Inside the water tank, Camie trembled with fear as she saw the greedy eyes of the bidders staring at her.
The Supernovas in the crowd also had wild looks in their eyes—they understood the brutal rules of this sea better than anyone.
As long as you had enough money and power, those weaker than you could easily become your slaves.
Ryuen frowned. This wasn't like the original timeline. The Straw Hat crew wasn't here to save her, and Hatchan wouldn't show up either—because Ryuen had already taken him out.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The auctioneer banged his gavel, and the room instantly fell silent.
"It's been a long time since a mermaid was put up for auction. I'm sure everyone is excited. Now, what should we start the bidding at…?"
As soon as the auctioneer spoke, the nobles eager to win the mermaid swallowed in anticipation.
"Well then… The starting price is 50 million Berries! Let's begin!" the auctioneer announced with excitement.
"60 million Berries!"
"I bid 80 million!"
"Hahaha! I'll go with 100 million Berries!"
"130 million…"
As the price skyrocketed, the auctioneer couldn't hide his excitement. He thought to himself—mermaids really were the most valuable!
"300 million Berries!"
Boom! The moment that number was announced, the entire auction house fell silent. Everyone was stunned.
Even the auctioneer hadn't expected someone to bid 300 million Berries!
Ryuen glanced over—it was Kid.
"It's actually Kid..." Law was surprised to see Kid place a bid, but he quickly understood why.
Inside the auction house, all the pirates' faces lit up with madness.
······
"300... 300 million..."
"No way, I can't compete with that!"
"Damn it!"
"I can only go up to 180 million at most..."
With Kid's 300 million bid, everyone else who had been hoping to win the mermaid felt a wave of frustration.
"Hahahaha!"
"Anyone got a higher bid than me?" Kid laughed wildly.
"300 million Berries!"
"This red-haired gentleman has bid 300 million Berries!"
"Does anyone want to offer more?" The auctioneer didn't even bother with a countdown and just shouted out the question.
The room fell silent for a few more seconds.
"If no one bids, then the mermaid, Camie, will go to the red-haired gentleman at seat 60!" The auctioneer excitedly slammed the gavel down.
"Sir, dear guest, will you be paying by card or in advance?" Someone immediately rushed to Kid's side, rubbing their hands together in a flattering manner.
Kid turned his head, grinned arrogantly, and said, "My head is worth exactly 300 million Berries. Want to take it instead?"
"Th-this... Sir, please don't joke around..." The lackey who had approached him instantly felt an overwhelming pressure.
"Hmm?"
"Joking?"
"My bounty is 300 million Berries. Are you saying you have a problem with the World Government's bounty system?" Kid shouted arrogantly.
"I recognize him! He's the captain of the Kid Pirates!"
"Nani???"
"He's a pirate...?"
"This is terrifying! How can someone like that be allowed into such a refined establishment?"
"Exactly!"
······
Some people in the crowd were scared, some were annoyed, while others simply didn't care.
"Shut up, all of you!"
Kid roared, and in an instant, countless weapons flew into the air!
"Run~~~~"
"Get out of here!"
"Help! Run for your lives!"
As more and more weapons gathered in the air, the nobles at the auction began to panic, scrambling to escape the building!
"Die!"
At that moment, the floating metal had already formed a massive mechanical arm.
"Boom!!"
Kid slammed his mechanical arm down in rage, instantly collapsing the passage leading out of the auction house.
The people trying to escape were sent flying!
"Hyahaha!"
"Pathetic weaklings! Just because they were born lucky, they think they deserve rights others don't have!"
"Go to hell, all of you!"
"Crack… crack…."
"Boom!"
Just as Kid was about to smash his mechanical arm down again, a wall near the auction stage was suddenly torn apart and exploded.
A giant, towering over ten meters tall, stepped out from the rubble.
In front of him stood an old man with white hair—Rayleigh had finally made his entrance.
"Oh?"
"A mermaid, huh?"
"Oh!"
"There sure are a lot of capable young people these days."
"Oh!!"
"I didn't expect to see Ryuen here too—what a lively place! Ahahaha!" Rayleigh laughed out loud for some reason as he looked around.
Kid froze—he could sense that this old man wasn't ordinary.
But as soon as Rayleigh mentioned "Ryuen," all the pirates in the room turned to look in his direction.
Ryuen, leader of the Dream Exploration Crew—one of the most well-known figures on the seas right now!
The auction attendees didn't dare make a sound, all huddling under their seats, shivering.
"Yo!"
"Hey, everyone!" Ryuen stood up and waved casually, completely ignoring the intense, hostile gazes from the pirates.
Ryuen knew exactly what they were thinking—they wanted to defeat him to boost their own reputations.
"Oh!!"
"Suge~~!"
"What's going on here? It looks fun!" Just then, Straw Hat barged in.
But the moment he saw the people inside, he immediately sensed something was off.
Seeing Straw Hat, Kid's excitement grew—among all the pirates here with bounties over 100 million, only Straw Hat had the same 300-million bounty as him!
"Oh?"
"It's him!" Rayleigh's eyes landed on the iconic straw hat, instantly recognizing the young man Shanks had placed high hopes on.
…
"Hey, Rayleigh, don't you have any dignity? You've sunk so low you're auctioning yourself off?" At some point, Ryuen had already stepped onto the stage.
"Hohoho~~~"
"Well, I've been out for half a year, and I ran out of money. I was actually planning to rob the host to make some cash before heading back," Rayleigh said with a carefree laugh, completely unfazed.
Ryuen glanced at him briefly but didn't bother acknowledging his shamelessness. Instead, he walked straight toward the bathtub.
"Hey!"
"I paid for him—he's mine!" Kid shouted when he saw Ryuen approaching the mermaid.
Of course, he was just looking for an excuse to pick a fight.
"If you guys don't leave soon… you're going to be surrounded," Ryuen said, flashing a mysterious smile.
"Oh?"
"This many people, huh?" Hearing Ryuen's words, Rayleigh activated his Haki to scan the area—instantly, he sensed a large group of people slowly closing in on the auction house.
"Bang!"
"Crash…"
Ryuen lightly tapped the bathtub, and in an instant, it shattered. The mermaid, Camie, trembled in fear.
"Don't be scared, I'm a good guy," Ryuen said with a smile.
He reached toward Camie's neck and, with incredible speed, removed the collar around it, tossing it into the air.
"Boom!!"
The collar was forcibly removed, triggering a violent explosion!
"Nobody move!"
At that moment, Sentomaru finally arrived, bringing along the PX-1 and PX-2 Pacifistas.
Outside the auction house, the Marines had completely surrounded the place!
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