Night stretched like taut black silk, windless yet reeking of gunpowder and perfume.
Two nautical miles away the Gellman blazed with light—golden lanterns dangling from both rails, their reflections writhing on the waves like golden tentacles luring buyers.Leon and Nami lay prone on the speed-boat deck, bodies rolling with the swell, eyes locked on the floating "golden prison" through their telescopes."Lot 3, shadow clone, opening bid five hundred million," Nami whispered, knuckles white, "that's my torn shadow and your coordinate-seed fragment."Leon nodded. In his palm a "Sea-Spirit Stone Block" spun slowly—same density as Sea-Prism Stone but pixel-controllable.[System:Pseudo Sea-Prism 97 % complete, can briefly jam true Sea-Prism field]He compressed the block into two rings and handed one to Nami. "Wear it—your ability won't be suppressed for thirty seconds, enough to break the cage."Nami slipped the ring on, grinning. "Thirty seconds? I can empty a vault in ten."Count-down 20:00:00—the sky-citadel platform kept consuming seeds; every tick added purple lightning to Leon's eyes.The speed-boat kissed the Gellman's stern. Nami hurled a grappling hook and both sprang aboard like cats. A guard opened his mouth—to be silenced as Leon pressed his palm: "Bedrock Generate," a grey wall sealing sound and man alike.Inside, crystal chandeliers glittered above nobles who discussed slaves as if discussing cattle.
On the central stage an iron cage was draped in black cloth; chains clinked beneath.Auctioneer Bingo, clown-suited, bellowed through a Den-Den-Mushi:
"Ladies and gentlemen! Lot 3 can teleport and contains a data-fragment of an unknown ability-user! Opening price—five hundred million Berries!"As the gavel fell Nami flipped the bid sheet and leapt onto the stage: "Five hundred million and one!"Gasps rippled; aristocrats turned to see the tangerine girl atop the cage, sea-wind whipping her coat to reveal the Clima-Tact at her hip.Bingo narrowed his eyes. "Miss, do you know the price of disrupting this auction?"Nami's smile was ice. "Price? I can afford it—because tonight this place will be reduced to debris!"She raised her staff; a lightning ball burst, shattering the chandelier into crystal rain. Simultaneously Leon slammed his palm: "/fill ~-30 ~-1 ~-30 ~30 ~-1 ~30 minecraft:tnt"—Beneath the floor purple grids flashed; exactly 3,600 "TNT blocks" spawned in perfect rows, chocolate-squares separating nobles from slaves.Explosion countdown 10 seconds. System voice echoed:[Warning: large-scale destruction imminent, coordinate-seed cost +2 %]Leon gritted his teeth. "Accept!"Nami hurled the Sea-Spirit ring; it shattered mid-air into light-dust, briefly neutralizing the Sea-Prism field around the cage. She yanked the gate; the shadow clone lifted its head—faceless, yet black tears fell when it saw her."Let's go home." Nami stretched her hand; the shadow dissolved into smoke and merged with her own shadow, chains clanging open.Count-down 3 seconds. Bingo roared, Ito-Ito fully awakened, billions of white threads surging like a tsunami: "You insects!"Leon raised his hand, fingers splayed: "Bedrock Wall!"
Grey stone erupted, slicing the thread-tide; simultaneously he clenched his left fist and all TNT blocks detonated at once—BOOM—
Flame rose in perfect cubes, shock-waves absorbed by the bedrock wall; the aristocrat section was flipped, the slave section untouched. In the fire-light Leon scooped Nami and leapt overboard on a purple Ender-Pearl flash.The sea was blasted into a square crater, water refusing to refill—as if the world itself had been deleted.On the speed-boat Nami panted, shadow fully returned, a flicker of purple lightning in her eyes: "I feel… whole again."Leon watched the sinking Gellman, pixel-fire dancing in his pupils: "Seed fragment—secured."System notification refreshed quietly:[Coordinate-Seed +10 %]
[Remaining Count-down: 70:29:59]The sky-citadel had consumed 2 % from the blast, but the fragment gain reduced net loss to 1 %.Nami slammed her re-unified Clima-Tact onto the deck, grinning at last: "Next stop—we buy the entire sky-citadel!"The speed-boat turned its prow and sped into the night, the burning Gellman fading behind them like deleted pixels.Count-down 70 hours—begins.