"500 million and 1 Berries!"
When this voice suddenly rang out, everyone in the hall was stunned.
Everyone unconsciously opened their mouths in astonishment.
The host also stood with his mouth agape, his hand holding the hammer suspended motionless in mid-air.
The air seemed to freeze in an instant.
Soon, people reacted one after another, uniformly turning to look behind them, in the direction from which the voice came.
They saw a group of people standing at the very back of the seating area in the venue.
Among them, a woman with orange hair held up a bidding paddle.
It was obvious that the voice just now had come from her.
Seeing that someone had actually placed a bid, the venue quickly erupted into discussion.
"Who are those people? How dare they cause trouble here!"
"They are too bold! Daring to cause trouble in front of the Celestial Dragons."
"Are they looking for death by provoking the Celestial Dragons?"
While some who didn't recognize the Straw Hat found their actions foolish, others recognized them and immediately exclaimed.
"Keep your voice down! Don't let them hear you!"
"What's wrong? What if they hear us? They're definitely going to die for provoking the Celestial Dragons, what's there to be afraid of?"
"Shh! Keep it down! They are the Straw Hat!"
"What?!"
After an exclamation, their voices noticeably lowered, and fear instantly crept onto their faces.
"How could this be?! Is it really the Straw Hat? I don't see Straw Hat?"
"No mistake! Straw Hat doesn't seem to be here right now! But those people are undoubtedly members of the Straw Hat!"
"Never provoke them; they even dared to wage war against the World Government. If we provoke them, we're dead!"
Soon, as the news that this group was the Straw Hat spread, the atmosphere in the venue became strange.
All the spectators looked nervous and solemn, their gazes shifting back and forth between the Straw Hat and the Celestial Dragons.
Law and Kid's crews were also surprised and puzzled by the Straw Hat's actions.
"Are they going to go against the Celestial Dragons?"
"Bidding 1 Berries higher than the Celestial Dragons, that's truly humiliating!"
"This group really likes to act recklessly, just as the rumors say!"
Upon hearing Nami's bid, Charloss Saint immediately stood up and looked behind him, frowning, his eyes filled with rage.
"Commoner! How dare you snatch my mermaid!"
Saint Roswald and Shalulia also had displeased expressions, but they did not act, remaining seated.
"Who is so audacious as to compete with us Celestial Dragons?"
"The bid they offered is truly infuriating!"
Seeing that the atmosphere in the entire venue had become uneasy, the host quickly regained his composure and spoke to Nami.
"Please, guest, do not cause trouble!"
Hearing the host's words, Nami immediately frowned in displeasure and retorted.
"Who's causing trouble?!"
"I am very serious when it comes to money!"
When she heard the price of 500 million just now, her astonishment wasn't because she couldn't afford it, but because she felt pained.
Although she was now a super-rich woman, she would never spend an extra penny unnecessarily.
Therefore, it was only 1 Berries more than Charloss Saint's bid!
Nami herself hadn't intended to humiliate the other party with this, but to everyone else, it was blatant humiliation.
Seeing Nami claim she was serious, the host immediately looked both fearful and annoyed.
He was very afraid that the Celestial Dragons would get angry because of this, and at the same time, he cursed the group who came to cause trouble in his heart.
But on the surface, he maintained a professional fake smile and said to Nami.
"Guest, may I ask if you can afford 500 million Berries?"
"If you cannot, such a bid is disrupting business, and we have the right to take legal action against you."
Hearing the other party's condescending tone, Sanji was the first to lose his temper and angrily retorted.
"Less nonsense!"
"We have followed your rules!"
"If no one bids higher than us, hurry up and give Kaimi back to us!"
No sooner had Sanji finished speaking than a voice rang out in the hall.
"1 billion Berries!"
At these words, a collective gasp of shock immediately swept through the entire hall.
Everyone looked stunned, turning to the direction from which the voice came.
They saw Charloss Saint standing there with an arrogant and confident air, his eyes filled with contempt and disdain as he looked at Nami and her group.
His meaning seemed to be:
Hmph! You lowly humans, how dare you compete with me?! Do you have the ability?
Soon, this number caused exclamations throughout the hall.
"1 billion?! That price is astonishing!"
"Never before have we seen such a high-priced transaction in history; truly worthy of the Celestial Dragons! With a casual move, they reach a level we can only look up to!"
"Now, even the Straw Hat won't have the power to compete with the Celestial Dragons, right? This price isn't a small amount even for a country, let alone just a pirate crew."
The price given by Charloss Saint not only shocked the ordinary spectators but also surprised Law and Kid's crews.
Kid looked at Charloss Saint, a sneer in his eyes, and said coldly.
