Value

In one area of the Sabaody Archipelago.

Basil Hawkins sat with his legs crossed, swirling the goblet in his hand.

The rose-colored liquid sloshed back and forth against the clear glass.

Like a sudden swell rising on the sea.

Crash—

The goblet suddenly slipped from his hand.

Glass shards and red wine spilled across the floor.

"A bad omen."

A gloomy look appeared on Hawkins's usually calm face.

He decided to consult the cards.

He had only just taken out his deck when a Black Clown Card abruptly fell out.

"Fate Revelation has reached this level!"

"No, yesterday's revelation said to keep waiting until the battle over Fish-Man Island was over. How could things change so suddenly?"

"Of course. The clown who loves to toy with fate."

Hawkins suddenly rose from the bar, his tall, slender figure blocking the yellowish light.

"Set sail at once." His voice was calm, leaving no room for refusal.

"Before tonight is over, this island..." Hawkins wasn't sure what to make of it. The revelation kept changing, like someone's fickle mind, changing its plans on a whim.

Still, this was the strongest ill omen he had ever encountered.

"Prepare to head for the New World!"

--

The Bubble Cable Car was shaped like a teapot.

It reminded Buggy a little of the spinning teacups at an amusement park.

But this Bubble Cable Car used the Sabaody Archipelago's Bubble Technology.

A Large bubble was fitted beneath the cable car.

It carried the teapot swiftly through the white fog.

At almost the same time, a Giant Gecko clinging to the sheer cliffs of the Red Line also broke through the layers of fog.

Under the dense blanket of mist, hardly anyone noticed that the gecko was carrying an entire island as it silently drew closer.

Its four limbs, equipped with suckers like an octopus's, let it scale the Red Line's cliffs as easily as flat ground.

But every time it moved, loose Earth and stone blocks tumbled down.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?"

Buggy remained seated, taking an interested look at the strange scene before him.

The dense white fog beneath his feet resembled clouds high in the sky, while the sheer red cliffs stood close enough to touch.

And below them, a gecko was struggling to climb.

"I'll have a hard time forgetting this scene for the rest of my life."

Swan replied, her eyes shining.

She had still boarded the cable car.

Even though she knew perfectly well that the man before her was no longer a Navy major, but the Enemy of the World.

She also knew exactly where the cable car would take them.

But what could she do? This man had told her to save herself.

What price would be enough to reclaim her dignity and freedom?

Her gaze never left Buggy.

It was only her life, after all.

"Whew." Jacques struggled to steady his breathing. "This might be the last time, too."

He had privately diverted the Guard Navy and even used the Bubble Cable Car.

Whatever this gentleman had gone to the Holy Land to do, Jacques didn't think he'd get away unscathed.

So he might as well enjoy an Inner ticket!

"Don't you regret it?"

Buggy's gaze circled back to Swan, settling on her neat, short hair.

"You could have become the leader of your own organization. You already had freedom, too."

To be honest, he'd expected Jacques to come along. After all, he had a deadly hold over him.

But Swan? He'd never expected her to show up here.

He couldn't think of anything she could offer him.

Organizational and leadership skills?

He didn't seem to be lacking those, either.

"But more importantly, you have no value to me."

That might have been a little harsh, but Buggy didn't care.

He appreciated beauty, and the girl was indeed quite beautiful.

But that didn't mean he'd go easy on someone just because she was beautiful.

Value mattered.

At the auction, Swan had been valuable as someone to be rescued; her presence could stir people's sympathy.

And amid the chaos, she'd also proven useful in organizing people.

But after boarding the cable car, she'd lost her value.

She was just expendable now.

Hearing this, Swan's small face showed no disappointment. Instead, she looked defiant.

She swept out a hand, and a faintly colored wall of air appeared before her.

Swan moved her lips as if saying something, but not a sound came out.

Her voice had been cut off.

She waved again, and the wall of air disappeared.

"You told me to save myself."

A radiant smile spread across the girl's face.

Those who had lost their freedom and dignity cherished what they regained more than anyone.

And Swan was someone who had come to understand that.

She had never been idle. In fact, amid the chaos across the archipelago, she had found a way to make herself useful.

"The Silence-Fruit."

"Mm. Looks like you've figured things out."

Come to think of it, he still hadn't given Arne the Devil Fruit he'd picked out for him.

Buggy had only just remembered.

"But the Inner ticket comes with a few extra rewards."

His gaze fell on Jacques, who looked rather uncomfortable.

He reached into his clothes and took out a Devil Fruit.

Well, he carried Devil Fruits around so he could find a chance to feed one to a Devil Fruit User.

No one could predict that someone would suddenly pull out a Devil Fruit in the middle of a fight, right?

"It's only fair."

He handed Jacques a banana patterned with white swirls.

The clown was never stingy with things like this.

The ambitious old man's eyes reddened.

"."

The Bubble Cable Car reached the Holy Land without making a sound.

Inside Mary Geoise, the Holy Land.

Here, night was no different from day.

Saint Charmark was decorating a new toy he'd finally managed to rent.

A toy called a Shichibukai.

Bartholomew Kuma.

His towering body was on its knees, steel-like Flesh and Blood exposed through his battered frame.

The Celestial Dragons used precious swords to decorate him.

It was a way to show off their power and wealth.

The swords pierced through his body, like screws fitted into a precision instrument, yet strangely drew out trickles of blood.

Saint Charmark stood on Kuma's head.

With all his strength, he drove a long-handled axe into Kuma's body.

If he could pierce this slave's body, he'd prove himself much stronger than the Celestial Dragons who had rented him before!

He wasn't about to let a slave handle something so impressive.

To be precise, he had just tried shoving a slave's body into those mysterious metal plates.

Unfortunately,

Even after chopping that slave into mincemeat, he still couldn't fit the pieces into this extremely precise body.

That had been his ninety-eighth wife.

As expected, she met the same fate as the previous ninety-seven.

The long-handled axe, on the other hand, could still be driven in a little.

"Would you like some help, sir?"

A voice greeted Saint Charmark.

He didn't even bother to look, assuming it was one of the watchdogs guarding the door.

How could he let a dog play with his new toy first?

"Get lost."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible."