As the ship symbolizing the world's highest authority slowly docked at the Sabaody Archipego, the tension on the isnd thied.

  Just as Smoker predicted, the arrogaial Dragons chose to disembark in the wless Bck Paradise, uned with its dangers.

  Three Celestial Dragons rode atop ensved humans, desding from their ship with an air of ziness and disdain. Their mere presence cast a heavy pall over the area.

  Behind them marched a squad of heavily armed guards, their synized steps radiating an aura of authority. The streets they passed fell into an eerie silence, as if the very air had frozen.

  Even the most audacious pirates knew better than to challehe might of the World Nobles. Some k submissively at the roadside, while others, quicker on their feet, had long since vanished.

  The Celestial Dragons moved with a haughty arrogance, as if showg their dominance over the world itself. Their cold, dismissive gazes seemed to disregard the very existence of those around them.

  Unaware or indifferent to the perils of Bck Paradise, they carried on, their lives steeped in privilege and untouchable power. History, to them, was not a cautionary tale but proof of their divinely ordained supremacy.

  Smoker observed the se from a rooftop, his sharp gaze fixed orio.

  One of them, Saint Nicopol, wrinkled his nose and sniffled, wiping away snot with a handkerchief in an exaggerated motion.

  "That fool Bancroft has been funting his pirate sves every ce he gets. It’s infuriating!” he grumbled, stomping on the head of the sve beh him. The poor captive, hands g into the dirt, ehe humiliation in silence.

  Saint Luance, reing zily on a chair carried by his sve, replied without opening his eyes. “Why not ask the Cipher Pol agents? If Bancroft won’t talk, surely CP wouldn’t dare hide anything from us. Lying to a Celestial Dragon is a death sentence, after all.”

  Saint Adeine giggled softly, c her mouth. “Oh, Luance, seems like you already know something juicy~”

  Luance smirked smugly. “Of course. Gernika from CP6 discovered a supply that delivers pirate captains as sves—real trophies!”

  Nicopol’s face lit up with excitement. “Impossible! Pirate captains are rare catches. Even Cipher Pol wouldn’t be able to secure so many!”

  Luance scoffed. “Who cares how they do it? What matters is that we get what we want. They’re loyal dogs—do you think they’d ever deceive their masters?”

  Nicopol nodded eagerly. “This time, I’m buying every pirate captain avaible! I’ll make sure that fool Bancroft never gets to show off again!”

  Adeine licked her lips, her eyes gleaming with a predatory hunger. “Let’s hope there are some handsome pirate sves. The on ones don’t st long enough to be fun.”

  As the group made their way toward the au house, Smoker pulled out a Den Den Mushi. “They’ve reached your side. Remember—stay hidden.”

  A sharp voice crackled in response. “Don’t insult me. I’m busy—no time for your lectures!”

  Zeon hung up the call and turo the au house staff. “You’re in charge from now on. Handle everything.”

  A veteran of both royal courts and the underworld, Zeon uood the Celestial Dragons’ depravity all too well. They were like rabid dogs, especially when it came to beautiful women—pirates, queens, it made no differeo them.

  To avoid unnecessary flict, Zeon had arranged for all staff to remain out of sight, leaving only pirates and criminals to face the nobles’ whims.

  This was the agreement with Smoker: the Celestial Dragons could do as they pleased with the scum of the underworld, but precautions would ehe chaos didn’t spill over.

  The Celestial Dragons had ehe au house, and Smoker decided not to follow them. He trusted Zeon to hahe situation fwlessly.

  They had already coordinated with the Wover, ensuring that any damages caused by the Celestial Dragons would be covered by the gover. This arra had taken siderable effort.

  For this event, Smoker and Zeon had meticulously prepared, eliminating over a dozen pirate crews aing more than 300 high-quality sves. Among them were several bounty hunters, with the highest bounty reag 60 million Beli.

  The first public au soon began.

  Standing outside the au house, Smoker could hear the excmations and ughter resonating from within, even from a distance.

  “Looks like the unch was a success. The sve au has made a sensational debut,” he thought, satisfied.

  With everything running smoothly, Smoker felt no reason to liurning away, he began wandering through the wless zohe streets were noticeably quieter than usual, as even the pirates seemed drawn to the au.

  Three hours ter, Smoker's Den Den Mushi rang.

  “Hello, Zeon. How did it go?” he asked.

  Zeon’s voice came through, brimming with excitement.“Smoker, do you know how much we made from this au?!”

  Smoker raised an eyebrow. "Even with some infted bids during the au, ordinary sves should go for 700,000 Beli each. With 300 sves, that’s around 200 million. Add the bounty hunters, and maybe we’d reaillion."

  Before Smoker could voice his calcution, Zeon interrupted with a triumphant ugh.“The total was over 1.5 billion Beli! That’s more than triple our expectations!”

  “What?!” Smoker was stunned. “How is that even possible?”

  “A Celestial Dragon bid several times the expected price for a few pirate captains, which drove up the price of the other sves as well!”

  Smoker frowned. "The Celestial Dragons are known for their extravagance, but wouldn’t other bidders, like nobles from smaller nations, hesitate to match those prices? If the Celestial Dragons stop bidding, wouldn’t the others risk being stuck overpaying?"

  Zeon chuckled.“Smoker, sometimes you’re too logical for your own good.”

  “Don’t fet—these sves aren’t just status symbols. They’re ons.”

  Smoker was momentarily puzzled. “ons? What do you mean?”

  “Bounties represent strength. Ensved pirates are as good as living ons. Would you let a powerful on fall into the hands of a rival nation?”

  Smoker’s eyes widened as realization dawned. "Of course! With those trol colrs, the sves bee tools at their master’s and."

  Zeon tinued enthusiastically.“Smaller nations without strong militaries were desperate to buy those bounty sves, several times the usual price. Why iime and resources into training soldiers when you buy ready-made batants?”

  Smhed, shaking his head with a wry smile. "They’re not just for defense, are they? If these nations wage wars, these pirate sves bee the perfect ons of war."

  Zeon ughed.“What’s wrong? Feeling guilty for fueling their ambitions?”

  “Not really,” Smoker replied, his tone calm. “If a nation is determio go to war, they’ll find the means—whether it’s ons, meraries like the Germa 66, or the Eight Treasures Navy. Maintaining peace is difficult, but starting a war is far too easy.”

  “Then what’s on your mind?” Zeon asked.

  Smaze softened.“Just thinking about the civilians. That’s all.”