"Knew it... This guy's just here to screw around."
Watching Aus get into full playground mode, Mihawk and Crocodile both facepalmed.
Still talking about inspecting businesses and finding problems.
Yeah, right...
"Century-aged wine from the Liquor Kingdom, starting bid one million Belly!"
"One point two million!"
"One point two million and one!"
"One point three million!"
"One point three million and one!"
"???"
The sunglasses-wearing long-haired guy kept casually raising his hand, adding exactly one Belly each time. The burly pirate in the front row—wine barrel in hand—looked ready to explode.
"Hey! Asshole! You doing this on purpose!? Every damn time, one Belly more than me!
And you—auction house people! You gonna do something about this!? This bastard's not following minimum bid increments!"
The entire auction house staff, boss included, acted like they heard nothing. Looking around. Whistling at the ceiling.
Aus just smiled at the complaint.
"Nah. I just happen to like rare wine that doesn't taste like piss."
He raised his hand again.
"Ten million Belly!"
Peak arrogance. And it wasn't stopping there.
The man with crossed legs clearly loved this feeling—calling out prices, treating money like toilet paper.
What followed was total domination. Didn't matter who bid. Didn't matter what item. Aus crushed everyone with pure monetary force.
The auction house's planted bidders became completely useless.
"We're fucked! This whole auction—it's like we sold nothing!
When Lord Doflamingo finds out, he'll chop us up and feed us to the fighting fish!"
Some manager was literally crying, watching Aus steamroll everything. Convinced the guy wouldn't pay, or would use the auction house's own money to buy the auction house's stuff.
Either way—no money in, goods out.
"You idiot!"
The auction house boss walked over, cigarette dangling from his lips, glaring at his subordinate.
"If we make Lord Aus happy, Lord Doflamingo will reward us—why would he give a shit about a few auction items!"
He leaned in closer.
"Or did you forget... the Donquixote Family's businesses belong to Lord Aus in the first place!"
As the auction continued, Aus's spending spree gradually numbed everyone.
By the end, nobody even bothered bidding. Just let Aus take everything at starting price.
"Tch. Lowborns being lowborns. Only interested in garbage."
The two Celestial Dragons noticed Aus's bidding, but those cheap items? Beneath them.
Until a female slave appeared.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Our next item—an absolutely stunning female slave with an exquisite figure. Look at that golden hair! Possibly noble blood!"
"Golden hair equals possibly noble? These guys know their sales pitch."
Aus leaned back, watching the host hype up the slave girl. Then the next words made him pause.
"And she has a beautiful name—Stella!"
Stella?
That name triggered something. Memories clicked into place.
Oh.
Major supporting character from one of the movies.
Though wasn't she supposed to be sold in some shop? How'd she end up here...
Butterfly effect?
"What a gorgeous slave! I'll make her my thirty-ninth wife!"
Stella's beauty was definitely top-tier—wouldn't be at this auction otherwise. The two Celestial Dragons were instantly hooked.
Stella looked like she'd already accepted her fate. Leaning against the cage bars, expression miserable. That tragic beauty thing going on—made her even more eye-catching.
"Starting bid five million Belly!"
"Ten million! And I dare anyone to compete with me!"
The purple-haired Celestial Dragon—Saint Grim, the mouthy one from earlier—raised his hand.
Everyone's attention snapped to attention. The auction house management went pale.
A Celestial Dragon just bid. Which meant...
Every eye turned to the back row. Cold sweat everywhere. That mysterious guy (Lord Aus) wouldn't actually...
Brief silence in the venue.
Then a voice from the back, dripping with amusement:
"Ten million... and one Belly."
"You bastard!"
Saint Grim shot to his feet, whipping around. Golden pistol appeared from inside his suit, aimed straight at Aus.
"Lowborn! How dare you—"
"Hey! Saint Grim! The Holy Land ordered us not to cause trouble in Sabaody recently..."
His Celestial Dragon buddy saw him pointing a gun at someone who might actually matter. Quick intervention. At least this one had half a brain.
But Grim wasn't listening. Too busy being pissed.
Until his companion said three specific words: "Knight Order."
That got through.
"Tch..."
Still furious, but hearing those words made Grim lower the gun. Also probably saved his life.
"Twenty million Belly!"
He spat it out angrily. Had to compete the normal way.
"Twenty million... and one Belly."
"One hundred million!"
"One hundred million... and one."
"One billion!"
"One billion... and one."
The front-row Celestial Dragon's head looked ready to pop. Aus couldn't hold back his grin anymore.
The price kept climbing with two rich idiots competing.
Hit five billion Belly fast.
Everyone watching—bidders, staff, management—all stunned by the insane numbers.
Even Stella herself looked shocked. Briefly forgot about being separated from Tezolo forever. Just stood there, mouth hanging open.
She was worth this much?
The price stopped there. Not because Aus quit.
The Celestial Dragon ran out of money.
Recent Heavenly Tribute quotas got reduced by the Five Elders for some reason. Grim only had five billion cash on hand.
Even pooling money with his buddy wouldn't match Aus's "money is meaningless" bidding style.
"Ohhh... Hey! Celestial Dragon! Why'd you stop? Out of cash? I can lend you some~"
Aus's perfectly-timed mockery was the final straw.
Saint Grim drew his golden pistol.
Bang!
His Celestial Dragon companion—
Hit the floor.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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