After confirming that it was indeed a Charizard, Vane didn't bother hiding it anymore. He let Charizard make its debut at night, and the handsome flying-dragon silhouette instantly dazzled everyone present.
"This—this is a dragon, right?!"
"It—it breathed fire! It really breathed fire!"
With a single Flamethrower, Charizard ignited the bonfire, proving its "dragon" identity.
"That's way too cool, boss! Where did this dragon come from… Even though it's a lot smaller than I imagined, it's still insanely cool."
In every aspect, Charizard matched what people imagined a flying dragon to be—except for its size, which fell a bit short. In their minds, a flying dragon was supposed to be absolutely massive.
Only that kind of size could carry a world-destroying presence.
Still, no one really minded the size. This was a flying dragon, after all—a winged dragon that could fly and breathe fire.
"One more time, one more time!"
"Aim at this fish—see if you can cook it perfectly!"
"Fly around! This is awesome. Who's got a camera Den Den Mushi? I want a photo with Charizard!"
This Charizard had a very proud personality. Being fawned over by so many people made it thoroughly enjoy itself. After receiving praise, it eagerly satisfied everyone's requests, constantly showing off its abilities.
"Meow, isn't it getting a bit too proud, meow?"
"Let it enjoy itself for now. Later, have it fight Electabuzz one-on-one."
If a Pokémon got too proud, you just let another Pokémon defeat it. Electabuzz might not have been Charizard's opponent before—the outcome would've been uncertain—but now Charizard was the newcomer who had just arrived in this world.
Electabuzz had already absorbed the energy of an Electabuzz Stone, and the electrical power in its body was far stronger than when it first arrived.
"Leader, I hope you'll let Charizard train me specially."
Bonez went to Vane. His Tekkai had already reached a certain level, and now he was integrating Tekkai into his Devil Fruit ability.
Vane didn't know if it was just his imagination, but Bonez seemed a bit darker… This wasn't some desert kingdom like Alabasta.
"I want to endure the scorching of flames, to withstand the pressure of extreme environments. After lightning comes fire!"
"If you put it that way, I can also add some ice stimulation on my end."
"That's exactly what I want, Leader. Once I walk my own path, I'll make even swordmasters—no, even great swordmasters—unable to cut through my defense."
The lion-man Tant himself was already a hardcore grinder, and now Bonez had caught the same condition. As the Leader and boss, Vane had no choice but to start grinding along with them.
...
Over the next few days, the ship's outer hull was officially completed. The remaining work was all internal, and Vane handed it over completely to the shipwrights and Meowth. Before the ship officially set sail, he had no intention of even taking a look inside.
"Recently, there seem to be a lot more people on Bliss Island."
"It's like this every year around this time. The grand auction is probably about to start."
Baccarat explained the so-called grand auction and the good items that would appear there, making Vane very tempted.
"Sounds pretty great. Adding some more things to our crew wouldn't be bad."
"But we'll need to prepare a lot more funds."
They had struck it rich by looting Madam Lara's secret chamber earlier, and they'd also made quite a bit of money betting on Dice's Death Cage at underground casinos a few times. Because of that, Vane hadn't gone out of his way to hunt pirates recently. Now that he heard there were so many good things waiting to be bought, funds couldn't fall short.
As an outsider, he still had to be polite. The local gangs were very courteous, so he couldn't always go around stealing and robbing them.
Madam Lara: "...What did I ever do?"
That incident with Madam Lara was purely an "accident." She hid the Devil Fruit in her secret chamber—if she'd been willing to trade it openly, Vane would've most likely bought it with money anyway.
Madam Lara: You didn't even ask.
In short, Vane was a very "honest and kind" person who tried to follow the rules whenever possible.
It was just that the authority to define those rules was in his hands, making them extremely flexible.
This was also the time when pirates gathered in large numbers. Vane didn't even need to deliberately wait at casinos anymore—he could just look for prey directly on the streets.
Just target captains with bounties of thirty to forty million. Pull off a job that took both the man and the ship, and you could earn at least fifty to sixty million Belly.
...
On the final night of Sea Circle Calendar Year 1504, the long-prepared auction officially began. One day earlier, the auction house had already released partial information about the auction items.
Every single one was extremely tempting.
"A batch of high-grade firearms from the South Blue!"
"Look there, there's a Skillful Grade sword."
"Armament Haki training insights."
"And even Devil Fruits—this is only part of the auction items."
Gangs, pirates, and all kinds of underground forces began to appear, rubbing their hands together in anticipation.
Some people had gathered enough money, while others had very little and planned to rob the place afterward.
Just by looking at the advertised items in the booklet, Vane knew he had to make this trip.
Armament Haki training insights and Devil Fruits were both things he needed.
"Bonez and Tant and Martha will guard the ship at the dock. Meowth, Lena, and Baccarat are coming with me to the auction site."
Meowth's stomach could store things, Lena's Devil Fruit ability was extremely convenient, and bringing Baccarat was to see whether a Devil Fruit would suit her. If it did, she could eat it on the spot.
"We'll definitely guard the ship properly."
...
The streets of Bliss Island were far more crowded than usual. The team of three people and one cat moved forward slowly, and the closer they got to the auction house, the more congested it became.
Fortunately, the auction house had set up a sign in advance.
"To enter the auction house, you need at least five million Belly."
"Thirty million Belly gets you a relatively good seat."
"Those with funds exceeding one hundred million can have a private room."
With a threshold in place, there would be fewer people coming in just to cause trouble. In the auction house's eyes, anyone without money who still wanted to enter was there to stir up chaos.
"Funds… honored guests, this way please. Arrange a private room with a good view for these guests."
The staff responsible for verifying funds only took a brief look at the boxes Vane brought. There was no need to count them—one box was filled with paper Belly, while the other was heavy with gold, silver, and jewels.
This was unmistakably a big shot with over a hundred million in assets. A private room was immediately arranged for them.
"I thought it'd be bigger. Turns out it's just two sofas."
The private room really wasn't that large—about the size of a small-to-medium KTV room—and it came with complimentary alcohol and fruit baskets.
But the view was genuinely excellent. Comparing it to those crowded seats outside, their private room was actually quite nice. It just proved that without comparison, there was no sense of difference.
Those shared seating areas were also prone to chaos, especially with pirates who were used to acting arrogantly outside. Even a slight bit of friction could spark a conflict.
The forces of Bliss Island had prepared for this auction for a long time. There were many members maintaining order on site. If someone listened to advice and didn't cause trouble, that was fine—but anyone who refused to cooperate would be taught to listen with the firearms in their hands.
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