Chapter 37: Turbulent Situation

  After the fourth item was sold, the fifth, sixth and seventh items followed... During this time, Luo and Hobadi were waiting with some boredom.

  As the time approached three o'clock in the afternoon, the tenth item emerged from behind the curtain, and Rohan and Hobbit finally showed a bit of interest.

  "So, as the auction is nearing its end, more and more attractive items are coming up. First, let's take a look at the second-to-last item..."

  Malinda pointed at the tall and majestic man who walked out with her jade-like hand, and many people in the audience gasped when they saw the slave man.

  "That's right, he's the one who abandoned his wife and child, sailed across the four seas, and committed every evil deed. The captain of the Demon Sea Pirates, Devil Dias!!" Marindot drew out the long syllables, and the audience's atmosphere was instantly stirred up.

  "Everyone didn't think so! The pirate who was rampaging in the North Sea just a while ago has been caught. So, customers who like to collect pirate captains' slaves don't miss out, pirate captain slave, starting price is 0, now start bidding..."

  "I bid 10 million! I'll catch this guy and torture him properly!" a noble shouted, raising card No. 36.

  "Wow, the starting price is already 10 million, is there a higher bid? ... Ah, customer number 44 has raised his paddle."

  "15 million!" said No. 44.

  In less than three seconds, No. 112 raised his sign: "18 million!"

  Bidder 152: "20 million!"

  "It seems like it can be sold for a good price ~ Harald's home." Luo's mouth corners rose.

  Hobbit nodded indifferently and murmured a response, then fell silent again.

  "40 million Belly!"

  The explosive amount caused a moment of silence in the auction hall, and Hobodi and Luo looked up to see the bidder, a man wearing a suit with sunglasses, with a strange red mark on his collar fold.

  Some nobles, seeing the mark, suddenly changed their faces, and even Hobodi, Luo, Hawkins, those underground forces, and the new era pirate group Bellamy's people couldn't keep a straight face.

  "Dragon's Hoof"! That is the emblem of the Heavenly Dragon Clan——

  "Judging from his attire, he should be a guardian who is well-versed in the 'Six Styles' and specially trained by the world government for the Tianlong people."

  Hobodi's face was strange, he glanced in Hawkins' direction, then looked at the masked man with a "ㄨ" shaped chin near the exit.

  "The aristocratic pirates and the naval headquarters' ships have all appeared, and now even the Tianlong people's guards have arrived. Could it be that there really are Tianlong people here......" The two rumors that Hoppody had heard from Mate before setting sail, which he thought were both false, but now after arriving at the North Sea, he found that the subtlety of the situation was truly puzzling.

  It's not a lie to say it's false, but to tell the truth, Hawkins is not a nobleman, and that naval officer sent by the Admiralty is not a brigadier general, let alone a protector of the Tianlong people!

  "This trip to the North Sea was indeed not in vain." The Tianlong guard looked around at the stunned gazes, already accustomed to it, then stood up and jumped onto the stage with a swift movement, holding a gold coin pouch. He said calmly to Marlinde: "It seems no one else is bidding, if there are no objections, let's strike the gavel! I'll put down the gold coins here, and take away the pirate captain slave."

  "Oh, ah......" Marlin was stunned, was today his lucky day? How could there be so many fools?

  Of course, these words in her heart she dared not speak. After the Dragon Guard escorted Dias away, Marlin also ordered her subordinates to move a large bag of gold coins to the back with satisfaction.

  "That Heavenly Dragon guard should be Rozvard's. I heard that among the Heavenly Dragons, Rozvard especially likes to collect pirate captains! You'd better be careful."

  "That bunch of guys, don't think you can catch me! Harald, you should worry about yourself instead!" Luo refused to show weakness and counterattacked, with an unknown glint flashing in his eyes.

  The second-to-last item was sold at an astronomical price that would not normally appear, Marlin was in high spirits at this time, and the audience was excitedly waiting for the final finale of today.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, the final item of today's auction is about to arrive. Before that, I'd like to remind everyone that this slave auction also includes a second floor for arms dealing, and on the third floor, we have the precious Devil Fruits from the Great Route... Lights!" Marindot gave a command, and the lights moved away from her body. Unbeknownst to anyone, the curtains behind her had already been fully opened, revealing the second floor which was lined with dazzling famous swords, classical and valuable royal flintlock guns, golden peony-patterned cannons...

  Above the third layer is a half-open box with a durian-like fruit inside, covered in strange flower patterns.

  "Devil's fruit, indeed a strange thing... The price is still tolerable, but the cost of becoming a useless duck is just too great." A nobleman was somewhat moved, but thinking of his pocket money, he immediately lost spirit and shook his head.

  Most of the nobles' thoughts are similar to his, unlike pirates or marines who fight with this world all the time, they don't have to worry about fighting at all. Considering the price paid for the Devil Fruit and the expensive amount, it's not even known what will happen after eating it. Some rumors from the nobility that something like a lion or leopard can't change back have become widespread, so the attraction of the Devil Fruit is not that great for them.

