The merchant's regret—Ike knew nothing about it.
Free things always felt the best.
And…
Ike actually had some level of trust in the treasure map to a Supreme Grade blade.
After all—
In the original timeline, his big brother wielded one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades, Murakumogiri.
"Ike!" Newgate rubbed his chin and asked, "This map is probably fake, right? A map to a Supreme Grade blade—how could something like that be sold openly?"
"No idea."
Ike put the map away and shrugged. "I'm not sure whether it's real or not. We'll just check it out when the time comes. If we find it, that's a huge profit. If not, it doesn't matter."
"True…"
Newgate thought about it briefly. That made sense. Finding it would be great, but not finding it wasn't a big deal either.
Soon—
The group of four arrived at a slave trading shop.
"Honored sirs…"
"Welcome!"
The moment they stepped inside, the shop owner hurried over to greet them. He clearly recognized who they were.
"Gurararara~~~"
Newgate laughed loudly. "Do you have any noble-born, clean princesses? Or rare races?"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
The shop owner nodded eagerly. "Please, this way! This way! Take a look at this…"
He led them into the underground section of the shop.
Inside one of the cages—
A blonde young woman was imprisoned. She wore a tattered dress, yet her beauty was striking—on par with Selina.
If there was a difference—
Selina had a softer elegance, while this girl carried a more spirited, heroic aura.
The shop owner explained, "Three months ago, a kingdom on the Grand Line—Telesrak Kingdom—was destroyed. The kingdom's youngest princess was brought here. She's seventeen, named Sally. Completely untouched—absolutely guaranteed. Please take a look, honored sirs."
"Hmm…"
After glancing at her, Ike asked, "What's the price?"
"As for the price…" The shop owner said respectfully, "You know how it is—ordinary humans are around 500,000 Beli. As a princess, she's a rare item. The minimum would be 700,000 Beli."
"700,000 Beli…"
"Hmm…"
Ike glanced at Newgate. He wasn't very familiar with slave market prices.
"No problem!"
Newgate waved his hand. "700,000 it is. We'll take this one—Sally, was it? Also, do you have any rare races?"
Unlike Ike, Newgate knew the market well.
A fallen kingdom's princess at 700,000 Beli was completely reasonable.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Hearing the question, the shop owner nodded quickly. "Honored sirs, as you know, many races are becoming rarer over time. Naturally, the prices are higher…"
"Enough nonsense!"
"Hurry up!"
"Do you think our masters can't afford it?"
The two subordinates barked impatiently.
"Yes! Yes!"
The shop owner nodded repeatedly, not daring to delay.
Ike had a rough idea of the pricing as well.
Dwarves, Mink tribes, Longarm tribes, Longleg tribes, Snakehead tribes—these were all around 700,000 Beli, give or take.
As for Fish-Men—
They were more expensive, usually around 1,000,000 Beli, since they lived 10,000 meters under the sea.
Giants.
Merfolk.
Those were on a completely different level.
Male giants started at 50 million Beli.
Female giants at around 10 million.
Female mermaids started at 70 million.
Male merfolk, however, were only about 1 million.
Even older mermaids—after their legs split—still fetched at least 10 million.
In short—
Giants and merfolk were extremely valuable.
And beyond those—
There were even rarer races, nearly extinct, with no fixed price at all.
Their value depended entirely on the market.
"Honored sirs!" The shop owner led them to the deepest part of the underground area, stopping before a heavily sealed cage. "This is an extremely rare race—the Serpent Tribe. Nearly extinct. Normally, their price would be comparable to female mermaids, around 70 million Beli. But due to their rarity…"
"How much?"
Ike asked directly.
The shop owner swallowed nervously. "At the very least… over 100 million Beli. You understand, honored sirs, this kind of rarity…"
To be honest—
If he could avoid it, the shop owner never wanted to deal with pirates.
Pirates were lunatics.
One wrong word, one price too high—
And he might lose his life.
"Is she clean?" Ike asked again.
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
The shop owner hurriedly nodded. "Please rest assured! Completely clean. I wouldn't dare sell anything otherwise. This is honest business—not a one-time deal."
"One hundred million Beli."
"I'll take them both."
"Together, 100 million. How about it?"
Ike spoke calmly, but there was no room for refusal in his tone.
"No problem!"
"No problem at all!"
The shop owner nodded frantically.
Selling the Serpent Tribe for 100 million—
As for the 700,000 Beli princess?
That hardly mattered anymore.
Very quickly—
After handing over the control device for the explosive collars, the shop owner prepared mobile cages.
Payment was made.
Goods were delivered.
And the group left with their purchases.