The Child-Child Fruit's Ability / The Fourth Devil, [Wide-eyed]

The clown host finished reading all the slips again, a hint of mockery on his lips. "Oh, what a shame. It was so close."

"Third place, 488 million."

"Second place, 501 million."

"First place, 777.77 million!"

777 million?

Dimon's lips curled slightly. That was an interesting price.

That was right, he was the one who had bid 500 million!

Chapter 33: The Child-Child Fruit's Ability

When the second-round prices were announced, the venue erupted in noise, whispers sounding everywhere.

"It's only the second round, and someone's already bid over 770 million?!"

"Is this Paramecia fruit worth that much?"

"Hey, Amanchi, I suspect someone's causing trouble! How could a Paramecia fruit fetch such a high price?"

The black-market auction had no process for verifying bidders' funds, so anyone could write down whatever price they wanted, but generally, no one dared cause trouble.

Someone had done it before, and later became a slave, appearing as an auction item at the next auction.

Faced with the accusation, Joker Amanchi sneered. "You suspect someone's causing trouble? What proof do you have?"

"What proof do I need? It's just a Paramecia. Who would pay that much for it?"

"Um... I did."

Evil Child Knox raised a hand and scratched his head sheepishly. "Too bad I didn't win it. I won't raise my bid again. To the friend who bid 500 million just now, I'll let you have the fruit."

Sorry, I just wrote that down for fun.

Dimon grumbled inwardly and tried to analyze what the two bidders had been thinking.

The third-place bid was 488 million. Clearly, this person had bid that amount hoping to take the fruit in the second round.

If everyone else had still bid 300 million, the Devil Fruit would already have been his.

Unfortunately, someone else had been more ruthless.

The first-place bidder, Evil Child, had offered 777.77 million to crush a 480 million bid. He had anticipated someone else's instant-win price.

There was nothing wrong with that strategy. The later someone made a move, the higher the price would go. That was almost certain.

But the question was, was a Paramecia fruit really worth that much?

As he pondered, the Joker host onstage curled his lip.

"Without proof, don't disrupt the bidding! Hmph. Now, the third round of bidding. Five minutes, begin."

Compared to the first two rounds, the vast majority of bidders had dropped out by the third, not even bothering to write down a price.

Dimon didn't continue writing down 500 million at random. He used Ain's ability to observe everyone from a high vantage point.

He noticed what was happening on the Navy's side. Vice Admiral Hyuga wrote down a bid of "500 million." That was all the Navy had to spend this time.

Meanwhile, Evil Child Knox, who had announced that he was giving up the fruit, silently wrote down 333.33 million.

The instant-win multiplier for the third round was 1.3, so the Navy's 500 million would instantly beat that price.

But immediately afterward, Dimon noticed the wealthy merchant's bid. The man held his pen, struggling to decide. He first wrote down 660 million, but after a moment's hesitation, he crumpled up the slip, gritted his teeth, and wrote down 800 million instead!

800 million?

Dimon was surprised, then smiled silently.

The earlier bid of 777.77 million had scared the man. He didn't believe for a moment that Evil Child Knox would give up, and had been forced to offer the astronomical sum of 800 million to defend against him.

Sure enough, when the third-round prices were announced, the wealthy merchant's face instantly turned ashen.

The Joker's face was full of mockery.

"Third place, 500 million."

"Second place, 555 million."

"First place, 800 million!"

"Let's congratulate this gentleman on winning the Paramecia-type Storyboard Fruit! Clap, clap~"

As soon as he finished speaking, the wealthy merchant shot to his feet and turned to glare at Evil Child Knox, speaking through gritted teeth.

"You bastard!"

"What are you talking about, mister?"

Knox blinked innocently, then said in sudden realization, "Ah, are you short on money? It's all right, I can lend you a little."

"Hmph!" The wealthy merchant snorted. "You think I'll lose out? This fruit will be presented to the Celestial Dragons as part of the Heavenly Tribute!"

At those words, the venue abruptly fell silent. Some people looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Evil Child Knox's lips curled up. "So it's going to be presented to the Celestial Dragons... That's wonderful."

Wonderful?

A thought flashed through Dimon's mind, and he immediately understood.

Presenting it to the Celestial Dragons meant the man wouldn't eat it on the spot. That was practically the same as telling everyone to come and take it.

Beside him, Azshara muttered, "He's about to die."

As if to prove her words, the Joker host tossed the Storyboard Fruit to the wealthy merchant and called out with a strange laugh.

"It's yours now. Make sure you have the money ready."

The fruit traced an arc through the air and landed firmly in the wealthy merchant's hand.

No one dared snatch it.

One of the black market's rules was that both the goods and the bidders were protected by the auction organizers until the transaction was complete.

At the same time, however, once the transaction was complete and the goods had been delivered, the auction organizers bore no further responsibility.

Thus, the moment the wealthy merchant caught the Storyboard Fruit, something unexpected happened.

Squelch!

