One Piece: The Salted Fish Fruit

"Alright! Brothers, bring out all the drinks and food." Ace nodded with a smirk.

"Hahaha! Maggie, Sanji, bring out the food, let's have a feast!" With Ace's permission, Luffy searched everywhere for Maggie and Sanji.

"Mabi just went to the warehouse with Nami and Sanji, go look for him!" Usopp stopped cleaning up cannonballs as he watched Luffy run away and reminded him.

"The battle went by too fast, and our men haven't even arrived yet." Chinjao and Cavendish exchanged a glance, both feeling incredulous that Blackbeard's crew, one of the Five Emperors, had been wiped out in less than an hour, with only a few scattered individuals managing to escape.

···

"Come on, Sanji, take a look at what abilities these Devil Fruits have. Let's divide them up. Keep the ones you want, and we'll auction off the rest later." Maggie poured the metal gourd she was holding onto down, and Devil Fruits rolled out of the gourd's mouth, soon piling up into a small mountain on the ground.

These were the fruits that were previously collected from corpses, and the Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to devour and decompose them in the dark space was used to re-condense the abilities from the corpses into individual Devil Fruits.

"Wow! Mami, these are all Devil Fruits! I heard that any one of them can fetch over 200 million at auction, so these are all worth Berries!" Nami's eyes were sparkling as she threw herself onto the fruit, hugging them tightly and reveling in their beauty. The two round, white orbs were dazzling, causing Mami and Sanji to stare in disbelief.

"Huh? Yes, forty-three in total. Apart from the Tremor-Tremor Fruit and the Stone-Stone Fruit that I took, the rest are all here. None of us will eat any more Devil Fruits, so it's better to use them to exchange for funds or materials to improve our combat power. After all, there are quite a few people who roam the New World besides us, and they might have other items that we need, which can be used for trading." Maggie nodded and replied, coming back to her senses. As for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit that originally belonged to Whitebeard, Maggie simply kept it for herself. She still vividly remembered the Annihilation Impact. The power of shattering combined with the power of vibration was not as simple as one plus one equals two; it was an existence that surpassed everything.

Even if I were to encounter that centenarian Kong again, I would be confident that I could shatter his Armament Haki armor with a single punch. I could also break through the defenses of MOM and Kaido with a single punch!

"That's wonderful! Mami has entrusted everything to me. I'll definitely make this auction a success and earn a lot of Berries." Nami straightened up, tossing her long orange hair. Her eyes were still filled with the golden light of Berries, but she was full of confidence in the upcoming auction and was certain that she would achieve a good result.

Seeing that her fleet's chief financial officer had decided to become the auctioneer, Maggie turned to Sanji and tossed him two black, round Devil Fruits to explain.

"Sanji, here you go! These two Devil Fruits are perfect for you. You get Usopp and Franky to make a pair of shoes, and I'll feed them Devil Fruits. One can create a gas explosion on any object, and the other can create a gunpowder explosion on any material. It'll be enough to increase your attack and movement speed several times over with every attack you make."

"Phew! Thanks!" Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke and thanked them. Since his family's Devil Fruits were already being sold, he naturally accepted them without hesitation.

“Then I’ll go find Frankie to build the auction stage.” Maby replied and turned to leave. In her daze, Maby suddenly remembered something she forgot to say.

Chapter 278 Auction Preparations!

So he said, "Sanji, take out the winged Zoan Devil Fruit. When I have time, I'll make two pairs of wings for Mia and Zoro so they can fight in the air too."

"Leave it to me. Miss Nami asked me to help you identify these two white Devil Fruits." Sanji, who immediately turned into a wolf-like friend after seeing Maggie leave, said casually, his eyes filled with hearts as he slowly walked towards Nami.

"Thunderclouds! Focus on your work." Nami's cold voice came from the cabin, reprimanding Sanji.

"Hi! Miss Nami!"

Maby smiled and ignored the two of them. Her figure disappeared and reappeared in the bedroom. She changed her clothes and appeared at the white bow of the Moby Dick. Feeling the busy people on the deck behind her, Maby shouted loudly.

"Everyone, please listen to what I have to say."

