A refined beauty priced at ten million Berries—there was no denying it.
That number was already exorbitant.
The base price for an ordinary human slave was 500,000 Berries.
Compared to that benchmark, ten million was absurd—practically daylight robbery.
Yet even that sky-high price did nothing to curb the feverish excitement in the auction hall.
To the common folk, ten million Berries—no, even a hundred thousand—was nothing short of astronomical.
But the world of pirates was warped and unnatural.
Most wealth was monopolized by nobles and wealthy magnates.
To those people, ten million Berries was nothing more than loose change.
In the blink of an eye, the bidding had already climbed to eleven million.
It was clear the scholarly beauty inside that pink cage was wildly sought after.
Within the cage, the woman saw the ravenous enthusiasm on the bidders' faces.
A deep sorrow flickered through her eyes—pitiful enough to soften anyone's heart.
"Slavery… Something like this really has no place in the world," Kyros muttered, fury simmering beneath his voice.
"Rear Admiral Kuzan, Yoriichi—we're Marines. Marines who stand for justice. Are we seriously going to stand by and watch this happen right in front of us?"
"We're really… not going to do anything?!"
Kyros's voice trembled slightly.
Women and children—those were the ones who stirred people's sense of justice most easily.
Kyros was still young, after all.
He had joined the Marines because he wanted to help people.
Seeing that woman locked inside a cage… the anger boiling inside him finally broke free.
He could almost feel her pain.
Kuzan let out a slow sigh and rose to his feet.
Kyros didn't even need to say it.
The young rear admiral who espoused "Burning Justice" had already reached his limit.
At this moment, Kuzan no longer cared about the crowd.
No longer cared about the consequences.
No longer cared about causing a scene.
"Move."
Kuzan's body dissolved into a drifting mist of frost, vanishing from sight.
When he reappeared, he stood in the center of the stage, one hand resting lightly upon the host's shoulder—cold air bleeding out with every breath.
"Hey. Let me ask you something," Kuzan said, voice low, eyes icy.
"These slaves you're selling—where exactly did they come from?"
He had already confirmed that the Lolo Commerce Guild was involved with pirates.
Now, the origin of these "slaves" would be the key to bringing the entire syndicate down.
"You—who are you?!"
"How did you show up here out of nowhere?!"
"G-Guards! Guards!"
The host felt a chill crawl over his shoulder.
He snapped his head around—only to see a towering figure standing right beside him.
Upon seeing Kuzan's cold glare, the man's hair stood on end.
He immediately broke into a panicked shout for help.
Chaos rippled outward through the room.
The sudden development left the audience murmuring anxiously, pointing toward the stage without understanding what had happened.
At the host's screams, bright lights flooded the hall.
The sealed doors burst open, and a tidal wave of guards surged toward the stage, ready to subdue Kuzan by force.
Kyros leapt from his seat, landing squarely in the path of one group of guards.
He raised his sword with both hands, blocking the passage as he shouted:
"We're Marines!"
"We have solid evidence that the Lolo Commerce Guild has been cooperating with pirates! We're here to bring several individuals back to the Marine base for questioning!"
"Do not obstruct Marine operations!"
But his words changed nothing.
The auction guards stared for only a heartbeat—then charged directly at Kyros without hesitation, completely unbothered by the fact that he was a Marine.
Seeing this, the fire that had been mounting in Kyros's chest erupted all at once.
He struck without holding back.
Within several breaths, multiple guards had already collapsed beneath his blade, falling into spreading pools of blood.
The moment blood was shed inside the auction hall, the participating guests finally realized just how dire the situation had become.
They scrambled in terror toward the exits.
Even though Kyros had shouted that they were Marines, here in the West Blue, the Marines' reputation ranked below even the local specialty—the Mafia.
In an instant, the entire venue plunged into turmoil.
…
"Young men really do run hot," Yoriichi sighed.
"Couldn't even hold it in for a few moments?"
Watching Kuzan and Kyros stir chaos across the auction hall, Yoriichi couldn't help the faint twitch at the corner of his eye.
Hadn't they just agreed on a plan?
Wait until the auction ended, then make their move.
If they wanted to rescue slaves afterward, it would've been simple enough.
But now Kuzan and Kyros had thrown all subtlety aside and acted in front of everyone, causing a commotion far bigger than necessary.
"Two completely unreliable brats," Yoriichi muttered.
He rose to his feet with a helpless sigh, palm settling lightly on the hilt of his blade.
Right at that moment, a few sharp-eyed guards noticed his movement. Thinking he was about to draw his sword, they quickly unsheathed their own and rushed at him with blades raised.
Facing these Lolo Commerce Guild guards, Yoriichi had no intention of taking lives.
He shifted aside with a graceful sidestep and spoke calmly:
"I am Major Yoriichi of Marine Headquarters."
"Cease your attack."
But his warning fell on deaf ears.
The guards, seeing him evade, immediately pressed forward and swung again, blades gleaming as they aimed straight for his head.
"In that case… since you struck first, I'll be acting strictly in self-defense."
As the cold glint of steel descended toward him, Yoriichi's expression chilled.
In one smooth motion, he drew his blade and unleashed a quiet arc of sword light.
The silent strike passed through the attacking guards in a flash.
A heartbeat later, the guards before him froze—then collapsed heavily to the ground.
Dark blood spilled across the floor, spreading rapidly.
"If you must blame someone… blame yourselves," Yoriichi murmured.
He spared the bodies a brief, indifferent glance—neither grief nor anger in his eyes.
At nearly the same moment, Kuzan had already unleashed his Devil Fruit powers.
Every guard who had charged him was flash-frozen in an instant.
Within a radius of more than ten meters around him, the entire hall had transformed into a world of ice.
The auction host's horrified expression remained frozen on his face—literally—encased in a layer of crystalline frost.
Inside the pink cage, the beautiful woman stared wide-eyed at Kuzan and the others.
The sudden shift from bidding hall to frozen battlefield left her completely stunned.
"Y-You… you're Marines?!"
She had heard Yoriichi shouting earlier, and now her gaze fell upon Kuzan with disbelief.
In her mind, Marines would never act like this.
Not at a "legal" auction.
Not against people backed by the wealthy and powerful.
As for the tall swordsman's earlier claim about the Commerce Guild collaborating with pirates?
Please.
In this world, which slave-trading guild didn't work with pirates?
And since when did Marines bother policing any of it?
"Yes. We're Marines."
Kuzan nodded, stepping forward.
As he spoke, he gripped the cage bars with one hand—freezing them solid—and then smashed the ice with a single punch, shattering the prison completely.
"Miss, you're free."
"Oh—right. Before you go, could you tell me your name?" Kuzan asked.
"And… how exactly did you end up being sold as a slave?"
(End of Chapter)
⭐ Enjoying the story?You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon!Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects.Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSims
PS: My third book finally got unbanned, you can check it out if you're looking for a decent the Boys fanfiction.