Dominating the Auction House

The second slave was also brought up. Julian looked at the slave in front of him and thought to himself, "A pirate in his twenties, clearly just someone who cheered others on. It's normal to be defeated and captured as a slave."

Julian said, "This appearance is also like a little scoundrel. This thing is asking for fifty thousand Belly? Herbert said, 'Captain, what do you mean by little scoundrel?' Julian said, 'Someone like that little beast Momonosuke is a little scoundrel.' George said, 'Isn't Momonosuke called a bastard? Now he's a little scoundrel.'"

Julian looked at the pirate slave, who was also pleading with him. He had noticed Julian's casual demeanor when buying the previous slave and saw that he was clearly from a powerful pirate crew, all wearing the same trench coats. Everyone present noticed Julian; his aura clearly indicated he was a big shot, and they were afraid he might cut them down. Julian said, "Fifty thousand Belly." Pablo threw another fifty thousand Belly over. The manager, being very observant, immediately brought the person to Julian.

Julian didn't waste any words and told him to stand to the side. The little pirate was also very sensible and immediately stood behind Lisao.

Beatrice and Alice, the two women, felt very fortunate to have met Julian. Julian also felt their hands on him and smiled at the two women, saying, "Don't worry about it."

The third slave was a shipwright. Julian did the same, throwing out one hundred thousand Belly. He continued this operation until the fifty-fifth slave. By then, beside Lisao, there were already fifty-four slaves.

Among these slaves were several shipwrights, some merchants, and some youths. Over twenty were pirates, and some were navigators. Only two slaves had some real skill. One was a seventeen-year-old apprentice at a boxing gym, proficient in boxing, named Bob Dolenza. He was injured by a gun during a pirate invasion.

He was then sent to the slave market, but his eyes still held a defiant look. Julian secretly thought, "Finally, a decent worker." He told Bob to stand to the side.

The other was a twenty-three-year-old young man who wanted to be an adventurer and set sail. He didn't succeed and was almost beaten to death by slave traders. Julian didn't need to pay much attention to him.

The fifty-fifth slave was a thirteen-year-old girl, but the price had already reached two hundred thousand Belly. Julian glanced at Pablo, who immediately paid without a word. The slave was brought before Julian again.

The fifty-sixth female slave, about twenty-seven years old, was indeed very attractive. She had no particular skills, just obedience and was good at cleaning. The price was fifty thousand Belly. Julian paid, and another person was added to the slave line. Fifty-sixth, fifty-seventh, fifty-eighth, fifty-ninth, sixtieth. They looked good, were in their twenties, and knew a little about cooking. Julian nodded. Pablo immediately paid five hundred thousand Belly. Julian said to the Division Captains, "Money is only one aspect; we need to spread love. For our Mud Dragon Pirates to grow stronger, we must recruit talent from all regions."

Herbert and the other Division Captains looked at the slaves beside them and said, "Captain, you truly have foresight." An hour passed, and the auction had reached the eightieth slave. Julian ignored things like "attentive female slaves" and had no interest. As soon as a slave was presented, he paid the money. Fifty thousand Belly was paid immediately, and the slave line reached eighty-nine people. There was no one particularly special among them. After the fifty-fourth, they were all women.

Most of them were slaves captured by pirates or slave traders, many only seventeen or eighteen years old. Julian planned to give all these slaves to the Head of Logistics, Pablo, as employees after the auction ended.

By the ninety-eighth slave, it was a noble lady who could sing and dance. Her country was invaded by pirates, and her entire family was sold to slave traders. The starting bid was one million Belly. Everyone else looked at Julian, who bid another million Belly, as if it were expected. Others were heard discussing, "He seems particularly fond of buying slaves." Another replied, "Who cares? He's foolish and rich, what else would he buy?"

The ninety-ninth slave was eighteen years old, with a truly sweet appearance, and was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She was likely from the same country as the ninety-eighth slave, possibly a non-World Government member nation. Julian again had Pablo throw out one million Belly and bought her directly.

Then came the hundredth slave, a seventeen-year-old princess from a fallen kingdom. She was stunningly beautiful, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and could easily handle singing, acting, and comedy. A red-haired princess. Before the host could announce the price, Julian directly handed ten million Belly to a staff member and said, "I'm buying this princess." The crowd at the auction was shocked, saying, "How does this guy have so much Belly?"

Then a pirate said, "He's the most famous pirate recently, the Mud Dragon Julian, an Earth-Earth Fruit user!" Other pirates said, "It's the Mud Dragon Pirates who invaded several World Government member nations!" Pirate A said, "We can't easily offend him. Mud Dragon Julian just killed over a hundred people outside the entrance, and he buried them too." Those pirates said, "He's truly terrifying."

Julian said, "Finally found the main culprit. This country is definitely lost. The King is probably dead. This last descendant was captured and made a slave. A kingdom without strength, not joining the World Government, and encountering stronger pirates is like a piece of meat." The host understood and immediately unlocked the handcuffs, bringing her to Julian.

Julian chuckled inwardly, "Fortunately, it's not Sabaody Archipelago. Buying a princess there costs over sixty million Belly, especially those Celestial Dragons who do terrible things and like to buy beautiful female slaves, particularly princesses and merfolk." Julian looked at the hundred slaves standing neatly in front of him.

