Everyone present converged their gazes onto the auction stage.
The distinguished guests capable of attending the auction were naturally either wealthy or noble, but for many of them, it was likely the first time they were watching a Devil Fruit user demonstrate their ability from such close proximity.
Stavis handed the small wooden gavel used for hosting the auction over to the blue-haired slave girl. After receiving it, she hesitated for a moment and peered timidly at the auctioneer wearing gold-rimmed glasses. That reaction, resembling a frightened small animal, was genuinely adorable, giving off an impression of being incredibly easy to push around.
"Alright, it seems our little beauty is still a bit shy."
Stavis turned his body around, smiling as he cast his eyes toward the metal collar fastened around the blue-haired girl's slender, swan-like neck, and lowered his voice to say, "Hurry up and use your ability on this gavel, unless you want that thing around your neck to blow up!"
The girl shuddered all over upon hearing this, nearly dropping the small wooden gavel onto the floor. Terrified, she hurriedly gripped it tightly and quietly closed her eyes.
Shhh— A faint white light flashed across and vanished, and the small wooden gavel in the girl's hand vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye.
"Hmm?" Sherlock's expression shifted slightly. At the exact fraction of a second the slave girl made the small wooden gavel "disappear," the peculiar sensation he felt from her body suddenly intensified drastically.
"What's going on? Is she performing a magic trick???" xN
The onlookers below who were unaware of the truth were utterly bewildered. The situation had unfolded far too suddenly, to the extent that they simply failed to register it.
"Very good, very good. Come, continue."
Stavis nodded with satisfaction. Then, he snapped his fingers, and several staff members immediately stepped out from the backstage hauling a massive pile of various commodities. Under Stavis's indication, the slave girl's pale, delicate hands lightly touched the upper surfaces of these items one after another.
Chairs, cannons, rings, stones, gold... every single item touched by her transformed into a beam of white light and vanished into thin air.
"That's enough, take the things back out," Stavis commanded.
Hearing the order, the girl raised her fair hand, and another beam of white light flashed across the auction stage. The items that had previously vanished into thin air reappeared, piling up into a small mountain on the stage.
"An interesting ability..."
"Is this a magic trick?"
"How miraculous. Devil Fruits truly live up to their reputation as treasures of the sea!"
After watching the "magic performance" on the auction stage, the bidders below engaged in animated discussions. They weren't fools, so they naturally understood by now that this slave girl's fruit ability was related to storing things.
"Ahem, just as everyone witnessed a moment ago, the fruit she ate is a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit—the Bag-Bag Fruit."
Stavis picked up his small wooden gavel and tapped it gently a few times, signaling for the distinguished guests below the stage to quiet down first.
"As a Bag-Bag Fruit user, her entire being is essentially equivalent to a backpack with an incredibly massive storage space. Any non-living object touched by her can be stored inside the 'Bag Space' within her body. It must be said that this fruit ability is truly too convenient."
The distinguished guests all nodded in deep agreement. Although this fruit ability didn't seem to possess any combat function, it was indeed highly practical in daily life.
At the very least, when going on a trip, one wouldn't have to carry a mountain of luggage in large bags and small cases anymore, and placing valuable items inside meant one wouldn't have to worry about them being stolen by thieves.
(If my wife ate this fruit, would she stop pestering me to buy her designer bags in the future?) Several male nobles thought to themselves in unison.
"The storage capacity of the Bag Space is tied to physical stamina. I am not certain of the exact limit, but based on the experiments our auction house conducted previously, it absolutely will not be less than the carrying capacity of a medium-sized cargo ship!" The auctioneer Stavis tossed out this bombshell once again.
Uproar— The entire auction venue erupted into a clamor!
Everyone present stared at this slave girl with eyes gleaming brightly. In their eyes, this slave was no longer merely a pleasing, extremely rare capability-user slave, but a humanoid mobile transport vessel with an ultra-large carrying capacity!
Just imagine, if one utilized her fruit ability to load contraband goods, or used it for smuggling...
Thinking of the immense profits brought about by those smuggling trades, everyone's breathing turned heavy and ragged.
(This slave must be bid for at all costs!)
