Fox, hailing from the East Sea, had recently slaughtered a thousand people, among whom were high-ranking nobles and even a king of a member nation.
Because of his crimes, Fox's initial bounty directly reached 180 million Berries, making him the strongest Supernova of this generation. Even Fire Fist Ace, who had only recently begun to rise in prominence, was far inferior to Fox.
Everyone stared at Fox in astonishment, immediately understanding why this guy was so powerful. After all, the bearded giant was a pirate with a bounty of 110 million Berries, yet he couldn't withstand a single move from Fox.
Could it be said that a great reputation is well-deserved?
Not far away, a large crocodile-shaped ship sailed slowly.
At the bow, Crocodile's hair was meticulously slicked back, the crimson ember of his cigar glowing and fading at his lips. His eyes, hidden in shadow, were firmly fixed on Ivan's retreating figure.
He pinched the cigar butt between his fingers, his low voice tinged with amusement. "Interesting. I didn't expect such an intriguing rookie among this generation of pirates."
Beside Crocodile, a slender, black-haired woman wearing sunglasses suddenly asked, "Mr.0, what do you think of Fox's strength? Could you defeat him?"
Crocodile turned at the sound, his brows furrowing as a flicker of displeasure crossed his eyes.
He sneered, his voice rising sharply with disdain. "Miss. Sunday, how little do you think of me? Don't forget, I once challenged Whitebeard himself. A brat like Fox isn't even worthy of being my opponent.
After all, I am Crocodile, the Desert King!"
Despite Crocodile's anger, Robin showed no fear, covering her mouth as she laughed and apologized. "My apologies, Mr.0."
While speaking with Crocodile, Robin kept her gaze fixed on Fox's back, unconsciously pondering the information she had about him.
Suddenly, she realized that Fox was currently being pursued with full force by the World Government, which had even dispatched several vice admirals to capture him.
Instead of evading capture, why had Fox suddenly appeared on the Gran Tesoro?
Wait!
Connecting Fox's previous actions with recent intelligence related to the Gran Tesoro…
Could it be that this guy…!
No, impossible.
How could he be so bold? How could he dare to assassinate a Celestial Dragon?!
Though she told herself it was impossible, a thought involuntarily surfaced from the depths of Robin's mind.
What if… what if this guy really intended to assassinate a Celestial Dragon?
What if he actually succeeded?
At this thought, Robin's delicate frame trembled uncontrollably, an irrepressible shudder taking root in her heart.
Elsewhere, ahead on the golden river, a tyrannosaurus-shaped pirate ship sailed toward the port of the Gran Tesoro.
The commotion behind naturally caught Hana-Fuda's attention, but unlike Robin, he didn't take Fox seriously in the slightest.
The so-called Fox, even as a Supernova, was nothing more than a sprouting sapling in his eyes.
If these saplings didn't obstruct him, he might accidentally crush them underfoot. But if they did, his sharp fangs would tear them to shreds.
Hana-Fuda simply hoped the Fox would be sensible and not disturb him from obtaining that Mythical Zoan.
Otherwise, the Fox could only become a dead fox.
Aside from the many pirates, the Marines also discovered the Fox's traces after some time.
They immediately assembled, intending to continuously monitor the Fox's location, waiting for him to leave Gran Tesoro before immediately executing an arrest to capture this lawless criminal and bring him to justice.
However, when they arrived at the scene, even Vice Admiral Kumil was unable to sense the Fox's exact position. In the end, they could only give up and once again strengthen their defensive forces.
...
While the Marines were still searching for Ivan, he was already sitting in a VIP box, watching the performance of the Golden Emperor Tesoro and the mysterious songstress Carina.
Perhaps, those surveillance Den Den Mushi with no blind spots and the dense Marine searches would be difficult for others to evade, but this did not include Ivan.
He merely used a simple Transformation Technique to avoid the Marines' search.
Sometimes, some basic skills from other worlds become bug-level existences in another world.
As for how Ivan reached the VIP box, he needed to thank a wealthy merchant's sponsorship.
Of course, Ivan did not freeload; he also directly gave that unscrupulous merchant a painless reincarnation package, sending him to hell.
Ivan stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the performance.
Carina and Tesoro's performance was world-class. Even though Ivan had no mind to appreciate it, he had to admit their singing voices were indeed quite good.
Soon, the performance ended. Amidst a dazzling golden glow, Tesoro slowly departed.
Not long after, the VIP box door was knocked. After receiving Ivan's consent, a scantily clad woman appeared before Ivan.
Although Ivan had never seen this woman before, he still knew her identity through her distinctive appearance.
She was none other than the Golden Emperor's trusted aide, the Luck-Luck Fruit ability user Baccarat.
Her fruit ability was extremely special—she could steal others' luck.
If she collected enough luck, she might even be able to replicate Liu Xiu's great feat, summoning meteors to strike her enemies.
Therefore, Ivan deliberately kept his distance from her, not allowing her to approach him or make physical contact.
"Mr. Jess, the auction will begin in one hour. Would you like to proceed to the auction?" Carina maintained an elegant smile, speaking respectfully.
Ivan adhered to the principle that more words lead to more mistakes, lightly nodding according to the wealthy merchant's originally taciturn personality: "Mm, I'll go now."
"Then please follow me. I will arrange a dedicated vehicle to take you to the Gold King Hotel. The auction will be held in the auction hall on the 107th floor of the hotel."
The transportation on Gran Tesoro was special, entirely made of gold, powered by rare Muscle Turtles, allowing the vehicles to reach speeds of up to 300 kilometers per hour.
Arriving at the Gold King Hotel in a luxury sports car, Ivan walked to his seat and quietly waited for the auction to begin.
During the wait, Ivan occasionally glanced around, spotting many familiar figures.
The Seven Warlords of the Sea Lizard King Hana-Fuda, Sand Crocodile Crocodile, Devil Child Robin, and even several Marine vice admirals, as well as his target for this trip, the Celestial Dragon Saint Roswald.
The closer it got to the auction's start time, the more Ivan's heartbeat involuntarily began to accelerate.
He had already planned everything out. If nothing unexpected happened, a major event that would shock the entire world was about to unfold!
Even if the assassination failed, he could still escape calmly.
As for why Ivan was so confident, aside from his increasingly formidable strength, it was largely due to something that had happened not long ago.
This incident directly boosted his certainty to ninety-nine percent!
Just after killing the bearded man, he had unexpectedly discovered that eliminating a Devil Fruit Ability User could also grant him new lottery draws.
And just moments ago, he had drawn a brand-new character template from the lottery!