Pirate: I'm about to do something big!

That night, on Swaro Island.

The auction venue served as the Don Quixote family's temporary stronghold.

Just like Doflamingo's flamboyant and arrogant style, he did not hide the location of his auction, but openly showed it to every maritime force that wanted to make a fortune here.

Slave traders, kingdom representatives, some navy personnel, pirates, the World Government...

They had all gathered here, waiting for Donquixote Doflamingo, the newly appointed Shichibukai, to hold this auction.

They were even more eager to get their hands on the golden fruit at the auction.

Whoever obtains this fruit will have an owner for all the unclaimed treasures on the sea. Once the ownered treasures are marked by the Gold-Gold Fruit user, a portion of them will fall into their hands.

Who wouldn't be tempted by this?

Meanwhile, Donquixote Doflamingo, who recently became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea and is the organizer of this auction, is sitting high up.

Looking down from his vantage point at the various forces below, all of whom were tempted by the Golden Fruit.

Doflamingo is a guy who is three meters tall with blond hair. In the pirate world where everyone is a little giant, such a height does not seem out of place.

He always wore a pink feather coat over his shoulders, with a light-colored shirt underneath. The shirt was either open at the collar or simply unbuttoned, directly showing off his strong, muscular body.

Pair it with brightly colored capri or cropped trousers, black pointed shoes, and goggles.

This look suits his arrogant, domineering, and flamboyant personality quite well.

At this moment, Doflamingo looked down at the various forces gathered here because of the Gold-Gold Fruit, holding a glass of red wine in his hand. He drank it all in one gulp, the red wine at the corner of his mouth resembling blood, and then let out a unique laugh.

"Fufufufufu (first tone), what a bunch of fools blinded by money~"

"Yeah, Dover. They just don't understand that on this ocean, the strong decide everything. So what if they get this fruit? No matter who gets it, if they find the treasure, it'll still be Dover's. Auctioning this fruit is Dover's smartest decision ever, hehehe~"

Those who echoed Doflamingo's words were Trebol, a core member of the Donquixote Family and the user of the Sticky Sticky Fruit.

He was also Doflamingo's angel investor.

He witnessed Doflamingo unleash his Conqueror's Haki when Doflamingo was young, and promptly surrendered to Doflamingo with all his possessions and his subordinates, helping Doflamingo establish the Donquixote Family.

As it turns out, this guy's investment acumen was correct.

"Joker, this is Vergo. Headquarters Navy has been spotted in the waters off Swaro Island. There is only one warship."

Just then, the Den Den Mushi on the table made a request to connect. As Doflamingo's right-hand man, Trebol answered the Den Den Mushi, and a report from Vergo, a core executive, came from the other end.

"I'll talk, I'll talk! Why are there Navy ships here, Vergo? Whose ship is it?"

"Commodore of the Navy Headquarters, the two-faced Alyosha Ran, but there's only his adjutant Dol on board. She's keeping a close eye on me, so I probably won't be able to get through. You guys need to be careful."

"A commodore from Naval Headquarters? What's the deal with that Alyosha Ran, Vergo?"

"The specifics aren't clear, but we do know that many people at headquarters are optimistic about him becoming one of the new three admirals. According to this adjutant, Alyosha Ran is in charge of the fourth round of admissions for the Naval Academy at headquarters, which is open to all seas, so his appearance in the North Sea is quite reasonable, but..."

"I understand, Vergo. You will then assist this adjutant from headquarters in setting up defenses."

"Yes, Joker."

After the phone call ended, Trebol, who was standing nearby, had already handed Doflamingo the information about Alyosha.

Vergo was a spy planted by Doflamingo within the Navy, relying on his exceptional strength and the intelligence provided by Doflamingo.

Over the years, he has helped Doflamingo solve many problems and secretly helped Doflamingo expand his power.

Two years ago, Fleet Admiral Sengoku planted Doflamingo's younger brother, Rosinante, as an undercover agent next to Doflamingo. Even Doflamingo himself did not expect that his long-lost younger brother would become a Navy undercover agent.

If he hadn't encountered Vergo while informing the Navy, not only would his attempt to steal the Op-Op Fruit have failed, but Doflamingo might have also been arrested by Vice Admiral Tsuru, who came to his aid.

Back then, Doflamingo wasn't a Shichibukai yet. If he had been caught by the Navy, he would have been imprisoned for life. He wouldn't be as carefree as he is now.

Of course, for Doflamingo, a guy who never engages in internal strife, he would only blame the Navy for killing his own brother, not himself.

Doflamingo only glanced at the information Trebol handed him regarding Alyosha before tossing it aside.

Because he couldn't discern Alyosha's strength from the intelligence reports.

