After the auction dispersed, Chronos, Shanks, and Rayleigh quietly slipped away, heading towards Shakky's Rip-Off Bar.
"Boss Rayleigh, I think we've kidnapped a huge problem this time!" Chronos said to Rayleigh, a worried look on his face. In his past life, watching One Piece, he'd seen plenty of Celestial Dragons, and they were always outrageously arrogant. But this one? This guy was on a whole other level. Other Celestial Dragons at auctions might haggle over prices, but this one didn't even bother to bid! The most surprising thing was how the other Celestial Dragons reacted to him—like elementary school students seeing their homeroom teacher!
Could we have accidentally kidnapped the daughter of one of the Five Elders?
No, that doesn't seem right. The Five Elders have appeared in One Piece, and none of them had a physique quite as "magnificent" as his.
Truly unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable!
"Do you think I wouldn't notice? I'd say we're probably in a bit of trouble this time." Unlike Chronos, Rayleigh had been navigating the high seas for years and knew that Celestial Dragons weren't all equal. The ones who usually visited the Sabaody Archipelago were the lowest rank. If they were harmed, the worst-case scenario might involve an admiral being dispatched. But if a higher-ranking Celestial Dragon was harmed, it wouldn't be as simple as just sending an admiral. His Observation Haki had already picked up several masked figures in white suits secretly trailing them, and that young Marine Vice-Admiral, who looked older than him despite his age, was also lurking nearby.
"Report! We've located Rayleigh's group. They've left the auction house, but there's no sign of Florretia Miya yet." Behind Rayleigh's trio, a masked man reported to a CP0 commander. The situation was so severe that the Five Elders had directly deployed the World Government's top agents.
"Keep following them. We must find Florretia Miya. Oh, and what did Saint Alexander buy at the auction?" the CP0 commander asked. This was one of the tasks given to them by the Five Elders: to find out why Rayleigh's group had kidnapped such an "important" Celestial Dragon.
"Saint Alexander only bought a branch of the Treasure Tree Adam at the auction. Rayleigh's group might, perhaps, probably have kidnapped the Celestial Dragon for the Treasure Tree Adam." A masked subordinate used a string of uncertain words: might, perhaps, probably.
Roger, after all, was one of the top four figures in the pirate world. The Treasure Tree Adam was worth at most a few hundred million berries. Given Roger's stature, he couldn't possibly be unable to afford a few hundred million, right?
Roger: You're wrong, I really can't afford it!
"Treasure Tree Adam... could there be something special about the Treasure Tree Adam auctioned this time?" The CP0 leader was momentarily stumped. As the third-highest authority in Mary Geoise, after only the Five Elders and the Fleet Admiral, he had seen many Treasure Trees in the Celestial Dragons' vaults, and many great pirates used them to build ships.
Could they have kidnapped Florretia Miya just to build a ship with a Treasure Tree?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
The correct answer flashed through the CP0 leader's mind for just a second before he dismissed it.
"No, I inspected all the items before the auction. That Treasure Tree really was just an ordinary Treasure Tree!"
"Then I'll report to the Five Elders immediately!"
"What did you say? They kidnapped Florretia just for a Treasure Tree, Adam? They had no other demands? Like a Logia or Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit?"
"No, Saint Alexander left after picking out the Treasure Tree, and Rayleigh's group left the auction afterward too."
The Five Elders were also speechless upon hearing the CP0 leader's report. Such an unheard-of occurrence! Had Roger really become so poor that he couldn't even afford a Treasure Tree?
Then what kind of pirate are you?! You're an embarrassment to the seas!
"It's possible that Roger and his crew really did it for the Treasure Tree. According to Marine intelligence, their ship apparently sank in the Grand Line due to some unforeseen circumstances. Also, the Roger Pirates aren't like Golden Lion, who plunders civilians, so they've always been quite short on cash. Plus, Roger has already had two of his famous swords broken by Garp, and just repairing those swords has cost the Roger Pirates most of their money over the years!" "Iron Fist" Kong, who was about to be promoted to Fleet Admiral, placing him above tens of thousands and just below the Five Elders, analyzed the situation.
The Five Elders were exasperated. If you wanted a Treasure Tree, why didn't you just say so earlier? We have tons of them in the Celestial Dragons' warehouse! We could send you a dozen without a problem! Why go to such extreme lengths?
Indeed, poverty breeds desperation, and a poor country leads to chaos!
Roger, you pauper, I despise you!
Meanwhile, in Water 7:
"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!"
Roger, who was currently drinking with Tom, suddenly sneezed three times in a row.
"Got a cold?" Tom asked.