Noah set down his tea cup and picked up his hat. "It’s time for us to go."

  The two of them left the bar.

  Earlier, they had gathered some interesting information—there was going to be an underground auction on a deserted isnd not far from Yuzu Isnd. The auction would take pce in four days.

  However, these underground auctions were invitation-only, and without an introduction, there was no way to get in.

  Galdino was puzzled. "Mr. President, how are we going to get an invitation?"

  "Heh, you'll find out soon enough."

  They returned to the Fortune’s Favor.

  That night, Noah’s group used the powers of the Float-Float Fruit to navigate the Fortune’s Favor high above the deserted isnd.

  From the ship, they could see faint lights below. With a casual flick of his hand, Noah released a small patch of Empyrean Clouds to hide the ship, anchoring it roughly 7,000 meters above the isnd.

  Galdino was stunned by Noah’s abilities. He had seen Noah use cards to seal and release objects before, knowing that Noah was a Card-Card Fruit user. But what he hadn’t expected was that Noah could make the entire ship float in the air.

  "Hey, Kuro... isn't Mr. Noah a Card-Card Fruit user? How can he make things float like this?" Galdino whispered curiously.

  Kuro adjusted his gsses and, with a mischievous smile, replied, "The nature of Mr. Noah’s powers is a family secret. Are you sure you want to dig deeper?"

  "Uh... no, no! Just curious. Forget I asked." Galdino quickly waved his hands, ughing awkwardly.

  Meanwhile, Noah stood on the deck, his eyes closed in concentration as he combined his Observation Haki with electromagnetic waves, scanning the isnd below.

  ‘There are 392 strong life signatures and 125 weaker ones...’

  ‘Thirteen tunnels underground, plus a hidden submarine dock with three subs...’

  ‘There’s also a cavern on the northern side of the isnd that can hold over a thousand people...’

  In front of Noah’s enhanced Observation Haki, enhanced by electromagnetic pulses, nothing on the isnd could hide. He could even hear snippets of conversation.

  After ten minutes, Noah opened his eyes.

  "Brother, did you find anything?" Ari asked curiously.

  Noah shook his head. "Over a hundred sves are imprisoned below, along with a Devil Fruit. I also overheard something about a toxic mushroom called the Heaven’s Mushroom."

  Ari immediately recalled the details. "Heaven’s Mushroom? Isn’t that the main ingredient for making Paradise Bliss?"

  "Exactly. An underground auction selling illegal goods is just what you’d expect from sewer rats like them," Noah sneered.

  "Shall we take them out?" Ari asked, his tone calm but filled with an underlying menace.

  Noah’s voice was equally calm, but there was a hint of murderous intent. "What do you think? Should we let them off so they can celebrate the new year? If we hadn’t stumbled upon this, we could’ve ignored it. But now that we know, there’s no reason to show mercy."

  "I’ll open a wormhole right away—"

  "Not yet. Wait for the guests to arrive, and we’ll give them a proper welcome," Noah said with a cold smile. He had no intention of sparing the auction’s guests either. After all, without buyers, there would be no harm. And anyone attending this auction was 99.99% likely to be human scum.

  Galdino was a bit worried. "Mr. Noah, I’ve heard that many underground auctions in the South Blue have connections to local nobles and the World Government. Aren’t we taking a huge risk by doing this?"

  "Risk? We’ll just kill everyone," Noah replied with a dark joke.

  "Uh..." Galdino was left speechless.

  By the third evening, with the final ship docking at the isnd’s makeshift pier, the underground auction was finally about to begin.

  Up on the deck of the Fortune’s Favor, which was still hovering in the sky, Joshua, who had just arrived from the Rum Kingdom through a wormhole, had already activated an electromagnetic jamming field, disabling all Den Den Mushi communications within a 10-kilometer radius of the isnd.

  "Let’s go down and greet our guests!" Noah said.