Julian smiled and said, "If any of you want to escape, I'll let you go. If you want to leave, just go. You are all free!" Julian continued, "However, if you lack the strength or are captured again by others, I won't necessarily save you the second time. You can also join our Mud Dragon Pirates and become my crew members. Then no one in this world will be able to bully you. Choose for yourselves!"

After speaking, Julian continued to watch the auctioneer. The first item was a greatsword, which the host hyped up. However, Julian found the greatsword to be very powerful, and its material was indeed extremely hard.

Julian said, "Two million." The others looked on helplessly. Julian took out two million Belly and handed it to the staff. The host immediately had guards bring the sword to Julian. Once in Julian's hands, he stored it in his Mud Space. This greatsword was 1.5 meters long and 40 centimeters wide, a two-handed sword, and very sharp. Julian felt the material was rare.

Julian continued to wait for the next item. The second item was a yellow gemstone. Julian had no interest. The other pirates, merchants, and everyone else thought, "Mud Dragon Julian probably doesn't care about this." Others casually bid fifty thousand Belly and took it.

The remaining goods were truly trash, either gems or gold of various kinds. Julian wasn't interested. Then, the twentieth item was brought out. Julian looked at the Tachi and felt it was a masterpiece. The host announced, "This is the personal sword of a certain swordsmanship master. After the master's death, he left his sword to his descendants. However, the descendant needs money and is auctioning the sword. There is also a matching swordsmanship training manual." The host said, "Starting bid of five million Belly. Let the auction begin." Julian bid five million Belly. The others began to bid higher, six million Belly. Julian didn't hold back and bid ten million Belly. That pirate didn't want to offend Julian, especially since Julian had been so overwhelmingly powerful outside the auction hall. The pirate gave up. Julian took out another ten million Belly from his body and handed it to the staff. The guards, very skillfully, handed both the sword and the manual to Julian. Julian directly gave them to Herbert.

Herbert exclaimed, "This Tachi is a Great Grade Sword, Phantom. And this manual is Phantom Style Swordsmanship!" Herbert looked at it, extremely excited, and said, "Captain, my gratitude is beyond words." Julian said, "With Old Sen's help, it's like having a hundred thousand elite Marines. How can our great endeavor not succeed? I'll buy you a Great Grade Sword of the twenty-one Great Grade Swords, and then you can kill more enemies."

Julian secretly thought, "I'll go to Wano Country later and steal Kozuki Oden's Enma and Heavenly Feather Slash. In the future, Herbert will definitely become a top Admiral-level expert. Moreover, he has the Gale-Gale Fruit ability and can easily unleash Gale Slash and Gale Chain Slash, such powerful Wind Blade slashes. And Herbert has already started practicing Armament Haki."

Julian didn't believe that a strong person like Herbert wouldn't have a place. Furthermore, Herbert wouldn't need to practice Rankyaku; he only needed to practice Soru and Geppo. Now he also had this Great Grade Sword Phantom. Once he practiced Armament Haki...

Julian secretly thought, "At that time, even my Elementalization might be utterly defeated." The twenty-first item was brought out: a Superalloy War Hammer, one meter long and weighing over a thousand kilograms. The host introduced it again, "This is the war hammer of so-and-so. Starting bid of one million Belly." George said, "This hammer must be very powerful. With one strike, I can smash the brains out of that little beast Momonosuke." Julian heard this and immediately shouted, "Eight million Belly!" The crowd fell silent. Julian said to George, "Go get it. When you see Momonosuke, make sure to smash his dog brain with this hammer." Then he threw out eight million.

George said, "It truly is a Superalloy Steel War Hammer, and it's exquisitely crafted. Momonosuke's brain will be crushed with one hit." George didn't even need to use the hammer. George Pekki had already started practicing Shigan and didn't need weapons. George just felt it would be satisfying to smash Momonosuke with a hammer. Julian also felt very comfortable.

Everyone was stunned as George lifted the giant hammer with one hand, saying, "Is this the First Division Captain of the Mud Dragon Pirates, Great Bear George?" Everyone secretly thought, "Fortunately, we didn't offend this pirate crew. The captain is a Logia Devil Fruit user, and the members are all as strong as tigers and oxen. They are all not to be trifled with."

After half a year of training, Julian's physique was already very powerful, but he was indeed no match for George. George was an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit user in his Great Bear Form, possessing immense physical strength.

Under equal conditions, Devil Fruits of the Paramecia and Logia types are not as powerful as Zoan Devil Fruits. This is an undeniable fact. However, other types of Devil Fruits have their own advantages. Logia Devil Fruits have moves with Calamity-level destructive power. Paramecia Devil Fruits have unique abilities and, when developed to the extreme, are not inferior to Logia types. Mythical Zoans are undoubtedly the strongest Devil Fruits, given their ridiculously powerful vitality.

Julian looked at the twenty-third item. Julian saw a treasure map. It was of a giant island called Dragon Island. Legend had it that a Giant Fire Dragon had also perished there. The island was rumored to have Devil Fruits. The host shouted, "Starting bid of eight million Belly." The crowd began to bid, nine million, ten million. Julian directly shouted, "Fifty million!" The others looked on helplessly. Julian took out more money from his body and handed it to the guards.

That large pile of Belly made everyone's eyes turn red with envy. Julian held the map and thought, "If this thing is real, it will be amazing." Julian planned to go to Dragon Island, where the Fire Dragon had fallen, to take a look.