Shortly after the sound of the Emperor's Engine echoed through the air...
Clang!
The Celestial Dragon's pistol, which he had only halfway drawn, fell to the ground.
Charlos sat frozen in place, suddenly drenched in sweat.
Thump thump thump...
The strange sound wasn't particularly loud, but it instantly paralyzed him, rendering his entire body uncontrollable.
It was like an echo from a nightmare, instantly transporting him back to the fear he had felt when Sig had once intimidated him.
Charlos opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead, a strange gurgling sound escaped his throat.
His eyes lost their focus, his mouth hung open, and one hand clutched his chest as his legs gave out, causing him to collapse back into his seat.
"Charlos-sama?"
The black-suited man beside him paled and quickly moved to support Charlos.
As for Sig... he was also stunned.
Charlos had just stood up from his seat, only to clutch his chest, turn pale, and sit back down...
Why did this scene feel so eerily familiar?
Before Sig could figure it out, chaos erupted in the auction hall.
The commotion had been clearly visible to the VIPs in the front row!
Especially to the Shipping King, who had been closely watching Sig and Charlos!
"Did Sig finally make a move against a Celestial Dragon?"
The Shipping King, Umit, looked extremely grave and couldn't help but speak up.
His words finally snapped the other VIPs out of their shock.
"Sig is confronting a Celestial Dragon?"
"I heard he has an invisible move called the 'Infernal Twin Exploding Heat Wave Cannon' that can instantly kill an Admiral! Did Sig just secretly use it?"
"Is this the Pirate Mountain Bandit King with a 400 million berry bounty? We didn't even notice..."
"Wait, that's not quite right. There was that strange sound earlier..."
"No, no. I saw it clearly. They just looked at each other. That's all."
Amidst the murmurs, the black-suited man helped Charlos sit back down, then turned to face Sig with a cold expression, taking a step forward...
Only to stop abruptly.
Charlos, still seated, clutched his chest with one hand while his other hand, with surprising strength, grabbed the black-suited man standing in front of him.
"Don't go! Don't make a move!"
Charlos was recalling the terror he had felt back then.
Once, a CP0 agent had tried to block Sig's attack, and then... there was no "then."
"But..." The black-suited man hesitated.
"No buts!"
Charlos shouted at the black-suited man.
As he scolded the man, he shrunk back, trying to hide his massive, corpulent body behind the small partition, trembling slightly.
By now, the auction house staff had rushed over. Several people knelt before Charlos, sweating profusely.
"Charlos-sama, are you feeling unwell?"
As they spoke, they cautiously glanced at Sig in the neighboring booth.
They couldn't afford to offend a Celestial Dragon.
But Sig, who had dared to confront a Celestial Dragon in front of everyone, was also someone they couldn't afford to provoke.
"Feeling unwell?"
Hearing their question, Charlos's previously vacant eyes regained focus.
Unnoticed by him, the nightmarish sound of the Emperor's Engine had already faded.
Charlos recalled what had just happened and scanned the chaotic auction hall...
Had he, Charlos, been frightened by Sig again?
This time, Sig hadn't even used his so-called "Infernal Twin Exploding Heat Wave Cannon"...
Would this also be recorded by the World Government as important information related to Sig?
Thinking this, Charlos, still hiding behind the partition, slowly turned his head to glance in the direction of Sig's booth.
After sitting back down, his view was blocked by the partition, and the sound of the Emperor's Engine had disappeared.
The palpitations he had felt earlier also subsided.
After some thought, Charlos finally spoke:
"N-no... I just stood up too quickly and felt a bit dizzy, that's all."
"Continue the auction."
His words left the auction house staff exchanging bewildered glances.
That's it?
The usually unrestrained Celestial Dragon was pretending not to see Sig?
In the VIP seats, the Shipping King Umit and others simultaneously glanced at the smiling face emblem on the wall behind the auction stage.
It was the symbol of the Donquixote Family.
They had thought that Sig confronting a Celestial Dragon would be like lighting a match to dry tinder.
But now, it seemed both sides had shown restraint, at least on the surface.
Sig remained seated in his booth, not making any overt moves.
The Celestial Dragon had stopped his subordinate from retaliating and was pretending not to see Sig.
"Although it's not quite what I expected..."
Umit deeply glanced at Sig:
"Aside from JOKER, there's now another person who can make a Celestial Dragon wary."
Thinking this, Umit issued a few orders, instructing the auction house staff to restore order.
After some time, the chaos subsided, and the auction returned to normal.
The elegant woman on the auction stage opened a small box, revealing a banana with strange patterns, immediately capturing everyone's attention.
"This is the Calm-Calm Fruit. After eating this Devil Fruit, the user can create a soundproof barrier, isolating all sounds inside and out..."
"Starting bid, 100 million berries!"
The auctioneer's description of the Calm-Calm Fruit left the pirates somewhat uninterested.
This fruit didn't directly enhance combat power, and its specific uses still needed to be explored.
However, a few of the underworld bosses in the VIP seats seemed intrigued.
"100 million and 10,000 berries."
The first to bid was still Sig.
Although Sig didn't fully understand the Celestial Dragon's reaction, the Calm-Calm Fruit had already caught his attention.
As for the money... as long as he sold the treasure map, it should be enough, right?
When Sig called out this number, the VIPs were once again stunned.
Again?
The Celestial Dragon was pretending nothing happened, and now Sig was pulling this move?
Was he deliberately trying to provoke the Celestial Dragon?
Many people, who had just relaxed, tensed up again. Their eyes subtly flicked toward Charlos in his seat.
Upon hearing Sig's bid, Charlos's entire body trembled, his face contorted in a deep frown.
Beside him, the black-suited man leaned down and whispered something into the Celestial Dragon's ear, making Charlos's expression even uglier.
His lips twitched a few times, but in the end, he didn't open his mouth to bid.
However, just because the Celestial Dragon didn't bid didn't mean others would remain silent.
"110 million berries!"
"130 million berries!"
In the face of a Devil Fruit, the first proper bidding war of the auction seemed to have begun.