The final pure gold ring did not end up in Doflamingo's hands.
That was only natural. Brook had already marked the Gold Gold Fruit as his prize. Doflamingo could struggle all he wanted, but there was no escape.
In the end, the last ring went to Drug Peclo.
He reached a quiet agreement with the king of the Flower Kingdom in the West Sea. Using the mountain of Berries in his vault, he bought the Flower Kingdom's Devil Fruits at prices inflated countless times over. At the same time, he spent heavily to prevent Lu Feld from claiming the ring tied to the highest transaction volume.
Then he turned around and helped the Flower Kingdom secure that highest volume ring as well.
For the auction's final ring, Drug Peclo submitted four high level Devil Fruits in one breath:
The Zoan, Elephant Elephant Fruit, Ancient Model: Mammoth
The Paramecia, Bomb Bomb Fruit
The Zoan, Dragon Dragon Fruit, Ancient Model: Pachycephalosaurus
The Zoan, Dragon Dragon Fruit, Ancient Model: Spinosaurus
And with that offer, he seized the last pure gold ring.
The auction was officially over.
Guests who failed to win a ring were soon approached by Hell Guild cadres, who politely but persistently introduced advanced weapons and medicines developed by Dr. Vegapunk, all in an effort to strip those visitors of the Devil Fruits they had brought.
As for the remaining underworld emperors, most were already part of Brook's inner circle. If they worked honestly, they would receive a pure gold ring sooner or later. They had not even participated in this auction, and Antonio had long been keeping track of what treasures they were sitting on.
Doflamingo was summoned away by Brook personally.
The Revolutionary Army gained nothing. They could only purchase new weapons and wait for additional funding from Brook.
As expected, commanders like Kuma and Ivankov exchanged their blood for a huge payout from the Hell Guild, then went on a spending spree throughout the World Expo.
Dr. Vegapunk also secured the bloodline factors for Kuma's Paramecia, the Paw Paw Fruit, and Ivankov's Paramecia, the Hormone Hormone Fruit, preparing to create a new generation of Seraphim.
Karasu's bloodline factor, the Zoan, Bird Bird Fruit, Mythical Model: Yata no…
And Morley's bloodline factor, the Paramecia, the Push Push Fruit, had long been in Vegapunk's database.
…
Inside the Hell Guild headquarters on Doragonzo Island.
"Yohoho! Doflamingo, well done!" Brook laughed, holding the Rubber Fruit in one hand and the Op Op Fruit in the other as he looked at Doflamingo. "You went to the North Sea for such a short time and came back with something this precious. It seems you and Devil Fruits really are destined to meet."
The meaning behind summoning Doflamingo alone was obvious.
Brook wanted the Gold Gold Fruit too.
"Mr. Brook!" Doflamingo's voice trembled with fanatic heat as he stared at his cheap master. "I want a pure gold ring! I'll make up for it later with three rare Devil Fruits!"
It was impossible for him to hand over the Gold Gold Fruit for nothing. If he had to bleed, then he would bleed for profit.
Brook smiled, amused.
"Doflamingo, wearing a pure gold ring right now is not a wise choice. It will limit your growth. Are you sure you want it this early? Do you have the strength to protect it?"
Brook's tone remained light, almost indulgent.
"How about this. You give me the Gold Gold Fruit and your Boom Boom Fruit as a deposit for the ring. Then, as long as you find the Hobi Hobi fruit, or its user, plus two more high level Devil Fruits, I will hand you a pure gold ring."
He made it sound generous.
But promises were Brook's specialty.
In the art of deal making, young Doflamingo was nowhere near his level.
Doflamingo's eyes narrowed. He did not buy empty words.
"Then I might as well train a Gold Gold Fruit user to help me expand quickly." He measured his tone carefully, balancing greed with survival. "However, if you, Teacher, give me command of the North Sea Army, I might agree."
Brook chuckled.
"That's fine." His smile sharpened slightly. "But every Devil Fruit you handle must be approved by me before you have the right to use it."
Brook did not mind raising a vicious dog, especially one eager to bite Celestial Dragons.
But if that dog ever tried to bite the wrong hand…
Brook had no problem showing Doflamingo that the former pirate overlord still had the instincts of a bandit. He could pluck feathers from a passing goose without leaving a single strand behind.
