and get some fresh air with the infected above ground, please feel free to do so." The auctioneer bowed his head down after taking a quick glance at Kazuichi and Hinokami.

Clearly, they were the powerhouses of this auction... then again, the auctioneer felt like the other three stronghold leaders didn't bid that much during the second half. Their intentions were clear, and the auctioneer understood that they'd be putting all their efforts on the second half were more valuable items would be sold.

He grinned, fully knowing that the more he sold, the more he'd get from commission. "And just a gentle reminder, fighting is not allowed in the auction. If you want to bash heads together, please feel free to do it outside. After all, a commotion might be grounds to an immediate kick."

After that reminder, the auctioneer headed behind the curtain to get some rest. Now was the time for the bidders to once again converse with each other. Then again, most of them didn't bother knowing their contenders. A majority of the bidders remained seated, while Kazuichi and his group stood up and took a couple of stretches.

Well, it was just Kazuichi who stood up, but the others immediately followed. '

"Are you going outside, Kazuichi?" Tris asked. In her mind, she also thought of going outside since the place was choking her. Seeing a lot of people and Hybrids together didn't do well with her anxiety.

"Yeah, for fresh air. This place still reeked so bad, I need to refresh my nostrils." Kazuichi continued. "Anything other than here is fine, and the outside is the nearest option."

"I'll go with you." Mizunochi Ayaka called out as well, sticking close to Kazuichi since she had prior experience with getting hit on during auction breaks. "I also need to refresh my nose. This mask isn't helping at all." She commented.

"Then we're all heading out. Do we need to reserve our seats? Or not really?" Shig asked.

"No need. The auctioneer knows that we're all seated there. No one would dare take our place... unless of course, we're talking about that good-for-nothing guy." Ayaka whispered the last comment, just loud enough for Kazuichi to pick up on it.

"We'll worry about that later. For now, let's get out of here." Kazuichi continued before leading the way.

From a distance, Hinokami could be seen still eyeing Kazuichi. He instantly knew where they were headed, and he quickly thought of a gift for them. "Oi, we're following them to kill some time." Hinokami called out to his subordinates.