Tesoro bought both items, which made the three Celestial Dragons and some nobles somewhat resentful. They didn't believe that Tesoro, an unknown nobody who had already spent over two billion Beli, could still be so arrogant. It was their turn to shine.
Even if Tesoro really has money, they will still maliciously target him and make him waste money so that they will feel better. How dare a peasant like him compete with them, the nobles? They'll make him pay!
The third item was an unknown treasure map. The host explained that the treasure location contained a large amount of buried gold, making this item even more tempting to the pirate forces.
Of course, Tesoro, the Devil Fruit User of the Gold-Gold Fruit, is also of interest. His ability makes him exceptionally sensitive to gold, and his initial capital came from a gold mine he sensed while passing by an island after eating the Gold-Gold Fruit.
He didn't need to hire anyone to mine; he simply used his Devil Fruit ability to pan for all the gold in the mine. Afterward, he found several more treasures and gold mines, completing his initial capital accumulation. Which treasure didn't contain gold?
Therefore, if there really is a treasure containing a large amount of gold, Tesoro would definitely be very interested, as he has an advantage over others in finding treasure.
This time the bidding was even more intense because the items being auctioned were related to money. Perhaps if you bought a treasure map now, you could earn it back tenfold or a hundredfold in the near future.
So, apart from the Celestial Dragons who disdained it and the nobles who were too lazy to waste their energy, all other forces participated. However, when they saw that Tesoro had also joined the bidding, the three Celestial Dragons and the nobles, with the intention of sabotaging him, also got involved.
Even Dragon was tempted. He was clearly still a bit carried away by the treasure he had found in the Flower Country last time and wanted to do it again. So he rubbed his hands together and asked Vic for sponsorship. However, Vic refused. He had thought of a better way to make money. If the method worked, the Revolutionary Army would never have to worry about its expenses again!
With these troublemakers involved, potential buyers of the treasure map felt as disgusted as if they'd eaten shit. These troublemakers maliciously inflated the bids; while others would only add ten million Beli at most, they were adding hundreds of millions. It was utterly disgusting. And then the host joined in, fanning the flames, as if the shit wasn't smelling bad enough, adding more fire to smother it.
Tesoro realized he was being targeted, so he simply gave up bidding. One or two treasures were of little use to him. Then, those troublemakers quieted down and stopped bidding, and the bidding returned to normal.
However, by this time, the price had long exceeded the value of the treasure map itself. Buying a treasure map is inherently driven by a high-risk, high-reward mentality; no one can be certain whether the treasure map is genuine or whether it will actually be found.
Izo map is not directly proportional to the amount of treasure hidden within. If the price of a treasure map exceeds one-tenth of the value of the treasure within, it's already not worthwhile. How many treasures are worth tens or hundreds of billions of Beli? What kind of massive treasure trove would that be?
So the person who made the final bid looked extremely grim, because the price he offered had exceeded the value of the treasure map, making it a negative value. He was in trouble going back now; if he found the treasure, everything would be fine, but if he didn't, he'd probably be hacked to pieces by his companions!
Vic recognized the last person who made the bid; he wasn't a pirate, but a professional treasure hunter with a good reputation in the industry, so Vic decided to help them.
Then a voice echoed in Tesoro's mind, and he immediately turned to look around for the speaker, but how could he possibly find them?
Moreover, judging from the behavior of the others, they couldn't hear what he was saying at all. It was meant for him alone. Although he didn't know who was instructing him on how to do things, it was in his best interest, so he didn't mind doing it. Then Tesoro started bidding again.
Seeing Tesoro make a bid, the Celestial Dragons and their sons, along with the noble lords, became excited again. They thought Tesoro wanted to snatch the prize last, so they weren't about to let Tesoro have his way. They immediately started bidding, afraid that the host would make the final decision.
But after Charlos made a high offer, Tesoro fell silent. He stopped bidding and turned to look at the Celestial Dragons father and son with a mocking smile.
The Celestial Dragons father and son looked at Tesoro with bewildered expressions, then at the treasure-hunting group, hoping the two would continue bidding to get them out of the predicament. But why would someone who had already escaped the trap want to go back in? Tesoro had done it on purpose, so there was even less chance of that.
Then they looked at the old nobles from the lower realm who had bid with them earlier, but those old guys were sitting upright, looking straight ahead at the treasure map on the display stand, as if they were appreciating a work of art.
Although these people are nobles, can they be more noble than the Celestial Dragons? So they are most afraid of the Celestial Dragons. Even if they can deal with pirates and villains, the Celestial Dragons and the World Government are the ones who can decide their lives. So they dare not offend these two and can only pretend not to see it. At least the law will not punish the masses!
The two Celestial Dragons were furious. They thought they could show off their limited intelligence, but they were utterly humiliated before they even got started. Now they had to spend a fortune to buy a treasure map they had no interest in, and some minor nobles even came to fawn over them and bought it. They were completely devastated by the loss!
As Celestial Dragons, they could naturally renege on their debts, but they didn't want to lose their eligibility to enter the auction house in the future because of this one instance of defaulting. Therefore, they planned to pay and take the treasure map away after the auction.
They'll have their agents search for the treasure later to see if they can recover it. The Celestial Dragons are also careful with their money; they're far from being extravagant.
The Celestial Dragons ' money comes from the Heavenly Tribute handed over by the Affiliated Nation, and the World Government retains at least half of this money for naval expenses and various government expenditures, with the remainder to be divided among more than a dozen member states.
Each family has a considerable number of members, so the amount allocated to each person won't be much, making it impossible for them to squander it. This is why Tesoro believes that money can make Celestial Dragons bend over backwards; if it doesn't work, then there's simply not enough money, so they just need to add more.
The auction exceeded the value of the items themselves. The venue and the host should have been happy, but the final buyer was a Celestial Dragons Celestial Dragons, and it seemed like he had been tricked into buying the items. This was not a good thing, and the host was sweating.
It's common knowledge that dealing with the Celestial Dragons is extremely dangerous. They are capricious and can kill without breaking the law. Doflamingo, their mastermind, isn't particularly afraid of the Celestial Dragons, but he is! If he were killed on the spot, no one would speak up for him; he would die in vain, and the auction could continue with a different host.
So he was genuinely afraid that this family of Celestial Dragons would lose their temper. Even if they refused to pay their debts, the host thought it was a good thing, since the one who would have a headache afterward was Doflamingo, and his life would be safe.
Anyway, I'm working for my boss, so I can't sacrifice my life for the money my boss loses, that would be too dangerous.
"Ha... hehe...! The auction for this treasure map is quite fierce. Everyone is so interested, so I guess everyone thinks this treasure map is real!"
This treasure map must be genuine. Sending people to search diligently will surely yield treasure far exceeding the value of the map. Alright! The treasure now belongs to Saint Charlos. Let's look at the next item!