"This world is truly terrible!"
"Dominated by such trash."
"And the money such trash casually throws out is a height that ordinary people can never reach in a lifetime."
"Although we are very bad, we are still quite cute in some aspects, aren't we?!"
"Right?! Killer!"
Killer's expression was hidden behind his mask, making it impossible to discern, but he still expressed his agreement with Kid's view.
"Exactly!"
Law had a faint smile on his lips and said lightly.
"It seems the Straw Hat has angered the Celestial Dragons!"
"Won't things escalate out of control in a bit?!"
On the Celestial Dragons' side.
Saint Roswald said in a deep voice.
"You're spending money recklessly again, Charloss!"
But despite saying so, his expression showed no displeasure at all; on the contrary, there was even a hint of satisfaction.
If anyone dared to compete with them, the Celestial Dragons, they had to be crushed with such a move, to show off the Celestial Dragons' power.
Moreover, how could their great Celestial Dragons lose to humans?
Charloss Saint snorted angrily.
"Hmph! Those commoners!"
"How dare they compete with me? I will make them realize the gap between commoners like them and us Celestial Dragons."
Saint Roswald nodded with great satisfaction at Charloss Saint's reply.
On stage.
After hearing the astonishing new bid, the host's eyes went completely wide.
His body was even trembling with excitement.
He was going to make a fortune now.
For a moment, he even felt a bit grateful to the woman who had just competed.
"1 billion and 1 Berries!"
Just then, a voice rang out again.
The host's gratitude, which had just ignited in his heart, was suddenly extinguished.
Instead, he gnashed his teeth in anger.
The audience in the hall also erupted completely at this moment.
"Are they crazy? They'll anger the Celestial Dragons!"
"No way?! Does the Straw Hat really want to challenge the Celestial Dragons?"
"Aren't they pirates?! How dare they provoke the Celestial Dragons?! Marineford and the World Government are both nearby!"
Kid and Law's crews also showed surprise at this moment.
"These guys aren't really going to go against the Celestial Dragons, are they?!"
"What on earth is their Captain doing? Won't they be blamed for causing such trouble for him?"
"I heard their Captain is even more reckless! If he were here, the situation would probably be even more out of control!"
"No way?! The other party is the Celestial Dragons! No matter how reckless Straw Hat is, he wouldn't dare to take on the Celestial Dragons, would he?"
...
At the same time!
A river channel outside the auction house.
The Flying Fish Riders were waiting bored.
"They're here!"
Suddenly, someone exclaimed.
Everyone immediately looked towards the river channel and saw a large black ox slowly approaching.
"Lord Dibaruo!"
"Young Master Straw Hat!"
"Hurry! The auction isn't over yet!"
"Everyone else is here, it's just you guys missing!" Dibaruo grinned and said upon hearing his subordinate's voice.
"See, Straw Hat young master!"
"I told you we'd make it in time!"
Thump!
A crisp sound of a head being hit rang out.
Bonney gritted her teeth and angrily punched Dibaruo's head.
"You're too slow!"
"We were the first ones to head this way."
"But we ended up being the last to arrive!"
"I think we should just eat this dumb ox!"
"I'm hungry anyway!"
As Bonney finished speaking, Dibaruo and his ox simultaneously exclaimed in surprise.
"Moo?!"
"No! Baro is my favorite mount."
Just as the two sides were about to argue further, Luffy interrupted them.
"Alright! Let's go in quickly!"
With that, Luffy frowned.
He sensed two familiar yet infuriating auras with his Observation Haki.
"Those two Celestial Dragons are here too?!"
"Perfect..."
"I can settle old scores!"
Luffy slowly clenched his fist, rage erupting!
...
Inside the auction house!
Charloss Saint was nearly driven mad when he heard Nami had only bid 1 Berry more than his offer again.
Saint Roswald and Shalulia also frowned unhappily, their eyes filled with fury.
"You commoner! Are you deliberately going against me?"
"I'm angry!"
Charloss Saint glared at Nami and cursed angrily.
Everyone in the audience instantly filled with terror and dread upon hearing his angry curse.
"It's over! The Celestial Dragons are really angry!"
"That woman is dead!"
"Even if she's part of the Straw Hat, it's useless; they are Celestial Dragons!"
Everyone looked towards Nami in terror, having already pronounced a death sentence on her and the Straw Hat in their hearts.
Nami, at this moment, was also enraged.
1 billion Berries, she was heartbroken!
Frowning, she retorted angrily.
"I should be the one who's angry, right?!"
"Didn't they say mermaids usually only cost 100 million Berries?"
"You bastard actually raised the price to 1 billion Berries!"
"Do you know how much it pains me?"
