Cudius wasn't the only one whnized Rayleigh. If the legendary swordsman hadn't spoken up, sitting quietly i row, it was likely no one would have noticed him at all. But as soon as Rayleigh pced his bid against a Celestial Dragoracted the attention of everyone present.

  Rayleigh wasn't just some random nobody; he was the vice-captain of the Roger Pirates.

  Years ago, his name might not have been as widely known, but after the Battle of the Valley of the Gods, the Roger Pirates though defeated by the Wover had bee a major force, gaining a spot on the gover's bcklist.

  I years, the Roger Pirates had been stantly pursued by Marine Hero Garp and had cshed frequently with other powerful pirate crews, such as Whitebeard and Golden Lion. Their infamy had grown, and Rayleigh, once just a skilled swordsman, was now widely known as "Silver Rayleigh."

  At this point in time, he hadn't yet earhe epithet "Dark King", but his reputation as a formidable pirate was well established. His bounty was set at 1.2 billion Berries, a testament to his notoriety.

  To put things in perspective, the bounties of promi figures like Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and the future Emperors like Big Mom and Kaido hadn't yet skyrocketed to the four-billion mark. Whitebeard's bounty, for instance, was around 2 billion Berries, bolstered by his participation itle of the Valley of the Gods. The others, like Kaido, were h around the one-billie. So Rayleigh's bounty, during this period, was sidered extremely high full of prestige.

  "Isn't that the deputy captain of the Roger Pirates?"

  "It's Silver Rayleigh!"

  "No wonder he dared to bid against a Celestial Dragon!"

  "Should we inform the Marines? Marineford isn't far from here…"

  While Cudius was still processing his surprise, he noticed more details about the group surrounding Rayleigh.

  Sittio Rayleigh was a man with an unremarkable appeara an overwhelmingly anding presence. Just from the way he sat there, one could feel the aura of authority and dominance radiating off him.

  He was casually holding a half-empty bottle of cheap booze, dressed in a standard pirate captain's coat and hat, looking a bit drunk. Despite his rough appearahe iy in his gaze and the weight of his presence were unmistakable.

  There was no doubt about it—this man was her than Gol D. Roger, the future Pirate King who would one day trigger the Great Pirate Era!

  "Didn't they say to keep a low profile and avoid causing trouble? We're almost done coating the ship. We're too close to Marineford. I really don't want to run into that troublesome guy, Garp," Roger muttered helplessly, clearly frustrated by Rayleigh's antics.

  Rayleigh, however, wasn't the least bit ed by Roger's pints. He merely ughed and replied, "But that bde is truly a masterpiece. You know how I make a living, right? How could I pass up a bde like that?"

  R the unassumiern sword hanging from Rayleigh's waist and sighed. "I get it. You're always on the lookout for quality swords…"

  "Exactly. I'm a swordsman after all. When I see a bde of this caliber, it's only natural I want to buy it, right?" Rayleigh responded with a grin.

  Befer could tinue arguing, a burly man with sungsses and a ponytail interjected with a pyful smirk, "Captain Roger, Rayleigh's already drawn attention. You're just wasting your breath trying to talk seo him. We should here and leave as soon as possible. Who knows, someone might have already alerted the Marines by now."

  Roger scratched his head in irritation. "Damn it, Gaban, you just love egging him on, don't you? If Garp does show up, we'll leave you behind. We'll be waiting for you at Fish-Man Isnd!"

  "Hahahaha, I've got no problem with that. But I think Garp wouldn't bother with me he'd be more ied in chasing after you, Captain," Gaban ughed heartily.

  Watg this se, Cudius was astounded. It wasn't just Rayleigh Roger himself was here, as well as the elusive Scaban. They were practically parading around Sabaody Archipego!

  "Who would have thought that the Roger Pirates were hiding out here on Sabaody? If Garp found out, I bet he'd drag Dragon along just to raise hell in the New World…" Cudius thought, a grin f on his lips.

  While Cudius was absorbed ihoughts, the Celestial Dragoed in front of him seemed to take offe the way Rayleigh and his panions ignored his status.

  Fortunately, he dide the situation. Instead, he called out again, raising the bid to 600 million Berries.

  Cudius couldn't help but shake his head in exasperation. The behavior of these lower-level Celestial Dragons always embarrassed him. Instead of participating in a proper au, where financial power determihe wihey resorted to funting their status and attempting to intimidate others. It athetic.

  And sidering who Rayleigh and his group were, these tactics would have no effect. They wouldn't back down just because a Celestial Dragon tried to throw his weight around. If anything, it just made the Celestial Dragon look even more foolish.

  Sure enough, Rayleigh casually raised the bid by another 50 million Berries, pletely uurbed.

  "Just as I thought, the Roger Pirates arely swimming ih," Cudius mused. The Roger Pirates, after all, were notorious for not engaging in traditional trade or business ventures. Any funds they had likely came from looting and pilging. No way they could casually toss out hundreds of millions of Berries without blinking.

  Most of their money probably came from plundering other pirates or wealthy mert caravans. If Cudius remembered correctly, there were even rumors of the Roger Pirates toppliire nations.

  "Seven hundred million!" The Celestial Dragon in front of Cudius shouted furiously, gring in Rayleigh's dire. "Who do you think you are, daring to pete with me, Saint Rothschild ? Do you know who I am?"

