"What... what the hell's happening?!"
Saint Grim's face twisted in horror. He was watching himself—his own hand—raise the gun and blast his Celestial Dragon buddy standing right next to him.
The special spacesuit kept it from being fatal. And Celestial Dragons were naturally tough bastards.
But down he went anyway.
"My body... I can't control it!"
He started firing wild. Slaves. CP agents. Everyone around him. And they couldn't even dodge—either take the bullet or use Iron Body to tank it.
Then came the real terror.
His gun arm started bending. Slowly. Until the barrel pressed against his own temple.
"No... no... AHHH!"
Hot steam filled the spacesuit. Fog covered the glass dome. Aus nearly gagged.
"Did this guy just... piss himself?"
Lost all interest immediately. Aus released his power. Saint Grim collapsed, liquid sloshing inside his suit, flooding into the helmet dome, nearly drowning him in his own—
"Boring."
One wave. The two Celestial pigs, the black-suited bodies scattered everywhere, the slaves—all vanished from the venue. Reappeared outside the auction house entrance in a pathetic heap.
Aus grabbed the orange juice from the maid's tray. Downed it.
Brainless weaklings broke too fast. No fun at all.
"Kill a Celestial Dragon and you'll definitely tear things with the World Government."
Mihawk watched coldly, hawk eyes narrowing.
Celestial Dragons were the World Government's most precious face. Called gods, for fuck's sake.
Supposedly even injuring one summoned a Marine Admiral.
Not scared. Just unnecessary hassle.
"That serious?"
Aus leaned back, mouth open for the maid to feed him grapes.
"You could kill them. The World Government has a backup plan."
Little Sand spoke coldly, cigar smoke curling from her lips.
"They'll just claim the Celestial Dragon died of illness.
Long as they kill everyone who saw it happen."
She watched the auction crowd scrambling to escape. Considered whether to eliminate all witnesses herself.
"An Admiral's probably already on the way."
Before she could move, Aus stood first. Threw his black coat over his shoulders. Headed for the door.
"Won't be necessary. He's not dead. The Five Elders will bury this."
Outside, the auction house manager waited respectfully with everything Aus had won.
Antiques. Treasures. Wine. Women.
Aus rubbed his chin at the mountain of stuff. Picked a few items.
"Send these to Sami. Have her store them. The rest...
You workers split it."
The manager, guards, staff, host—everyone's faces lit up like Christmas.
They looked at the tall man like he'd grown a halo.
Lord Aus living up to the legend. Generous as hell.
Collections worth over a hundred million. Just split like pocket change. More than their annual salaries combined!
In the end, Aus only kept one bottle of that decent wine from Dick's place and Stella—the "five billion Belly" girl.
"You're not seriously bringing this woman on the ship."
Little Sand looked at the fragile woman with disdain. Then at Aus.
"Hell no. This girl's got a purpose."
Aus held the chain. Other end locked around Stella's neck.
He tugged. Stella let out a soft cry. Made Aus pause.
That sound...
"Hey! Stella!"
Before Aus could leave, a young guy came running from down the street. Shouting Stella's name. Face full of rage.
Stella—still chained—saw him and froze. Miserable smile. Tears streaming.
If she could choose, she'd rather he never came.
The guy wore a flashy suit. Gold chain. Aus studied him closer.
Actually looked like Ace and young Shanks mixed together. Different hair color though.
Standard "future big shot" face.
"Stella! Let her go, you—urk—"
Didn't even need Aus's group to move. The door guards saw their moment to shine.
One punch. The weak-ass kid—Tezolo—hit the ground.
Nearly puked up his guts.
But even pinned down, he kept crawling forward. Hand reaching desperately for Stella.
Stella smiled through tears, reaching back. Couldn't budge Aus's grip at all. Like some tragic romance drama—lovers torn apart.
Aus's eye twitched.
Why did this make him look like the villain?
Aus casually froze Stella in place. Walked over to the future world's richest man—Golden Emperor Gild Tezolo.
In this world, a face like that guaranteed a future.
"Hey there, Tezolo."
Aus smiled. Took off his sunglasses. Crouched down to look at the kid—teeth gritted, eyes wet.
Tezolo looked up. One glance.
Froze.
Oh shit. That's—
Aus's face was plastered across the entire ocean. Even small-time nobodies like young Tezolo knew it.
"I can see you really love this woman."
"...Give... Stella back!"
After the brief shock—to everyone's surprise—Tezolo showed zero fear. Like he was ready to die. Will unshaken.
Is this what pure love looks like?
Aus wasn't mad. Looking at this fearless kid, he just pulled a soul-crushing smile.
"You know why you can't protect her?"
Materialized some Belly. Threw it in Tezolo's face.
"Because you're broke. You don't have the money to buy the person you love."
Aus had no plans to kill this business genius. He needed talent in entertainment and gambling.
More importantly—he wanted to experience that intoxicating paradise ship from the movie. The Gran Tesoro.
Aus's crimson eyes locked onto him. Lips curved up.
"Let's make a deal, Tezolo. In my name—Doctor Aus.
If you can scrape together one billion Belly in three years,
I'll give Stella back. And I'll give you an opportunity most people never see in their entire lives."
...
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