A delicate hand pierced through the back of his seat from behind, punched through his chest, and grabbed the Devil Fruit.

"What...!?"

The wealthy merchant froze, looking down in disbelief. A bloody hand protruded from his chest. It had moved so quickly that he hadn't even had time to feel pain.

In a seat not far away, Vice Admiral Hyuga's pupils contracted, and he was horrified. So fast! Even my Observation Haki didn't detect anything unusual! No, he appeared out of nowhere!

The attacker hadn't been there a second earlier.

When everyone got a clear look at the attacker's face, they all froze.

It was none other than Evil Child Knox.

No, to be precise, it was a second Evil Child!

The real Knox was still sitting in his original seat, without having moved at all.

"Relax. My former family taught me assassination techniques. I'll crush your heart in an instant, and you'll die without pain."

The wealthy merchant could no longer hear the voice behind him clearly. His consciousness began to sink, and darkness gradually filled his vision.

With a wet sound, the second Evil Child withdrew his bloody hand. He gently tossed the Storyboard Fruit in his hand and glanced around, meeting one shocked gaze after another.

Onstage, Joker Amanchi applauded again and said admiringly:

"As expected of this year's number-one Supernova. You've developed the Child-Child Fruit quite well."

"I took it, so it's mine. Got a problem with that?"

Knox himself sat there, his earlier childish tone gone, his voice now mature and deep.

"No problem, no problem at all. After all, the transaction was already complete. He can't blame anyone else for getting robbed." The Joker giggled, eager to see more trouble. "Of course, that's assuming you can hold on to it. Don't let anyone take it from you."

Having obtained what he wanted, Knox didn't linger. He immediately got up and led his subordinates away.

The second Knox, who had appeared out of nowhere, quickly followed with the fruit.

Intimidated by his ruthlessness, no one spoke for a moment.

Seeing this, Mammon instinctively turned his gaze toward Dimon.

Dimon was thinking about the Child-Child Fruit's ability.

Was that a clone? That doesn't seem quite right. The second Knox clearly has a will of his own.

Noticing Mammon's gaze, he set his doubts aside for the moment and gave him a discreet look.

Having received the instruction, Mammon immediately moved.

But someone was a step faster.

"Leave the fruit, pirate!"

Vice Admiral Hyuga vanished from his seat and, in the blink of an eye, blocked the path of the Bad Kid Pirates.

"Mister with the mask, how old are you? You're still stealing children's toys?"

Knox said with a grin, "Forget it. That move you just used was one of the Six Powers, wasn't it? I didn't expect the Navy to attend a black-market auction too. You want it? If you want it, come and take it yourself. Whatever we pirates want, we take with our own hands!"

He was only halfway through speaking when Shuga attacked. He had no intention of showing a pirate the slightest mercy, and from the outset targeted a weak point where a strike would either kill or wound.

However, his target wasn't Knox himself, but the second Knox.

"Shigan: Hawk Claw!"

His attack was as fast as lightning, his right hand like a hunting falcon's claw.

Just as he was about to strike his target's eyes, a fierce gust suddenly came from behind him.

A third Knox had appeared!

Number Three was also identical to Knox himself, in both his clothes and his physique.

The instant he appeared, he aimed at Vice Admiral Hyuga's back and struck for his heart!

At that moment, Dimon saw it clearly.

"The Child-Child Fruit. So that's what its ability is..."

Chapter 34: The Fourth Devil, [Wide-eyed]

The second Knox's earlier appearance had caught everyone by surprise, but Dimon had been mentally prepared for the third Knox to appear.

With an ability like this, which resembled cloning, there was a strong chance that if there was one, there would be two.

That was why Dimon saw it perfectly clearly this time.

The third Knox had indeed appeared out of thin air. However, his appearance had not been instantaneous. There had been an extremely brief process in which he transformed from a phantom into a solid body.

"The Child-Child Fruit's ability might be to manifest an imagined version of oneself in reality, in physical form..."

It was only a guess, but Dimon felt it wasn't far from the truth, if not exactly right.

It took a while to describe, but in reality, it all happened in an instant.

While he was thinking, the third Knox, who had suddenly appeared, brazenly launched a sneak attack.

He drew the five fingers of his right hand together, his sharp nails about to pierce Vice Admiral Hyuga's back. Hyuga's Observation Haki sensed the intense killing intent behind him, but he had already committed to his move. With no time to turn and fight back, he could only endure it with his body.

Vice Admiral Hyuga tensed the muscles in his back while thrusting his hawk claw straight at the second Knox's eyes.

It all happened in a flash. Many of the bidders present hadn't even had time to see what was happening before the exchange had been decided.

"Ah!"

The second Knox screamed, blood covering both eyes.

He staggered back several steps, and the Storyboard Fruit he had been holding was now in Vice Admiral Hyuga's hand.

Shuga himself hadn't come away unscathed either. The third Knox behind him had broken through his defense, half a hand embedded in his body.