In just half a month, the news that Mad Hatter Town was about to auction a Devil Fruit had spread throughout most of the Western Sea.
Suddenly, pirates hungry for power swarmed in.
Especially those captains of the pirate group who are ready to enter the Great Channel are bound to win.
What does a devil fruit mean
Only these veteran pirates who are about to break into the new world can have a deep understanding.
On the other hand, the naval branch in Xihai was naturally able to capture the news.
However, troop dispatch is an inevitable flaw of the naval branch, so even if it is known, it is difficult to do anything.
Because this is the West Sea after all, not the Great Waterway.
Putting aside priorities, as one of the Four Seas, the intuitive sea area of the West China Sea is by no means comparable to that of the great waterways.
Correspondingly, this also means that the naval branch of Xihai needs to spread the vast majority of its troops to various places to protect the safety of the people within its jurisdiction.
If you want to mobilize scattered troops together, although there is no problem in instant messaging and other aspects, the timeliness cannot keep up.
The most thorny problem still stems from the ever-present threat of pirates.
Unlike the navy, they need to be stationed in one place to maintain law and order. Although they are not united, they have the same commonality and can move freely around.
Seeing that there was a profit to be made here, they clung to it like grasshoppers seeing blood.
When the navy was in place, they fled without looking back, and then headed to a profitable place on the other side.
Under this situation, hastily dispatching troops will only give those locust-like pirates the opportunity to do whatever they want.
Therefore, compared to the threat posed by individual pirate groups, the number of pirates from the Four Seas is different from the pirates from the Grand Line, which can give the navy branch a headache.
Of course, due to various factors such as different folk customs and cultures, the number of naval forces in each jurisdiction of the West China Sea varies.
To eliminate some inactive navy bugs, in some jurisdictions with sufficient military strength, the navy will coordinate the overflow forces into a mobile force, and their main task is to chase down the fleeing pirates. .
This kind of naval force, which is not restricted by jurisdiction, often scares pirates.
However, although it is effective, it treats the symptoms rather than the root cause.
And in a lawless zone with deep roots like Mad Hatter Town, what can these troops alone do in essence
It's like a vigilante armed with a gun breaking into a den of ten gangsters.
Due to the deterrent power of firearms, the ten gangsters in the den would voluntarily give up their numerical advantage and surrender.
But if a police officer armed with a gun breaks into the den of hundreds of gangsters, the result is self-evident.
To break this situation, unless the Navy Headquarters sends a force that can break the balance.
However, the turmoil caused by just one Devil Fruit was not enough to create the conditions for the Navy Headquarters to launch a war.
Although the Xihai Navy Branch was unable to deal a powerful blow to Mad Hatter Town, various informants still kept an eye on Mad Hatter Town.
Being unable to act does not mean doing nothing.
... ... ..
Mad Hatter Island, Mad Hatter Town, Mad Hatter Auction House.
As the name suggests, the building of the auction house looks like a top hat lying horizontally on the ground.
For example:
The first to second floors of the auction house are like the brim of a hat, covering the largest area and are also the main place for holding auctions.
In order to increase the passenger capacity, the design style of the auction house is generally consistent with that of a conventional opera house.
Therefore, the second floor can actually be summarized in the first floor.
On the higher levels, the area decreases with height.
The room located on the top floor of the auction house naturally belongs to the boss who controls the auction house.
As the pinnacle of the auction house, the room decoration is splendid and resplendent, with the atmosphere of the nouveau riche everywhere.
The wall in the center of the room facing the street is an entire wall of coated floor-to-ceiling glass windows. In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows is a set of European-style living room tables with a dark red tone.
The Devil Fruit that will be auctioned in ten days is placed on the table, with a layer of soft cloth underneath to highlight its preciousness.
Sitting on the main sofa chair was a sturdy middle-aged man with a slicked back hair, a cigar in his mouth, and a red suit.
This person is the owner of the auction house - Lucchese Ralph.
"You can make those wolves, tigers and leopards go crazy with just a wave of your hand. This is the charm of Devil Fruit."
Ralph lay on his back on the sofa, his eyes cold and dark, as if his humanity had been stripped away, and it was difficult for ordinary emotions to appear in them.
Opposite him, a man sneered: "It's not in vain that I spent so much effort to bring the Devil Fruit back from the Grand Channel. Just one transfer to another place can increase its value several times. This kind of good business is worth it in the world." How little."
Ralph lowered his eyelids and looked at the man's rather proud face through the smoke he exhaled, without making a sound to correct the man's misunderstanding.
There are so many good deals in this world.
Just doubling the value of a Devil Fruit is more an effect of marketing than the transaction itself.
Ralph rubbed out the red-burning butt of the cigar with his fingers and said calmly: "The base price is 100 million, and the transaction price should be more than 1 billion."
"so much?"
The man was startled, obviously trusting Ralph's judgment.
Ralph glanced at the Devil Fruit on the table and said: "Several giants in the West Sea underground world do not like this Devil Fruit, but the five major gangs are bound to get it, so those who have the ability to take the fruit will only It’s one of them, do you know what that means?”