  But for some fugitives, the allure of the Devil Fruit is entirely different. For these people who walk between life and death on a knife's edge, the Devil Fruit is a symbol of power. Which of the three admirals of the Navy has not eaten a Devil Fruit? Even Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world, was a Devil Fruit user!

  "That famous sword seems pretty good, it's probably one of the 50 Honjō Masamune 'Yū'"!

  "That gun looks like Captain John's sidearm! I wonder if there's a treasure map of Captain John's hidden treasure inside."

  Some underground forces are making a move, with greed in their eyes, but for those nobles, they still don't hold a candle to the importance of slaves.

  The noble who was previously depressed about the Devil Fruit shouted: "Hurry up and bring out the final slave, stop teasing us!"

  The atmosphere on the stage was heated up to this point, and Malinda was very satisfied with her masterpiece. The noble's voice was extremely loud... That's right, it was time for the final auction.

  "The final item for today's auction..." From the dark area behind the curtain, two of the auction house's underlings slowly emerged, each holding one end of a black-cloth-covered object that resembled a birdcage.

  Two people lifted up the black cloth, and it turned out to be an iron cage. However, inside the iron cage was a tiny creature, and everyone started cheering.

  "That's right, born in the new world of 'Glinbeit', with all the characteristics of a small person having infinite strength, female, 107mm tall, she is... Vika from the Dongtaidong tribe!!" Marindo shouted.

  "Oh oh oh~~ Wei Ka——"

  "Aaaaah~~~ I'm so moved, a fairy tale creature... I finally saw her today, I must have her——" A nobleman was covered in tears, causing the people around him to feel shocked.

  "Ah... what a fragile life this is. It reminds me of the moment I just gave birth to my child..." A noblewoman also couldn't help but shed tears.

  "The current bidding price is..."

  "I'll give one billion Beri!" The man with the chestnut-shaped head sitting in the front row raised his hand.

  Behind the head of Lixi, Rona stood up with a knife next to Hobodi and threw away the mask in her hand. She stared at Hobodi: "I'm going to start my purpose for coming here now. I hope you won't interfere with me from now on, Harald's family."

  In Hobodi's arms, at this moment, a "brrr... brrr..." sound of phone ringing came simultaneously.

  Bang!

  Suddenly a voice came from behind the two, and the tightly closed exit door of the auction house was suddenly blown open. A white beret with "MARINE" embroidered on it walked in from outside the auction house.

  "Shoot, one does not stay!" A low, cold voice sounded from a certain seat in the auction hall, and then that figure hung up the phone.

  A man wearing a medieval knight's hat and with a black mask covering his face, revealing only a crescent-shaped mark on his chin, stood up, jumped onto the third tier of the stage, closed the box containing the Devil Fruit, and clutched it tightly to his chest.

  "This is really being underestimated." Luo's expression was somewhat gloomy, his plan had been completely disrupted.

  "Why would the Navy know about this place? Has someone been talking?" Hawkins cast a sidelong glance at Hopperdy.

  "Trashy Navy, how dare you come to disturb the turf of Donquixote Doflamingo! Zatchys, get ready..." Bellamy, captain of the New Era Pirates, shouted loudly.

  But before he could finish, he and Satchel, who was holding a dagger beside him, had two iron-hard fists planted on their cheeks.

  The two were knocked flying and crashed into the wall of the auction house with a loud bang.

  The person who took action was naturally Hobodi. He jumped onto the center of the stage, walked past the host Marlinde and took over the telephone bug microphone.

  The navy has now fully entered, Hobodi is still watching below, and he may be caught exposing his identity later. In that case, his plan to come to Beihai will be completely scrapped.

  "Harald's at home... You're with the Navy!?" Luo stared at Hobodi, this eccentric man called "King", who was actually standing on the side of the Navy.

  "It seems the facts are as follows. This person called 'King' somehow logged in to Rubi Island, killed bounty hunters and my subordinates, and then brazenly chose a location on Seagull Island! Indeed, this strange behavior is for this purpose." Hawkins expressionlessly pulled out a deck of tarot cards and began to divine.

  "Navy!?" X. Drake jumped down from the third floor upon hearing this, looking at Hobody in surprise. Under the secret orders of the Warring States General, only he was supposed to be undercover, so how did another companion appear?

  "Are you from this department?"

  However, X. Drake was met with a human palm, his face changed color, the palm tightened, and power surged in an instant. Drake felt something was off, his face changed again, just as he was about to dodge.

  Hobodi gave him no chance to dodge, a full-force punch, the vibrating air making a "whooshing" sound, hit Drake's face.

  In slow motion, Drake's entire face sank in drastically, his body flew tens of meters away, this punch was obviously much more ruthless than the one that hit Bellamy from the New Era Pirates. Drake's body directly crashed through the wall and flew out of the auction house, his figure disappearing into the unknown.

  "I'm not a sailor, Lo!" Hobodi took a deep look at the cotton hat man in the distance and then spoke to everyone through the megaphone: "My name is King, I came here to wipe out all the underground forces' leaders and nobles to make a name for myself! In other words - you are all my stepping stones!"

  The situation on the scene has created unprecedented chaos.