The voice belonged to Vic, who had cut in before the deal was finalized. Ethan smiled, while Barrow's face darkened, his expression sinister and murderous. Someone had defied his will. Unforgivable, unforgivable!
He turned and saw Vic, the man who had killed his subordinate, looking at him with a smile. Furious enough to explode, he wanted to kill Vic right there, but the subordinate beside him calmed him down.
"90 million Beli," Barrow said coldly. He had already suppressed his anger. In his eyes, Vic was a dead man.
"90.1 million Beli," Vic said with a smile.
Hearing Vic's bid, as though this were all a game, Barrow knew the man was making a fool of him. You're asking for death, kid, he thought.
"100 million Beli." Barrow closed his eyes.
"150 million Beli." Barrow's mouth twitched, and he gritted his teeth so hard they nearly broke.
"Forget it. You can have it. I didn't bring any money today," Vic said calmly.
His calm words made the people present feel as if they were suffocating. Some had already sensed that something was wrong and left, and now several more hurried out. Ethan, however, was laughing so hard onstage that he couldn't close his legs. The price had far exceeded the estimate. Ban had tried several times to persuade Vic, but to no avail, and had also left.
Barrow had never been so angry in his life. This was the first time, and now he was considering how to deal with Vic later.
Vic did have money, but certainly not as much as 150 million. He could only give up in tears, but it didn't matter. His goal had more or less been achieved.
With no competitors left, Barrow won the cast blue gold. He went backstage to pay and left immediately. Before leaving, he gave Vic a look that suggested he was looking at a dead man, but Vic smiled back at him.
The auction continued, but nothing that followed interested either of them. They stayed seated until the auction ended, then got up and left the venue.
No one dared walk with Vic and Rebecca, so the two left the venue without difficulty. Once they were outside, many eyes gathered on them as people speculated about who they were.
They had pulled a tiger's whiskers right in front of it, then slapped it across the face for good measure. They had to have a death wish. It was truly rare to see people who didn't hurry to flee for their lives and could still be so relaxed.
There were many lawless people in the Sabaody Archipelago, but most had been taught a lesson. Only a lucky few managed to escape the island.
Ignoring the onlookers, Vic led Rebecca toward area 10. He knew the fish had taken the bait; now it was only a matter of when it would surface. He kept using his Observation Haki to sense his surroundings.
A quarter of an hour later, Barrow's presence finally appeared within the range of Vic's Observation Haki, on a road Vic had to take. A smile appeared on Vic's lips, and he headed back the way he had come.
At last, Vic encountered Barrow and his men blocking the end of a bridge. Their expressions varied: some sneered, some looked vicious, some were there for the show, and others gloated, among many others.
Quite a few bystanders had gathered to watch the excitement, making for a lively scene. Many had followed Vic there. He didn't care. He was about to become a Marine, so what did an underground king matter? He had powerful backing, and his own strength was nothing to scoff at either.
"Kid, I've been waiting for you for ages. You finally showed up. Have you decided how you want to die?"
Barrow spoke calmly. As far as he was concerned, his opponent was already meat on the chopping block, ready for him to handle however he pleased. As for Vic defeating that good-for-nothing Chad, he didn't care in the slightest. Even if he stood still and let Chad slash him, Chad couldn't break through his defense. He was confident of that.
Vic walked straight up to a spot five meters from Barrow and stopped, carefully sizing up this officer serving under the underground king. He hadn't gotten a good look at him in the auction house. It had been dark there, with lights only on the stage.
Barrow was around two and a half meters tall, a little taller than Vic. He wore a suit with a purple cloak over it, and his blond hair was slicked back. His features went together reasonably well. If not for the sword at his waist, he would have looked like a successful businessman rather than a criminal. Vic was a little surprised; his appearance surpassed that of most people in the world of pirates.
"Barrow, right? You took my cast blue gold away just now. Have you come to return it?" Vic said casually.
The people nearby burst into laughter at Vic's words. A few who were easily amused laughed until they cried, and some even lay on the ground pounding it. Barrow laughed in anger too. This man was interesting; he almost couldn't bear to kill him.
