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Chapter 46: Toasting and Drinking! Sabaody Auction
The lights were dim and flickering.
Roger held his sake cup and laughed heartily.
"Jie hahahaha! Lotte, you really surprised me!"
"To think there's such a kid in the New World now—no wonder Marine Headquarters has their eyes on you."
Lotte lightly clinked his cup and gave a helpless smile.
"Those Marines insisted on coming after me for trouble. Otherwise none of this would have happened. They're clearly the ones who don't know what's good for them."
"I'm actually a very kind person."
As his voice fell,
Roger's face showed a strange expression.
"Isn't that because you killed a Celestial Dragon? Marine Headquarters definitely won't let you off. They just didn't expect even an Admiral's pursuit couldn't stop you two."
"They probably won't bother you again for a while."
"Speaking of which, Lotte—the two swords you used earlier don't seem to match very well, do they?"
During the earlier battle,
Roger had noticed a detail.
Because Flame King and the other sword had mismatched strength, Lotte's sword techniques clearly showed some flaws.
Perhaps against opponents of similar level it was fine.
But against a great swordsman or someone even more skilled in swordsmanship, exploiting that flaw to break the technique wouldn't be difficult.
Whitebeard also drank helplessly and said,
"What you're saying makes sense. Swords that can match Flame King's strength are already extremely rare."
"Among Supreme Grade Swords, only a few would pair well with Flame King. It's not like we can just casually find a good blade somewhere."
Lotte beside him nodded in agreement.
He was well aware of his current weakness, but precisely because of that, it was hard to fix.
After all, Supreme Grade Swords were the rarest famous blades. In a sense, they were priceless treasures.
Finding another famous sword on par with one was incredibly difficult.
As the words fell,
Both Rayleigh and Roger's faces showed strange expressions.
They exchanged a glance, then looked up at Lotte and spoke in low voices.
"Actually, this isn't impossible to solve."
"According to my information, there's going to be an auction at Sabaody Archipelago. It will include Celestial Dragons with immense wealth attending."
"It's said that to attract them this time, one of the items is a Supreme Grade Sword."
Hearing this,
Lotte's eyes lit up.
This was great news for him.
If he could obtain the desired famous sword through that auction, it would greatly increase his chances of winning the one-year agreement.
Though Lotte had confidence in his own "cheating,"
He still needed to make thorough preparations.
Seeing his interest, Rayleigh quickly added,
"But the auction venue where Celestial Dragons will be present will definitely have extremely tight security. And if you kill a Celestial Dragon there,"
"The stationed Marine Admiral absolutely won't let you go."
After all, Sabaody Archipelago was located very close to Marine Headquarters.
If pirates caused trouble there, the Marines would respond extremely quickly—far faster than in any of Rocks' previous operations.
Once entangled,
Lotte and the others would definitely be the isolated ones.
Whitebeard also narrowed his eyes.
"If a Supreme Grade Sword falls into the hands of a Celestial Dragon, that's truly a waste. They don't deserve to own such a famous blade."
"Even if they buy it, it'll just be hung on a wall."
"But Sabaody Archipelago is indeed troublesome. Captain Rocks also told us to stay away from there."
Lotte pondered for a moment.
With his current mastery of Wood Release, he definitely couldn't face an Admiral head-on, but escaping right under their nose was feasible.
Though Sabaody was dangerous,
Compared to the benefit of gaining a second Supreme Grade Sword, it was worth the risk.
"Hm, I'll make a trip to Sabaody Archipelago later."
"If I can really obtain a second Supreme Grade Sword, then my dual-sword style will be complete."
"I'll report back to the captain first, then head out."
Lotte said with a smile curling on his lips.
Roger saw he had made up his mind and could only sigh inwardly while raising his cup.
"Since you've decided, then I wish you smooth sailing!"
Lotte smiled and raised his cup.
Beside him, Whitebeard laughed heartily and slung an arm around his shoulders.
"Gurararara! You've got guts, kid! Let's go turn the place upside down together!"
Their cups clinked crisply.
Amid the toasting and drinking,
Mixed with the cheers of numerous pirates.
Sea Circle Calendar Year 1478.
Two years before the God Valley War.
These several legendary great pirates of later generations
Had their first official meeting.
...
Late at night.
Marine Headquarters.
Steel Bone Kong frowned as he looked at the latest intelligence in his hand.
"The meeting between the Rocks Pirates and Roger Pirates... truly troublesome guys. If those two joined forces, it would be a disaster."
"But according to the report, Roger seems to have rejected Rocks' recruitment."
"Good thing these two D clan members didn't team up."
"Otherwise it would really be a huge problem."
Steel Bone Kong let out a slight sigh of relief.
After all, Roger was a newly rising pirate crew, and Marine Headquarters had naturally investigated them.
They discovered that the leader Roger's current strength already far surpassed ordinary Elite Vice Admirals—likely only Garp could suppress him in Marine Headquarters.
A great pirate on par with top cadres like that
Joining the Rocks Pirates would be a major headache for them.
Steel Bone Kong continued flipping through the report.
This time CP0's intelligence was extremely detailed—probably because of their previous two major mistakes.
"Next let's see... Vice-captain Rayleigh vs. Tree Demon Lotte?"
Steel Bone Kong's expression grew heavier.
Another month had passed—who knew how strong that kid had become now.
He quickly turned several pages.
Then his face darkened even more, and his fingers trembled slightly.
"Tree Demon Lotte's Devil Fruit has awakened. Suspected to be either Paramecia or Logia type."
The difficulty of Devil Fruit awakening.
Steel Bone Kong understood this perfectly.
Tree Demon Lotte was still so young, yet he had already awakened his Devil Fruit!
If they waited another year or two, wouldn't this kid's strength soar to the heavens?!
No!
They absolutely could not let him develop any further!
Steel Bone Kong now wished he could grab the heads of those CP0 agents from last time and smash them—had it not been for their outrageously inaccurate intelligence,
They would have already eliminated Tree Demon long ago!
Steel Bone Kong pondered deeply.
"We need to find a way... Tree Demon Lotte is growing too fast."
"It seems we can only try that now."
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