The voice, imbued with Armament Haki, instantly resounded throughout the entire plaza thanks to Mapi's deliberate amplification.

"???"

Hearing the sudden sound, they turned to look at Mabi standing on the high place. The crowd below was full of questions: What was she going to do at this time?

Maggie looked at everyone and burst into a hearty laugh: "I suppose none of you here will recognize me, so let me introduce myself first. I am the vice-captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. Due to the side effects of my Devil Fruit ability, you will forget my appearance and some other details afterward, but that's alright, just remember the long sword at my waist."

After speaking, Mabi gestured with his hands on the two long swords at his waist. He now sported a short black haircut and appeared before everyone in his usual black robes. He stepped forward, shattering shards of void, allowing himself to walk on the air and rise higher into the sky. As a pirate who upheld the principle of force, he couldn't convince his followers without making a demonstration.

Commonly known as 'showing off'!

"As you all probably know, there have been rumors about Blackbeard hunting Devil Fruit users in the past two years. When we killed Blackbeard just now, we obtained his Devil Fruit and used it to extract the power of the Devil Fruit from the bodies of the dead. This is also the reason why Devil Fruit users have been frequently going missing in the past two years."

Just now, we used the Dark-Dark Fruit we obtained to separate the corpses of the Devil Fruit users and retrieved some Devil Fruits. To celebrate our victory, we've decided to auction them off at the banquet.

"Are they capturing Devil Fruit users for Devil Fruits?" Someone immediately asked upon hearing Maple's voice. After all, they had only heard that the Blackbeard Pirates were capturing Devil Fruit users, but they had no idea why.

“Yes, one of his functions is to extract the abilities of others to enhance one’s own combat power,” Mabi explained patiently.

"Huh? Does that mean all those ability users have been transformed into Devil Fruit users? That's a team of fifty ability users!" The crowd below exclaimed in surprise.

"There aren't that many. The abilities of the crew members who died in the initial battle have dissipated and are being revived in any corner of the world."

"You guys are being so extravagant as to auction off a Devil Fruit? It can fetch at least 200 million Berries. We don't have that much money!" Someone pointed out the problem and reminded them. As pirates who live for the moment and risk their lives, very few of them have any savings.

Mabi already had a plan in mind and said, "This isn't a big problem. Our financial steward will come out in a bit. Whether it's rare metals, rare herbs, or historical documents, as long as we need them, we can evaluate them and convert them into a certain amount of Beli instead of Beli for auction. If the price isn't satisfactory, you can sell them to others and convert them into money."

As soon as Mabi finished speaking, the people below immediately smiled. They couldn't come up with the money, but they could still use the materials as collateral. If the whole ship of people pooled their money, they could still bid for a Devil Fruit.

Looking at the scene of tens of thousands of people talking on the ice, the buzzing sound was deafening. Maby flashed and landed next to Franky.

"Frankie, could you do me a favor and set up an auction platform? We'll need it later."

"Leave it to me, I guarantee I'll complete the mission." Franky agreed and ran to the cabin to find Little Green to open the door and get the materials.

"Thank you, Maggie." Robin smiled slightly. She had heard Maggie's reply earlier. Historical documents were only useful to her; to others, they were just useless pieces of paper.

"Haha! Instead of us collecting them as a team, why don't we let them work together? After all, we've only been in the New World for a short time, and we haven't encountered any strange items yet. Maybe they have some hidden away. Let's use our extra Devil Fruits to smash out items that are useful to us. We might even make some strange discoveries."

"Robin, Mia, Usopp, Angelia, and the others need your help to identify some things for Nami. If they like them, they can buy them with IOUs. We'll auction off the Devil Fruits later, and they can pay the IOUs at a low price." Maggie said with her arms crossed and a smile. The hastily set up auction house was certainly not as good as a well-organized one, but this was a good opportunity to spend money on these veteran pirates who had been running rampant in the New World for decades to buy up some things that Maggie's side lacked.

Money is no longer a problem for their team; what they lack are items that can enhance their combat power. They sold less than one percent of Enel's Proverb back then, and they still haven't spent all that money. In addition, the raid on Doflamingo's house this time yielded more than 10 billion, enough for their future voyages.

