As for her thoughts and feelings, Vladimir couldn't have cared less.
"Excellent. All those who chose resistance have been dealt with. The Sea Dragon will retrieve the blueprint shortly."
He shifted his gaze toward the survivors and spoke clearly.
"And now… the second auction begins!"
...
"All those who chose resistance have vanished. Now, we proceed with the second auction!"
Vladimir looked down upon the survivors, his tone calm and unwavering.
Truth be told, those who remained were the ones he had deliberately spared.
The Whitebeard Pirates were fortunate; they had never been targeted, so the vast majority of their crew remained safe and sound.
Aside from them, there were scattered groups of pirates, numbering in the hundreds or thousands.
As for the Marines, Kizaru had been standing right beside Doflamingo, so they too escaped the attack.
However, Commander-in-Chief Kong wasn't so lucky — he had been crushed straight into the seabed.
Now that things had come to this, everyone was on their best behavior. No one dared to even think about provoking him again.
"How… how will the auction proceed?" someone asked cautiously.
"Fixed pricing. Starting bid: sixty-one fruits," Vladimir stated. "Each subsequent bid must increase by no less than five fruits."
Silence swept across the scene.
Among the survivors still present, who actually possessed that kind of wealth?
The vast majority of their treasures had sunk to the bottom of the ocean along with the island fragments during that devastating blow.
Seeing this, Whitebeard spoke out loudly.
"Vladimir… sell it to me. And I will destroy it."
"Oh?" Vladimir raised an eyebrow. "Go on — explain yourself."
Whitebeard shook his head solemnly.
"Because of this blueprint, countless ambitious men were drawn here. And those same ambitious men were crushed beneath your hand and sent to the sea floor. The world will be a much more peaceful place in the future. But if this blueprint were to circulate again and fall into the wrong hands… chaos would surely return."
"What you choose to do with it after buying it is none of my concern," Vladimir replied indifferently. "Make your offer."
"Gurararara… Vladimir, you are truly a hero. Aside from Roger, you are the only man I respect in this world."
Whitebeard chuckled heartily.
"I cannot gather that many fruits all at once. However… if you are willing to trust me, Edward Newgate… I will give you forty fruits now, and prepare another fifty later. I will pay the full price of ninety fruits to purchase this blueprint from you!"
It was a sincere and reasonable offer. Vladimir thought for a moment, then smiled.
"Whitebeard… of course I trust you. You are one of the few true legends sailing these seas. I accept your proposal."
Whitebeard immediately handed over forty fruits. Combined with the twelve fruits Vladimir currently held, that made fifty-two in total.
Furthermore, hundreds of fruits had sunk beneath the waves. They could be retrieved slowly over time.
From this single auction, Vladimir would walk away with at least two or three hundred fruits. And if the recovery efforts went well, that number could very well double.
It was a massive haul.
In fact, what he gained today exceeded everything he had collected over the entire past year combined.
"I won't need to worry about fruits for a good while… no need to actively collect them for the time being."
With that thought, Vladimir smiled and spoke aloud.
"Whitebeard… our time in the spotlight is coming to an end. We may not meet again for a very long time after this. Until then, have the remaining fifty fruits ready."
He intended for Phantom to withdraw from public view and lay low for a period of time.
"What do you mean by that?" Whitebeard asked, puzzled.
Vladimir offered no explanation. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the open sea below.
Suddenly, the Sea Dragon burst out from the depths, tossing a tattered, water-soaked blueprint straight toward Whitebeard.
"This was found lying on the seabed," the Sea Dragon spoke in a deep voice. "Since you plan to destroy it anyway, take it."
The blueprint was soaked, torn in many places, and the text and diagrams printed upon it were blurred and illegible.
Whitebeard glanced at it, then shook his head.
"Perhaps… this is the best possible outcome. Thatch!"
"Here!"
The commander of the 4th division stepped forward and hurled a large heavy bundle toward Vladimir.
"These are all the fruits we possess. Every last one of them is yours."
Vladimir caught it casually, quickly checked the contents, and nodded.
"Then… our transaction is complete. Whitebeard… until we meet again."
He then looked toward the Sea Dragon.
"Send the Sea Beast Legion to salvage the fruits from the seabed. With Nini's Treasure-Hunting Rat around, there should be no issues finding them all."
"Understood. I shall make the arrangements."
The Sea Dragon nodded, then glanced toward the Empress with his draconic eyes. With a powerful flick of his tail, he dove back into the ocean depths.
Vladimir also turned around and faced the Empress.
"You once asked what our true goal is… what Phantom is planning. This… is your answer, little girl," he said calmly, his expression unreadable.
"My connection with the Sea Dragon is special, but we are not the same person."
"Your curiosity has been satisfied. Now… go back to where you came from."
Without waiting for a reply, he turned away.
With a single step forward, the fabric of reality tore open. A rift leading into the Shadow World slowly expanded, gaping wide like the open maw of a monster.
"Lord Vladimir!"
Doflamingo quickly hurried after him, vanishing into the shadows alongside his master.
The Empress remained standing there alone, stunned into silence for a long time.
"We… really aren't the same person?"
She whispered softly to herself, her heart filled with conflicting emotions, beginning to doubt her own intuition.
She opened her mouth, wanting to ask more questions, but the rift leading to the Shadow World had already sealed shut.
At the same time…
District 69.
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