Sugar and Monet

"Save me!"

"Sir! Save us!"

"Those damned slave traders colluded with pirates and sold us here..."

When the scar-faced man died, the slaves in the warehouse all began crying for help, terrified that if they waited any longer, they would fall into despair again.

"Quiet!"

Van barked coldly, and everyone immediately shut their mouths. The warehouse became silent enough to hear a pin drop.

It was not that he did not want to free them, but releasing them now would definitely cause enough commotion to alert the auction house.

He had investigated earlier. Although Doflamingo and the Donquixote Family's senior officers were definitely not here, that did not mean the duke had no strong fighters by his side.

If they were prepared and waiting for him there, rushing in headfirst would be troublesome. He could not release anyone carelessly yet.

"Wait here for now. I still have things to do. I'll let you out later."

"Everyone stay quiet. If you attract other enemies, no one will be able to save you."

After making the arrangements, Van prepared to head to the auction house.

However, just as he was about to enter the tunnel, he inadvertently caught sight of a huge fish tank. Inside was a mermaid.

Her upper body was slender and human-shaped, with an exquisite face. A strip of white cloth was all that covered her full breasts.

Her lower body was a long, elegant fishtail, icy blue like her hair, though several patches were stained with dark red blood.

"So this is the extremely important merchandise the scar-faced man mentioned? She really is exceptional!"

Van secretly marveled, then began observing the other slaves, hoping to find another surprise.

He froze the moment he looked around, because there really were two "acquaintances" here.

Near the warehouse entrance was an iron cage holding two girls, one older and one younger.

The younger one looked about ten years old. She had dark green hair and was biting her finger, looking somewhat vacant and foolish.

The older one had likely just come of age. Her hair was grass green, and though she was grimy and dressed in tattered clothes, her pretty features and tall figure could not be concealed.

"Sugar, Monet... I never expected to meet these sisters here. Does that mean Doflamingo will buy or rescue them?"

"The Paramecia Hobby-Hobby Fruit and the Logia Snow-Snow Fruit. Doflamingo was certainly willing to invest in training them..."

After thinking for a moment, Van asked in his mind, "System! There are two original characters here. They will become key to Doflamingo's rule over Dressrosa in the future. Won't that trigger a Fate Event?"

The system gave no response. Perhaps Sugar and Monet carried too little weight; even a drastic change in their fates would not count as anything significant.

Van had made a fool of himself, so he could only use his ability to move the two girls beside the fish tank first, marking them as priorities.

The sisters were not Devil Fruit users yet. They were far less valuable than they would be in the future and were really just burdens to him.

Still, with the mindset of stirring up trouble, he did not want to give up so easily. He planned to make some moves later.

After entering the tunnel, Van watched the movement ahead while consulting the system in his mind.

"How many points does it take to construct a Fate Event?"

[Each Fate Event requires at least 1,000 points to construct. The specific cost is determined by the number of Fate Anchors and the duration of the event.]

"Do I designate the Fate Anchors? And how is the duration calculated?"

[The host may designate Fate Anchors, provided they receive system approval. The longer the event lasts, the more points it consumes. Please choose carefully.]

The tunnel was spacious but not very long. Van soon found his path blocked by a stone door.

Then, on a whim, he asked his final question. "I don't have enough points right now. Can I use them first and pay later?"

[...]

The idea was too outrageous. As expected, the system had been stunned into silence.

Van had not held much hope to begin with, so he could only compose himself and focus on what came next.

Under the perception of Observation Haki, he discovered that the third underground level beyond the stone door, which had contained people earlier, was now empty.

For some reason, everyone had gone upstairs. That was good news for him.

ROOM!

Van raised his hand and spread an Operation Room with a radius of less than five meters. Using his ability to bypass the stone door, he transferred himself into the third underground level.

With a single glance, he could tell that this level was a warehouse for storing goods.

There were only crisscrossing aisles and neatly stacked wooden crates, with no other furnishings or decorations.

Staircases on both sides of the warehouse led to the upper levels, while two elevators stood on the side facing the tunnel, likely for conveniently transporting goods.

"Something's wrong... There are too few items in total. Most of these are probably just samples. The goods for actual delivery may be stored elsewhere."

Van walked around the warehouse and found labels affixed to every crate. Almost none of the contents were duplicates.

Firearms and ammunition, cannons and bombs, specialized equipment, ores and materials, gold and antiques... The sheer variety was staggering.

"Judging from the building's layout, the two levels above are a secret office area and an underground auction house. They could not possibly store much cargo."

"Bulk goods like weapons should still be at the harbor along with the slaves from before, and they should not be too far from the slave warehouse..."

After pondering for a moment, Van decided to make some preparations first, then go back and search for them.

ROOM!

The Operation Room spread out again, rapidly covering the third underground level.

The next second, every crate was sliced open. Flammable packing materials such as straw, wood shavings, and oil paper floated up on their own and blanketed the entire warehouse.

Then, some of the shells were cut open, and the gunpowder inside poured down like rain over the flammable materials.

After finishing, Van used the power of space to pull over a shoulder-fired rocket launcher. He hoisted it onto his shoulder and prepared to leave.

Unexpectedly, several burly men suddenly charged out from the stairwell on the left. Without even a greeting, they opened fire on him.

"Fuck! If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!"

Van feared that sparks would ignite the flammable materials on the floor, so he used the power of space to stop the bullets and toss them into the tunnel.

But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the bearded man leading them suddenly dashed forward and vanished from sight.

"Soru? Is this guy a Marine?"

Sensing danger, Van decisively twisted aside.

The next second, a hand curled into a claw tore through the air where he had just been standing.

Rankyaku!

Wanting to test his close-combat ability, Van raised his leg and threw a side kick.

Unexpectedly, the bearded man suddenly lowered his stance, planting his feet as firmly as if they had taken root in the ground and assuming a posture similar to a horse stance.

Bang!

Van's shin struck his abdomen with a dull thud.

The bearded man did not retreat even half a step. His hands swiftly "changed color" as they closed in, trying to seize Van.

"I kicked an iron plate!"

Van cursed his bad luck inwardly, then used the Op-Op Fruit's ability to move himself away, leaving behind only an unknown metal ingot.

"Damn it!"

Seeing the deformed metal ingot in his hands, the bearded man flew into a rage and shouted, "Find him!"

"Yes!"

His subordinates held their guns and began searching through the warehouse aisles for Van, while the bearded man immediately rushed toward the tunnel.

However, before he could get close, a shell shot out from the tunnel, its piercing whistle making his scalp tingle.

He did not dare hesitate and turned to sprint frantically toward the stairwell.