Doflamingo swallowed.
"I understand."
Under another man's roof, he had to bow his head. Maybe he should never have used the Gold Gold Fruit in the auction at all.
"Yohoho! You can keep this Baku Baku Fruit." Brook waved it off as if he were tossing a coin. "Consider it my investment in you. Now go to Stussy, take two seastone warships, and return to the North Sea. Build your business."
With that, Brook calmly took the Gold Gold Fruit from Doflamingo's hand.
After sending him away, Brook immediately had Antonio summon the kids, Nika and Hancock, among others.
The Rubber Fruit and the Sweet Sweet Fruit appearing at the same time…
It was almost poetic.
"Nika Fruit… do you really have a will of your own?" Brook murmured, studying the purple Rubber Fruit up close. His lips curved. "Did you come to me by choice?"
He chuckled softly.
At last, the protagonist's fruit was in his hands.
"Father!" "Father!"
"Teacher!"
Nika, Kikyo, and Hancock rushed in, voices overlapping in excited chaos. Even Robin, Betty, Yamato, and the others who had already eaten Devil Fruits came hurrying in to watch. Everyone wanted to witness the moment their friends stepped into that new world.
Brook raised the two fruits.
"Here." His voice carried the weight of a decree. "Nika, your Sun God Nika Fruit. Hancock, your Sweet Sweet Fruit."
As he handed them over, he dismissed another name in his mind, one he did not even bother to respect.
This era did not belong to Straw Hat Luffy.
This era belonged to the Brook family.
From now on, whether Celestial Dragons or the D clan, they would crawl beneath the Brook name.
"Thank you, Teacher!"
Hancock squealed and threw herself onto Brook, planting a bold kiss on him before hopping down with her face blazing red. She took a bite of the Sweet Sweet Fruit.
Her shy expression vanished instantly, replaced by a violent retch.
Nika ate the Rubber Fruit in silence, face steady even as the taste fought him. From now on, he would train harder than ever. He would become the Sun God Nika his father demanded.
Brook turned to the next child.
"Kikyo, we don't have a bow related Devil Fruit yet. How about you take this one, the Nature type Forest Forest Fruit?"
He produced the Mori Mori Fruit taken from Aramaki. The name fit Kikyo, and so did the nature of it.
Kikyo nodded softly.
"Then I'll listen to Father."
She accepted the green fruit from Brook's hand. Seeing Nika and Hancock struggling, she frowned, then bit down as well.
Brook's gaze slid toward the massive fishman standing nearby.
"Jack." Brook's tone became almost teasing. "Do you want to keep swimming, or do you want to eat this Ancient Zoan, the Mammoth Fruit?"
Logically, fishmen hated Devil Fruits. Losing the sea was like losing their birthright.
But maybe Jack was different.
-------------
Watching all his senior brothers and sisters take Devil Fruits one after another, the fishman Jack couldn't help feeling torn.
If he became a landlubber who couldn't swim, would his people laugh at him?
"I'll listen to Teacher!" Jack blurted out, eyes suddenly shining as if a genius idea had struck him. "Teacher's decision has to be right!"
He nodded hard, as though he had just solved a world class puzzle.
After all, Teacher had eaten more salt than Jack had eaten rice. Teacher had experience. Teacher had wisdom. Teacher had… authority.
And if Brook was the one who decided Jack should eat a Devil Fruit, then nobody in the Fishman Tribe had the right to mock him for it.
They always called him stupid, but Jack felt his chest swell with pride.
I'm not stupid at all. Most of the time, I'm really smart.
Noticing everyone staring, Jack puffed out his chest, lifted his chin, and grinned back at them with a proud, foolish smile.
"Yohoho!" Brook laughed, amused by the sight. "Then give it a try. Strive to become the first fishman to awaken a Devil Fruit."
With a flick of his wrist, Brook tossed the Mammoth fruit to Jack.
Jack caught it like a treasure, hesitated for only a heartbeat, then took a huge bite.
His face twisted into pure agony.
That taste never forgave anyone.
Next, Brook's gaze fell on the last student who still hadn't eaten a fruit.
