Chapter 305: Please Do Not Open the Cage

Bang!

The auction gavel slammed heavily onto the desk, yet the scene was terrifyingly silent; not a single person raised their paddle, for they were all so shocked they could not speak.

"It's actually... it's actually real?"

"That race still has descendants, and furthermore, such an exquisitely beautiful woman!"

"Those wings are truly just like in the legends, utterly brilliant, shimmering with rainbow light under the lamps!"

"If I present her to the Celestial Dragons of Mary Geoise and gain their support, could I obtain the throne?!"

Someone began to fantasize, images of himself ascending step by step to the throne with the support of the Celestial Dragons floating in his mind, yet this illusion lasted only an instant before completely dissipating.

His gaze fell upon the fairy tribe woman on the platform, his eyes filled with endless drooling desire and greed, growing nearly manic amidst the increasingly noisy murmurs around him!

"No!"

"As long as I can have her, what throne, what power? Even my own life can be given up!"

"Such beauty... even that woman from Amazon Lily is nothing compared to this!"

This noble trembled with both hands as he raised his auction paddle:

"Four hundred million!"

After the first person placed a bid, it was as if some switch had been triggered; successive bids rang out incessantly.

"Four hundred and thirty million!"

"Four hundred and eighty million!"

"Six hundred million!"

A nearly extinct rare race combined with exquisite beauty completely ignited everyone's desires!

In just a few short minutes, the price of the fairy tribe woman was pushed to an exaggerated figure approaching ten digits, yet there was still no sign of stopping.

Within the crowd.

Nami and Miss Kalifa looked at the fairy tribe girl on the display platform, treated as merchandise and fought over by a host of nobles, feeling a momentary sorrow for their own kind.

"No matter what..."

Nami gritted her teeth, recalling the father and son she had seen earlier, her eyes instantly turning red.

Before coming here, she had done much mental preparation and thought she could bear it; after all, since following Gao Wen, although she was not a core combatant, her hands were still stained with blood.

But the events occurring in the underground auction house still exceeded her imagination, making one shudder with fear.

Rare races, even humans themselves, were sold as commodities; some nobles even declared they would turn them into products, the cruelty of which made one's hair stand on end.

Nami had also considered stepping forward to bid on this woman herself, but the funds she carried amounted to only two hundred million Berries.

Yet the bidding price for this fairy tribe girl had already far exceeded that amount.

"People should not be this wicked."

Nami tightly clenched her sleeves, fearing that if she lost control for even a moment, she would act impulsively and cause unnecessary trouble for Gao Wen.

Miss Kalifa beside her also turned her head away, unable to bear watching this scene.

"A rare race from Britannias?!"

Van Augur murmured softly:

"She might know intelligence regarding Britannias; this is crucial for the Captain's next move, perhaps..."

Just as he was speaking.

Van Augur felt a killing intent erupt from Sanji, so cold and bone-chilling it made one shudder with fear.

Van Augur glanced sideways and saw that Sanji had already gripped his invisible black battle suit in his hands.

"Sanji, you..."

At the same time.

In the VIP room behind the auction house.

Donquixote Doflamingo sat with his legs crossed on the table, lazily and casually looking at the projection screen in the distance, which was broadcasting the events currently unfolding in the auction house via a projection Den Den Mushi.

Countless people were participating in the bidding with near madness.

The assistant beside him was excitedly reporting the auction status of the fairy tribe woman to Donquixote Doflamingo.

"The current price has already reached the astronomical figure of eighteen hundred million Berries, but this is far from the limit of this commodity; the final transaction price might exceed three billion Berries!"

"This has already surpassed the record for a single auction at the Human Auctioning House!"

"This test has undoubtedly been a success!"

Donquixote Doflamingo wore sunglasses that hid his specific expression, but the upturned corner of his mouth exposed his true mood at this moment:

"Heh heh heh heh heh—!"

"She has already ignited everyone's desires; truly a perfect commodity."

"From now on, as long as that old bastard from Britannias supplies steadily, this will become our flagship brand, easily generating profits of several billion Berries a year!"

"It is simply a veritable money-printing machine!"

Profits of several billion; even for Donquixote Doflamingo, this momentarily stirred an excitement he could not suppress:

"Correct!"

The assistant nodded heavily, his eyes still filled with indescribable excitement.

Previously, after Disco went to the East Blue to expand business and failed, he was ruthlessly abandoned by Donquixote Doflamingo.

Then, gaining Donquixote Doflamingo's favor, he took over the auction business on the Sabaody Archipelago, managing it with great success.