Just as Alyosha had said to the three boys on the warship, his style was different from that of the three vice admirals, Red, Blue, and Yellow.

Alyosha's approach was teamwork, aiming to end the battle with minimal losses.

Therefore, the intelligence about Alyosha's voyage to fight pirates is basically that Alyosha obtains information about a certain pirate, Alyosha leads his troops to attack, Alyosha captures the enemy pirate captain, our forces annihilate countless enemies, and Alyosha gives a victory speech.

There are no descriptions of battles involving Alyosha, and the post-battle reports are mostly about how Alyosha's marines divided and defeated the pirates, with Alyosha ultimately taking care of the enemy leader.

"Fufufu, the two-faced Alyosha Ran, huh? Very well, with so many kingdom representatives, unscrupulous merchants, and World Government officials here, I'll see what he can do at my auction! Trebol."

"Dover?"

"Tell the men below that if any sailors claiming to be Alyosha show up, don't stop them. Invite them directly to the VIP room. I want to see them in person."

"Understood, Dover."

-----------------

"Wow! Teacher, is this the auction? That guy, it looks like Savage the Barbarian, captain of the Viking Pirates with a bounty of 1500 million Berries!"

"Doflamingo, that guy actually dared to auction off a fish-man!"

"Mr. Ran, why is there a navy here maintaining order? Isn't the navy supposed to represent justice?"

In the woods, Alyosha, who had secretly led a commando team into Swaro Island, remained hidden, watching the forces that had appeared nearby at the auction.

Alyosha was already used to it, but the three little ones, who were on their first sea adventure, had never seen anything like it before. They kept asking questions, and the fishman Arlong was even more furious when he saw a group bringing fishman slaves to auction.

He never imagined that outside of the Sabaody Archipelago, there were people selling their own compatriots.

Seeing the emotional changes in the three little ones and the fishman Arlong, Alyosha finally spoke:

"So this is the real adventure. All the answers you're looking for are here, but before that, we need to infiltrate first. Let's get them to help us out."

Alyosha didn't directly answer the three little ones and the fishman Arlong. He kept them in suspense for a moment, and then, using his Observation Haki, he randomly selected a lucky team from among the many forces that had come to the auction.

The group that came to participate in the auction was not large, only about twenty people.

The prison carts carrying slaves were covered with black cloth, as if to prevent the slaves inside from being seen. The leader was a man with gray-green hair, dressed in very luxurious clothes, with a gold necklace, gold earrings, and even the brim of the hat he was holding showed a little bit of gold.

Alyosha took a closer look at the other man's ten fingers; nine of the man's ten fingers were adorned with gold rings, except for the ring finger of his left hand, which was bare.

Wearing a ring on the left ring finger usually has other meanings. After seeing the pure gold accessories worn by the man leading the slave trade caravan through his Observation Haki, Alyosha raised an eyebrow.

What a coincidence! I've run into this Golden Emperor right at the door!

What was the Golden Emperor called again?

Forget it, we're already here, let's just grab him and ask him.

Alyosha didn't need to do this himself. After giving the order, Ain and Binz led their fifteen-man squad to surround the enemy, and even the fishman Arlong got involved.

The battle begins, the battle ends.

Alyosha emerged from the woods with the three little ones, glanced at the Golden Emperor who was firmly pinned to the ground by Arlong, and then at the beautiful slaves on the prison cart, before speaking indifferently:

"name."

"Gilde Tezzolo, Mr. Navy, this is a legitimate transaction. The slaves on board are all nationals of non-member states. I have the transaction receipt in my pocket. It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding."

"Mr. Ah Long, tear off his clothes."

"etc!"

Hearing Alyosha's strange request, the fishman Arlong, though puzzled, still tore off Tesoro's expensive suit, revealing the hoofprint of the Sky Dragon on Tesoro's back.

Alyosha was now certain that the other party was the Golden Emperor who had eaten the Gold-Gold Fruit at the auction. One of the signs of this guy was that he had been a slave of the Celestial Dragons and had the hoofprint of the Sky Dragon on his body, just like the Fish-Man Fisher Tiger.

This is also Tezzolo's painful past.

That's why Alyosha was so nervous when he signaled Arlong to tear off Tesoro's clothes.

Seeing Tesoro's reaction after his past as a Celestial Dragon's slave was exposed, and then seeing that Tesoro had now become the slave trader he hated most after regaining his freedom, Alyosha frowned and asked:

"Since they are citizens of non-member states and can be bought and sold as slaves, what right do you, a former slave of the Celestial Dragons, have to be a slave trader here?"

"Heh, you weren't one of the slaves Tiger rescued from Mary Geoise three years ago, were you? Tiger must be very disappointed that the slave he rescued has gone back to be a slave trader."

