Dominating the Auction House

The second slave was brought up as well. Julian looked at the slave before him and silently mocked, A little pirate in his twenties. One look and you can tell he's just the type to wave flags and cheer for others. It's perfectly normal for someone like him to get beaten and captured as a slave.

Julian said, "That face screams small fry too. This thing actually dared ask for fifty thousand Berries?" Herbert asked, "Captain, what does 'small fry' mean?" Julian said, "The same kind of thing as that little beast Momonosuke. That's what you call small fry." George said, "Wasn't Momonosuke called a wretch? Now he's small fry too?"

The pirate slave looked at Julian with a pleading expression. He had noticed how casually Julian had bought the previous slave and could tell at a glance that this was a powerful pirate crew. They were all dressed in coats, and everyone present had noticed Julian. His presence alone marked him as an important figure, and they were all afraid of being cut down by him. Julian said, "Fifty thousand Berries." Pablo immediately tossed over another fifty thousand Berries. The manager was tactful enough to bring the man straight to Julian.

Julian did not waste words and simply told him to stand over there. The young pirate was sensible enough to immediately stand behind Lisao.

Beatrice and Alice both felt incredibly fortunate to have met Julian. Julian noticed their hands resting on him, smiled at them, and said, "Don't dwell on it."

The third slave was a shipwright. Julian handled it the same way, tossing out one hundred thousand Berries. He continued like this until the fifty-fifth slave. By then, fifty-four slaves were already standing beside Lisao.

Among them were several shipwrights, several merchants, a few teenagers, over twenty pirates, and several navigators. Only two of the slaves had any real ability. One was a seventeen-year-old boxing apprentice from some gym, skilled in boxing. His name was Bob Dolenza, and he had been shot and injured when pirates invaded.

He had then been sent to the slave market, but his eyes still held a defiant look. Julian silently thought, Finally, a halfway decent worker. Julian told him to stand to one side.

The other was a twenty-three-year-old who had wanted to become an adventurer and sail out to sea. Before he could even set sail, he had nearly been beaten to death by Slave Traders. Julian did not need to pay much attention to him.

The fifty-fifth slave was a thirteen-year-old girl, but her price had already reached two hundred thousand Berries. Julian glanced at Pablo, and Pablo paid without another word. The slave was brought before Julian.

The fifty-sixth was a female slave, around twenty-seven years old. She was indeed quite pretty and had no particular skills, but she was obedient and could clean. The fixed price was five hundred thousand Berries. Julian paid, adding another person to the slave line. Fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty—pretty women in their twenties who knew some cooking. Julian nodded, and Pablo immediately put down five hundred thousand Berries. Julian said to the Division Captains, "Money is only one aspect. We need to spread love. If the Mud Dragon Pirates want to grow stronger, we need to recruit talent from every region."

Herbert and the other Division Captains looked at the slaves beside them and said, "Captain, you truly plan far ahead." More than an hour passed, and the Auction House had already reached the eightieth slave. Julian ignored things like considerate female servants. He had no interest in them. Whenever a slave came up, he paid immediately, buying them for five hundred thousand Berries. The slave line had already reached eighty-nine people. There was no one especially remarkable, and everyone after number fifty-four had been female.

Most of them had been taken by pirates or Slave Traders. Many were only seventeen or eighteen. Julian planned to assign all these slaves to Head of Logistics Pablo as employees once the auction ended.

The ninety-eighth slave was a noble young lady who could sing and dance. Pirates had invaded her country, and her entire family had been handed over to Slave Traders. The opening bid was one million Berries. When Julian called out another one million Berries, no one found it strange anymore. People whispered among themselves, "He seems especially fond of buying slaves." Another said, "Why do you care? If he has more money than sense, what else is he supposed to buy?"

The ninety-ninth slave was eighteen and truly sweet-looking. She was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and was likely from the same country as slave number ninety-eight. It was probably a non-World Government member nation. Julian had Pablo throw out another one million Berries and bought her directly.

The hundredth slave was a seventeen-year-old princess from a fallen kingdom. She was exceptionally beautiful, proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and could sing, act, joke, and perform with ease. She was a red-haired Princess. Before the host could announce the price, Julian directly handed ten million Berries to the staff and said, "I'm buying this Princess." Everyone in the Auction House was stunned. "How does this guy have so many Berries?"

Then a little pirate said, "He's Mud Dragon Julian, the most famous great pirate lately—the Earth-Earth Fruit user." Other little pirates said, "The Mud Dragon Pirates? The ones who invaded several World Government member nations?" One pirate said, "None of us can afford to offend him. Mud Dragon Julian just killed more than a hundred people outside the entrance. He even killed and buried them himself." The pirates all said, "That's terrifying."

Julian said, "Finally found the real deal. That country definitely couldn't be saved. The king is probably already dead. Their only heir was even captured and made into a slave. A kingdom with no strength and no World Government membership is just a bowl of meat when it runs into stronger pirates." The host indicated that he understood, immediately unlocked the handcuffs, and brought her before Julian.

Julian silently laughed. Good thing this isn't the Sabaody Archipelago. Buying a Princess there would cost more than sixty million Berries. Especially those Celestial Dragons, who never do anything decent. They love buying beautiful female slaves, especially princesses from kingdoms, fish-men, and the like. Julian looked at the one hundred slaves standing neatly before him.

