When Rayleigh saw that Lin Xuan and Uchiha Madara were not only unafraid, but even seemed eager for the arrival of a Marine Admiral, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
At first, he had assumed that their madness came from strength — that they were simply too powerful and therefore too fearless, their actions bold and unpredictable.
But now? He was genuinely starting to wonder if Lin Xuan and this Madara were actually insane.
Still, since they had clearly made up their minds, Rayleigh decided there was no point wasting his breath.
He sighed and said, "Then you two have your fun. I, for one, am leaving!"
He turned, intending to slip out of the auction hall before the Marines surrounded the place.
But Lin Xuan suddenly stepped in front of him.
"Hold up, old man Rayleigh," Lin Xuan said with an easy grin. "The Marine Admirals won't arrive that quickly. Before you leave, why don't you give us a little hand with something?"
Rayleigh eyed him warily. "Why should I? We're strangers, and you two already ruined my plans tonight. What makes you think I'd help you?"
Lin Xuan's smile widened, but his tone turned playful and dangerous.
"Oh, you don't have to help. I can always tell the Marines you were the one behind all this instead."
"You—!"
Rayleigh nearly choked in anger. He had half a mind to attack this arrogant brat on the spot.
But when he glanced at Madara — the man who had crushed the Celestial Dragon without breaking a sweat — he forced himself to calm down.
And there was Lin Xuan too, standing there so confidently…
Rayleigh had a feeling this young man's strength wasn't simple either. Otherwise, how could such a terrifying being like Uchiha Madara obey him so obediently?
With that realization, the retired "Dark King" decided to swallow his temper.
It wasn't fear — no, he wasn't afraid of them. He just knew that if a fight broke out now, he wouldn't win quickly.
And once the Marines arrived mid-battle, he'd be branded as their accomplice.
So much for living quietly in retirement.
Taking a deep breath, Rayleigh said helplessly, "Fine. What do you want me to do? But let me be clear — I'm not helping you fight the Marines."
Lin Xuan waved a hand dismissively. "Please. With that old body of yours? Even if you wanted to fight, I'd just be worried you'd keel over before the battle started."
Rayleigh's mouth twitched.
Insult or not, the sarcasm oddly made him feel a bit more at ease.
He gave a wry laugh. "Alright then, kid. Out with it — what kind of 'help' do you want?"
But Lin Xuan's next words almost made Rayleigh's jaw hit the floor.
Lin Xuan pointed at the three unconscious Celestial Dragons lying on the ground.
"See those three? I want them to experience what it feels like to wear collars and shackles.
The problem is, I don't know where this place keeps them. You've been around here before — mind finding me a few?"
Rayleigh froze. For a split second, he thought he had misheard.
Then all the hairs on his body stood up.
"You… you're insane! Completely insane!" he shouted, instinctively leaping back several steps as if Lin Xuan were contagious.
Before Lin Xuan could respond, Madara snorted coldly.
He didn't even bother speaking — just gave Rayleigh a contemptuous glance that said, "Coward."
That silent insult nearly made Rayleigh explode.
"Are you two serious?! Do you even understand what that means?!" he roared.
"Putting slave collars on Celestial Dragon — do you have any idea what will happen if you actually do that?!"
Madara tilted his head, expression calm.
"And what exactly would happen? Will the sky fall down?"
Lin Xuan burst into laughter. "Hah! Good one, Madara. You're not wrong. To the people of this world, putting collars and shackles on those three is pretty much the same as making the sky collapse."
Madara frowned slightly. "That serious?"
He truly couldn't grasp it — these three pathetic, pompous weaklings were somehow so important that touching them could cause global panic?
In the Shinobi World, killing a Daimyō might shake a country — but this?
Lin Xuan shrugged. "If you're curious about what makes them so special, just wake one of their guards. Use your Sharingan to read his mind — you'll find out everything you want to know."
Madara gave a curt "hmph," but followed the suggestion nonetheless.
While Madara probed for information, Rayleigh silently confirmed what he had begun to suspect —
Uchiha Madara really didn't know who or what the Celestial Dragon was.
That realization stunned him. These two truly were outsiders to this world.
He didn't dwell on that thought, though.
Instead, he asked the question that burned most in his mind:
"You already know what'll happen if you go through with this. So why are you still doing it?"
Lin Xuan's expression turned coldly amused.
"No reason. They just made me angry. They tried to auction me off like some slave — so today, I'm going to flip the script.
They think they're gods, born above everyone else? Fine. I'll make them taste exactly what it means to be beneath others — as slaves themselves."
To make the Celestial Dragon slaves!
Even Rayleigh's scalp went numb at those words.
He could already picture the fallout — the World Government enraged beyond reason, the Marines deploying their full might.
Lin Xuan and Madara would be hunted like monsters.
And worse, anyone near them — including Rayleigh himself — might get dragged down too.
He opened his mouth, wanting to talk Lin Xuan out of it, but the young man's eyes told him it was useless.
His decision was absolute.
Just then, Madara rose from where he had been crouched. His expression was calm and icy.
"I've found where they keep the collars and shackles," he said. "I'll retrieve them now."
After learning what kind of beings the Celestial Dragon were — and remembering how Saint Shalria had dared to treat him as a plaything, commanding others to "capture him alive" — Madara's irritation had turned into fury.
Now that he understood their arrogance and cruelty, his course of action was decided.
He, too, wanted these so-called "gods" to taste the life of slaves.
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