"Ten million."
Celestial Dragon Charlos raised his paddle, directly increasing the bid by ten times, his voice firm and resounding.
The auction hall immediately erupted into murmurs and discussions.
"Hmph."
Charlos snorted, but inwardly, he felt a sense of satisfaction.
Round numbers were just so satisfying.
Whether it was a million or ten million, it made no difference to him.
After all, his money came as easily as the wind.
"These commoners, making such a fuss over ten million."
Charlos muttered under his breath, but a hint of pleasure appeared on his face.
However, the auctioneer on stage didn't show any obvious surprise. Instead, he continued the auction with a smile.
"Ten million, going once... going twice... sold!"
"Congratulations to VIP No. 54 for successfully winning our first auction item, the hidden blade, for ten million berries."
This auctioneer was, after all, a seasoned professional at Auction House No. 1 in Loguetown. He was no stranger to the way Celestial Dragons bid. This was just routine.
"Next up is the second auction item... the renowned sword Fubuki, one of the 50 Skillful Grade swords."
"Starting bid is one million berries, with increments of no less than ten thousand berries."
This time, a gleaming long sword appeared on the stage.
"A Skillful Grade sword..."
Sig felt a bit regretful about missing out on the hidden blade, but his attention quickly shifted to the long sword on stage.
"One million and ten thousand."
Once again, he was the first to bid.
"Here we go again?" Umit thought for a moment, about to place a bid, but then he heard a voice.
"Ten million."
His brow furrowed slightly.
Even for a Celestial Dragon, this bidding style seemed a bit odd.
Sig's expression also darkened.
Being outbid twice in a row left him feeling a bit uncomfortable.
He tried to glance toward the booth where the bid had come from, but his view was blocked by the towering figure of Umit, who seemed to be standing in the way intentionally or unintentionally.
"Is this person a real tycoon? Or is Umit trying to buy back his own auction items?"
Sig thought back to the other day when Umit had deliberately paraded a bunch of treasures in front of him, and his suspicions grew.
"How shameless..."
Sig sighed inwardly and gave a subtle signal to the bald man beside him.
The bald man immediately understood and quietly raised his wrist, whispering a few words into a Den Den Mushi.
A few seconds later, a voice rang out from the back of the auction hall.
"Ten million and ten thousand."
The bid came from a man with gold-rimmed glasses, his demeanor gloomy and his attire refined. It was Kuro, disguised.
Along with him, Sig had several other "plants" scattered throughout the auction hall, originally intended to be used during the treasure map auction.
This kind of manipulation was actually standard practice at the Loguetown auction house.
This wasn't exactly a legitimate auction house, after all.
Before anyone could react, another urgent voice came from the VIP section.
"Fifty million!"
It seemed like a real big spender...
Sig's heart stirred, and he decided not to push further.
Although he wasn't happy about the situation, for him, the more big spenders there were, the better. It would drive up the price of the treasure map.
However... while Sig stopped bidding, others didn't.
The bidding process had caught the attention of many.
"Someone with that much money... could it be the Celestial Dragon who just arrived?"
"Was that guy with the gold-rimmed glasses, along with the person in the VIP booth, deliberately driving up the price to make the Celestial Dragon overpay?"
Many people secretly laughed. Those attracted to Loguetown by the treasure map were either wealthy individuals or pirates with their own agendas.
These pirates had no love for the Celestial Dragons, who saw themselves as gods.
While they wouldn't dare to openly confront them, they could vent their frustration by following Sig and Kuro's example and placing a few bids.
"The third auction item... starting bid is five million."
"Five million and ten thousand." Someone immediately tested the waters.
"Ten million!"
"...Ten million and fifty thousand?"
"Enough! One hundred million!"
"......"
After a few rounds of this, the auction proceeded unusually smoothly, with several items ending up in Charlos' hands.
But the auction house staff began to notice something was off. Someone ran over to Umit, the Shipping King, to ask how to handle the situation.
"You're saying someone's deliberately driving up the prices?"
Umit glanced at the list of items already bought by the Celestial Dragon, his eyes flickering with greed.
Among the items bought by the Celestial Dragon were many that he had brought himself!
In just a few minutes, he had made a fortune. This kind of profit was impossible to ignore...
"Deliberately driving up prices? Don't be ridiculous. This is completely normal bidding. Everyone, sit down and get back to work!"
.......
And so, this "completely normal" bidding continued a few more times...
By now, even Charlos had finally realized something was wrong.
Every time he bid, it felt like the entire auction house was against him, with numbers coming from all directions that he found intolerable.
"These commoners....."
With a thud!
Charlos stood up, his eyes practically spitting fire!
"You commoners, at least bid in round numbers!"
"Who was it just now?"
Charlos roared, looking around frantically at the booths where the bids had come from.
Then... his eyes met a familiar face.
This face had been etched into Charlos' memory since that night in the Kingdom of Goa.
He froze.
This direct gaze naturally caught Sig's attention, and he looked up.
Their eyes met in mid-air.
Both of their hearts skipped a beat.
"Why is Sig here?!"
"Isn't that the Celestial Dragon?!"
Sig's heart sank. The moment their eyes met, he saw Charlos' face rapidly turn beet red, his anger practically oozing from the fat on his face.
Then, he saw Charlos reach for his waist, where the handle of a gun was faintly visible.
"A Celestial Dragon? And it's the same one?"
Sig's heart sank like a stone.
The mention of Celestial Dragons always brought to mind the Marine Admirals...
Wait, no!
The Marine Admirals were a problem for later.
Sig's gaze shifted to the side of Charlos' booth.
There, a muscular man in a black suit stood silently.
Thump thump thump...
A dull heartbeat echoed faintly through the auction hall.
The once lively bidding atmosphere had now fallen into complete silence.
Almost everyone felt a heavy weight in their chest, holding their breath.