"Hey! Where are you going?" The middle-aged man with a full head of brown dreadlocks shouted as he watched the meteor hammer in his hand pull the iron chain and carry him straight into the distance.

"Crack! Crack!" Suddenly, Hammerface revealed a large mouth that snapped shut twice and continued moving forward.

"An elf?" Meli looked up at the familiar presence, only to find a black hammer about a foot in diameter hurtling toward her, its long iron chain swinging around her in a show of delight.

"Captain Makugay, I remember you still have that rubbing from the Poneglyph that I presented to my father but he rejected. You should be able to make a lot of money selling it to the Straw Hat crew."

"That one? I made a few rubbings to sell, but no one wanted the rubbings of the historical text, so I put them in the warehouse. They should still be there. Go look for them."

Meanwhile, the same thing was happening in all the teams, with everyone eyeing the most remote corner of the warehouse. After all, during the voyage, they would encounter some strange and unusual historical relics, which were like useless objects. After Mabi reminded them that historical artifacts could also be sold for money, many people went to their own warehouses to search for them.

"Big news! Big news! The Whitebeard Pirates have joined forces with the Straw Hat Alliance and the Revolutionary Army to kill Blackbeard in one fell swoop! One of the Five Emperors was surrounded and killed so thoroughly! This newspaper is sure to sell a lot of copies!" A fat albatross wearing a top hat, his eyes shining with gold, squatted on an icicle and wrote excitedly, while a string of seagulls with reins behind him frolicked and played.

Chapter 279 Auctioning the Demon Sword 'Thunderstorm'

Six hours later!

A platform as high as thirty meters appeared above the ice. In front of the platform, countless torches were lit on heat-insulating iron plates, illuminating the ice surface within a radius of a kilometer. A banquet for tens of thousands of people was being held.

At the edge of the banquet, hundreds of sea monsters, each fifty meters long, lay lifeless on the ice. Slashing attacks flew across the sky, and giant chunks of meat, weighing several tons, were lifted and carried toward the barbecue grill, stew pot, and scorching hot iron plate.

call out!call out!call out!

Hundreds of fireworks shot into the dark sky and exploded into a dazzling display, illuminating the world!

Click!Click!Click!

Dozens of lights were turned on one after another, shining on the stage, and several beautiful figures in evening gowns were reflected in the eyes of everyone below under the white light.

"That's Captain Whitey Bay, the Ice Witch!"

"And that devil's child, Nico Robin!"

"Princess Mia the Fallen, Maureen the Water Witch, Nami the Thunder Witch, Angelia the Angel Saintess, and Apis the Sea King—all are outstanding pirate witches with names and reputations on the high seas."

The sight of the woman on stage, a rare sight among pirates, naturally drew shouts and cheers from the men below, with whistles and shouts filling the air.

"Haha! How did Captain Izang manage to sneak in too!"

Some sharp-eyed pirates spotted an out-of-place pirate in the middle and burst into laughter.

"I think the captain often dresses in women's clothes and gets dragged in by this group of women. By the way, who is that tall woman in black next to us? I've never seen her before."

"I saw her appear when she was with the Straw Hat Pirates. Their crew, besides robots, skeletons, and mink, actually had more women than men. It was a really strange situation."

"Hey, Luffy, is that really your vice-captain? The one who killed Doflamingo in five seconds?" Cavendish, sitting cross-legged on a cloud, twitched at the corner of his mouth as he looked at the woman in the black dress on the stage with disbelief. A man dressed as a woman was even more beautiful than a woman.

What did I just do? I went to propose with roses.

"I think so!" Luo's face darkened; he too regretted forming the alliance, knowing he would be facing a bunch of lunatics and perverts from now on.

vomit!

Upon receiving Luo's reply, Cavendish immediately slumped under the table and gagged.

"What a strange person." Mansherry sat on the edge of a plate, nibbling on chocolate and watching the figures on the stage. The man who had rescued her had such a strange hobby.