  Cudius sighed inwardly. This recisely why he hated revealing his status as a Celestial Dragon outside Mariejois it was just embarrassing.

  The Rothschild family erfect example of this. No sense of true nobility, no uanding of propriety. They behaved like spoiled brats, trying to bully people with their status in a pce where money spoke louder than titles.

  And Rayleigh? He'd rather snap his sword thao the will of a Celestial Dragon.

  Knowing he had to step in to maintain some sembnce of dignity for his kind, Cudius g Nia and nodded.

  Uanding immediately, Nia ignored Rothschild's angry outburst and calmly raised the paddle. "800 million Berries."

  The room fell into stunned silence.

  Everyone had already been on the edge of their seats, watg a fierce bidding war between a Celestial Dragon and the Roger Pirates. But now, another heavyweight had jumped into the fray?

  Who was this audacious bidder who dared to raise the stakes without hesitation? Who would igh the Celestial Dragons and the Roger Pirates and fidently pce such a high bid?

  The attention of the entire au hall shifted to Cudius and his group. Even Roger and Rayleigh looked over curiously, w who had ehe fray.

  Saint Rothschild, caught pletely off guard, turned around with a furious gre. "Who the hell are you?! How dare you..."

  But before he could finish, Cudius raised his hand and casually flicked his fingers. A small, invisible surge of nitrogen gas struck Rothschild squarely across the face, produg a crisp sp sound. Though it didn't cause any visible harm, it left Rothschild stunned.

  Not just Rothschild—everyone in the room was left speechless.

  The Roger Pirates had at least pyed by the rules of the au house. But who was this man who dared strike a Celestial Dragon, and in the fao less?

  "Rothschild, my dear cousin, I don't need you telling me what to do," Cudius said calmly from his seat, not even b to stand. His voice carried an uone of disdain, as if Rothschild were no more than an insignifit pest.

  Rothschild, finally realizing who it was that had hit him, grew even more insed. "Cudius! You bastard! You dare strike me? Even my own father has never id a hand on me!"

  "Well, sider it a favor. I'm edug you on behalf of your father. This is an au, not some social gathering where you throw your weight arouher pce your bid or shut up and go home."

  Cudius's words were sharp and unyielding, his tone brooking nument.

  The Donquixote family, to which Cudius belonged, was notorious even among the Celestial Dragons for their etrid uable nature. Not long ago, a member of the Donquixote family had even desded to the "lower world" to live among oners. If Cudius kept this up, it wouldn't be surprising for him to develop an even wilder reputation within Mariejois.

  Cudius' temper was well-known among the Celestial Dragons, and spping around fellow Celestial Dragons was nothing new for him. As long as he didn't cause any perma injuries or deaths, no one would bother to step in. Disputes among the Celestial Dragons often pyed out this etty rivalries esg into physical altercations that were ter resolved or swept uhe rug.

  The most critical factor here was the family background. And in this regard, the Donquixote family was far more iial thahschild family. Among the eeial Dragon families, the Donquixotes were iop tier, while the Rothschilds nguished itom ranks.

  Rothschild khis well. He wasn't so foolish as to escate a flict he couldn't win. Trembling with rage, he jabbed his fi Cudius several times before finally huffing in frustration. Without another word, he turned around, gathered his ente, and stormed out of the au house, utterly humiliated.

  The other onlookers finally put two and two together. No wohe man had dared to bid against both the Roger Pirates and another Celestial Dragon. He was one of them an even higher status Celestial Dragon.

  The realizatioled in, and the room's atmosphere shifted. People began murmuring amongst themselves, some with admiration and others with relief that they hadn't gotten involved.

  "Who would've thought… He's a Celestial Dragon too."

  "And not just aial Dragon… He's got a bigger presehan Rothschild."

  "Did you see that? He didn't even flinch when he spped Rothschild! I didn't know there were such gutsy Celestial Dragons…"

  Meanwhile, another Celestial Dragon who had been sitting beside Rothschild gnced uneasily at Cudius before turning to look at the exit. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to follow Rothschild out of the au hall.

  Although he didn't have much of a retionship with Cudius, he was somewhat friendly with Rothschild. Sittio him, peting for sves, and ing to the au together wasn't a ce. Besides, they'd already won the bid for the giant sve earlier. Staying now would just add more awkwardo the situation.

  After all, he didn't want to provoke the notorious oddballs of the Donquixote family and risk getting spped in front of everyohere was no honor in that.

  With the two of them gone, Cudius rexed, his mood much improved. He gnced over at the Roger Pirates, then gave Rayleigh an apologetic smile, as if to say, Sorry for the trouble caused by that idiot earlier.

  This caught both Rayleigh and Roger off guard.

  "Well, well… Who would've thought there'd be a Celestial Dragon like him? Quite the amusing fellow," Roger said with a chuckle, finding the euation more eaining than anything else.

  Rayleigh looked back at Cudius, an unreadable expression on his face. Then, with a small sigh, he slumped ba his seat and pced his hand on his , appearing ptive.

  "What's wrong? You're not going to tinue bidding?" Roger asked, fused. "You liked the sword, didn't you?"

  Rayleigh g Roger and smiled wryly. "That guy named Cudius did us a favor by shutting down that troublesome Rothschild. If I keep bidding, it'd make me look petty. I'm not shameless enough to ighat. Let's just leave it at that."