As Sengoku was bracing himself for the worst possible outcomes of the upcoming Sabaody Archipelago incident, time arrived at Sabaody Archipelago.
The Slave Auction House.
Kouta pulled aside the curtain before him, and a wave of heat, cheers, and an unmistakable scent of greed washed over him, causing him to pause for a moment. He glanced at the distant stage, a hint of barely perceptible killing intent flickering in his cerulean eyes before he stepped in.
As far as he knew, this slave auction house was an enterprise of one of the Seven Warlords, Doflamingo.
Of course, it couldn't compare to the money he earned from arms dealing.
However, it was a place where he could interact with the Celestial Dragons. Even though he was once a Celestial Dragon, and even though he was now a Seven Warlord, he had to admit that sometimes interacting with Celestial Dragons brought a lot of convenience to his arms business.
This was because not all Celestial Dragons were useless.
Many Celestial Dragon families had their own businesses, and he could use this place to further cooperate with them.
Despite the World Government collecting countless funds from its affiliated nations every year, most of that money was spent on military expenses and various research. Very little actually reached the Celestial Dragons.
Indeed.
It was "very little" only relative to them. If this money were to fall into the hands of ordinary people, it would be a fortune that they might not be able to spend in a lifetime.
If one wanted to relax, live a carefree life, and buy and sell slaves, this money would certainly be enough.
But if one had ambitions, if one wanted to further gain power among the Celestial Dragons, it wouldn't be that simple.
Therefore, many Celestial Dragon families engaged in all sorts of shady businesses, either openly or covertly.
For instance, the slave trade and instigating wars for arms dealing.
This was also why, after Doflamingo's heinous crimes were exposed years later, the World Government did not kill him.
On one hand, this guy was once a Celestial Dragon and knew many secrets that only Celestial Dragons were privy to. On the other hand, he also had business dealings with many Celestial Dragons.
Otherwise, given his crimes, he would have been secretly executed long ago, and wouldn't be leisurely reading newspapers in prison!
He casually scanned the hall.
"Huh!"
"Celestial Dragon?"
He actually saw one here.
Looking at the obese man sitting in the very center, on a row of sofas seemingly set up separately, wearing a glass dome on his head, Kouta's lips curled up, and a hint of mockery appeared in his eyes.
He wondered who from the Marines would be coming this time.
"Haha!"
He was already thinking about his next opponents.
And the World Government, he wondered if they still had any secret powerhouses.
"Guest, this way, please."
Just then, a waiter leading the way approached from the side, gesturing for Kouta and the others to follow him.
He withdrew his gaze, glanced at the slightly nervous waiter, and Kouta stepped forward, following him to an empty row of seats in the middle on the right.
After seeing Kouta and the others seated, the waiter quickly and cautiously retreated, disappearing into the crowd.
These auction house waiters were all professionally trained.
He was certainly aware of the legendary pirate, Silver Hair Kouta, who had become famous across the seas during this period.
He was startled the moment he first saw him. It was only his strong professionalism that allowed him to complete his job.
After all, he was an usher and had guided Celestial Dragons before. Although he was afraid of Silver Hair and his crew, he didn't show any unusual emotions.
However, he would have to report this upstairs, as the bounty on Silver Hair's crew was terrifying.
And there were also Celestial Dragons.
If anything were to happen to a Celestial Dragon here, none of them would escape.
"Hmm! Coincidentally, one of the family's top executives, 'Pica' sama, is passing through Sabaody Archipelago and is at the auction house today."
With this thought, the waiter couldn't help but quicken his pace.
He left the hall and went up to the second floor via a staircase.
Actually, this auction house had VIP rooms, which were usually the preferred choice for those who didn't want to mingle with ordinary people in the hall. However, since its construction, they were rarely used.
Gradually, this became an empty room for the use of the family's high-ranking members.
In one of the VIP rooms at this moment, a particularly tall and robust man was sitting on a gray sofa.
The man was clad in armor, wore a cross-shaped face-guard helmet, had light blue wavy hair, and a spade mark tattooed on his shoulder.
He was Pica, one of Doflamingo's Donquixote Family's top executives, a man who appeared taciturn and stoic, but spoke in a surprisingly high-pitched voice that didn't match his physique.
He was the top executive of the Donquixote Family's 'Spades', and an Awakened Paramecia-type Stone-Stone Fruit user.
He could assimilate with any rock he came into contact with, and all the properties of the rock, such as its appearance and hardness, became his own strength.
It was a powerful fruit that was often mistaken for a Logia-type fruit.
Looking forward from the sofa, there was a large glass pane. The glass was one-way, allowing those inside to see out, but not vice-versa.
Sitting in the room, everything on the stage was clearly visible.
To the left of the glass, a man wearing a top hat and a mask with round lenses was standing.
The man had scar lines on both sides of his eyes, wore a dark blue long trench coat adorned with metal decorations like gears.
He was also a Donquixote Family executive, belonging to Pica's Spades division, named Gladius, an Awakened Paramecia-type Boom-Boom Fruit user.
He could inflate his own body to explode, or inflate inorganic matter he touched to cause an explosion.
The Boom-Boom Fruit was powerful in some ways and weak in others. The scale and power of the fruit's explosions were directly proportional to the ability of the user.
If this fruit were in the hands of a strong individual, it would undoubtedly be very powerful.
But in the hands of a weakling, even if you developed it to its awakening, it would still be mediocre.
They had come here primarily to discuss the profit sharing from arms sales with the Celestial Dragon, Trebol, below, and his family.
Doflamingo had already finalized the initial arrangements, and Pica had come this time to make the final handover with Trebol's family and to collect the operating profits from the auction house during this period.
And today happened to be the monthly grand auction, so he wasn't in a hurry. He might as well discuss matters with Trebol's butler after Trebol finished his business.
Yes, the butler.
He wasn't qualified to negotiate directly with a Celestial Dragon. In fact, Doflamingo usually conducted business with Trebol's family's butler.
Creak!
At this moment, the door to the private room was pushed open from the outside, and the waiter who had led Kouta and the others in quickly entered.
The waiter first glanced at Gladius, then walked up to Pica, and knelt before him with a thud, speaking quickly, "Pica-sama, Silver Hair, Silver Hair is downstairs."