Liam gazed at the ceiling and said casually, "Six years ago... my Captain and I entered the Grand Line, originally intending to reach this place as quickly as possible and become your disciples to learn Haki, Mr. Rayleigh."
"Forget about it," Rayleigh chuckled. "An old codger like me has long since retired. Besides, you've surely surpassed the need for my instruction by now, haven't you?"
Liam grinned. "If you're willing to offer a tip or two, I wouldn't mind at all!"
"We'll have to discuss that after we're free of these shackles," Rayleigh laughed heartily, shaking his handcuffs and chains. "I was planning to rob my buyer blind and vanish as soon as I was purchased. What about you? You weren't counting on me to help, were you?"
Liam grinned. "These things can only restrain us if we allow them to, isn't that right? Mr. Rayleigh, I'm curious... if you wanted to steal money, there are plenty of targets for robbery in this lawless region, aren't there? Why go through the elaborate scheme of getting captured, chained up, and auctioned off here?"
Liam asked earnestly, "After all, having to sit back here and wait for so long... it's really annoying."
Rayleigh fell silent again, this time for even longer, his gaze fixed downward on the handcuffs and long iron chains binding his wrists.
Just when Liam began to wonder if he had fallen asleep, the chains rattled. Rayleigh pushed his glasses up, pinching the bridge of his nose and the corners of his eyes.
"Me...
"I've always wondered what Roger was feeling when he willingly put these on himself..."
Rayleigh smiled softly, tears welling in his eyes.
Liam stared intently at the legendary figure, his hair now as white as snow.
'Pirate King Roger... what kind of man was he, that his former crew still remembered him so vividly even after all these years?'
Liam suddenly felt a pang of regret.
'Book knowledge is shallow indeed... Born in the wrong era! There's no chance to witness the King of the Sea's glory firsthand.'
...
A tall, slender figure crossed the bridge from the edge of Grove 2 and entered Grove 1.
Tea-colored sunglasses reflected text messages as Robin glanced down at the newspaper in her hand.
Suddenly, her gaze froze. Without changing her expression, she subtly glanced around at the seemingly deserted forest.
Beside her, the Black Battle Armor was more direct, its narrow eyes gleaming faintly as it swept across the hidden bounty hunters.
"She's here, just as expected..."
"No doubt about it, that's Jolyne Cujoh!"
Pairs of hungry, wolf-like eyes watched from the shadows, fixed on the figure walking down the path leading to the Auction.
"As expected, her crew... heh, or should I say her lover? With her lover captured and being auctioned off, she was bound to come!"
"After lying in ambush for so long, we've finally got her!"
Some expressed concern: "Even so, she's still a pirate with a 300 million Belly bounty... Can we really capture her?"
Others scoffed: "She's just a woman! She only got this far thanks to Giorno. Now that he's not around, what's she worth?"
One person sneered: "I bet Giorno was all bark and no bite. Getting captured for a slave auction? Pathetic."
"Shh, quiet! Wait until she gets closer... Now!"
"Attack!!"
The bounty hunters swarmed forward, leaping from the shadows and unleashing their skills from all sides, surrounding the isolated pirate, Jolyne Cujoh.
The scene of countless blades rushing toward her reflected in Robin's amber-tinted sunglasses...
...
Marine Headquarters, Marineford
"Giorno Giovanna has been captured and taken to the Human Resources Agency, a slave market in the First District. As for his captain, Jolyne Cujoh, her whereabouts remain unknown..."
A Marine officer stood at attention before Admiral Sengoku's desk, saluted, and reported, "News of this incident has already spread like wildfire across the Sabaody Archipelago. Jolyne Cujoh will undoubtedly head to the Human Resources Agency as well..."
Admiral Sengoku's fingers drummed rapidly on the desk, "tap, tap, tap," his brow furrowed in deep thought.
Tap!
The drumming abruptly stopped. The reporting officer's heart leaped as he saw Sengoku's grim expression. "It's the Celestial Dragons!" Sengoku growled.
"Huh?" The officer's expression turned to confusion. "What did you say, Admiral?"
"Giorno's target is the Celestial Dragons!" Sengoku declared with steely resolve, his eyes blazing with conviction. "His strength surpasses even that of Laut.Haiyna! Do you think he'd be captured by some ordinary casino thugs? According to information from the Sabaody Branch, passersby claimed to have overheard him complaining to Jolyne Cujoh about coming to the Sabaody Archipelago and not encountering a single Celestial Dragon..."
The reporting officer exclaimed in shock, "You mean... Giorno deliberately used himself as bait to lure out the Celestial Dragons?!"
"'Encounter'?" Sengoku raised an eyebrow. "If he were merely satisfying his curiosity and would stop after meeting them, I'd actually be relieved..."
"No way!" the officer exclaimed in horror. "How dare Giorno attack Celestial Dragons?!"
Shadows fell over Sengoku's eyes as he growled, "Never underestimate the lawlessness of these pirates!"
"What about Zephyr?" Sengoku demanded, rising abruptly. "Is he still at headquarters?"
"Admiral Zephyr just left..." the subordinate reported.
"Back to the training base?" Sengoku rubbed his forehead, realizing he might have to personally intervene if things went south.
"No..." the subordinate continued. "After hearing about Giorno's actions, Admiral Zephyr immediately boarded a Battleship and headed straight for the Sabaody Archipelago!"
...
Grove 1, Slave Auction, Front Gate
The auction manager knelt respectfully at the gate, kowtowing and chanting, "Ah! Saint Roswald! Saint Charlos! Lady Charlos! Welcome, Your Excellencies!"
Before him on the grassy ground stood three figures dressed in matching attire: one large and two small.
Their space suit-like garments were topped with helmet-like bubbles, allegedly worn by Celestial Dragons who considered it beneath them to breathe the same air as commoners.
Rozwald stood flanked by his two Celestial Dragon children: Charlos, picking his nose to the left, and his younger sister Sharlya to the right.
Behind each member of the family trailed a slave. Behind Rozwald was a hulking Fish-Man, while Charlos was followed by a burly human pirate, and Sharlya by a Longleg Race woman. Though of different races, all three wore slave collars and had blank, numb expressions. Crawling on their hands and knees, they had served as mounts, carrying Rozwald and his children all the way here. The knees of their trousers were worn through, leaving raw, bloodied flesh exposed.
The auction manager respectfully requested, "Please allow us to refrain from kneeling in the auction hall."
Celestial Dragons often visited their auction house, taking one or two slaves that caught their eye, or even an entire group.
Yet even so, every time a Celestial Dragon arrived, the manager would kneel in respectful greeting, just as he had on their first visit, and tirelessly repeat his request.
One must never displease the Celestial Dragons...
If he ever dared to presume familiarity and greet them standing without asking permission, and were to accidentally offend them, the manager knew all too well what fate awaited him.
Rozwald showed no interest in the manager's behavior. He simply remarked indifferently, "It's fine. How else would you bid?"
The manager rose with the relief of a condemned man pardoned. "Thank you for your benevolence. Please allow me to escort you three to the VIP seats..."
...
Three Celestial Dragon slaves, a Fish-Man, a human, and a Longleg Race member, were chained at the entrance of the Auction, as three bicycles were locked outside a house before a vacation.
The three sat numbly, like three cracked statues.
Suddenly, their eyes flickered as they noticed a tall figure approaching in the distance, his wide sleeves billowing as he Earth Walked towards them.
(End Of This Chapter)
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