"I said you're trash, and that's exactly what you are!!"
Shiki's scornful snort echoed throughout the auction hall from the second-floor window.
The angry shouts that had once seemed capable of lifting the roof had now fallen into complete silence.
Miranovich, who had been leaning halfway out the window, swayed unsteadily.
His vision blurred, and all he could hear was the echo of Shiki's words ringing in his ears.
Shockingly, a trickle of bright red blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Thud!
Finally, he lost consciousness completely and tumbled headfirst out of the window, landing sprawled among the crowd.
Gulp.
The pirate De Gaulle, with a bounty of 870 million, abruptly stood up, beads of sweat the size of peas trickling down his forehead.
He stared fixedly at Shiki's face, his right hand trembling as he pulled out some newly printed bounty posters from his chest.
As he flipped through them, he came across a somewhat familiar face.
'Golden Lion Shiki, bounty 4,800,000,000 Berries.'
De Gaulle rubbed his eyes vigorously, counting the zeros over and over again.
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands..."
"What?? Eight zeros, I'm not mistaken! It's 4.8 billion!!!"
This notorious pirate of the New World, who had slaughtered multiple towns, now felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss, his entire body chilled to the bone.
"Shi... Shiki, could it be... could it be the legendary one..."
De Gaulle's throat tightened.
Supporting himself on the back of the chair behind him, he began to slowly retreat.
"Shiki, you bastard, look what you've done."
Suddenly, beside the tall blond man, an even more massive and terrifying figure, like a demon god from hell, slowly appeared at the window.
"The people here are all nobles and important figures from around the world. Borororo, what if they report us to the World Government? The Admirals are truly terrifying."
Whoosh—the stack of bounty posters in De Gaulle's hand scattered across the floor.
The top one clearly depicted a man standing on an icy plain, arrogantly gazing at the sky, like a majestic deity with two horns!
De Gaulle's retreating steps froze, and an even more terrified expression crept onto his face.
He didn't even need to look to know who this mountain-like man before him was.
Because he had been fortunate enough to attend the Pirates' Assembly in Tottoland.
Thud!
"De Gaulle, member of the Pirates' Council, pa... pays his respects!"
His knees weakened, and he fell to the ground with a thud, kneeling as he spoke in a trembling voice.
That's right!
That figure, both demonic and divine, was none other than...
"Barbarossa Caesar, I've been wanting to meet you for a long time."
The curtain on the auction house's high platform was pushed aside.
A man with a robust build, bare-chested and revealing rock-like muscles, strode forward firmly, holding an elderly man wrapped in chains.
Caesar and Shiki had long since detected Bullett and Tesoro backstage, as well as Ganzui.
Caesar raised an eyebrow, examining Bullett with interest.
But soon, his gaze shifted to Ganzui in Bullett's hand, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"BORORORO, Ganzui, you old fool, you're here? We thought you'd been captured by the Marines! Have you had enough sleep?"
"What an ugly reunion, Jihahahaha, Ganzui you look ridiculous!" Shiki threw his head back and laughed.
In Bullett's hand, the elderly man bound in layers of chains lifted his head, revealing a weathered face.
Who else could it be but Ganzui?
At this moment, Ganzui looked somewhat dejected.
And it was no wonder he felt this way.
When he first entered the New World, he had shown a glimpse of his power, repelling Momousagi and Ryokugyu.
But then he encountered Fujitora, who ground him into the dirt, nearly killing him on the spot.
Later, Caesar used his essence blood to restore much of his vitality, and his strength surged, returning to his peak state from decades ago.
Initially, he had intended to test his skills against the pirates of the New World, but as luck would have it, he encountered the formidable Bullett.
Ganzui, a great swordsman from the old era, possessed exceptionally powerful offensive capabilities.
However, Bullett's strength was equally outstanding!
Moreover, his defensive abilities were extremely high, further enhanced by the powerful Combine-Combine Fruit ability.
In the end, after a fierce battle that lasted half a day, Ganzui's stamina declined, and his Haki was depleted, ultimately leading to his defeat and capture by Bullett!
Looking purely at his combat record, Ganzui, the great swordsman who had ascended to the status of a god-tier member of the Beast God Pirates, had suffered nothing but defeats since his debut...
No wonder he wore an utterly dejected expression, looking as if he had nothing left to live for.
But when Ganzui saw Shiki beside Caesar, he instantly seemed to get a surge of adrenaline, his eyes widening as he let out a furious roar:
"SHIKIIIII!!! You bastard! You actually tricked me out of my Sword back then, promising to practice two-sword style! That Supreme Great Blade I spent decades tempering with my Haki—you fucker just took it! Do you have any idea how I've lived these past few decades? Do you?!"
Shiki rubbed his hands together and chuckled dryly.
"Look how worked up you are—what's the big deal? It's just a sword! What's our relationship? Here, look behind you—I bought you a Great Blade, Shura! This Shura was the sword of a great swordsman from two hundred years ago; it's definitely better than your previous sword."
"Go to hell!"
Ganzui was so angry his mouth twisted.
Back then, he had painstakingly tempered the sword with his Haki, hoping to refine it into a black blade and elevate the sword to a Supreme Great Fast Blade.
But what he never expected was that Shiki, that scoundrel, had long been eyeing his sword.
After Rocks' defeat, while everyone was busy going their separate ways, Shiki used the excuse of practicing swordsmanship, took the sword, and flew up to an altitude of ten thousand meters, leaving a dumbfounded Ganzui alone in the wind, utterly bewildered.
A great swordsman without his dedicated weapon had since been reduced to a second-rate expert in the New World, chased around by Marine Admirals.
Truly a tale of bitter tears.
Crack, crack.
On the high platform, the sound of knuckles cracking echoed.
It was Bullett clenching his fists.
When he saw Caesar casually chatting with his captive as if no one else was around, Bullett's anger surged uncontrollably.
"Barbarossa Caesar!!"
Bullett roared again, his immense voice transforming into rolling sound waves that reverberated through the empty venue, like a massive air cannon emitting dull explosive sounds.
De Gaulle swallowed hard with difficulty, glancing at Caesar and Shiki, then at Bullett on the high platform, instantly feeling that he, a great pirate with a bounty of over 800 million, had been reduced to a newborn baby here!
Bullett's arm muscles bulged as he lifted Ganzui and hurled him straight at Caesar on the second floor!
BOOM!!
The air in front of him instantly rippled with a white shockwave, layers of air compressing and emitting deafening sonic booms!
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