  Using a metal ptform, Noah led Ari, Kuro, Galdino, and fifty elite family members as they descended from the sky.

  A few minutes ter...

  Boom! The metal ptform smmed down at the entrance of the auction cave.

  A dozen guards in bck suits immediately raised their weapons.

  "Who are you?"

  "Don’t waste time. They’re clearly trouble. Shoot them!" one of the guards barked.

  In an instant, Kuro appeared in front of the entrance, and blood sprayed from the throats of the guards behind him. They twitched a few times before falling lifeless to the ground.

  Ari shrugged and opened a wormhole, leading five elite members to the isnd’s submarine dock.

  Noah, meanwhile, was surrounded by several iron chains made of sand, which pierced the doors to the cave.

  Under the influence of the Float-Float Fruit, the doors swung open automatically.

  The group walked into the auction hall without encountering any resistance.

  The auction hall was bustling, with no one noticing the intruders. That was, until Noah stepped onto the auction stage and Kuro sshed the auctioneer’s throat with a single cw.

  "Ahhh!"

  "Who are these guys?!"

  "How dare they?!"

  Chaos erupted. Screams and curses filled the room.

  "Can you all quiet down?" Noah’s voice was calm, but as soon as he finished speaking, a terrifying wave of Conqueror’s Haki swept through the crowd.

  The underground auction's manager, Cura?ao, had just entered the hall from the surveilnce room when the overwhelming pressure hit him like a wall.

  His face turned pale. "Conqueror’s Haki?!"

  Many of the guests, unable to withstand the pressure, were frozen in pce, while others—those weaker or more cowardly—lost control of their bodily functions in terror.

  Struggling to keep his composure, Cura?ao forced himself to speak. "S-sir! If we’ve offended you in any way, we apologize and are willing to compensate you."

  "Ah, the Donquixote Family is just as disgusting as ever," Noah sneered without mercy.

  "What?!" Cura?ao’s face darkened. He knew from Noah’s tone that this man was familiar with the Donquixote Family. Realizing he was outmatched, Cura?ao tried to py the family card. "I respect your strength, but this auction isn’t just backed by the Donquixote Family. There are World Nobles involved. I hope you’ll show us some respect."

  "World Nobles? You mean the Celestial Dragons?" Noah gave Kuro a gnce.

  Cura?ao’s heart skipped a beat.

  In an instant, Kuro’s Silent Killing Technique activated. He severed Cura?ao’s limbs in the blink of an eye. By the time the pain reached his brain, Cura?ao was already writhing on the ground, his body reduced to a stump.

  "Ahhh! The Young Master... won’t forgive you...!" Cura?ao screamed in agony.

  Meanwhile, the rest of the guests, horrified by what they had just witnessed, were in full panic mode. Many scrambled toward the exits, desperate to escape.

  But before they could get far, the exits were sealed shut by a wave of iron sand.

  Seeing their escape routes blocked, the guests fell into utter despair, their behavior turning desperate and pathetic.

  "You bastard! Do you know who my father is? Let me go!"

  "Please, I’ll give you all my money! Just spare me!"

  "Help! I want to go home!"

  "Die!"

  Spt! Kuro casually severed the hands of a gangster boss who had tried to pull a gun.

  The gory sight only heightened the terror among the nobles, merchants, and gang leaders.

  "So, you can feel fear and bleed after all. I thought you were less than human," Noah remarked with a chilling smile.

  One trembling nobleman, so terrified he had lost all dignity, crawled over to Noah, begging. "Sir! Please, spare me! I was tricked into coming here! I’m a good man!"

  Noah’s grin widened. "Galdino, why don’t you make a wax statue of our 'good man' here?"

  Galdino's hands produced a flood of wax, encasing the nobleman in a solid statue, leaving only his nose and mouth exposed to breathe.

  The nobleman barely had time to sigh in relief before he realized his body was heating up rapidly.

  Ten minutes ter, he was roasted alive inside the wax.

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