Chapter 172: All Sides Gather! Grand Auction
After all, even with Lotte's extraordinary talent, something unexpected must have happened during these ten years—otherwise, he wouldn't be hiding his identity.
This thought also put Charlotte Linlin at ease.
At the same time.
She quickly thought of a particularly interesting situation.
The corners of her mouth curved upward as she smiled.
"Speaking of which, if we tell Kaido about the Azure Emperor's return, his expression will probably be quite spectacular."
"That alone is worth looking forward to. However, no matter how you look at it."
"Lotte's current strength is still an unknown. It's better to wait until the World Government probes his true power before we act."
For Charlotte Linlin.
She naturally did not wish to see Lotte's return.
After all, ten years ago, his strength was already comparable to the most top-tier great pirates.
If he fully unleashed his talent.
The impact he could have was something even she found hard to imagine.
The current chaotic balance among the powers suited Charlotte Linlin perfectly.
She didn't want the situation where she finally helped get rid of Rocks ten years ago, only for Lotte to return now with unstoppable momentum.
Long Bread nodded slightly upon hearing this.
"For now, it's only speculation. Perhaps this is really aimed at that Red-Haired guy."
"After all, among all the great pirates right now, he's one of the odd ones out. It's not strange for the World Government to target him."
The Red-Haired.
Possessing top-tier great pirate-level swordsmanship and physical technique.
But unlike other pirates, he operated completely alone.
Any other pirate with such strength would undoubtedly build a massive crew.
After all, with that level of power.
Establishing a force would easily allow them to gain a foothold in the New World.
But strangely.
The Red-Haired showed no such intention and had no desire to form his own pirate crew—he was simply searching for some pirate crew.
Charlotte Linlin waved her hand.
"Fine. If it's really targeting that Red-Haired, all the better."
"But if Lotte really survived, that's the strangest part. After all, there's recently been news of an auction for the Wood-Wood Fruit."
"Based on the strength Lotte showed ten years ago, that fruit should be his ability. How could he have survived after losing his Devil Fruit power?"
"It looks like we need to get involved in this auction too."
Since Charlotte Linlin had only seen Lotte's abilities ten years ago.
She didn't know that the fruit wasn't actually the source of Lotte's power.
"Yes!"
Long Bread nodded without hesitation.
Then a troubled look appeared on his face. He hesitated slightly before continuing toward Charlotte Linlin.
"That fruit has already attracted far too much attention by now."
"If we really want to win the bid, gathering the funds in such a short time would be quite difficult—even for us."
After all, any pirate who witnessed that scene ten years ago.
Would undoubtedly be determined to obtain Lotte's Wood-Wood Fruit—because that fruit was unquestionably one of the absolute top-tier ones.
Even for those who already possessed Devil Fruits.
This fruit could help their subordinates grow rapidly.
After all, the Wood-Wood Fruit's ability was undeniably at the pinnacle.
Charlotte Linlin waved her hand carelessly.
"If worst comes to worst, have the kids squeeze a few more affiliated kingdoms. Surely they don't want to make enemies of the BIG MOM Pirates?"
"No need to report this small matter."
Long Bread nodded and then left.
For the BIG MOM Pirates, Charlotte Linlin's orders were absolute.
......
Far across the sea.
On the Roger Pirates' ship.
As captain, Roger stood alone at the bow.
The Roger Pirates had already become one of the most prestigious crews in the New World.
On par with the Whitebeard Pirates as the strongest.
As two legendary pirates who both rose from the Rocks era.
They naturally paid special attention to the appearance of the Wood-Wood Fruit this time.
Raleigh walked up.
"Roger, do you think we need to attend this upcoming auction?"
"The information about that Wood-Wood Fruit is most likely real."
For them.
Anyone who had seen Lotte's abilities back then would naturally connect it to this fruit.
Roger only nodded calmly.
"Yeah, looks like we really do need to go to this auction."
"Though I doubt that kid would go down so easily, this Wood-Wood Fruit is still worth our special trip."
The current Roger Pirates.
Though already collecting Poneglyphs.
It was still a very long process, so naturally they could spare some time to attend this Wood-Wood Fruit auction.
"Besides us, which other guys are planning to attend?"
Roger narrowed his eyes and asked calmly.
If he guessed right, plenty of old acquaintances would be there.
Raleigh naturally didn't hide anything.
"This time, besides our Roger Pirates, the Whitebeard Pirates, Beasts Pirates, and BIG MOM Pirates are all attending."
"It's said even people from the World Government will show up."
This auction had practically become a gathering of all the legendary pirates in the New World.
Such a scene hadn't happened in years—no matter how you looked at it, it was an extremely grand event!
Roger nodded slightly.
"The ones behind organizing this auction—have we figured out who they are?"
"To put something this important up for auction… I don't know whether to call it foolish or clever, or if there's some other purpose."
Roger wasn't worried about safety this time.
After all, with so many legendary pirates gathered, even the World Government wouldn't dare cause trouble.
Though on the surface the World Government and pirates were enemies.
In reality, it wasn't so simple—they mostly just kept to their own lanes.
There was even quite a bit of secret cooperation.
So Roger wasn't surprised the World Government would send people.
Hearing this, Raleigh nodded firmly.
"Yeah, it's the West Blue mafia."
"Over the years, they've been almost completely infiltrated by the Shadow Organization. They also realized they can't protect this thing."