"I offer 600 million Beli! 500 million? Step aside, brother!"
Before the middle-aged man could react, the bid of 500 million Beli was quickly outmatched again.
In fact, the reason players were offering such astronomical prices had a lot to do with the exchange rates set by John. A bid of hundreds of millions of Beli here translated to several million Dragon Kingdom coins in the real world, an amount even some moderately wealthy merchants could afford.
"Is this kid deliberately driving up the price on us?" one of the men in the auction murmured.
In the middle seats, a group of three, two men and one woman, sat watching the heated bidding around them with darkened expressions. These three had been sent by the Dragon Kingdom to participate in the auction for this Devil Fruit. While John had tipped them off in advance about the auction, all the players present had shown up last minute.
Even so, the Devil Fruit John had introduced at the start of the auction still attracted a huge crowd.
"This auction was supposed to be low-key," the woman sighed, her frustration growing. "We're here to acquire this Devil Fruit, and thankfully the funds from above are more than enough, but still… it's frustrating."
The man next to her added, "What's wrong with these people? Why are they willing to pay millions for something in a game?"
"Millions?" the other man snorted. "Ha, we're aiming for at least 10 million!"
"You have the nerve to say that?" the woman shot back, rolling her eyes. "Didn't you just spend hundreds of thousands to buy a Growlithe?"
"Ahem, Pokémon stuff doesn't count as wasting money!" he defended.
"Besides, didn't you buy tons of accessories to dress up your Pikachu?"
"Alright, alright," the man said sheepishly. "Let's just bid before someone else wins it—failing would be on us."
While they debated, the price had risen to 800 million Beli, with each bid increasing by at least 100 million.
"I bid 1 billion Beli!" the man called out, raising his auction number plate without hesitation.
The auction room went silent for a moment, before erupting in louder conversation.
"Is this guy serious? A billion?"
"Whoa, that just jumped 200 million in one go!"
"Who is this big shot?"
"Damn it, if only I'd spoken up earlier—I could've brought 10 million!"
"Are you crazy? A Devil Fruit with an unknown ability for a billion Beli?"
As the price was announced, the local residents of Pirate World were dumbfounded. Never had they witnessed such an intense auction, and it was from a crowd of newcomers they'd never seen before.
Many pirates in the room began to eye the players greedily, their dangerous intent clear. The treasure being auctioned had drawn out some cutthroats, and they were ready to strike at the first opportunity.
The middle-aged auctioneer, eager to finalize the sale, slammed the hammer down. "A billion Beli, going once!"
"Anyone else? If not, this Devil Fruit will go to the gentleman here!"
"A billion Beli, going twice!"
Some attendees looked frustrated, wishing they had more money prepared.
"A billion Beli, going three times! Sold! This Devil Fruit goes to the gentleman!" the auctioneer declared, slamming the hammer down for the final time.
As the auction concluded, the man who had made the winning bid whispered to his companions, "Hurry up, transfer the money, and let's collect the item. We're being watched from every angle. Let's split up, get the fruit, and leave."
The three had made arrangements ahead of time: two would act as decoys while one would safely retrieve the Devil Fruit. They'd already seen players and pirates lurking, waiting for the right moment to ambush.
The two men, aware of the prying eyes, casually entered another room with the woman while the rest of the eyes trailed them. Inside, the woman was quickly accessing her inventory panel. Soon, ten large boxes appeared out of thin air.
"Barely worth the hassle," the woman grumbled, noting the auction fees. "John's still charging us 10,000 Beli per box?"
"One Devil Fruit auctioned for 10 million? He probably has thousands more stashed away. How much does he stand to make from all this?" the other man sighed.
As they packed up the large boxes, the auctioneer knocked and entered, accompanied by a few guards. Seeing the ten large boxes of money, he smiled.
"Do you mind if we count the payment?" he asked, eyeing the massive sum.
"Go ahead," the woman replied, carefully checking the Devil Fruit.
"Everything seems in order," the auctioneer nodded, finishing his count of the Beli. "One last thing, would you like to hire bodyguards?"
The auctioneer glanced outside, clearly aware of the dangerous crowd waiting.
"We can handle it ourselves," one of the men said confidently.
The auctioneer wasn't offended. Instead, he bowed politely and said, "As you wish. If you ever need our services, just let us know."
Before leaving, the man with the Devil Fruit said, "Do you auction Devil Fruits regularly?"
"Not often," the auctioneer replied cautiously. "As treasures of the sea, Devil Fruits rarely come up for auction. This one was a special consignment."
"Here, take this phone transponder. If any more Devil Fruits come in, let us know, and we'll reward you."
The man handed the auctioneer a phone transponder, a basic tool he'd researched beforehand.
The auctioneer hesitated briefly but then accepted. "Of course, I'd be happy to help."
After the auctioneer and his guards left, the trio studied the Devil Fruit in front of them.
"Is this really worth 10 million?" the woman asked curiously. "What do the patterns on it mean?"
"I don't know," the man replied. "you take the fruit and log off immediately. We'll go out as decoys. They won't know you're still here. Once it's safe, come back online and retrieve the item."
"Understood," Sarah replied, logging off.
The two men chuckled as they placed an apple in the box in place of the Devil Fruit.
"Let's go find someone else to bait," one of them laughed.
A/N; Thanks for reading, donate some power stones for extra chapters.
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Enjoy ✌️.