Everyone swore silently in their hearts, casting ill-intentioned glances at the other bidders around them. The air was thick with the scent of gunpowder, and the fervent atmosphere inside the venue instantly reached the absolute peak of this auction!
(Interesting. This Bag Space sounds somewhat similar to my Mirror Space.) Sherlock lightly pushed up his glasses, his eyes narrowing slightly.
The Bag Space was quite a bit larger than his current Mirror Space, but the "Sherlock" inside the mirror had once mentioned that the Mirror Space was actually the intersection between the real world and the Mirror World, so logically speaking, there was still plenty of room for growth.
(Moreover, what I care about more is why that unnamable, peculiar sensation intensifies every time she opens the backpack. Could there be something inside her backpack that can attract me?)
Sherlock vaguely recalled experiencing a similar strange sensation from something else before. However, ever since he mirrored a Devil Fruit, a certain gentleman's memory seemed to have deteriorated slightly, so for a moment, he couldn't grasp a single clue.
Sherlock was not a person who liked to pry into the bottom of a matter, but the premise was that the matter hadn't piqued his curiosity.
And this beautiful, moving slave girl on the stage had successfully aroused the interest of the Sorcerer!
"Presumably, everyone present already understands the value she embodies, so I shall not delay any further time."
The auctioneer Stavis rapped his small wooden gavel once more, signaling for the crowd to quiet down first. After pondering for a moment, he said in a heavy voice, "I hereby announce that the final auction item of this auction, the beautiful slave who consumed the Bag-Bag Fruit, has a starting price of 200 million Berries! Each subsequent bid increment must not be less than 10 million Berries!"
The moment this astronomical starting price was announced, those bidders below whose capital wasn't considered robust let out long, helpless sighs. They knew the final starting price would definitely be exceptionally high, but they hadn't expected it to be so insanely exorbitant!
"210 million!"
"220 million!"
"250 million!"
However, the genuinely wealthy nobles and rich merchants had already begun scrambling to raise the price. Having clearly understood the hidden value of this slave, these tycoons displayed not a shred of hesitation when raising their bids.
The slave girl's price began to skyrocket at rocket-like speed, but looking at her pitiful appearance on the stage, this tragic slave likely felt not a single shred of joy regarding this.
"Sigh, what a pity. I spent too many Berries during the previous slave auctions."
Jean rubbed his small mustache with a bit of vexation. He turned his head to look at Sherlock, intending to invite a certain gentleman with glasses out for a cup of tea in a bit to chat, pass the time, and discuss some business matters on the side.
"Sherlock, are you interested in going to my jewelry shop in a bit..."
Jean's words stopped halfway through. To his utter astonishment, he discovered that this man with glasses, who had repeatedly claimed he had no intention of bidding on a slave, had actually raised his paddle with complete composure.
Furthermore, the price displayed on his paddle was even more jaw-dropping.
"One... 1 billion Berries! The gentleman with glasses has bid 1 billion Berries!"
Stavis gasped aloud. Even with a character as steady as his, his voice was trembling slightly out of pure shock at this moment.
This chief auctioneer of the Carlo Auction House had hosted so many slave auctions, yet it was his very first time encountering a bid that reached 1 billion Berries! Moreover, looking at the understated, casual demeanor of this young man wearing glasses, it seemed as though this small sum of money was absolutely nothing to him.
Rich and willful.
That phrase perfectly described this guy, didn't it?
(Just what kind of sacred entity is this fellow?)
Everyone was secretly guessing the origin of this man with glasses in their hearts. It was a pity that the dim lighting below the stage prevented them from seeing Sherlock's features clearly; they could only see a blurry silhouette and a pair of glasses reflecting the white light.
The entire auction venue was deathly silent. Perhaps sensing the shift in the atmosphere below the stage, the slave girl cautiously lifted her head and gazed in Sherlock's direction, happening to lock eyes with the deep black eyes beneath his lenses.
The two of them locked gazes for a fleeting moment.
(Unlike those terrifying people, he doesn't look like a bad person.)
The blue-haired girl lowered her head deeply. Somehow, her heart, which had been terrified and helpless to the absolute extreme, felt as though it had been cast under a spell at this moment, calming down significantly...
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