“I bid one hundred million!!”

Lorenzo’s fierce and imposing voice roared across the auction hall like a real storm crashing down, leaving everyone breathless with shock on their faces.

One hundred million!

That was one hundred million!

In banknotes alone, it could form a mountain.

Most of the people here had never seen such a sum in their entire lives. In the Lower District of Belland, the most common thing crawling around were sewer rats—but even if you gathered all of them together, there still probably wouldn’t be a hundred million.

Even the pixie lady was stunned.

Of course she wanted the price to go higher—higher and higher.

But she hadn’t expected Lorenzo to go straight to one hundred million!

She had hosted countless auctions, but not a single item had ever broken past the one-hundred-million mark.

And now, that record was shattered.

The pixie lady trembled with excitement, but her beautiful eyes weren’t focused on Lorenzo, the man who’d just made the outrageous bid—instead, they locked onto the mysterious Box #88.

Because she knew very well: Lorenzo’s one-hundred-million wasn’t the result of her auctioneer's flair—it was entirely thanks to Number Eighty-Eight.

When that slip of paper reading “continue auction” was passed up to her from below, she’d already sensed that this person wouldn’t be ordinary. So now she, too, ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ waited—waited to see if Number Eighty-Eight would push the price even higher.

And not just her. Every single gaze in the auction hall was now fixed on Box #88, waiting for the next bid.

“He really just... went straight to a hundred million?”

But after a long silence, that unhurried voice finally returned, now tinged with a trace of regret and resignation:

“I truly can’t afford one hundred million. You win, Mr. Lorenzo—the Ancient Dragon Lifeblood is yours.”

“Wha—!”

The crowd gasped.

Number Eighty-Eight had backed down!

Which meant that this fierce battle for the Ancient Dragon Lifeblood had ultimately been won by Box #1—Lorenzo of the Red Flame Gang!

“No wonder it’s Lorenzo. That kind of dominance is truly overwhelming.”

“To so casually throw out a hundred million in cash—the Red Flame Gang’s strength can’t be underestimated.”

“In the end, even that mysterious Number Eighty-Eight couldn’t measure up?”

“Is it really over?”

The pixie lady also shook her head in mild disappointment—but her lips soon curved into a stunning smile as she raised the auctioneer’s hammer.

“I hereby declare—the Ancient Dragon Lifeblood, at a final price of one hundred million, is sold to the guest in Box One!”

...

“Hahahaha! Compete with me? You little clown, you wanna fight me?”

Inside Box #1, now that the outcome was settled and all eyes were on him in admiration, Lorenzo couldn’t stop himself from laughing uproariously with hands on his hips.

The one-way black glass obscured the interior, but in his mind’s eye, he could already picture that damn Number Eighty-Eight, cowed and trembling before his overwhelming presence.

Compete with me? I’ve got a hundred million—what’ve you got?

You’ve got jack shit.

The Ancient Dragon Lifeblood still belongs to me!

Mad yet?

Pissed off yet?

Humiliated in front of this many people—pissed off yet?

“Truly worthy of praise, Mr. Lorenzo.”

But just as Lorenzo was basking in his triumph, Number Eighty-Eight spoke again, this time with admiration thick in his voice:

“To bid one hundred million outright... it seems the fifty-something million I brought really wasn’t enough.”

...Huh?

Lorenzo’s grinning face froze.

The crowd’s admiring expressions also shifted.

Even the pixie lady—who had just been preparing some flattery for Lorenzo—nearly bit her own tongue.

What did he just say?

How much did he bring?

Over fifty million?

Which means...

“Sigh, I had hoped to give it a shot, but clearly I was too naïve. Compared to someone like Mr. Lorenzo, who can casually produce one hundred million, someone like me—tightening his belt just to scrape together a little over fifty million—is simply not worth mentioning.”

Number Eighty-Eight said sincerely, “Thank you, Mr. Lorenzo. You’ve helped me understand that.”

Thank you?

Thank him for being an idiot?

“......”

At that moment, the entire auction hall fell silent.

Yet in that silence, everything changed.

The whole story felt like something out of a novel. And when people turned their eyes toward Box #1 again, their gazes were no longer admiring—but tinged with pity, as if watching some tragic female lead swindled out of love and money.

Sure, your bold wave of one hundred million looked flashy...

But when the dust settles and you’ve lost fifty million for nothing?

You look pathetic.

“You motherfucker!”

In his box, Lorenzo suddenly snatched up the sofa beneath him and hurled it at the glass wall with one hand.

The glass shattered instantly—and through the broken shards, the strange, pitying looks aimed his way only fueled his rage further.

At this point, how could he not realize he’d been played?

That Number Eighty-Eight had never intended to win the Ancient Dragon Lifeblood at all.

He’d only come here... to mess with him!

“Bastard! I’m going to kill you!” 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

His bloodshot eyes glared at Box #88, burning with a desire to rush in and chop the man into mincemeat on the spot.

He had never suffered this kind of humiliation in his life.

“You can’t, Boss! You can’t just start something here!”

Afraid that Lorenzo would let his rage get the better of him and do something irreversible, the subordinate rushed forward to grab him around the waist.

“Get off me!”

Lorenzo kicked the man aside. “I’m not that fucking stupid!”

This was, after all, turf controlled by the black market’s real power players. He wasn’t dumb enough to break the rules here.

Besides...

Lorenzo looked down toward the general seating.

Though subtle, he could still catch the glint of greed in those eyes—whether pitying or gloating.

“Those mangy dogs... even dare to eye my property?”

Lorenzo took a deep breath, forcing down the fire in his chest.

To have survived this long in the chaos of the Lower District, he hadn’t relied on brute strength alone.

Those who couldn’t weigh consequences... didn’t last long.

“I’ll get revenge later. First, secure the Ancient Dragon Lifeblood.”

He stormed out of the box, moving fast—wanting to complete the transaction and disappear before the crowd could react.

But just before his figure vanished into the dark corridor, he suddenly turned his head and looked deeper into the hall.

That damned private box—still closed. No movement.

“Just you wait. This isn’t over.”

A cold glint flickered in Lorenzo’s eyes as he turned back.

“Leave two people to watch him. The rest—go.”

...

...

“Whoa, that pissed him off?”

When the sofa suddenly flew out of the box, even Muen flinched a little.

Heaven help him—he hadn’t even said anything untrue.

He really had planned to stop at around fifty or sixty million. If he accidentally won the Ancient Dragon Lifeblood, that’d be a whole new problem. Who knew the Red Flame Gang’s boss had so little self-control and would jump straight to one hundred million?

“I honestly thought he’d come charging in to hack me apart.”

Watching as Lorenzo chose to leave rather than seek revenge, Muen thoughtfully stroked his chin.

So he really was a gang boss, huh? At least he had the brains to know when not to explode.

“Well then... is the real show about to begin?”

After Lorenzo’s exit, many others in the hall also began to clear out rapidly—and judging by the eagerness in their movements, it definitely wasn’t to throw Lorenzo a farewell party.