It could be said that as long as the golden signboard of the fairy tribe established its reputation subsequently, endless Berries and status awaited him.

As for the feelings of the fairy tribe...

Who cares?

In the end, they are all merely commodities on the platform waiting to be sold to the highest bidder.

However.

He also had Another Layer of worry:

"My lord Joker, the price of this commodity has far exceeded our expectations; perhaps someone will be unable to resist making a move, and at that time, I fear..."

"Heh heh heh heh heh—!"

A suppressed, ferocious low laugh echoed through the VIP room.

Doflamingo slowly lay back, leaning against the sofa behind him, the expression on his face becoming increasingly ferocious.

Unconcealed killing intent spread out in all directions!

Making his entire aura appear exceptionally vicious and brutal!

"Such killing intent..."

The assistant felt cold all over, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

Grabbing the armrest beside him with one hand, he finally realized what kind of monster stood before him!

One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea recognized by the World Government, the ruler of Dressrosa, and furthermore one of the kings of the underworld, the man known as the Heavenly Yaksha!

His strength was so great that even in the New World, where monsters gathered in clouds, he was one of the existences closest to the Four Emperors!

Fortunately.

Such a man stood on his side!

"I worried too much."

"As long as My Lord Joker is here, no disorder can occur at the auction."

The assistant took a deep breath, gradually steadying himself, even vaguely feeling that he stood more firmly than ever before.

"It is good that you know this."

Doflamingo retracted his killing intent, his tone indifferent:

"It has been a long time since anyone dared to cause trouble on my turf."

"Do you know what will—!"

Boom!

At that very moment, a roar erupted from the projection Den Den Mushi, interrupting Doflamingo's words.

He lifted his head to look at the projection screen.

He saw only billowing dust and smoke, along with the panicked voices of countless buyers.

"This is..."

The assistant opened his mouth, his eyeballs trembling:

"This is..."

"Someone has made a move, preparing to snatch it by force!"

"Good, very good!"

Doflamingo crushed the wine glass in his hand, suddenly rising to his feet, the veins on his forehead bulging one by one, clearly enraged to the extreme.

He was not worried that the opponent could truly snatch the goods away.

After all, around the neck of that Elf tribe member still hung an explosive collar, their life controlled by the human auction house side.

This incident concerning the Fairy tribe auction was the key factor that made him fly into a rage.

One must know that tonight's auction had already established the market for Fairy tribe slaves among the nobility; one could say that once successful, it would bring him profits of at least several billion Berries annually thereafter.

Viewed purely from the perspective of profit, it was almost comparable to the Corrida Colosseum in Dressrosa!

Now, with success just within sight, someone was causing trouble.

One must know that for this kind of shady auction, apart from confidentiality, safety ranked first.

Once news of today spread, business across the entire Sabaody Archipelago would be affected!

"Damn bastards!"

A layer of visible Conqueror's Haki erupted from Doflamingo, sweeping over everything around him like a wild wind.

It pressed down on the assistant beside him until he could not breathe, nearly causing him to lose consciousness on the spot!

But even more astonishing was that the ground beneath Doflamingo's feet turned into countless threads at this moment, dancing wildly in mid-air like tiny silver snakes!

"Is this a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit ability? But why can it affect the surrounding environment?!"

This scene, which exceeded common sense, caused the assistant beside him to go weak in the knees, immediately collapsing to sit on the ground.

He knew Doflamingo was a Devil Fruit user, yet he did not know he was actually powerful to this degree!

No one answered his question.

The instant Doflamingo activated the String-String Fruit, he had already struck a large hole in the wall and sped toward the center of the auction hall!

He would tear to pieces everything that obstructed his plans!

Inside the auction hall.

A dark figure shot out from the buyer seats, like a meteor, crashing heavily onto the display platform.

Boom!

Dust and smoke filled the air!

Spiderweb-like cracks immediately spread across the ground!

The entire display platform was nearly deformed by Sanji's furious strike!

"Attack! Attack! Attack!"

Cry after cry of shock rang out from the buyer's seats.

The nobles and tycoons, once so high and mighty that a single word from them could decide life or death, fled in panic, their faces written with terror.

They surged toward the exit, fearing that being even a second slower would mean getting caught in the crossfire and dying without a burial place.

For a moment, the scene was nothing but indescribable chaos!

Squads of guards poured in from all corners of the auction house; immediately, they aimed their muskets at Van Auger and his two companions traveling with Sanji.

"They are accomplices of the attackers!"

"Seize them!"

