79 Yarukiman Mangroves towered into the sky, and sunlight filtered through the leaves onto the ground.
With the breathing of the Yarukiman Mangroves, round bubbles continuously emerged from the ground at the tree roots, leisurely floating into the air, refracting colorful brilliance in the sunlight.
Here was the last island in the first half of the Grand Line, and also the only island without a magnetic field — the Sabaody Archipelago.
Pirates heading to the New World all had to stop here, coat their ships, purchase sufficient supplies, and then set off toward the mandatory route to the New World — Fish-Man Island!
The Sabaody Archipelago was divided into regional numbers according to the 79 Yarukiman Mangroves.
1-29 GR was the lawless zone, a gathering place for pirates, and also the location of the island’s only human auction house.
30-39 GR was the amusement park, a paradise for children.
40-49 GR was the sightseeing and shopping area, where all kinds of goods could be bought.
50-59 GR converged shipyards and coating workshops, and was also a concentration area for pirates.
60-69 GR was the garrison of the Marine branch, the entrance and exit of the World Government, and the place where the Celestial Dragons landed on the Sabaody Archipelago.
70-79 GR was the hotel commercial street, a place where people who came to the Sabaody Archipelago to purchase supplies stayed and gathered.
In a restaurant in 70GR, Rector brought three people and one cloud to sit by the window and eat.
Steaming seafood dishes were placed on the wooden dining table, and bubbles constantly drifted past outside the window.
Pedestrians on the street came and went, mixed with the shouts of pirates and the hawking of merchants.
Rector was flipping through the auction list in his hand, checking what “goods” this auction had.
“Big Brother!
With you bringing only this little money, can you really auction off the Island-Island Fruit?”
Perospero looked at the only 100 million Berries in the box and frowned.
The starting price of a regular Zoan-type Devil Fruit was already 100 million Berries, and the starting price of a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit far exceeded this number.
This little money wasn’t even enough for the starting price!
“Idiot!
This money is used for eating.
We are pirates after all, whoever wins the bid for the Island-Island Fruit, we’ll just rob them!”
“Paying is impossible!”
Rector leaned back in the chair and glared at Perospero.
“Then why did you still spend money to buy food?!”
“Bang!”
Rector directly treated Perospero to a supreme kick, sending him flying out of the restaurant!
“Brat!
You’re number one at talking back!”
Rector ate while looking at the auction list in his hand.
Before each auction started, the auction house would issue invitations, inviting powerhouses of the Underworld and nobles from various places to participate.
Ordinary pirates who wanted to participate in the auction relied entirely on luck, because the auction would not be publicized on a large scale, and only pirates staying on the Sabaody Archipelago had the opportunity to hear the news.
Wealthy pirates would all join in the fun, but most pirates were penniless.
They lived lives with their heads tied to their waistbands, and the first thing they got when they acquired money was to squander it completely on food, drink, and merrymaking.
Of course, great pirates all had their own intelligence systems, and would only make a special trip when there was something of interest to them at the auction.
In the list of the upcoming auction, besides various slaves, the finale commodities were respectively the Island-Island Fruit and a whale shark mermaid around ten years old.
Fish-Man Island was divided into two major races, merfolk and fishmen.
Females of the merfolk race were the most beautiful race in the world, and apart from their fish tails, they were no different from humans everywhere else.
When merfolk reached the age of thirty, their fish tails would split into legs, and their prices would drop drastically, so the ones auctioned at the auction house were all young or juvenile merfolk.
Fishmen were the main combat force of Fish-Man Island.
Whale shark fishmen were the race with the highest probability of producing powerhouses among the Fishman race, and Jinbe was a whale shark Fishman.
The time of the auction was at twelve o’clock noon today!
After eating lunch, Rector led three people and one cloud to set off toward the human auction house at Yarukiman Mangrove No.
1.
There were more and more people on the street.
The road surface was a special soil formed by the condensation of mangrove root systems, carrying a slight elasticity when stepped on.
Along the way, all kinds of people could be seen: men wrapped tightly with a crowd of suit-wearing entourage around them, gorgeously dressed noble ladies, and ferocious-looking pirates carrying broadswords.
They had all come for this auction.
In Rector’s field of vision, a triangular thatched spire building covering a very wide area gradually appeared.
The eaves of the building were supported by multiple white Roman columns, and bold black capital letters “HUMAN” were engraved on the stone plaque in the center.
Standing at the entrance were several CP agents dressed in black suits; it seemed the main characters of today had already arrived.
How could such rare “goods” as merfolk not have the Celestial Dragons invited to the scene?
Currently, the main customers of the human auction house were the Celestial Dragons, and Devil Fruits were favorite collectibles of the Celestial Dragon upper echelons.
As for those pampered Celestial Dragons below whose ears could fan their faces just by shaking their heads, they preferred slaves even more.
Especially beautiful or strong slaves, and if they were rare races, it would suit their wishes even more.
Rector casually took out the invitation card from his embrace.
The cover was plated with a layer of gold, printed with the exclusive mark “HUMAN” of the auction house.
This was a unique invitation card of the auction house, whose function was to screen out people without money, especially for an auction like today’s attended by World Nobles.
This auction house wasn’t the one founded by Donquixote Doflamingo yet.
The current auction house only served top-tier wealthy people, and its targeted customers were all upper-class figures.
And the auction house founded by Donquixote Doflamingo later didn’t have so many restrictions; as long as one had money, they could enter.
“Welcome to the auction house!”
“Please show your invitation card!”
Rector handed the invitation card in his hand to the fawning middle-aged man in front of him.
“Please come in!
We hope you can bid on satisfactory goods at this auction!”
The middle-aged man bowed and made a gesture of invitation.
At this moment he had a flattering look, but if you had no money, what would greet you would be swords and bullets.
Walking into the auction house, the lighting inside was rather dim, with only dazzling spotlights lit above the auction stage.
Except for the flat VIP seats in the front row, the seats in the back row were all built on a platform more than two meters high.
In the eyes of commoners, the Celestial Dragons were an existence that could not be looked directly at.
Such a design was just to avoid commoners looking up and seeing the Celestial Dragons.
Rector brought Katakuri and the others to sit down according to the positions marked on the invitation card.
“Big Brother!
The Celestial Dragon who came this time is a member of the Shepherd family.”
“Shepherd?”
Rector muttered to himself.
Saint Shepherd Peter of the Five Elders, and Saint Shepherd Zomach of God’s Knights, all came from the Shepherd family.
This family belonged to the top tier among the nineteen Celestial Dragon clans.
If his things were robbed, it would be equivalent to offending the Five Elders and God’s Knights all at once.
Interesting!
“Welcome everyone to this auction…”
“Now the auction officially begins.
Let’s first introduce our first item…”
“So much nonsense!
Why aren’t the main dishes coming up yet?!”
Perospero looked at the auction stage and yawned.
What was being auctioned earlier was either sturdy labor slaves or princesses of some destroyed kingdom.
He didn’t know where so many kingdom princesses came from, but none of these were what they wanted.
Katakuri crossed his hands in front of his chest, his eyes scanning every person raising the paddle.
“Big Brother!
If a Celestial Dragon really buys the Island-Island Fruit and that mermaid, are we really going to rob them?”
Rector showed a wicked smile.
“We are not only going to rob them!
We are also going to make them cough up a bit more things.”