Silvers Rayleigh

Compared to the slaves, the Devil Fruit caused far less of a stir. Perhaps Senga was simply lucky; almost no one attending the auction today was interested in it.

Still, there was bidding. It just did not reach the prices paid for the slaves. After several rounds, Senga successfully secured it for 280 million Berries—a bargain, all things considered.

Judging by the general market price of Devil Fruits, the average value of one was around 100 million Berries.

The final price of this Gravity-Gravity Fruit was already quite high. At least for Senga, 280 million Berries had nearly emptied his savings.

I'm still broke. Senga smiled helplessly and stopped dwelling on it. Money was merely an external possession; improving his strength was what truly mattered.

Before long, an attendant respectfully brought the Gravity-Gravity Fruit over to Senga. At this auction house, there was no need to worry about anyone daring to cause trouble.

Based on the information Senga had gathered, the auction house's backers were likely connected to one of the Shichibukai, Donquixote Doflamingo.

After taking the fruit, Senga casually tossed the Gravity-Gravity Fruit into the Door-Door Space. He certainly would not use the Preta Path's absorption ability here. Too much movement might draw the attention of Kalifa, the little spy beside him.

The secret of the Rinnegan could only be known by himself and those he trusted. If outsiders learned of it, Senga would have no choice but to silence them—even Kalifa, the secretary he had grown quite used to having around.

Sure enough, seeing Senga's actions, Kalifa immediately asked,

"Not eating it?"

"I already have gravity powers. I'll keep this one as a collectible for now."

Hearing that, Kalifa did not press further. She was afraid of giving Senga another excuse to do something to her. Right now, she simply had no means of resisting him.

After obtaining the Devil Fruit, Senga lost interest in the following auction items. He leaned against the back of his chair, looking as though he was about to fall asleep.

Seeing his posture, Kalifa thoughtfully asked whether he wanted to leave early.

After thinking about it, Senga agreed. Staying any longer would only waste time, so he prepared to accept Kalifa's suggestion.

Just as he was about to get up and leave, another slave was brought out for auction below. Compared with the rare races from earlier, this slave seemed utterly unremarkable—an old man with graying hair.

The only thing that drew attention was the expression on the slave's face. Unlike the despairing looks worn by the other slaves being auctioned off,

he wore a smile from beginning to end, as though he did not care about his situation at all. Anyone unaware of the truth might have thought he was here on vacation.

The moment the people at the auction saw that an elderly human man had been brought out, they immediately lost interest. When the host announced a starting price of ten million Berries and began the bidding, not a single person made an offer.

Just as the atmosphere was about to turn awkward, a young voice suddenly rang out.

"Fifteen million Berries."

The host looked as though he had been granted a reprieve. He quickly asked three times whether anyone wanted to raise the bid. When no one responded, afraid the bidder might change his mind, he immediately struck the deal and declared the transaction complete.

The fool who had spent money to buy the slave was, naturally, Senga. Seeing that he had actually bought such a seemingly useless old man, Kalifa asked in confusion,

"Why did you buy him? He's just an ordinary human. Even if you want him to clean, he's probably too old to do much work."

Senga merely smiled without answering. Others might not recognize this old man, but having watched the anime, he certainly did. Who would have guessed that the harmless-looking old man onstage was the right-hand man of the Pirate King Roger, Silvers Rayleigh, known as the Dark King?

Fifteen million Berries for a chance to meet Rayleigh. All he could say was, it was worth it!

With a wave of his hand and no further explanation, Senga pulled Kalifa out of the auction hall.

At the rear entrance of the venue, an attendant had already brought Rayleigh over, a collar fastened around his neck, waiting for Senga to claim him.

When Senga arrived, the attendant handed Rayleigh over to him, gave a slight bow, and left.

Rayleigh was also somewhat curious about the young man who had bought him.

He often sold himself to auction houses whenever he was short on money, then used Conqueror's Haki to knock out whoever had bought him and leave along the way. In the past, those who bought him were usually bored nobles or the like. He had not expected it to be a young man this time.

Since Rayleigh had sold himself to the auction house these past few days, he did not know that a young Marine Colonel had arrived in the Sabaody Archipelago and wiped out the Blood Rat Pirates.

Senga was likewise examining the Pirate King's first mate, Silvers Rayleigh.

Rayleigh was clearly much younger now than when he first appeared in the Sabaody Archipelago later on.

Though he still looked somewhat aged, Senga knew what kind of power lay within that body. This was one of the sea's supreme powerhouses from the previous era.

Not intending to beat around the bush with Rayleigh, Senga directly revealed his identity.

"How long are you going to keep pretending, hmm? Roger's right-hand man, Silvers Rayleigh, known as the Dark King."

The moment those words were spoken, both Kalifa beside him and Rayleigh before him narrowed their eyes.

Rayleigh had not expected the young man before him to recognize him. Ever since Captain Roger's death, he had kept a low profile. His appearance had changed quite a bit over the years, and he had nearly faded from public view.

Kalifa was even more shocked. The old man before her was Silvers Rayleigh? What sort of figure was that? As someone raised by the World Government, Kalifa had naturally seen his files.

The files had also emphasized Rayleigh's strength. Merely reading them had been enough for Kalifa to understand that his power was simply beyond anything she could imagine.

And yet Senga had directly exposed the identity of someone like that. Kalifa could not help feeling a little annoyed.

If you recognized him, then keep it quiet! At least let me report this first. Does Uchiha Senga really think he and I, plus a cat, can take down Silvers Rayleigh?

Of course, Senga knew that he and Metis alone had no chance of taking down Silvers Rayleigh. As for Kalifa's Battle Power, he ignored it outright.

But he also knew that Rayleigh had become incredibly laid-back by now. He would never make too much of a scene. At worst, Senga would lose if they fought. Escaping probably would not be too difficult, and at the very least, he would not lose his life.

That was right. Senga wanted to fight Rayleigh and gauge his own limits. The Uchiha were, after all, a battle-loving clan.

Moreover, Silvers Rayleigh was completely different from every opponent Senga had encountered so far. The gap between them was like heaven and earth. Even Tokikake was nothing in comparison before him.

Only by fighting Rayleigh could he truly understand his current limits. Such an opportunity was exceptionally rare—something that could only be encountered by chance.

Rayleigh raised an eyebrow and said with interest,

"Oh? Young man, you know who I am, yet you still dare to expose me. What exactly is your purpose?"

"My purpose? I'm a Marine, and you're a pirate. When a Marine meets a pirate, are we supposed to sit down and drink tea instead of fighting?"

Hearing Senga's words, Rayleigh was slightly taken aback, thinking,

This young man is a Marine? Young people these days really don't know their own limits.

Rayleigh shook his head. It seemed he would have to move these old bones a little this time and teach this young man a lesson.