"...Twenty-five billion!"
"...Thirty billion!"
"...Thirty-three billion!"
The bidding for the sea was skyrocketing at an astonishing speed.
Meanwhile, the scar-faced individual was still waiting outside room 203.
He didn't quite understand why, once his boss had confirmed the location of the goods, his boss had instructed him to wait until the end of the auction if the guest didn't respond.
However, his boss's decisions were always made with his boss's considerations.
So, when there was no response from inside the room, the scar-faced individual dutifully followed his boss's instructions and waited in the hallway.
Inside the room, Duke frowned upon hearing the scar-faced individual knocking on the door. "Boss, this..."
However, before he could finish his sentence, he saw Fu Linyuan press the button next to him seemingly casually. Then, on the popped-up screen, he confirmed the higher bid.
The host below grew even more excited. "Forty billion! Guest 203 bids forty billion!"
Duke whispered, "...Boss, I don't think the higher ups..."
Have so much money to spare.
Moreover, the marshal has always been against...
“I know,” Fu Linyuan interrupted his thoughts. “I'll cover this part from my personal account.”
Duke knew that the sea's blood contained ingredients that could suppress mental outbursts, and he also knew that the marshal's mental sea was in an extremely bad state. But before today's operation, it seemed like the marshal had no interest in the sea's auction at all. Even though they had taken turns trying to persuade him, he seemed completely indifferent to the matter.
Thinking about this, Duke couldn't help but steal a glance at the sleeping figure on the sofa. He seemed different from the other seas.
If they could communicate, was it possible to ask him to... help the marshal?
As if sensing his thoughts, Fu Linyuan's gaze remained on the exhibition stand below. "When he wakes up, ask him for the coordinates of his homeworld. If he wants to go back, you'll take him."
Duke raised an eyebrow. "You're planning to... send him home?"
Fu Linyuan frowned and gave him a brief look. "Any objections?"
Duke mumbled, "...No, sir, I have no objections."
The bidding had reached fifty billion.
"Fifty billion! Is there a higher bid than fifty billion?" Interestingly, it was once again the guest from room 207 who continued to raise the price. It seemed like they were determined to win the sea.
At such an exorbitant price, many other bidders had already dropped out of the auction.
Fifty billion.
The guest from room 207 appeared undeterred and added another five billion.
"Fifty-five billion!" the excited host declared. "Guest 207 bids fifty-five billion. Are there any other guests who would like to continue bidding?"
Fu Linyuan remained calm and added another ten billion.
Sixty-five billion.
The guest from room 207 seemed to be stunned this time.
The other party was quiet for a full minute before adding 500 million again.
Fu Linyuan added another billion.
Across the room, there was complete silence.
"Eighty billion, once! Eighty billion, twice! Eighty billion, thrice! Sold! Congratulations to guest 203..."
Fu Linyuan finally took his eyes off the exhibition stand and calmly instructed Duke to find out what the person waiting outside the room wanted.
It was Duke who woke up Yu Bai.
More precisely, Yu Bai woke up when Duke began to apply a bandage to his right ankle. The little merperson actually had a strong aversion to human contact.
This human with brown eyes was the same person he had seen in the holographic projection earlier. Fu Linyuan knew him.
So, Yu Bai suppressed his instinctual urge to kick the guy away and sat up slowly instead.
"Are you awake?" Duke wasn't sure if the sea understood his lengthy explanation, so he decided to call him "Xiao Bai."
[tn: "xiao" means small in chinese]
Seeing that Yu Bai remained silent, Duke remembered that this sea might not understand what he was saying. He scratched his head and, following Fu Linyuan's instructions, began to speak more slowly while gesturing to get his point across. "We're leaving Tarl-6, and we'd like to send you home."
Yu Bai understood the words "we," "leave," "Tarl-6," and "home." He wasn't entirely sure what "home" meant in this context. However, in his understanding of the human world, it seemed to be a place where one could sleep at night. So, were they leaving Tarl-6 to go to sleep?
With this thought, Yu Bai nodded slowly to indicate that he understood.
Incredibly, he just nodded!