"Hahaha, I've never heard such a funny joke. Hahaha."
"I can't take it. I'm going to die laughing, hahaha."
"Someone come slash me, or I really will die laughing, hahaha."
The underlings laughed until their legs went weak, and the spectators were delighted too. Even Barrow wore a faint smile.
Barrow raised his right hand and beckoned forward. An underling carrying a wooden box came to his side. Barrow opened the lid and showed Vic what was inside. He wanted to toy with Vic as well.
"Your cast blue gold is right here, but I can't give it to you yet. Let's have a match. If you beat me, it's yours. If you lose, I get to do whatever I want with you. What do you say?" Barrow looked at Vic with a mocking smile.
"Sure. Come on, then. Don't bother sending your underlings out to die. It won't matter how many you send!" Vic's tone was unruffled.
The lackeys behind Barrow burst out laughing again. This man didn't know his own limits. He had no idea how powerful Lord Barrow was and probably wouldn't even know how he died.
Barrow took two steps forward, raised both hands, and waved them back. All his underlings retreated, clearing the battlefield.
"Rebecca, you stand back too. I'm going to take back my blue gold." Vic's lips curled slightly. Rebecca obediently moved away; she didn't think Vic would lose.
"All right, enough nonsense. Let's begin. It's been a long time since I got my hands dirty myself, so I'll start with you," Barrow said impatiently when he saw the two talking.
Vic said nothing. Once Rebecca had moved away, he vanished. When he reappeared, he was already right in front of Barrow. Vic could still see the impatience in Barrow's eyes, along with the shock that had just surfaced.
Vic showed no restraint. Yubashiri flashed from its sheath, and a bloody gash appeared across Barrow's chest. Blood spurted as he fell backward.
The scene fell so quiet a pin could be heard dropping. The onlookers' jaws dropped, and their eyes nearly popped out of their heads. This had to be an illusion. It had to be. Then many of them began muttering to themselves.
"I must have overexerted myself last night. I'm seeing things. I need to show some restraint from now on."
"Did I suddenly fall asleep? Why am I dreaming that Boss Barrow got slashed? Do I want to move up that badly? You really do dream about what you think about during the day. Sigh, I didn't mean it."
"Can this man cast illusions? Could he be a Devil Fruit User?"
Vic didn't attack again after slashing Barrow. He stepped back. His Observation Haki had sensed that Barrow still had strong vitality. He had only been struck by that slash because he had been careless, hadn't taken Vic seriously, and hadn't been on guard.
Sure enough, after Vic stepped back, Barrow slowly sat up. He touched the wound on his chest and frowned slightly.
"That hurts, kid. Nice work. I really was careless. I haven't been cut by a blade in years. That was back before I ate the Devil Fruit. Brings back memories," Barrow said to Vic, before continuing to mutter to himself as he reminisced.
Seeing their boss get up, the underlings behind him came to their senses, their eyes shining with excitement. They knew their boss was about to get serious.
Barrow got to his feet, and his body gradually began to change. Streaks of light reflected off his skin, which looked as if it had been coated in oil. Vic knew he was using a Devil Fruit ability, though he couldn't yet tell what it was.
Vic took the initiative and attacked again, testing his opponent's ability. He immediately flung a dart. Accelerated by the Speed-Speed Fruit, it flew much faster than a bullet and struck Barrow's chest in an instant.
With a ding, the dart left only a white mark on Barrow's chest before bouncing away.
Vic had more or less guessed the fruit's type: a paramecia that let its user turn his body into some kind of substance and excelled at defense.
"Hahaha, it's no use! I'm a metal man who ate the paramecia Metal-Metal Fruit. My body can become as hard as steel. Things like that are useless against me, hahaha," Barrow said, somewhat smugly.
Ever since obtaining the fruit, he had never been cut by anyone. Blades couldn't break through his defense; he could be called the "swordsman's bane"!
With the ability of this Devil Fruit, he could indeed be considered strong in the first half of the Grand Line. Leaving his offense aside, his defense was at least very good. Ordinary blades and guns had a hard time hurting him. At the very least, King Luffy before his special training with Rayleigh would have been unable to do anything to him.