···

"Is Brother Mabi also a wandering yakiniku practitioner overseas?" Izo, dressed in a bright red festive kimono, half-covered his face with a fan in his hand and asked Mabi in a low voice.

"No, absolutely not! I'm here because of these bastards' twisted sense of humor. They thought a few women weren't enough, so they dragged me over to make up the numbers." Mabi's smile remained stiff as she uttered a resentful tone.

"Who are you calling an asshole!" Robin, who was standing next to Maggie and wearing a purple dress, smiled slightly. With a flick of her finger, an arm that was not visible to the crowd below appeared around Maggie's waist. She stretched out her index finger and thumb, pinched Maggie's soft flesh, and twisted it 180 degrees.

Hiss! The intense pain made Mabi gasp.

"That's really strange, that a man would actually like to wear women's clothing," Izo said slowly.

"Hmph! You cross-dressing bastard have no right to talk about others." Mabi let out a low groan.

“This is my family tradition! Women attract more people by performing, and the rewards they receive will be greater once they’ve had enough.” Izou was completely unfazed by Mebi’s mockery and instead took pride in it, slightly tossing the hairpin on his forehead and giving the crowd below a flirtatious wink.

Completely ignoring the continuous retching sounds of his companions, after all, they already knew from more than 20 years of life together that Yi Zang was a man. Now, unless there was something wrong with him, who would want to see their captain treat them like this?

Upon hearing his answer, Mabi suddenly felt like she had met a kindred spirit. She realized that her own use of voice-changing techniques when she dressed as a woman wasn't because women's performances were more attractive than men's.

"Brother, you are the elder brother! Back then, I also had to dress up as a woman to earn money."

"You two bastards, stop chatting and hurry up and bring the stuff up. We'll auction it off in order." Nami, holding the megaphone, lightly tapped the two men's shoulders as she walked towards the front of the platform, her orange dress billowing. She gently placed the fist-sized megaphone between her lips, and a sweet, clear sound, amplified by the megaphone's unique ability, spread far and wide across the surrounding plaza, silencing the noise and leaving only the chefs busy with their tasks.

"Good evening, fellow pirates. Tonight, we've prepared an auction to help you deal with some of the weapons and cannons that your fleets don't use often."

"Next, please welcome our first auction item, the world's top Grade 21 Great Sword, 'Thunderstorm'. Legend has it that it has always existed in the most heavily guarded prison in the world, Impel Down. As the weapon of successive chief guards, it has drunk the blood of countless of the world's most vicious criminals, gradually becoming a demonic sword that gnaws at the soul."

Upon hearing Nami's introduction, Mabi knew it was her turn to step in. Just as Nami had said, the demonic aura emanating from this sword, which contained anger and resentment, had already materialized. If a person with a weak spirit were to wield it, their soul would be destroyed in an instant, turning them into a puppet of thunder and rain, or a demon that indiscriminately slaughtered innocent people.

A black mist emerged from the hilt of the knife as the hand loosely gripped it, coiling around Maggie's hand and attempting to attack her soul through her body.

"roll!"

Mabi let out a low shout, and the soul power from the fruit directly covered her body to resist the attack of the black mist. She clenched her fist and poured her spiritual power into the hilt of the sword without hesitation. She only felt a slight resistance in her hand. The entire sword shook and let out a mournful cry before falling silent and being held by Mabi.

"Now, let our crew demonstrate the power of a world-famous sword." Nami smiled slightly and asked for permission before stepping back to give the stage to Mabi.

Mabi gazed at the tens of thousands of people below the stage, slowly drew the black blade 'Thunderstorm' from her hand, and spoke in a clear, refreshing female voice.

"As you all have probably heard, the Demon Blade, as its name suggests, is an evil blade that can devour the soul of its master. Once a person's spiritual power is weaker than its own, they will be devoured and controlled by it. However, for all of you here who have fought your way out of the sea of ​​blood, the so-called evil demonic power is nothing but a joke."

"Haha! The demon sword is a dangerous weapon for Paradise. How could we, as people from the New World, be corrupted by mere demonic power? Don't you all agree?" A burly man, five meters tall, laughed loudly while holding a meaty bone.

The question immediately drew laughter from below.