Swish—!

A neat row of flintlock muskets was raised high, but before they could fire, bullets pierced them one by one; the barrels exploded, blooming like flowers.

"What's happening? Is this the work of a Devil Fruit user?!"

"No, it's a sniper—a sniper with an incredibly fast rate of fire and accuracy beyond imagination!"

The guards felt their hearts turn cold, yet they had no chance to regret it.

A single bullet instantly pierced one man's skull, spraying a wide swath of flesh and blood that splattered onto the wall behind him!

Countless guards fell like wheat before a scythe, yet even more poured in!

Van Auger, expressionless, reloaded for Chilu, then began the next round of firing.

The firepower of one person completely suppressed hundreds of guards in the auction house!

"That guy Sanji is still too impulsive!"

Nami shook her head helplessly.

She said as much, yet the smile curling at the corner of her mouth was unmistakable.

"What do we do now!?"

Miss Kalifa turned to look at Van Auger.

Although Sanji's strength was undoubtedly superior to Van Auger's, in such moments the two women truly trusted Van Auger.

After all, whether in decisiveness or big-picture perspective, Van Auger surpassed Sanji.

"Aren't you two quite happy about this?!"

Seeing the uncontrollable smiles on their lips, Van Auger's expression was quite helpless:

"Just as the Captain predicted, things are once again spiraling in an uncontrollable direction."

"But the Captain also said:"

"We are pirates."

"Whatever we want, we naturally must take by force!"

Click-clack!

A bullet was chambered.

Van Auger's expression gradually turned cold:

"Then let's make a proper scene!"

"We can ignore everything else, but that woman of the Fairy Tribe from Britannias must be secured!"

"She may know internal intelligence about Britannias, which is crucial for our next moves!"

"Understood!"

Miss Kalifa flashed forward, plunging into the crowd and sending up a spray of blood.

Already proficient in the "Six Styles of the Navy," combined with Van Auger's firepower, she now faced these guards in what was nothing short of a one-sided slaughter.

Seeing this, Nami nearby also felt relieved.

She knew clearly that her best choice at this moment should be to quickly withdraw from the battlefield to avoid becoming a burden to her companions.

But, as if guided by some unseen hand, the image of that father-and-son fish-man pair floated up in Nami's mind; she turned her head to look behind the display platform.

Cages imprisoning slaves were arranged neatly there, with a crowd of slaves still inside them.

Some cowered panic-stricken in the corners, while others glared with hatred at those nobles; clearly, those nobles had bid on the slaves but hadn't yet had time to take them away before Sanji's attack interrupted everything.

Nami gritted her teeth, snatched up a guard's flintlock musket, and charged toward the distant slaves.

"No... don't hurt my child!"

The Whale Shark Fish-Man instinctively shielded his child with his body, even closing his eyes in fear.

Clearly, he misunderstood that Nami intended to kill them.

Bang!

After a soft sound.

The Whale Shark Fish-Man slowly opened his eyes; he immediately checked on his child, and only upon seeing the latter unharmed did he lift his head in confusion.

His breathing halted at that very moment.

The cage door.

Had opened.

"Father, she... is she trying to save us?!"

The young Whale Shark Fish-Man gripped his father's collar, looking at Nami with a timid expression.

"Why? Shouldn't all humans be like Mr. Hody said, treating us..."

The Whale Shark Fish-Man paused, then spoke:

"Perhaps among humans, there are also some special individuals."

He gave Nami a deep look, then without further hesitation, scooped up his child and dashed toward the main exit!

As long as I leave this place and return to the sea, I will gain freedom!

Yet at this moment.

Beep—!

A piercing beep sounded from the Whale-Shark Fish-Man's neck.

His face turned deathly pale as he finally remembered what he had forgotten.

"An explosive collar!"

"Emmet... run!"

The Whale-Shark Fish-Man flung the young Whale-Shark Fish-Man from his arms, and the explosive collar on his neck activated at that very instant.

Boom—!

A ball of fire erupted, instantly engulfing the Whale-Shark Fish-Man.

Nami, rushing to liberate the other slaves, turned her head and witnessed the scene before her; her heart seemed to stop.

"It's no use, child."

An aged voice drifted from the cage in front of Nami.

The speaker was an elderly Longarm; looking at Nami, his eyes held gratitude, but far more than that, an despair so thick it could not be dispelled.

"From the moment this collar was put on, we have already had no hope."

"I am grateful that you are willing to lend a hand, but..."

"I want to live, so please do not open the cage."

(End of Chapter)