"Inosuke," Brook said casually, looking at Kozuki Inosuke. "Do you want to choose an Ancient Dragon Dragon Fruit now, or keep waiting for your father to find you a Mythical Zoan from Wano?"
The son of Kozuki Oden carried a faint hint of boar Mink traits, but thankfully he didn't have Momonosuke's shameless personality from the original timeline. If he did, Brook would never have accepted him as a student.
He would have been shipped off to Beast Island for a humane transformation.
"I'll wait," Inosuke answered politely. "I want a Mythical Zoan, one of Wano's guardian deities. The Kappa Fruit, or the Nine Tailed Fox Fruit."
He spoke with calm conviction. He refused to be worse than Yamato, with her Mythical Oguchi no Makami Fruit. Compared to that, these Ancient models were beneath his eyes.
Brook nodded.
"Good. Go get familiar with your abilities. I'll guide you when I have time."
He looked across the group, taking in their new forms at a glance.
Nika was already stretching his arms with a silent, stubborn focus.
Hancock looked even more dazzling than before, though her face still carried the bitterness of that first bite.
Kikyo's fingers had begun turning into thin vines.
And Jack… Jack now had two thick white tusks protruding, blinking as if he couldn't quite believe his own face.
Brook waved them out.
"Go. Train."
Once they left, Brook lowered his gaze to the treasures in his hands.
The Op Op Fruit.
And the Gold Gold Fruit.
Who should receive them?
Trafalgar Law was only five or six years old. Even if Brook gave him the Op Op Fruit now, who knew how long it would take for the brat to truly grow into it?
Brook's thoughts drifted to a certain old witch doctor.
If it were that old woman, she could probably awaken it quickly. But…
Dr. Kureha was over a hundred years old, and she would never willingly sacrifice herself to perform eternal youth surgery for someone else.
Still, Brook didn't need that operation right now. He possessed a huge amount of pure gold, enough to handle longevity for the time being.
What Brook needed was something else.
He needed to confirm whether the Op Op Fruit could heal soul damage. After all, that fruit could move consciousness. Even a body cut apart could retain awareness.
Like Kin'emon in the original timeline, whose lower half could still think and act.
Maybe Brook could negotiate with Dr. Kureha. If necessary, he could even reclaim the fruit later.
Brook shifted his attention to the Gold Gold Fruit.
He wondered whether Gild Tesoro had been captured by the Celestial Dragons and dragged to Mary Geoise as a slave.
In this era, Brook had slaughtered so many Celestial Dragons that some of the original sequence might have changed. Maybe Stella was never bought. Maybe Tesoro was never taken.
If the timeline stayed close to what Brook remembered, Tesoro should have been enslaved in Mary Geoise for a year or two by now, and Stella would be nearing death.
"We can ask around," Brook murmured. "But we also need one or two people with business sense as backup."
Tesoro had proven himself in the original world, pushing the Gold Gold Fruit all the way to awakening. But if Brook found someone with even better talent, he wouldn't hesitate to replace him.
Brook glanced at another Ancient Dragon fruit on the table, the Serpentine Dragon model, and his mind jumped to Vegapunk's blond, fat subordinate, the future Plague Queen.
That one could be rewarded later.
Then another thought surfaced, sharp and sudden.
"I almost forgot." Brook's eyes narrowed slightly. "Dies Barrels son is that Red Flag kid, X Drake."
The Ancient Allosaurus fruit would suit him perfectly.
Brook had promised to accept one of Dies Barrels descendants as a student. That boy would join this training class too.
He could become one of Nika's subordinates. And if he truly insisted on being a marine, then Brook would send him to Sakazuki, to train alongside Smoker and become part of the new navy.
As for the remaining Devil Fruits, Brook still needed to finalize his placements. With this many powerful fruits, the Universal Government's strength could rise again.
Akainu Sakazuki was already rushing to the New World with Admiral candidate Magma in tow. Brook had ordered Shiki to personally retrieve them.
That Nature type Magma Fruit could not be lost.
Meanwhile, the sniper Hiruba was keeping his sights trained on CP0 agent Pompeo, the man who now possessed a pure gold ring, ready to reclaim it at any moment, or spread the news like wildfire.
Brook was confident it would attract a swarm of predators.
Especially one particular mad dog.
Doflamingo.
The former Celestial Dragon.
.....
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