"This precious auction item's …"
Before Mr. Auctioneer could announce the starting price of the item, several flashes of blade light suddenly burst from the wall of a private booth.
Bang! Bang!
The entire wall exploded, and a man whose eyes resembled those of a hawk stepped out from the shattered wall.
"W-what's going on? Who are you—are you trying to cause trouble at the Bliss Island auction?"
"I am a swordsman. This Black Blade Yoru is the blade I have long sought."
Hawk Eyes Mihawk—Vane recognized at a glance this future world's greatest swordsman. Wherever Black Blade Yoru was, his appearance was nothing strange at all.
"Even if you're the Pirate King, you still have to follow the auction house rules!"
Hawk Eyes Mihawk pointed behind him at the ruined room.
"There's one hundred million Belly in there. That's the money I used to buy it."
The gang members maintaining order quickly surrounded the auction hall. Several figures who looked like bosses stepped forward, cigars in their mouths.
"One hundred million Belly is only the starting price of this blade. And you damaged our facilities—one hundred million is even more insufficient."
Surrounded by so many people, Hawk Eyes Mihawk showed not the slightest fear and continued walking steadily toward Black Blade Yoru.
"If one hundred million Belly isn't enough, then let's use another method of payment…"
Hawk Eyes suddenly accelerated, grabbed Black Blade Yoru in his hand, and said,
"There are plenty of wanted criminals here. I'll capture them and hand them over to you—the money will definitely be enough."
Using bounties to exchange for money—this was exactly the same method Vane had used before. But gangs also cared about face; how could they agree to such a thing in front of so many bounty criminals?
"Who do you think you are?! Such a big mouth!"
"This guy… he looks kind of familiar…"
"H-he is… the nightmare of pirates, someone even the Marines don't dare provoke lightly… the swordsman with a two-hundred-million-Belly bounty—Hawk Eyes Mihawk!"
Finally, someone recognized Hawk Eyes' identity. Everyone instantly panicked—this was a great pirate with a two-hundred-million bounty, a terror who roamed the Grand Line.
On the path of pursuing swordsmanship, Hawk Eyes had offended both Marines and pirates alike. His current bounty was two hundred million, though this number would be utterly incapable of bearing the weight of the title "World's Greatest Swordsman" in the future.
"I heard that any pirate who's met him gets cut clean in half—ship and all!"
"Not just pirates—even Marine ships, he's cut down plenty of those."
There were many swordsmen among the Marines. When Hawk Eyes went to challenge them, he rarely cared whether the Marines were willing to accept, so indeed he had cut apart quite a few Marine ships.
"Everyone may have misunderstood—I'm not targeting pirates… I was just a bit bored while sailing and casually swung my blade."
Hawk Eyes was still young at this time, his aura not yet restrained. The pirates present were already unable to resist fleeing from their seats.
Hawk Eyes ignored those pirates. His gaze locked directly onto a certain private booth."Today, I also came for one person."
As he spoke, he swung Black Blade Yoru. In the organizers' hands, this unruly black blade had been difficult to control, yet in his grasp it was exceedingly obedient. A cyan flying slash overturned row after row of seats and finally struck that booth.
Screech! Boom!
The booth exploded, and a crimson aura surged upward.
"Didn't expect to run into something this troublesome."
Gryphon blocked the follow-up damage of that flying slash, but the booth itself was still lost.
Hawk Eyes Mihawk's eyes burned with fanatic excitement.
"Red-Haired Shanks. Bounty: two hundred and forty million. His blade is Gryphon, one of the twelve Supreme Grade swords."
Red-Haired's current bounty wasn't particularly high. In the original story, when Luffy ate the fruit, Shanks' bounty already started at one billion.
That "not high" was Vane's own judgment. Eighteen years later, you'd be embarrassed to go out without at least a billion. Now was eighteen years earlier—before inflation reached such levels—and a two-hundred-and-forty-million bounty was absolutely top-tier in the West Blue.
"T-the Shanks' Pirates… Red-Haired Shanks!"
"Run! If these two start fighting, it'll be world-ending!"
Those who hadn't moved yet all began to flee. The auction house staff were stuck in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat.
Red-Haired Shanks' expression grew far more serious.
"You all go wait on the ship."
He sent his crew away first. In his opponent's eyes, he saw that this battle was unavoidable.
"I've been waiting for this fight for a long time."
"I don't really like doing things this way."
Two auras suddenly erupted. Red-Haired Shanks' was a deep crimson, while Hawk Eyes' was cyan.
...
"Conqueror's Haki!"
There are three types of Haki. Observation and Armament are cultivated, while Conqueror's is innate… or rather, awakened.
Conqueror's Haki is extremely rare. Those who possess it all carry a certain kingly will.
In other words, they have the potential to become kings.
There are two main applications of Conqueror's Haki. One is to clear out the weak—after two years of training, when Luffy returned, a single burst of Conqueror's Haki directly knocked fifty thousand Fish-Man fodder unconscious.
Vane couldn't remember whether Hawk Eyes had Conqueror's Haki in the anime. But a man like this—the world's greatest swordsman—would feel strange without it.
The red and cyan Conqueror's Haki collided. The fodder who hadn't escaped in time all rolled their eyes white and fainted. This was a clash of two Conqueror's Hakis—even lifeless objects would explode under such impact.
Vane: "Hide behind me!"
Baccarat and Meowth fainted on the spot. Lena hid behind Vane, still struggling bitterly to hold on.
Vane's heart began to race. His mind filled with countless images, many of them of Muzan. The source of the blood within him was Muzan—even after crossing worlds, it still exerted some influence.
"When I ended your life, my blade was there. You crossed worlds and still think you can control me?!"
A flash of blade light swept through Vane's mind, instantly slicing Muzan's image apart.
At the same time, of the four Articuno feather embedded in Vane's chest, two and a half still contained energy. In that instant, one and a half feathers' worth of energy was drawn into his body. Only the newly obtained feather remained fully charged.
His eyes turned icy blue.
A blue-white Conqueror's Haki surged forth and slammed into the red and cyan auras. The already-rending venue, with the addition of a third Conqueror's Haki, completely erupted into a tearing storm.
The carefully arranged auction hall instantly became a ruined space filled with scattered debris.
Neither Red-Haired Shanks nor Hawk Eyes had expected to encounter a third person with Conqueror's Haki today.
The Conqueror's Haki of the three balanced against each other—you push me, I push you, none yielding.
Within Shanks' red Conqueror's Haki appeared the silhouette of a gryphon.
Within Hawk Eyes' cyan Conqueror's Haki appeared a giant eagle.
Within Vane's blue-white Conqueror's Haki appeared a face resembling a Demon Mask.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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