Chapter 538: Reborn’s appearance
Michael’s team consisted of the four Dragonborn siblings and Grieve. It was the lineup that he thought would bring them victory on the Pocket Dimension.
And despite them not looking like they were taking this seriously, he knew that he could depend on them once the going gets tough. They would pull through for him.
"Once your team is ready, please go down into the arena!" Barnaby announced, which the crowd absolutely loved.
They were anticipating the entrance of the Rising Six and their best officers. It was not everyday that they would get to see these young generations of talents fight amongst each other in a single venue. The best part about it was that the outcome of this bid could totally change the outcome of the Rising Six rankings.
Finally, magic lights beamed down into the ground as Beau and five of her best fighters entered from one side of the arena.
Her entrance was met with a lot of applause and admiration. She walked down the steps, her blonde curly hair swinging back and forth with grace and aplomb.
"That’s Beau Rigaud! She’s ranked first! And look at her team. She went all out on this one."
"She’s planning on extending her lead as the best of the Rising Six!"
"I’m rooting for her! She’s the most likely among them to reach the Major Factions in the future! We may be looking at a future Legacy!"
One by one, each of the Rising Six walked down the steps and took their respective spots on the stage. Every one of them were met with applause and cheering.
And it may be a coincidence, but they all came down in the same exact order as their rankings in the Golden 500.
First was Beau from the Pyramidic Cuisine, next was Phim the boy with bangs from the Angelic Crafts, after him was the cowboy man Reptar from Crocodile Leather, next to him was Erlos the khaki-wearing man from the Alligator company, and then after him was the muscular Tenzing from the Mountain Movers.
Last but not least was Reena from Spice Vise, who received widespread applause which came primarily from men who liked her for her beauty.
She came down wearing her traditional flowy, green, silk dress, with a thin veil that covered her face and made her all the more alluring.
"Woah! She’s too beautiful!"
"Reena, marry me!"
"She might be the last-ranked Rising Six member, but that’s still far away from the likes of you!"
Reena ignored all of the men talking and walked to her corner of the stage.
Underneath her veil, she couldn’t help but sneak a peek at the empty spot right next to her team. The only one left was him.
"What am I even doing?!" she reprimanded herself. "I’m going to ignore him. He doesn’t matter. The only thing that I should care about is the Soo drops."
She shook her head and inwardly blamed her father for putting all those ideas of marriage in her head. He must be crazy to think that she could consider a kid like him as her marriage partner.
Just then, the final magical light beamed down onto the stage.
Everyone immediately turned their heads towards the last team participating.
Throughout this auction, they’d seen firsthand how the Reborn company showed wealth that could even go toe-to-toe against the Rising Six.
Still, the company was shrouded in mystery. They didn’t know anything besides their name and their wealth.
This would be the first time that they would get to see the person in charge of the Reborn company.
"I wonder who it is. They must be a hermit that gathered their wealth after hundreds of years."
"No, they gotta be a weathered middle-aged man that hates attention."
All sorts of theories were thrown around, with the anticipation building even higher as the steps slowly echoed throughout the auction.
And finally, as they started walking down, people got their first glimpse at Michael and his company.
Everyone’s eyes widened.
At the very center of their team was a thirteen-year-old kid with golden hair and a carefree smile on his face. He wasn’t anything like anyone had expected.
"No way...the owner of the Reborn company is that kid?!"
"Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe it’s that hooded figure over there."
Despite Michael being in the clear center of their formation, people’s first thought was that Grieve must have been the enigmatic leader of Reborn.
However, as they took their spot on the stage, Michae moved away from his team and stood on the right-most side of the platform, among the other six leaders of the Rising Six.
This made it official. He was the leader of the Reborn company! Gasps of disbelief washed over the crowd.
"He owns a company at that age?!"
Because of this, all those feats of Reborn showing off their wealth was now recontextualized in everyone’s minds. They couldn’t believe that a boy his age was able to command a company with such enormous wealth!
Not only that, but the fact that he was in the Lock region of the Pocket Dimension meant that he was also a Maugnetic like the other Rising Six!
As Michael took his spot, he could feel all sorts of stares looking at him. It wasn’t malicious or anything, but he was definitely the center of attention.
He even caught the attention of the people in the VIP suites. The Tower Master finally got a good glimpse at Michael. Putting a face to the name that gave him a few heart attacks was a little bit comforting.
Meanwhile, Kruger, the Heavenly Knight, immediately recognized Michael and finally remembered him.
"That’s the guy who sells us chocolates!" he realized. "He’s reached Metropolis already?!"
The Rising Six were more surprised than the others. After all, many people considered them to be geniuses and prodigies because of all they achieved in their young age.
But seeing Michael even younger than them made them feel a lot older. They would have thought he was older, or at least the same age as them.
To fight off the awkwardness, Michael turned to Reena, who was right next to him and greeted her.
"Hey! We saw each other back in your headquarters."
Despite his greeting, Reena barely even acknowledged his presence. She kept her eyes on the Pocket Dimension, actively ignoring his looks.
She’s really serious about this game, he thought.
Now that everyone was in their respective positions, Barnaby gathered everyone’s attention with his booming voice.
"Players! As soon as you step inside the Pocket Dimension, you will be transported in a random location among your regions. Are you all ready?"
Everyone nodded.
"JUMP IN!"
As soon as he said that, people began diving into the Pocket Dimension feet first, with some kind of magic transporting them directly on the ground.
Reena was among the first to go, and Michael was among the last.
Before he jumped in, Barnaby gave him a subtle thumbs up to give him good luck. He nodded in thanks before jumping into the Pocket Dimension as well.
Once everyone was inside the game, the discussions among the crowds started.
"Beau will definitely get the most drops. Did you see her power while she was standing there?"
"I think that Phim and the Angelic Crafts will get at least one or two."
"I don’t know about you guys, but I’m rooting for the magnificent Reena! She’s underrated!"
In all the guesses and predictions about who would get the drops, the Reborn company’s name didn’t come up a single time.