As soon as Nami spoke, the entire audience fell silent.
Everyone's mouths hung open in astonishment, their expressions a mix of fear and disbelief.
"Th-that woman actually cursed... cursed a Celestial Dragon!"
In an instant, everyone was too scared to move.
They couldn't even imagine what would happen next.
Hachi and Pappagu also looked extremely startled, wanting to stop Nami, but they were held back by the rest of the Straw Hat.
"I advise you not to approach Nami now; she's far more terrifying than a Celestial Dragon at this moment!"
"Exactly! You'd best stay away from her right now."
The ones giving the advice were Usopp and Zoro, who usually suffered greatly under Nami.
Their faces still showed lingering fear.
Seeing that even a monster like Zoro was acting this way, Hachi and Pappagu were immediately scared into silently moving away from Nami.
On the Celestial Dragon's side.
Upon hearing Nami so offensively insult Charloss Saint, Saint Roswald and Shalulia's eyes were instantly filled with rage.
Charloss Saint, for a moment, didn't even realize he had been cursed, and instead said dismissively.
"Hmph! Do you have 1 billion Berries?"
"Alright!"
"I won't compete with you anymore!"
"You all take out 1 billion Berries right now!"
"If you can't take it out..."
Charloss Saint pulled out a pistol from his body and said indifferently.
"I'll shoot you dead right here on the spot!"
As Charloss spoke, he left his seat and walked towards the back row.
He was certain these people couldn't produce that much money.
Because he said to take it out right now.
No one would carry that much money with them, so he had already made up his mind to kill these people.
On the Straw Hat's side!
Nami immediately breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Charloss Saint say he wouldn't compete anymore.
"Bastard! If you raise the price again, I'll definitely kill you!" Nami muttered to herself in a low voice.
Then she called out Karu's name.
"Karu!"
Karu understood, opening the Different Space.
The Straw Hat immediately went in and started moving gold bars out.
Everyone in the audience only heard the continuous clatter of metal collision.
Soon, everyone watched with extreme shock and disbelief as gold continuously piled up beside the Straw Hat, quickly forming a small mountain.
This scene, 323, completely stunned everyone in the audience.
Everyone's eyes showed endless greed and envy.
And they heard Nami's voice from the Straw Hat's side continuously ringing out.
"Enough! Enough! Don't take any more out!"
"This gold is almost worth 2 billion!"
"Franky, don't take that big one, that one's worth at least 5 billion!"
"Ah! Zoro! Put that one back! I'm saving that one for a gold bathtub later!"
Seeing these guys taking things out haphazardly, Nami instantly became enraged and shouted angrily.
"You guys better stop it!"
"Are you trying to take out all my 5 trillion Berries worth of gold?!"
"..."
The air was deathly quiet.
The Celestial Dragons, the host, Law, Kid, including everyone in the audience, gasped, their jaws dropping to the floor.
Everyone's eyes were filled with infinite shock, staring blankly at the Straw Hat.
Nami's last words echoed in their minds, lingering for a long time.
After a brief silence, the entire venue erupted.
"5... 5 trillion?! Hey! Did I hear that right?!"
"I was about to ask you if I heard wrong!"
"Is she... is she telling the truth?"
"Looking at the gold around them, it doesn't seem fake!"
"No way?! Are the Straw Hat really that rich?"
"This isn't just rich? This is practically a god of wealth!"
In an instant, everyone's gaze towards the Straw Hat changed.
They looked as if they had seen living gods of wealth, making everyone's eyes red with envy and their hearts pound.
Even Law and Kid's groups clearly showed greedy glints in their eyes.
The number 5 trillion could no longer be described as merely astonishing.
After a brief shock, Saint Roswald and Shalulia finally couldn't help but stand up and look back.
They wanted to see who exactly could be so rich.
Compared to this group, they even seemed as poor as beggars.
And the moment the two turned their heads, their eyes suddenly widened.
They saw Hachi's familiar figure.
At that time, everyone else was kneeling, and the most memorable were Hachi and Luffy, who resisted.
And the moment she saw Hachi, Shalulia immediately shouted angrily.
"It's you!"
"Where's that human in the Straw Hat?"
"Where did he go?"
After questioning Hachi, Shalulia then spoke to Charloss Saint, who was in the corridor and had already walked halfway.
"Brother!"
"Kill these humans!"
"They offended me and Father before!"
"That cheap woman just cursed you, Brother, as a bastard, you absolutely cannot spare them!"
"And..."
As Shalulia spoke, a hint of greed and ruthlessness flashed in her eyes.
"How can lowly humans possess so much gold?!"
"We should confiscate all their gold."
"Only we Celestial Dragons are worthy of controlling this gold!"