Lightning shook his head and continued, "There must have been a mistake in the previous intel. If the people are inside the auction house, there's both good and bad. Tomorrow morning, there's an auction, and the Celestial Dragons will be participating. Our comrades are on tomorrow's auction list."
"Uh… the auction is tomorrow? What a joke, it's so urgent?" Ivankov furiously scratched his afro. "Looks like we'll have to act tonight."
After all, they didn't bring much money with them, not enough to buy even a few people. Most of the funds had already been spent along the way on feeding Sabo.
The main issue was that the auction tomorrow would have Celestial Dragons participating. Once their comrades were bought by the Celestial Dragons, it would be much more difficult to rescue them.
"Exactly," Lightning swirled the red wine in his wine glass, "But the Number 1 Auction House is the largest in Sabaody. There will be many guards watching over the auction items throughout the night. It won't be easy to rescue them without alerting anyone."
"Haha!" Ivankov didn't care about that, "We have to get them out no matter what. If we can't do it quietly, you'll just have to use your powers to cut a path through the auction and take them by force!"
"Wait," Sabo suddenly spoke up. "I've thought of a plan that will solve everything."
Meanwhile, Takumi was riding a bubble car, heading down a bustling street. In front of him, a tall, strong man covered in wounds appeared, crawling along. He looked exhausted, and there was a collar around his neck with a chain attached to it.
On the man's back sat a woman wearing a bubble helmet. She was dressed in a white outfit, with sunglasses and a silk scarf covering her face.
The woman held the chain tied to the man's neck as if he were a mount. Next to them was an unchained pug also wearing a bubble helmet.
The moment this woman appeared, everyone on the street instinctively moved to the sides. Everywhere she passed, people knelt down with different expressions, heads bowed. No one dared look directly at her.
Yes, this woman, who treated people like slaves and enjoyed all privileges, was a Celestial Dragon from the Holy Land of Mariejois!
"Hmph, so annoying. Can't you crawl any faster?" The woman yanked the chain around the man's neck angrily. "I paid a lot of money for you, and you're useless!"
The man, covered in scars, held back his anger and didn't dare speak.
The Celestial Dragon woman added insult to injury, "You're trash! Even a better-looking slave would be better than you. I should just destroy you and have Father buy me a new slave."
"I've had enough!" The man couldn't take it anymore and suddenly stood up.
The Celestial Dragon woman, unprepared, fell to the ground.
The crowd kneeling on the street looked horrified, breaking out in a cold sweat.
"He's done for. That big guy is going to die."
"Just don't drag us into this…"
The crowd whispered among themselves.
The fallen Celestial Dragon woman quickly got up, her face full of fury. She pulled out her gun and aimed it at the man who had dared to knock her down. "How dare a mere human rebel? Hmph! A disobedient slave like you deserves to die!"
The Celestial Dragon fired her gun.
The man, despite his injuries, managed to dodge the bullets.
He staggered forward, but after only a few steps, the collar around his neck began to beep, counting down.
It was a slave collar, designed to explode after the timer ended. Without a specific key, it was almost impossible to remove, though high-level Armament Haki could destroy it with ease.
"Damn it! If I'm going to die, I'll take you with me!"
The man grabbed a fruit knife from a nearby stand, turned, and charged at the Celestial Dragon.
Seeing the man rush back toward her with murderous intent, the Celestial Dragon was stunned for a moment before firing several more shots at him.
This time, the bullets hit the man, but they didn't stop him.
Even though he was bleeding all over, the man charged at her, determined to kill her.
"You disobedient mutt, stop right there!" The Celestial Dragon's gun was out of bullets, and she furrowed her brows in frustration.
Just then, several armored guards rushed to the scene, stepping between her and the man. They all pointed their spears at the man and stabbed him.
The man, already weak from blood loss and years of torture, collapsed to the ground, glaring at the Celestial Dragon with hatred.
The Celestial Dragon looked down at him arrogantly and held out her hand.
One of the guards handed her a new gun.
Without hesitation, the Celestial Dragon aimed at the man's head and fired several shots, killing him.
The crowd averted their eyes, not daring to look at the Celestial Dragon or the man's mutilated body.
"Hmph! You dare threaten me? What are you? Just a human! Die! Go to hell!" The Celestial Dragon emptied her gun into the dead man before finally stopping. She scoffed and turned to leave. "Disgusting. I'll have Father buy me a stronger slave next time."
Not long after the Celestial Dragon left, Takumi passed by the man's mutilated body on his bubble car.
The crowd, now standing up after the Celestial Dragon's departure, shook their heads in pity.
"Why did he resist if he knew it was pointless? Such a fool."
"Yeah, but living as a slave for a Celestial Dragon is worse than death. It's amazing he lasted this long."
"Let's just go. We don't want to get involved and bring trouble."
"Yeah, let's get out of here. Forget about him."
At that moment, the Celestial Dragon's pug suddenly ran back toward the scene.
The crowd immediately stepped back, not wanting to provoke the dog of such a high-status person.
Takumi silently continued riding his bubble car, passing by the Celestial Dragon's dog.
The dog noticed that Takumi wasn't showing the same fear and reverence as everyone else. Angered, it chased after Takumi and jumped onto the top of his bubble car, lifting a leg to urinate.
Takumi didn't even bother to draw his sword. With a single hand chop, using his No-Sword Style, he cleanly sliced the Celestial Dragon's dog in half.
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