The Human Auction House

"What was that..."

Jacques remembered that Buggy, the pirate who had blown up a warship and escaped, had just seen his bounty jump from fifteen million to two hundred million in one go. The power he possessed was Bara Bara.

Damn it, why do I know so much?!

He tried to gather his scattered thoughts and stop himself from dwelling on it.

"If I say I didn't see anything, will you believe me?"

"Of course." Buggy smiled warmly. "Let's pretend nothing happened and carry on as usual. I'm the major, you're the sergeant. You keep playing the sidekick, and I'll take you to the top."

"Can I?"

Jacques's voice trembled. Buggy's smile gave him the creeps.

Buggy forced another smile. Maybe because his skin didn't quite fit the bones underneath, it looked all skin and no sincerity.

"Of course not."

"If I could, I would've let you go just now."

"But, my dear sergeant, if you're willing to hand over leverage that's strong enough to guarantee your life—"

He tapped his fingers together, looking as if he were pondering the matter very seriously.

"Then it's not out of the question."

"But remember, the leverage must be enough to guarantee your life. If it can only guarantee a part of your body, then you'll have to leave without that part."

"As for how I assess its value, trust me."

"I have plenty of experience working at banks," Buggy said confidently.

That was something the banks of Gotham City could attest to.

The tellers at those banks had been inside fewer vaults than he had.

The afternoon sun was a little too hot.

The Sabaody Archipelago's climate wasn't extreme. Compared with Alabasta, where it was hot year-round, or Drum Island, where it was winter all year, it was downright pleasant.

The warehouses where living cargo was stored were an exception.

The sentry rubbed his nose. He couldn't understand how that major had stayed inside for so long.

At least he didn't have to go in with him.

He had only just started congratulating himself when he snapped straight again.

"Good afternoon, Captain Diouf!" he called out with gusto.

Captain Diouf held the rank of major.

He was Rear Admiral Sicily's trusted subordinate.

His main duty was cracking down on the criminals in the Sabaody Archipelago's Lawless Zone, areas 1 to 30.

As for how effective he was...

Well, the noble lords were very satisfied.

"Did Major Arrow go in?"

Diouf had narrow eyes and a small face. He looked like a lizard.

"He's been in there a while."

"Oh, then I guess I don't need to go in."

Diouf also disliked the smell in the warehouse.

As for why no one cleaned it up...

He didn't have to go in, so as long as it was usable, that was good enough.

Why give those surplus slaves a decent environment?

As soon as he finished speaking, a lazy set of footsteps approached.

Buggy walked in front, covering his nose. Behind him, Sergeant Jacques wore a pained expression and dragged half of Arne's body.

Without even looking back, he walked right past Diouf, who was beaming and had eagerly stretched out a hand to greet him.

What a nerve!

Three black lines appeared on Diouf's forehead.

"Major Arrow!" he called out, suppressing his anger.

"?"

Buggy had already walked some distance before Jacques's gesture reminded him that his current identity was called Arrow.

Then he turned around.

He studied the man.

Who was this lizard-faced fellow?

He certainly had a distinctive look.

Had the man's diary mentioned him?

Probably not.

Buggy clapped his hands, satisfied that Lizard Face had no social connection to Arrow, and prepared to keep walking.

After all, you couldn't expect a lunatic to socialize.

Maintaining Arrow's existing relationships was something Buggy had only decided to do because he needed to wring every bit of value out of the identity.

"Captain Diouf is a major under Rear Admiral Sicily, the base commander of District 66 Base," Jacques quietly explained.

He had accepted his fate.

The leverage Buggy held over him was enough to get him killed eight or ten times over.

It had barely been enough to guarantee his own life.

And fighting back?

He was a sergeant in the Navy. His opponent was someone even a commodore couldn't handle. Staying alive was already a victory.

"Oh!" Buggy said, as if he'd suddenly realized.

He warmly grasped Diouf's outstretched hand. "Captain! A fine captain!"

"When I was a kid, my father always told me how impressive it was to be a Navy captain. You carry justice on your back!"

"Baron, you flatter me!" Diouf said, delighted.

"No, later he had the word 'justice' tattooed on the back of our family's Runaway Dog, too."

"..."

Diouf's smile froze.

"Hey, Captain Diouf, don't get the wrong idea. I wasn't talking about you. We're colleagues, after all."

"Heh." Diouf's expression eased, though only with difficulty.

"So, Captain, what brings you here to wait for me?"

No one had told him this major was so talkative—or so irritating.

Diouf gritted his teeth, seething inwardly.

But he couldn't show his temper in front of him. He could only swallow his anger and force a smile.

"It's just some business matters. I wanted to consult Major Arrow."

"At least in this area, we have plenty of opportunities to work together."

He handed Buggy a dark gold business card.

There was no name on it, only a few gold-embossed words: The Human Auction House.

"So the captain's playing the sales pitch today."

"To be precise, I'm one of their representatives, and I'm here to assess you." Diouf raised his chin, looking as if he meant to put Buggy in his place.

Not just anyone qualified to work with the Human Auction House, the biggest auction house in the archipelago.

"Oh."

Buggy casually tossed the card to Jacques.

He couldn't help eyeing it greedily.

Everyone in the Sabaody Archipelago knew what this auction house meant.

In the Lawless Zone, small and medium-sized Slave Catchers would fight tooth and nail for a card like this.

The Celestial Dragons—

No, even the tiniest scraps that slipped through the fingers of those noble lords would be enough to keep them well fed.

Even Jacques, a Marine, was tempted.

Wasn't this the moment he'd been sucking up to Buggy for?

Right. That's the reaction I was expecting!

Diouf had almost thought Major Arrow was one of those rare upright Marines, since he'd shown no interest whatsoever in their invitation.

Maybe he came from a noble family.

He tried to reassure himself, then found himself even more irritated.

Jacques still couldn't calm down, even after Diouf left behind an invitation to the auction five days later and departed.

His earlier resentment about giving in vanished in an instant.

Who would turn down money?

Besides, on this island, slaves and the slave trade were an everyday sight.

The irony was that this island was the closest one on the Grand Line to Marineford.

"Captain—no, Major, can we get in on this business too?"

"What do they see in us?"

He tried to ask with at least some semblance of reason.

"Resources, of course." Buggy patted Arne on the shoulder.

"Resources! We're really going to make a fortune!"

Jacques's eyes shone even brighter.

If the major were still the same as before, and if he'd never been inside that warehouse, he wouldn't have had so many ideas.

But things were different now.

"No."

Buggy wore a familiar smile, his meaning unclear.

"Don't just think about money. This beautiful island deserves a criminal with a little more taste."