Saint Garlos had no interest in this at all. The only reason he had come down from Mary Geoise today was for another matter that pleased him greatly.
A music troupe? Sorry, Mary Geoise lacked no outstanding musicians. Private concerts were something only low-level nobles entertained themselves with. The music they considered refined elegance was nothing compared to the expressions and sounds of despair from slaves in the eyes of the Celestial Dragons.
"16 million! 16 million Belly! Congratulations to the gentleman with paddle number 16 for purchasing this music troupe for 16 million!"
This price was below the auction house's expectations. They had originally believed the troupe would sell for at least 20 million.
But once a Celestial Dragon arrived, no one else dared to show their enthusiasm. The bids naturally dropped as well.
And the person holding paddle number 16 was none other than Vane.
In Vane's words: "The crew is getting bigger. We can't have only people who fight and kill. We need some who can cultivate refinement too."
Besides, just now Vane had used Observation Haki to read the Celestial Dragon's mind and discovered something interesting.
"Next, please take a look at the final item of today's auction! A powerful Fish-Man warrior!"
A massive Fish-Man was dragged out. He looked to be five meters tall… which was normal. Among Fish-Men, different species varied quite a lot in size.
The one before them was clearly one of the stronger types among Fish-Man warriors. He appeared to be some kind of shark-man.
"In order to capture this white shark Fish-Man, we lost quite a few men…"
Naturally, the auction house staff spared no effort in praising their merchandise.
Unfortunately, in the eyes of ordinary people, Fish-Men didn't offer great value for money. Some even believed Fish-Men carried contagious diseases and refused to go near them at all!
"Fish-Man! Don't they carry infectious diseases?!"
"So scary—and they're so ugly!"
Whether it was talk of disease or ugliness, it was nothing more than human prejudice. Differences in appearance could at least be explained by aesthetics, but the disease argument was truly far-fetched.
After all, Fish-Men and Merfolk lived in the same place and could even have children together. If Fish-Men carried infectious diseases, Merfolk would too.
Yet humans were extremely "tolerant" toward the beautiful Merfolk, all wanting to possess them, never worrying about disease in the slightest.
"15 million! This is a powerful white shark Fish-Man warrior! His strength is absolutely formidable! Any captain who wants to conquer the New World must not miss this!"
Brownbeard wanted to compete, but he had already spent quite a bit buying crew members earlier. He simply couldn't afford 15 million anymore—after buying crew, there were plenty of other expenses.
The auctioneer was deeply disappointed. He hadn't expected the white shark Fish-Man they had painstakingly captured to sell for such a price.
Vane, who successfully purchased the white shark Fish-Man, felt this price was already decent! Later on, even Arlong's bounty hadn't reached this amount… though that had something to do with corrupt Marines covering up his crimes.
The shark race was generally powerful. Placed into his ocean Fish-Man squad, this one's potential would certainly rank just below Big Pan.
The loach Fish-Man were merely more agile. Big Pan's high potential came from the advantage of giant bloodline.
"How boring. Not a single pretty one."
Saint Garlos lazily remarked.
"Forgive us, great Celestial Dragon-sama. We did not know you would grace us with your presence. Otherwise, we would certainly have prepared beauties more to your liking."
The auctioneer immediately dropped to his knees on stage. One could not show the slightest disrespect toward a Celestial Dragon—especially when he looked displeased.
"Next time, then. Today, I have other amusements."
Saint Garlos began to leave with his black-clad subordinates.
When he reached the darker area at the back, he glanced at the surrounding seats. He remembered several people sitting there earlier—why were they gone?
Perhaps they had won slaves and already left.
He didn't think much of it and departed with his seven or eight attendants.
After he left, the dim light around the seats he had been staring at distorted slightly, and Vane and the others reappeared.
It was Baccarat's ability. In such a dark place, her Vision-Vision Fruit could substitute somewhat for the Clear-Clear Fruit. If one didn't look carefully, it was hard to notice anything wrong.
This Celestial Dragon enjoyed torturing beautiful women. In his crew, Baccarat and Monet were in the prime of youth and beauty, and Selibe was curvaceous as well. For what he planned next, Vane had no intention of clashing with him now.
"Selibe, see that Celestial Dragon? That's one of the world's nobles. Do you feel the urge to kneel?"
"Kneel? To that kind of person?"
He didn't know what Selibe might have done before, but the current neurotic Selibe had little fear of Celestial Dragons.
If he hadn't read her mind to grasp her true thoughts, he wouldn't have dared use her for what came next.
"Let's go. Time to receive our new companions."
At this auction, they had only bought the music troupe and the white shark Fish-Man.
The music troupe was easy enough. Once their explosive collars were removed, they couldn't do much anyway. After Meowth briefly explained the situation, they obediently stayed inside Meowth's castle space for now.
The white shark was more troublesome.
How to put it… he was five meters tall, but built like Jinbe—broad and stout, extremely muscular.
"Is Hakuza your name? I'm the captain of the Rocket Team Pirates. You may have heard of me. There's also a Fish-Man squad in my fleet. Join my crew… Of course, you can refuse. Just find time to repay my Belly."
The massive Hakuza was stunned for a moment. He knew pirates bought him for his outstanding strength. That was one of the better endings for a slave… he just hadn't expected the other party to offer him the option to buy back his freedom.
He had intended to remain aloof, but Vane's unusual words shattered that composure.
"I can redeem myself?"
"Of course. I'm a pirate with a 400 million bounty—soon to be even higher. I keep my word… If you don't have the money now, it doesn't matter. There's profit to share from battles aboard my ship. With a Fish-Man's strength—especially someone like you—you can regain your freedom within a year at most."
Vane's tolerance toward Hakuza was for the sake of Fish-Man Island behind him.
In Oda's writing, there weren't many true powerhouses among the Fish-Man race. When Arlong debuted, the race was hyped immensely, yet in the end there were countless cannon fodder.
Only the blue fatty and Fisher Tiger truly counted as strong. The rest were not particularly famous. The so-called tenfold natural physical ability was somewhat exaggerated.
Even so, Fish-Man Island was absolutely a high-quality source of troops. Ignoring sea pressure, freely diving underwater, and possessing physiques clearly superior to ordinary humans—it was highly desirable.
Vane intended to use Hakuza to convey his goodwill to Fish-Man Island.