Julian smiled and said, "If you want to escape, I'll let you leave. If you want to go, just go. You're all free." Julian continued, "But if you lack the strength and get captured again, I might not run into you a second time. You can also join the Mud Dragon Pirates and become my crew. Then no one in this world will be able to bully you. Choose for yourselves!"

After saying that, Julian turned back to the host of the Auction House. The first item was a greatsword. The host hyped it up endlessly, but Julian could see that it was indeed formidable, and the material was exceptionally hard.

Julian said, "Two million." Everyone else looked helpless. Julian took out two million Berries and handed them to the staff. The host immediately had the guards carry the sword over to Julian. Once it reached his hands, Julian stored it in his Mud Space. The greatsword was one and a half meters long and forty centimeters wide. It was a two-handed sword, extremely sharp, and Julian felt that the material was rare.

Julian waited for the next item. The second item was a yellow gemstone. Julian had no interest in it. The pirates and merchants all thought, Mud Dragon Julian probably doesn't think much of this thing. Someone casually bid five hundred thousand Berries and took it away.

The remaining goods were truly trash—either gemstones or various kinds of gold. Julian was uninterested. Then the twentieth item was carried out. Julian looked at the katana before him and immediately felt that it was a fine piece. The host called out, "This was the personal sword of a certain swordsmanship master. After the master died, he left the sword to his descendants, but that descendant needs money and has put the sword up for auction. It also comes with a matching swordsmanship training manual. Starting bid: five million Berries. Let the bidding begin!" Julian immediately offered five million Berries. Others began raising the price—six million Berries. Julian did not indulge them and called out ten million Berries. That pirate did not want to offend Julian, mainly because Julian had been far too imposing outside the Auction House earlier. He gave up. Julian pulled out ten million Berries from his body and handed them to the staff. The guards efficiently handed the sword and manual to Julian, who gave them directly to Herbert.

Herbert said, "This katana is one of the Great Grade Swords, Phantom. And this manual is Phantom Style Swordsmanship." Herbert looked through it, then said excitedly, "Captain, no words can express my gratitude." Julian said, "With Old Sen helping me, it's like having one hundred thousand elite Marines. How could I worry about failing in my great cause? I bought you one of the twenty-one Great Grade Swords so you can kill even more enemies."

Julian silently thought, Later, I'll go to Wano Country and steal Kozuki Oden's Enma and Heavenly Feather Slash. Herbert will definitely become a top-tier admiral-level fighter in the future. He also has the Gale-Gale Fruit, allowing him to easily unleash Gale Slash, Gale Chain Slash, and those immensely powerful Wind Blade attacks. And Herbert has already begun training Armament Haki.

Julian did not believe that a powerhouse's ranks would lack Herbert. Herbert no longer needed to train Rankyaku either. Training Soru and Geppo would be enough. Now he also had the Great Grade Sword Phantom. Once he mastered Armament Haki—

Julian silently thought, By then, even my elemental form might get slammed into the ground and rubbed raw. 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 so-and-so's war hammer. Starting bid: one million Berries." George said, "This hammer has to be amazing. One blow could smash that little beast Momonosuke's brains out." Hearing that, Julian immediately called out, "Eight million Berries." Everyone fell silent. Julian said to George, "Go take it. When you see Momonosuke, make sure to smash his dog brain with this hammer." Then he tossed out eight million Berries.

George said, "It really is a Superalloy Steel war hammer, and it was carefully crafted. One blow would burst Momonosuke's head." George did not need a hammer at all. George and Pekki had already begun training Finger Pistol and had no need for weapons. George simply felt good imagining himself hammering Momonosuke, and Julian felt quite satisfied as well.

Everyone was stunned as they watched George lift the massive hammer with one hand. "Is that the Mud Dragon Pirates' First Division Captain, Great Bear George?" Everyone silently thought, Good thing we didn't offend this pirate crew. Their captain is a Logia Devil Fruit user, and every member is built like a tiger and strong as an ox. None of them can be provoked.

After more than half a year of training, Julian's physique had become extremely powerful, but he truly could not compare to George. George's Great Bear Form, an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit ability, gave him an immensely powerful body.

Under equal conditions, Paramecia and Logia Devil Fruits were not as powerful as Zoan Devil Fruits. That was an indisputable fact. However, the other types of Devil Fruits had their own advantages. Logia Devil Fruits possessed Calamity-level destructive techniques, while Paramecia Devil Fruits had their own unique abilities. Developed to the extreme, they would not lose to Logia Devil Fruits. Mythical Zoans were undoubtedly the strongest Devil Fruits, considering their absurdly powerful vitality.

Julian looked at the twenty-third item. It was a treasure map pointing to a massive island called Dragon Island. Rumor had it that a Giant Fire Dragon had fallen there, and there might even be a Devil Fruit on the island. The host shouted, "Starting bid: eight million Berries!" The crowd began bidding—nine million, ten million. Julian directly shouted, "Fifty million!" Everyone else looked helpless. Julian pulled out more money and handed it to the guards.

The huge pile of Berries made everyone's eyes turn red with envy. Holding the map, Julian silently thought, If this is real, it'll be incredible. Julian planned to visit Dragon Island, where the fire dragon had fallen.