Mio naturally didn't know what was happening outside the auction house.
After entering the venue, Mio had already taken Mashi and Hei Yan into a private VIP room and sat down quietly, waiting for the auction to begin.
He had no intention of sitting with the pirates below. Doing so might cause unnecessary trouble.
The table in the private room was already filled with various fruits, and two attractive women stood behind the soft sofa, ready to serve the guests and fulfill any of their needs.
Picking up a grape, Mio popped it into his mouth, savoring the sweet juice as he waved his hand. "You may leave. We don't need anything right now."
The two women nodded, twisting their seductive bodies as they replied, "We'll be waiting just outside the door, sir. Call us anytime if you need us."
With that, they left and closed the door behind them.
Mashi stared at the closed door, her face full of displeasure. "Those trashy women… All they know is how to seduce my brother. They're not even half as pretty as Sister Lilith."
"Haha." Amused, Mio patted Mashi's head gently, then picked another grape and popped it into her mouth.
With a thought, a black shadow warrior emerged behind Mio, kneeling on one knee as it awaited orders.
Mio spoke calmly. "Once the auction starts, whoever buys the devil fruits—track them. Observe where they go, then come back and report."
The shadow warrior nodded respectfully. A black shadow resembling a bottomless pit appeared beneath it, and the figure sank into it, disappearing from the room.
At the same time, Mio activated his Observation Haki, covering the entire auction house.
Suddenly—
Mio raised his brows slightly, surprise flashing in his eyes. "A Celestial Dragon?"
"Brother, what's a Celestial Dragon?" Mashi asked curiously, peeling a grape and feeding it into Mio's mouth.
While chewing, Mio responded, "Nothing important. Just a bunch of trash."
Despite the dismissive words, a flicker of thought passed through Mio's gaze. While it wasn't rare for Celestial Dragons to attend auctions—it was, in fact, rather common—he hadn't expected to encounter one so soon after arriving. It was… intriguing.
And just like that, a realization dawned.
"Seems like all the devil fruits in this auction might end up in the hands of the Celestial Dragons," Mio murmured.
It was no secret that Celestial Dragons loved collecting devil fruits. Much like kings and nobles of smaller nations, they didn't consume the fruits themselves very often. Instead, they collected them and fed them to their slaves.
For most people, even a single devil fruit was a priceless treasure worth at least 100 million Berries.
But for Celestial Dragons? That was just pocket change.
"No matter who buys them, those devil fruits will end up in my hands eventually," Mio chuckled to himself, leaning back and nibbling at more fruit as he waited patiently.
Beside him, Hei Yan sat silently.
Before long, the auction officially began.
As usual, the items on offer included famous swords, slaves, devil fruits, exquisite jewelry, and the like.
Unsurprisingly, the most popular items were the slaves and the devil fruits.
However, there were no fish-men among the slaves this time—mostly just pirates.
"My lord, we found only these few," Hei Yan said respectfully as he handed three bounty posters to Mio.
Mio took them and examined each one.
All three were bounty notices for devil fruit users currently present at the venue.
Webster – Bounty: 4.9 million Berries. Zoan-type Dog-Dog Fruit, White Wolf form.
Moore – Bounty: 71 million Berries. Zoan-type Bird-Bird Fruit, Monkey-Eating Eagle form.
Arne – Bounty: 97 million Berries. Paramecia-type Influence Fruit.
"Influence Fruit?" Mio narrowed his eyes as he read the description, interest flickering.
"Do you know what this fruit can do?" he asked, glancing toward Hei Yan.
"I know a little," Hei Yan replied. "It creates a field of influence. Within the field, the user can affect any object—but not people."
"Interesting." Mio grinned slightly and set the bounty posters on the table. He continued watching the auction while saying casually, "These three are yours after the auction ends."
"Understood," Hei Yan nodded, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.
The auction continued on.
The Celestial Dragon was seated in another private box.
As expected, all the devil fruits were purchased by the Celestial Dragon—each for 200 million Berries. Two fruits in total.
And both were quite valuable—ancient Zoan types. One was a Dire Wolf, the other a Sickle Dragon.
They were very powerful devil fruits by any standard.
Mio remained seated in his box until the auction ended.
Then he turned to Mashi with a gentle smile. "You'll go with Hei Yan. We'll meet up afterward. I've got something to do."
"Okay, brother." Mashi nodded obediently.
Without saying anything extra, Hei Yan stood, picked up the bounty orders, and left the room with Mashi.
Mio stayed seated, his Observation Haki still monitoring the movements of the Celestial Dragon.
After a while, once the Celestial Dragon also exited the auction house, Mio slowly stood and walked out of the box as well.
Although the Celestial Dragons had a residence in the Sabaody Archipelago, most of them didn't live there. They usually came for a short visit before returning to Marijoa.
After all, Sabaody wasn't far from Marijoa, and there was a special route that allowed for quick travel between the two.
Besides, most Celestial Dragons despised the idea of living on the same island as "untouchables."
At that moment—
The Celestial Dragon was heading toward the port, ready to board his ship and return to Marijoa.
He sat proudly on a slave, smiling gleefully. "I bought two excellent devil fruits today. Once I get back, I'll pick two strong slaves to eat them. Then I'll pay that Donquixote guy a visit and show him how strong my new toys are!"
Along the way, anyone who saw the Celestial Dragon immediately dropped to their knees, not daring to lift their heads.
Soon, the Celestial Dragon arrived at his luxurious ship.
There were many slaves aboard, along with a few CP agents for protection.
"Saint Middellin, should we set course for Marijoa now?" one of the CP agents asked respectfully.
The Celestial Dragon nodded. "Yes. Let's go."
"As you command," the agent replied.
From a distance—
Mio stood calmly, holding two apples in his hands and smiling faintly. His gaze was fixed on the deck, where two devil fruit boxes were being held carefully by slaves.
A thought passed through his mind.
"Replace!"