"Not bad, Perona. You're quite capable," Kalifa said, holding Hawkins by the collar as she approached Perona's side.
"Ikki's teachings weren't wasted on you. He gave you Tenken for good reason."
At this moment, the Supernovas who had been fighting Perona had all fallen. With the power of Shikai behind it, even Urouge couldn't absorb the damage.
"Hehe, of course!" Perona replied, placing her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest with a happy, bright red face.
Fighting and defeating pirates with bounties worth hundreds of millions of berries had made Perona's confidence soar. At this moment, she was somewhat grateful to Ikki for training her.
"Now that you've experienced this power, train hard from now on," Kalifa said.
"Stop making Ikki keep such a close eye on you."
Kalifa looked around, and soon her brows furrowed.
"Where's Supernova Jewelry Bonney? Why isn't she here?"
"Bonney?" Perona scratched the back of her head. "I don't know. I obviously defeated her, but she disappeared in the blink of an eye."
"Gone?" Kalifa frowned even more deeply. "Did a child or an old person leave here just now?"
"How did you know? A child did leave just now. It's strange—why would a child suddenly appear on my battlefield?"
"You idiot! Were you sleeping when Ikki taught us about various Devil Fruit powers? Turning into a child is Jewelry Bonney's Devil Fruit ability."
Kalifa poked Perona's forehead with her finger, looking exasperated.
"Eh? Devil Fruit ability? Then... what should we do now?"
"What else can we do? Neither of us has mastered Observation Haki, and Sabaody Archipelago is huge. We can't possibly search everywhere."
Kalifa sighed and looked at the Marines running toward them from not far away.
"Forget it. That woman only had a bounty of just over 100 million berries anyway. It's not bad to catch these guys."
Kalifa casually tossed the unconscious Hawkins onto the pile with Capone Bege and the other unconscious pirates, then walked toward the Marines.
Perona pursed her lips and quickly followed behind Kalifa.
"Hello, I'm Commodore David, the Marine officer in charge of Sabaody Archipelago. Are you bounty hunters?" Marine Commodore David asked, looking at the fallen Hawkins and others with extreme shock.
Those were all pirates with bounties over 100 million berries—members of the so-called Worst Generation.
But such powerful pirates had actually been captured by two women. How could this not surprise David?
"We're Ikki's partners. As a Marine, you should know his name," Kalifa said.
"We hope you can send the bounty for these captured pirates to our ship. Our crewmates are guarding it there."
David was surprised when he heard Kalifa's words, but he quickly recovered and promised to send the berries to the Explorer's location that Kalifa had indicated.
After handling the arrangements, Kalifa pulled Perona toward the auction house.
As a former CP9 agent of the World Government, she didn't want to have too much contact with Marines, even while wearing a mask.
What Kalifa and Perona didn't expect was that soon after they left, Hawkins, who had been unconscious, suddenly woke up.
The strength of the Supernova pirates was quickly proven to the Marines. The pirates caught by Kalifa and Perona escaped once again—except for Kid, who had been directly killed by Perona.
"Um... Commodore David, their bounty... do we still have to pay it?" a Marine soldier asked David tremblingly.
"Idiot! Of course we have to pay!" David snapped, clutching his head with a gloomy expression.
Even if he wanted to withhold the bounty from Ikki's crew, he knew that given Ikki's standing with Marine leadership, if he really did steal the bounty, his Marine career would be over.
Although even if he paid, his position would definitely be reduced.
Sabaody Archipelago, auction house.
"You're back," Ikki said, turning around with a smile as Kalifa and Perona returned.
"Ikki, I can use this sword now!" Perona said, approaching with light steps and a joyful smile on her face.
Defeating the Supernova pirates in succession had made her less afraid of Ikki. She even thought it might be a good choice to stay aboard his ship.
"Good, I know," Ikki nodded slightly.
Through the system, Ikki had already learned that Perona was now able to use her Zanpakutō Tenken's Shikai.
"Listen to me, Ikki!" Perona said with a smile.
"Not only did I kill Kid, but I also knocked out those Supernovas like Urouge. Then the Marines will deliver the bounty to our ship..."
With a bright smile on her face, Perona happily told Ikki about her achievements.
Ikki smiled and acted as Perona's attentive audience.
A few minutes passed, and when Perona finished her story, the auction had reached its final stage.
"The auction has ended. Please deliver the slaves purchased by the Celestial Dragon," one of the remaining Celestial Dragon guards said, walking to the auction platform and addressing the staff.
The auctioneer nodded and was about to respond when a terrifying aura suddenly erupted from backstage.
Except for Ikki, Nami, and the others, everyone present collapsed due to this overwhelming presence.
"Conqueror's Haki? Is this the power of Silvers Rayleigh?" Nami and Vivi asked, frowning as they looked toward the backstage area where the Haki had originated.
Sure enough, Silvers Rayleigh, who had just been auctioned to the Celestial Dragon, walked up to the guard wearing flip-flops and picked up the box containing berries.
"I'll make quite a profit this time," Rayleigh said.
"It's really all thanks to you, young man."
Rayleigh raised the box and gestured to Ikki with a smile.
Ikki nodded to him and led Nami and the others onto the auction stage.
"Silvers Rayleigh, nice to meet you. As expected of Roger's right-hand man—your Conqueror's Haki is incredibly powerful."
"Speaking of Conqueror's Haki, yours is quite strong as well," Rayleigh replied with a smile, looking at the slaves nearby before continuing.
"What are you planning to do with those slaves you bid on?"
"My partner couldn't bear to see them auctioned off as mere merchandise, and thanks to you, I don't have to pay any berries now."
Ikki walked up to the many slaves and calmly approached them.
He quickly reached out and removed the explosive collars from each slave's neck with his bare hands.
With his advanced Armament Haki, he was already capable of such feats.
"Alright, everyone, please leave," Ikki said.
"I still have something I want to discuss with the old man."
At Ikki's signal, the slaves quickly left the auction house, and Ikki stood before Silvers Rayleigh once again.
"Silvers Rayleigh, may I have a word with you?"
"About What? Are you interested in my bounty as well?" Rayleigh asked with a smile, looking at Ikki and his crew with interest.