On Naples Island
After three days at sea, Luo Ya finally reached his destination. He stretched lazily, then headed toward the auction house in the center of the island.
"Quite a bustling place. They must run a great business," Luo Ya remarked as he strolled to the auction house entrance.
"Sir, if you don't have an invitation, we'll need to verify your assets before you can enter," the attendant said.
"Heh, pretty thorough. How do you verify them?" Luo Ya asked, scratching his head.
"You'll need to show at least five million Beli or property of equivalent value. Our auction house has appraisers on hand."
Luo Ya opened the briefcase he'd brought with him. "Want to count it?"
"No need, sir. The auction doesn't begin until five this evening. You can enter with this invitation." The attendant handed him a gold-embossed invitation.
"It doesn't start until five? Then I'll go grab something to eat." Luo Ya took the invitation and turned to leave.
After wandering around the island for a while, he learned that the tallest castle at its center was the Camorra Family's stronghold. Principle spent most of the year there and rarely showed his face.
As evening approached, Luo Ya brought his invitation to the auction house entrance and entered with the crowd. Before long, every seat was taken.
A voluptuous red-haired beauty stepped onto the tall stage, holding a microphone.
"Welcome, everyone, to this auction. I'm your host, Emilisha. Without further ado, here's our first lot."
At Emilisha's clap, an attendant carried a sky-blue odachi onto the stage.
"Skillful Grade Sword, one of the Fifty Skillful Grade Swords: Azure. Opening bid: five hundred thousand Beli."
So Oda was just a manga artist after all. What the hell did he know about pirates? Only fifty Skillful Grade Swords in the entire world—what use was that? But the very first item was already a Skillful Grade Sword? If I just charged in head-on, I'd probably get myself killed.
Luo Ya stroked his chin, planning how he'd sneak into the castle later.
"Bang! One million five hundred thousand Beli! Sold!" At Emilisha's gavel, Azure went to a sword-wielding man with a small mustache. Quite a few people around him eyed him eagerly. They were probably thinking about walking away with it for free, too.
Luo Ya's eyes lit up. He patted the burly man beside him on the shoulder.
"You looking to die?" The burly man had just lost the bidding and was already in a foul mood. When he felt Luo Ya pat his shoulder, he roared at him.
But the moment he saw Luo Ya's face, he went deathly pale, looking as if he wanted to cry.
"You know me?" Luo Ya asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I do, I do! You're Luo Ya, the Fire Ghost, with a bounty of one hundred and twenty million! Of course I know you," the burly man stammered.
"Relax. Tell me, after someone buys something, will the Camorra Family protect them once they leave the auction house?" Luo Ya rubbed the hilt of his sword.
The burly man hurriedly replied, "They will. The Camorra Family forbids fighting on the island. Otherwise, people would get robbed as soon as they left with their purchases. Who'd ever come here again?"
Luo Ya patted the burly man on the shoulder, then got up and left the auction. The man remained behind, looking terrified.
Outside the auction house, Luo Ya worked out the time and pulled out a map to study it.
His target was inside the castle at the center of the island. The biggest auction of the night was to the east, and was expected to end at eleven.
The harbor was to the west. Residential and commercial streets lay to the north and south.
If fighting was forbidden on the island, then anything went once you were out at sea. In other words, if a battle broke out near the harbor while someone was heading there from the auction house, it would surely draw most of the Camorra Family's forces. That sounded a lot more reliable than storming the castle outright.
Luo Ya burned the map to ashes and headed west to scout the area. After all, he needed to make enough trouble near the harbor to draw plenty of people.
He also needed enough time to reach the castle and kill Principle, the Blood Lion. There was probably another target, a Zoan Devil Fruit User called Honey Badger, along with a few other nobodies.
And without anyone to help him, he'd still have to escape Naples Island.
"This is quite the challenge, Dezi. Earning a little money from you is turning out to be a real pain," Luo Ya muttered.
Fortunately, the One Piece World didn't have storage rings or anything like that. All Luo Ya had to do was wait somewhere high along the only route his target could take, then attack when the buyer of the Treasure Tree Adam showed up.
After all, most people had come to this auction for the Treasure Tree Adam. Even if they were afraid of the Camorra Family and wouldn't dare attack on the island, they'd surely make their move as soon as they reached open water.
And if a troublemaker like Luo Ya suddenly appeared and launched a surprise attack, everyone else would worry about the Treasure Tree Adam falling into their rivals' hands and join the fight to seize it. In the chaos, Luo Ya could attack indiscriminately. Once the battle got going, there'd be no stopping it.
Naples Island was the Camorra Family's headquarters. If a large-scale battle broke out, they'd surely send people to put it down right away. Then I could... What was I going to do again? Luo Ya scratched his head. Then I could do whatever I wanted! Hahahaha!
Seeing Luo Ya standing by the road and laughing to himself, the passersby pitied him. "The kid's still young, but his brain's already gone kaput."
"Ahem." Snapping out of his daydream, Luo Ya coughed awkwardly and hurried away.