The iron cage was placed on the ground, and Marigold stumbled. Hancock immediately reached out to support her, pulling her two sisters behind her.
Black carefully observed the three young girls in the iron cage.
That's right, it was the Boa Sisters.
Hancock was only twelve years old now, but she already showed some resemblance to her future self.
What surprised Black was that Sandersonia's appearance was no different from her original depiction; the proportion of her head was comparable to Ivankov's, almost catching up to Vegapunk's.
Marigold, however, was very petite and delicate, a stark contrast to her plump figure in the original story.
It might be an exaggeration to say she was more beautiful than Hancock, but the two were definitely comparable.
Grothius stepped forward, looking her up and down:
"Are these the rare Slaves from the Land of Women? It's truly rare for you to get your hands on them."
Hancock quickly shielded her two sisters, her back stiff and straight, watching Grothius warily.
Marigold clutched her sister's clothes, her knuckles white.
Sandersonia stood close to Hancock, her chin slightly raised, but her eyelashes trembled uncontrollably.
Rosward stepped forward, proudly introducing:
"The place where they live is the Calm Belt; it's not easy to get in there."
"My Slave traders only managed to catch them when they went out to sea, after much difficulty."
The other Celestial Dragons attending the banquet also gathered around, pointing and gesticulating at the Boa Sisters.
For these people, the appearance, personality, strength, or potential of a Slave didn't matter.
What they valued was the novelty and rarity.
Clearly, this rare identity from Amazon Lily sparked everyone's interest.
Black lightly tapped his scepter on the floor and said:
"You said these are prizes? It seems you've designed some kind of program?"
"Of course!"
Rosward clapped his hands, and attendants immediately came forward to clear the area:
"Since everyone is satisfied, we'll use traditional rules to decide their ownership."
The Celestial Dragons were extremely self-centered beings. During their long interactions, disagreements over the ownership of certain items were inevitable.
If Celestial Dragons personally entered the fray, it could be dangerous and easily lead to irreconcilable hatred.
Thus, over time, a method for determining item ownership was formed.
It was simple: each would send out a Slave to duel.
This way, even the loser would only think about finding a stronger Slave to win back next time, and the conflict wouldn't escalate to the Celestial Dragons themselves.
In fact, if Mjosgard had expressed that he also fancied Shirahoshi and won the duel,
Even if he released Shirahoshi afterward, it wouldn't have cost him his life.
Hearing Rosward's words, Black didn't respond immediately. Instead, he slowly walked towards the iron cage, the tip of his scepter gently tapping the bars, making a crisp sound.
Hancock looked up, meeting his gaze.
Black gave her a smile.
Grothius, beside him, said impatiently:
"Good! In that case, I'll let 'Blood Axe' play with you all!"
"My 'Blood Axe' has already won thirty consecutive matches in the gladiator arena!"
Grothius showed a proud expression, looking around at everyone, as if he had the upper hand.
A flicker of imperceptible disdain flashed in Black's eyes, which Hancock, who was quietly observing him, noticed.
The gladiator arena of Mary Geoise was only slightly more valuable than the current Dressrosa arena.
Fisher Tiger was perhaps the strongest Slave in Mary Geoise in recent decades.
The World Government's methods of controlling Slaves also had their limits; once a Slave's strength became too great, neither Sea Stone nor explosive collars could completely restrict them.
If the restraints were too loose, powerful Slaves could easily escape.
If they were too tight, wouldn't they just become prisoners?
What was the point of having such a Slave if they couldn't do anything?
So—
Black instructed his attendant to bring Mandy from his estate.
Mandy's current strength was certainly a bit inferior to Kuzan's, but against these Slaves, it was still overkill.
Soon, Mandy arrived in the banquet hall. Black waved to her.
When she came closer, Black whispered a few words to her.
He instructed her not to expose her Ice-Ice Fruit ability and not to instantly defeat her opponent, but rather to engage in a back-and-forth fight first.
Hiding her strength was one aspect.
On the other hand, Black was also thinking about whether he could use Mandy to get more out of them next time.
Soon, Grothius's Slave, 'Blood Axe,' appeared in the banquet hall.
Grothius looked proudly at Black:
"How about it? This is my Slave, 'Blood Axe.'"
"Saint Black, why don't you just concede?"
He glanced at the expressionless Mandy standing beside Black:
"Such a beautiful female Slave shouldn't die in a place like a gladiator arena."
Black chuckled softly:
"It's alright, I have some confidence in my Slave."
The center of the banquet hall had been cleared, and Mandy and Blood Axe stepped forward together.
"Wow!"
The scene of beauty and beast before them drew a gasp from the onlookers.
Mandy's height was not short for a woman, almost two meters.
But in front of the five-meter-tall, muscular Blood Axe, she appeared exceptionally slender.
"Woman! You dare to stand before me?"
"I'll chop you down right now!"
Bang!
As soon as he finished speaking, the giant axe in his hand swung down fiercely towards Mandy, powerful and heavy.
Mandy, however, unhurriedly shifted her foot, her movement almost imperceptible.
With just that step, she dodged Blood Axe's attack.
The giant axe struck the ground, shattering the banquet hall's floor, and fragments splattered onto Mandy, but she didn't even blink.
Immediately, the two began to fight back and forth in the arena.
Blood Axe wielded a broad-bladed giant axe over three meters long, his moves wide and sweeping, each strike powerful and heavy.
Rosward's banquet hall was quickly hacked into disarray; it would clearly need to be torn down and rebuilt after this.
Due to Black's instructions, Mandy did not use powerful techniques.
Instead, just like when she faced Kyros in Dressrosa, she continuously created wounds on her opponent.
The sword gleamed, drawing arcs of light.
A thin line appeared on Blood Axe's left cheek, and before the blood could drip, wounds erupted on his right shoulder and left knee.
Each sword strike penetrated only three fen into the flesh, like a surgeon's ruler.
Blood Axe was infuriated by Mandy's agility and roared:
"You damned flea! Can you only run?"
Hearing this, Mandy's eyes narrowed.
Black told me to go easy, fine, but I let you live a little longer, and you dare to curse me?!
Just as Blood Axe raised his broad-bladed giant axe over his head, gathering all his strength to strike at Mandy, her figure abruptly appeared before him.
Swish!
With a flash of sword light, a small bloodstain instantly appeared on Blood Axe's forehead.
The people around, seeing Mandy slowly sheathing her sword and Blood Axe crashing to the ground, didn't understand what had happened.
Black, however, stepped forward and chuckled towards Grothius:
"It seems my luck was better this time."