One Piece: Starting from Awakening the Cosmo at Marineford

Disco secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said happily, "Your Grace, I am of the same mind as you. I was worried that you wouldn't have enough men to reclaim the throne, so..."

Aaron narrowed his eyes and said disdainfully, "So, you made the decision on your own?"

Disco was startled again. Faced with the unpredictable Duke Aaron, he felt helpless and didn't know how to deal with him. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

"Duke Aaron, there are so many human trafficking gangs here, and they didn't coordinate properly. Some gangs even arrested a few more than they were supposed to, so..."

Aaron's anger turned to joy, and he laughed loudly, "Hahaha! You're willing to share my burdens; I will never forget your kindness!"

Upon entering the auction house, the scene inside was completely different from what it had been three days prior.

The room was packed with thousands of people, divided into more than a dozen groups.

There were over 500 people dressed as pirates, all wearing collars around their necks and chains on their hands and feet. Apparently, there weren't enough chains, so some were replaced with hemp rope.

Some of their faces showed extreme fear, while others were blank and numb.

Lark, feeling sorry for Aaron, leaned against his shoulder.

Aaron squeezed her hand and nodded to her.

The lark calmed herself down and turned to look at the stage.

Aaron walked up to the human trafficking gang and saw a few somewhat familiar faces.

The fish-man Makuro and his gang, the group that kidnapped Camie, and the flying fish knights' group, including Duval.

Aaron muttered to himself: Didn't they retire from their criminal life? Are they short of money again?

It's not that you've given up, or that the past kidnapping and human trafficking is over.

Since you're already here, I'll just take care of this while I'm at it.

There's still some time before the agreed-upon 12 o'clock time with the pirates, so we need to delay it a bit more.

Moreover, Aaron was worried about one thing.

Pirates aren't that easy to catch; these human traffickers likely include many civilians among them to make up the numbers.

Aaron waved his hand: "Inspect the goods!"

Finbdi stepped forward, examined the faces and necks of those people, and then grabbed their hands to check.

Pirates spend years at sea exposed to the wind and sun, causing their skin to darken, crack, and become extremely rough, including their hands, where calluses often form on the base of their thumbs from the ropes.

A moment later, Fombardy pulled one out and said, "Duke, this is a commoner in disguise!"

Aaron immediately flew into a rage: "Disco!"

"This is a misunderstanding!"

Disco quickly explained, then turned to the group of human traffickers and said, "Are you crazy for money? How can you use civilians to fill the numbers! Duke Aaron needs pirates; he's going to do something big!"

If you delay important matters, you won't be forgiven!

Aaron waved his hand: "Never mind. Keep this one too, I'll take it back as a servant. As for the price, just charge the price for a commoner."

"Thank you, Duke Aaron!" Disco turned around and changed his tone. "Luckily, Duke Aaron is magnanimous and won't hold it against you. You should thank Duke Aaron!"

The traffickers said "Oh" and thanked them.

Aaron smiled and said, "This duke is not so easily fooled. My men are as cunning as monkeys. You should be more conscientious and hand over those commoners so they can stand aside. This duke can then give you a reasonable price."

The human traffickers also realized that Aaron was not easily fooled, so they had no choice but to drive the civilians to a corner nearby.

These civilians gathered together, roughly speaking, numbering over a hundred.

Aaron's face also changed color, turning angry.

"Good, good, so you really think I'm a fool with too much money! How dare you try to fool me like this! If I'm hoping to reclaim the throne with these commoners, I'm asking for trouble!"

Disco quickly apologized, "Your Grace, please calm down!"

Aaron roared angrily, "I want a discount!"

"call...."

The human traffickers breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, it was just a discount, not a refund.

If these goods are left unsold, the daily cost of food and drink will also be an expense.

Disco said, "You all heard that! I never expected that after so many years of cooperation, you would try to fool me at this time! You're trying to harm me!"

Fortunately, His Highness the Duke didn't hold it against us, and we'll let it go for now! But this won't happen again!

Dibaru said, "Disco, I've always been fair in my dealings. None of the dozen or so people I arrested were civilians."

Fishman Makuro added, "We fishmen wouldn't stoop to fooling our customers with ordinary people. Of course, in our eyes, pirates and ordinary humans are equally despicable!"

Aaron said, "Enough with the nonsense. Disco, hurry up and calculate the total price. Don't try to fool this Duke anymore! My subordinate is very good at math!"

"yes!"

Disco bowed and went to calculate the price.

Finbdi stood in front of the hundred or so civilians.

Hibari lifted her long skirt and whispered, "Senior Aaron, this skirt is really getting in the way."

Aaron whispered, "If a fight breaks out, just take off your skirt. You're still wearing those casual clothes underneath."

Yun Que blushed and whispered, "No, I feel hot wearing so many clothes, and it'll be a bit tight to hide the gun in my skirt..."

"Um, okay. Now, the plan has changed. You'll be working with Finbdi to protect those hundred-odd civilians."

"And what about you?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

As Disco was doing his calculations, a commotion broke out outside the auction house.

The human traffickers began to get anxious, fearing they would run into the pirates.

After a while, Disco finished settling the bill and walked up to Aaron with a smile.

"Your Grace, I've calculated it carefully. There are 388 pirates and 115 civilians in total, making the total price 518 million Berries. Because of my oversight, I'll give you a discount and omit the leader. You can just give me 500 million Berries."

Aaron nodded: "I suppose you wouldn't dare to fool me again."

Aaron glanced at the clock on the wall; the three hands were about to overlap at the 12 o'clock position.

"Boom boom boom..."

Several explosions rang out in succession. Disco frowned, unable to guess what had happened.

Aaron smiled. "Disco, let me ask you a question."

Disco chuckled, "Your Excellency, may I ask?"

Aaron shook his neck: "I don't want to pay the money, but I want the goods. Tell me, is there any way?"

"What?" Disco was taken aback and looked up at Aaron.

Aaron's smile vanished, his eyes turned cold, and he raised his right hand, pressing it against Disco's forehead.

A soft "snap!" was heard, though not loud, it still reached the ears of everyone in the auction house.

They all looked at Aaron, who was lying limply on the ground.

This man, who had committed countless evils and sold countless people into slavery, died just when he thought his dream was about to come true.

Before they could react, Aaron had already swiftly appeared in front of the fish-man Makuro.