Upon seeing the Sky Dragon's hoof imprinted on Tesoro's back, Arlong, the fishman, unusually quick-witted, immediately guessed how Tesoro had escaped the Celestial Dragons' slavery.

"Fishman Tiger is disappointed? And what about you? A Marine, serving as a dog for Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and a dog for the Celestial Dragons. A Fishman, actually acting with human Marines who sell out their own kind. Aren't you ashamed of your brother Tiger?"

To put it bluntly, this world is a world where money reigns supreme. The Celestial Dragons are the world's nobles, controlling the world's wealth, which is why they can have the Navy act as their dogs. Fish-men and mermaids are the most expensive slaves on the slave market, which is why so many people try to capture them.

"What's wrong with what I did? You robbed me for money too!"

As if provoked by Alyosha and Aaron's back-and-forth, Tesoro, pinned to the ground, also expressed his distorted view of the world due to his own experiences.

Alyosha offered no further explanation for Tezzolo's accusations; with a wave of his hand, Tezzolo and his men all fell unconscious.

"Captain Ain."

"Yes, Commander Alyosha."

"Use your abilities to disguise yourself and Captain Binz, Mr. Aaron. I'll trouble you to take these children and act as slaves for now."

"What do you want to do, Navy?"

"Of course, it's to help Mr. Aron rescue his compatriots and other slaves at the auction..."

Soon, Alyosha made no attempt to conceal his appearance, and appeared at the auction with a team of fifteen veterans as escorts, along with Luffy, Ain, Binz, Arlong the Fishman, Tesoro, and a host of followers, all imprisoned in slave wagons.

Looking at Alyosha wearing the Navy Justice Cloak, the Don Quixote Family combatants at the door and the colluding North Sea Branch Navy looked at each other in bewilderment.

Even they knew that only admiral-level naval officers were qualified to wear the Justice Cloak. When did an admiral-level naval guest arrive at the auction?

With such a high-profile entrance, aren't they afraid that other forces will use it against them?

"Halt! And who are you?"

Seeing Alyosha's naval justice cloak, these peripheral members knew that he was someone they couldn't afford to offend, but duty still required them to send someone to inform their boss, and at the same time, they sent someone forward cautiously to inquire.

"Alyosha Ran, Rear Admiral of the Marine Headquarters, I had a bit of an unexpected gain. I heard that Mr. 'Joker' is a very powerful person, so I asked him for a small favor. However, I don't have an invitation, so I don't know..."

"So it's Brigadier General Alyosha from headquarters. Doflamingo told me that if Brigadier General Alyosha is attending this auction, please move to the VIP section. Doflamingo will see you personally. Brigadier General Alyosha, please come with me."

Before Alyosha could finish speaking, a man named Diamanti, one of the core members of the Don Quixote family, appeared at the door.

He is a user of the Flutter-Flutter Fruit, which allows him to turn any object he touches into a silky smooth state, without altering the object's original material.

His outfit resembled that of a bullfighter, with a bright red costume that looked like silk but was actually made entirely of steel, which he had altered using his abilities.

He was skilled with a sword, and his longsword was transformed into a belt by Diamanti and wrapped around his waist.

"I didn't expect Mr. 'Joker' to receive news of my attendance at the auction so quickly. So you must be Diamante, the leader of the Don Quixote Family's Diamond Army. To show my sincerity, Mr. Diamante, please verify my entry credentials."

The veteran following Alyosha also pulled down the black curtain, revealing Luffy and his two companions lying unconscious in the prison cart, Binz and Ain disguised as children, and Arlong, the fishman who looked like he was about to devour someone.

"Two Devil Fruit user slaves, one fish-man, and several ordinary slaves. I think with Mr. 'Joker's' reputation, I should be able to sell these spoils for a good price."

"Haha, I didn't expect Brigadier General Alyosha to be such a businessman. This way, please."

Due to Doflamingo's orders and the goods brought by Alyosha, Diamante did not obstruct the process.

He gestured for his men to lead the disguised escort team of veterans behind Alyosha into the venue, and to take Luffy and the others in the prison van to the backstage of the auction. He himself would lead the way, guiding Alyosha to meet Doflamingo.

VIP room at the auction.

Doflamingo sat in the center, with his core executive Trebol standing to his left, looking towards the door.

Footsteps approached, and Diamante's tall figure appeared, standing to Doflamingo's right.

Soon, Alyosha's figure emerged from the darkness.

He wore a navy justice cloak over a white shirt.

He had brown, parted hair, wore black-rimmed glasses, and had a disguised wooden sword at his waist.

He had a gentle smile on his face.

He sat down in front of Doflamingo.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Donquixote Doflamingo. My name is Alyosha Ran."