Duke couldn't help but think about their previous interactions in the video call with Fu Linyuan. This little sea seemed surprisingly clever. Motivated by curiosity, he looked at Yu Bai and asked, "Can you understand what I'm saying?"
Yu Bai actually understood most of what Duke was saying. Wanting to express his limited understanding, he attempted to make a "a little bit" gesture by closing his fingers slightly.
Duke was taken aback by this.
He had some communication skills, after all.
Then, Yu Bai raised his hand, made a fist, and gestured very slightly, indicating "small" or "a little."
"You understand me, but not a lot?" Duke tried to clarify.
Yu Bai nodded again, now more confidently.
Duke: !
Duke: "Do you know who just saved you?"
Yu Bai nodded again. Fu Linyuan was his friend in his previous life. He was the first human to lend a helping hand to him.
Duke spoke more slowly: "The person who saved you just now is my boss, he..."
Yu Bai listened carefully.
Oh, it turns out that Fu Linyuan's name is pronounced "my boss".
Duke had no idea that the little sea had completely misunderstood his intentions. He gestured a starship shape in the air, saying, "He asked me to ask if you want to go home. I can take you there."
Sleep?
Yue Bai blinked his eyes. He wasn't sleepy at all right now, so he shook his head.
Duke was a bit puzzled, "You don't want to go home?"
As far as Duke knew, seas were a very homebound species. Successful captures often took place near sea nests.
However, Yu Bai didn't quite understand why the human in front of him kept asking him if he wanted to sleep. He had just woken up and was not sleepy at all.
So, Yue Bai shook his head again, this time more resolutely.
Duke pondered for a few seconds and then pointed at the wrist terminal.
A star map was projected between them. Duke asked, "Do you remember where your home is?"
Although Yu Bai had seen a star map before, the only region he recognized was the territory of the Orian Empire. This was because Fu Linyuan had introduced him to the Orian Empire's star regions while they were still in the lab. But it was a pity that before they could reach the main star he had pointed out, their ship disintegrated.
Duke didn't know what Yu Bai was thinking. He assumed Yu Bai hadn't understood, so he asked again slowly, "Do you remember where your home is?"
Duke's voice caught Yu Bai's attention, and he pointed precisely to the primary star of the Orian Empire.
Staring at the location he was pointing to, Duke hesitated. "You mean your home is here?"
Yu Bai nodded earnestly.
Duke was about to say more, but at that moment, he received an encrypted message on his terminal. It was probably from the person responsible for tracking down the Medusa's buyers that evening.
Duke shut down the star map projection and said slowly to Yu Bai, "Tarl-6 is a very dangerous place. I have some work to take care of. Please stay in this room and don't go out..."
Duke had actually considered using electronic restraints to keep the little sea in place, but he remembered that his boss had said that Yu Bai could unlock them. So, he decided against it. As long as he locked the room from the outside, there shouldn't be any problems.
With that in mind, Duke pointed at the door and gestured with his hand to make a cross, indicating that Yu Bai should stay in the room and not open the door for anyone. He would be back once he finished his work, and then they could discuss the matter of sending Yu Bai home.
Yu Bai, with his calm blue eyes, watched Duke for a few seconds and then nodded obediently.
Duke temporarily left the room.
The last thing he had said, Yu Bai had only understood a few words: Tarl-6, danger, go out, no, come back. He wondered if this human was telling him to run away quickly.
Left alone in the room, Yu Bai was somewhat bewildered as he looked at the door. He had heard the sound of the door locking.
Duke had said quite a bit, but since Yu Bai wasn't sure if he had understood correctly, he hesitated for a while. Finally, he carefully used a small amount of his mental energy to slip through the crack in the door and observe what was happening outside.
The corridor remained quiet, and Duke was no longer visible. After observing for a while and finding nothing suspicious, Yu Bai was about to breathe a sigh of relief. However, he suddenly felt someone approaching at the end of the corridor. The person was moving stealthily toward Yu Bai's room and silently stopped outside the door.
As the distance shortened, Yu Bai recognized the person. It was one of the men who had chased him the previous night.
The man was holding something in his hand. It wasn't until he brought that object to the door's recognition device that Yu Bai realized what was going on.
With the sound of a successful identification...
The door opened.
Thanks for the update!!
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