Rakuya's fist crashed down, flattening Charlmaco Saint's nose. Blood geysered.
"Aaah!" Charlmaco wailed. Around the hall, pirates exchanged looks and clamped their mouths shut.
On the upper tier, Bukodi of the Battle-Axe Pirates, a two hundred million bounty man, swallowed hard. He did not dare speak. Offending a Celestial Dragon? He would not, even with ten lives to spare.
But this youth had not only offended one. He had beaten a Celestial Dragon bloody. Terror gnawed at Bukodi's gut.
What kind of strength lets a man laugh at Celestial Dragons? At Marine Headquarters behind them? Who could act this casually in the face of that power?
Whitebeard, perhaps. Roger, maybe. Legends.
"G-good god…" Bukodi's lips quivered as cold sweat soaked his back.
"Captain, this kid is trouble. We picked the wrong fight," a cautious crewman whispered.
"You think I don't know?" Bukodi hissed, face bone-white.
The auction hall was a tomb. Rakuya's suffocating presence had stunned everyone into silence. Even pirates with bounties over a hundred million did not so much as breathe wrong. The small fry scarcely dared blink.
Only Charlmaco's ragged screams broke the hush.
"Universal Pull." Rakuya's mouth quirked. Two fingers bent. Power surged, a ruthless tide that reached for the fruit at center stage.
Boom.
In a blink, the Devil Fruit shuddered free of its crystal cylinder. It arced through the air into Rakuya's waiting hand, the entire hall gaping.
"A D-Devil Fruit!"
"He just stole it. In front of everyone!"
"Isn't he afraid of the auction house's backers?"
"He beat a Celestial Dragon. Compared to that, what's a backer?"
The auctioneer, Mondy, stared, dumbstruck. He had never seen anyone rob the stage. His face hardened. "A word of advice, sir. That Devil Fruit belongs to Lord Charlmaco. Think carefully about the consequences."
"Spare me." Rakuya flicked his wrist. Mondy jerked as if struck by a sledgehammer, spat blood, and sailed off the dais to land in a limp heap, unconscious.
Rakuya remembered how gleefully this clown had hoped to see him die.
"Up close, it still looks ordinary," Rakuya murmured, turning the fruit in his hand. "Just a piece of produce."
"That is my Devil Fruit. Mine! Give it back! Give it back!" Charlmaco gurgled through blood, hatred twisting his broken face.
"I took it by skill. Why would I give it back?"
Rakuya laughed like he had just heard the world's funniest joke.
Give it back? Not in this lifetime.
"Urk." Charlmaco seized up and toppled, fainting dead away.
"So fragile."
With the pest snoring on the floor, Rakuya's focus slid inward. "System, how many points can I redeem for this Logia-type Devil Fruit?"
He wanted to raise other elements. Gravity alone was overwhelming, yes, but a one-note symphony was dull.
Fire, perhaps.
Vibration.
Ice.
There were so many elements he wanted to push to max.
Ding. System estimating. Estimate complete. Exchange value: 1,800 points.
"That much?"
Correct. It is a Logia-class fruit with formidable potential.
"I see."
For a breath he considered eating it. Then he pictured bobbing like a stone in seawater for the rest of his life and let the idea go.
Dominant on land but crippled at sea? Not his path.
"Exchange it."
Ding. Exchange successful.Consumed: one Logia-type Devil Fruit.Points gained: 1,800.Detected elements eligible for max upgrade. Proceed?