Without waiting for the man to answer, Ralph continued:
"It means that as long as there is a normal bidding, the number will continue to be raised until the limit they can bear. Of course, the premise is that no one uses secret methods. As for the pirates who swarm in, they are just here to make up the number. It’s just a gift of money.”
After listening to Ralph's words, the man suddenly became interested.
"Then who do you think is the most likely to win this fruit among the five major gangs?"
"Gangsta.Becky."
... ... ... ... ... .
Thor Weapons Shop.
After half a month, Maude's injuries have basically healed. In addition, there is no sign of weight loss on his face due to eating a lot of meat and fish every day.
Compared with the pale and haggard look when he first woke up, his face could be described as rosy and lustrous.
Maud, who was recovering well, took off the bandage and took a look in the mirror.
The original sickness no longer existed, replaced by a face full of blood, and there was no negative effect caused by the bandage covering the eyebrows.
After looking in the mirror, Maud unexpectedly discovered that she was so handsome
At the same time, he finally found his second prey - his neighbor.
Chapter 15 Sniper
In the past half month, Maude has been diligent and honest.
What should be done should be done more and not less.
You won’t even have a thought about what you shouldn’t do.
Having so perfectly demonstrated the value of coolie work, he gradually integrated into the circle of the weapons shop.
Although Sol always said that he was very satisfied with him, he did not let himself go. He still acted and spoke carefully, and tried his best not to do anything that might be overstepping or out of line.
He knew very well that Sol's casualness was real. When accepting him, he didn't pay attention to his past identity and origin at all, but only looked at the value he could show in the present.
But if it fails to show value, or if it arouses Thor's dissatisfaction, then the current situation will change in an instant.
So when getting along with Thor, Maud will always pay close attention.
As for Sunny, after figuring out her temperament, she became familiar with her within ten days.
When Mod found a second prey, the biggest problem was not how to kill that prey, but Thor's attitude.
"Sunny, if I kill the guy next door, do you think Sol will have a problem with me?"
Maud leaned against the side of the ajar shop door, tilting her head to observe the scene in the alleyway through the crack in the door.
Sunny looked up at Maud's side face and said calmly: "Which guy?"
"The one named Albert Red is still the information you gave me. This name shouldn't be fake, right?"
"Are you questioning my intelligence capabilities?"
Tipster Sunny raised her eyebrows, her eyes piercing Maud like needles.
Maud thought that you would have to read a newspaper over and over for hours...
Thinking about it, Maude did not dare to show it, and said seriously: "How could I question your ability? Whenever I see the neighbor information you gave me, I can't help but think about how professional the information is. Only a member of the Communist Party of China can reveal the details of the neighbors so cleanly."
When she first got the neighbor information from Sunny, the level of detail was so outrageous that Maude couldn't help but wonder how many generations of bad luck it would take to meet a neighbor like Sunny.
Listening to Maud's gaudy flattery, Sunny didn't take advantage of it. She snorted coldly and said: "Many people in the town use fake names, so in terms of real and fake names, I can't guarantee whether some of the information is accurate, but if it is I can still guarantee these people next door.”
Maud asked cautiously: "Did they mess with you?"
"No."
"Then why did you find out about them so clearly?"
"Because they live next door to us."
Sunny looked at Maud with a "you're weird" look.
“…”
Mod was speechless for a moment and silently brought the topic back: "You haven't answered my question just now. If I kill Red, will Thor be unhappy?"
"How would I know such a thing?"
"All right."
"Red and you have nothing to do with each other, why did you want to kill him?"
"I think he is too noisy."
Maud casually gave a motive.
Speaking of which, the main reason why he noticed Red as a neighbor was because Red would always shout some drunken words in the alleyway when he passed the store drunkenly.
The content of the words was basically about his performance when the pirate group robbed the merchant ship. It was roughly how many people he killed during the robbery and how he tortured and killed those hard-core people.
But what impressed Maude was not these drunken words of encouragement, but Red's ugly face when he used them as a means of showing off.
It was also thanks to Red's loud voice that Maud realized that there were many suitable prey around him, so there was no need to look far away.
Listening to Maud's motive for the murder, Sunny suddenly said: "Yes, that guy is really noisy."
"You believe it?"
"?"
... ... ... ... ... .
All is ready except for the opportunity.
After careful consideration, Maude still felt the need to explore Er's attitude first.
If Thor didn't care, he would immediately ambush Red with his gun.
But if Thor didn't agree, then he would have to give up the idea.
If there was such a thing as a silencer, there would be no need to worry so much. If you find an opportunity, you can kill Red with a cold gun.
But the most fundamental reason is that I am too weak now.
If you are strong enough, you are just going to kill a prey you like, why bother to worry about the consequences.
That night.
After eating, Maud approached Thor.
After Maud revealed his intention, Thor looked at him askance while smoking a cigarette.
"Why kill Red?"
Like Sunny, Thor wants to know Maud's motives.
This time, of course, it was impossible for Maud to give a perfunctory motive such as Red being too noisy.