Recruit Luffy at the start and build the strongest navy.

Chapter 266 Auction House

"Um?!"

Upon hearing this, Nami and the others were stunned for a moment, and subconsciously looked at the portrait. What came into view was a face that they would deeply etch into their bones.

However, the faces on this portrait are slightly different from the ones they remember; the faces appear a bit more youthful.

But it didn't have much of an impact; they could still clearly recognize that this was the person who had put them in such a sorry state.

"That's him!!"

Ruf suddenly roared, his eyes fixed on Kyle in the newspaper.

He still vividly remembers the indifferent look in their eyes, the way they completely disregarded them.

After escaping, he swore to the sun that one day he would knock Kyle away.

So now that his enemy has met, even just seeing a photo makes Luffy's anger surge.

He immediately looked up at the village chief and asked:

"Old village chief, where did you get this picture of Kyle?"

village head:……

"It's in the newspaper!"

……

For a moment, the field fell silent.

After a while, Nami took the newspaper from the village chief and began to read its contents.

"Vice Admiral Kyle, during the Battle of Impel Down, single-handedly annihilated countless pirates, captured the Yonko Kaido of the Beasts, and numerous prisoners who escaped from Impel Down..."

Nami paused at this point, not continuing to read. Instead of showing surprise, she looked up at the village chief with curiosity.

"What's wrong with this newspaper?"

"Are vice admirals really that powerful? And what are these Four Emperors? And what about Impel Down?"

Nami's face was full of confusion.

Upon hearing this, the village chief's expression immediately turned serious, and he replied:

"That's amazing!"

"Among naval officers of the general rank, the vice admiral is second only to the admiral. As for how strong he really is, to be honest, I don't know!"

"The Four Emperors are the four most powerful pirates at the pinnacle of the pirate world, while Impel Down is the legendary place where countless vicious and ruthless pirates are imprisoned!"

"That's all the information I have; I don't know the specifics!"

The village chief shook his head.

He was telling the truth; he only knew this information because he liked reading the newspaper, but he certainly didn't have much in-depth knowledge of it.

After all, this place is only the very edge of the first half of the Grand Line, still too far from the center of those world storms.

Moreover, given his limited knowledge, it would be strange if he actually knew the specifics.

So even though he knew that Luffy and the others' enemy was Kayle, he wasn't greatly affected, only slightly serious, because he had no idea how big the gap was between Kayle and them.

Even the villagers on the other side directly offered encouragement:

"Luffy, I believe in you guys! What vice admiral? He's no match for you!!"

"Yeah, yeah, Luffy, knock him out!!"

The other villagers around echoed this sentiment, their faces beaming with excitement.

For them, they don't care about the navy or pirates; they only know who their benefactors are.

So even though Luffy and his crew were pirates, they stood firmly on the other side, simply because Luffy and his crew were the ones who rescued them from their suffering.

Almost everyone in this world is like this: they don't distinguish between factions, they only distinguish between good and bad.

Pirates aren't necessarily bad, and the Marines aren't necessarily good.

At least for the people of this village, when they were oppressed, the Navy didn't come to their rescue; instead, they were rescued by—oh no! A group of pirates!!

"It definitely will!!"

Luffy nodded vigorously, his eyes gleaming with determination.

One day, he'll definitely be able to beat Kyle!

……

-

Meanwhile, in the Sabaody Archipelago, in the first half of the Grand Line.

The Sabaody Archipelago, also known as the Soap Bubble Islands, is the final node of the first half of the Grand Line. Located in front of the Red Line and near the Marine Headquarters, it is a necessary stop on the way to the New World.

This island is made up of 79 of the world's largest mangrove trees. The roots of the trees are exposed on the water surface, forming a unique landscape. The resin and the bubbles produced by breathing have created a bubble culture on the whole island, making it a chaotic and lawless place.

However, due to the strength of the navy and the proximity of the Sabaody Archipelago to the Navy Headquarters, illegal transactions there are not as rampant as before.

However, the slave trade in Sabaody Archipelago remains very famous because the so-called Celestial Dragons, the world's nobles, are there to back it up. As long as they still need slaves, this market will never decline.

At this time, in the largest slave market in the Sabaody Archipelago, countless slaves were put up for auction.

Some wealthy people spend lavishly to buy slaves they like.

Of course, some slaves are not liked by anyone and ultimately fail to sell at auction. However, these slaves will still be put on the market next time.

After all, just because it didn't sell this time doesn't mean it will never sell. Maybe it's just that none of the people in this group liked this slave.

Of course, if they fail to sell at auction this time, they won't have an easy time.

Meanwhile, backstage at the auction house, there were many iron cages, each containing a figure of different shapes and sizes.

There were men and women, old and young, and also the merfolk.

These were undoubtedly slaves of the auction house, and at this moment, their faces were filled with deep unease and fear.

They were afraid of being auctioned off, and also afraid of what would happen after they were auctioned off.

After all, in their stereotypes, the lives of slaves were extremely bad, worse than those of dogs.

But among all these slaves, one slave in an iron cage showed no panic whatsoever, and even had a faint smile on his face.

The figure was an old man with curly silver hair, a long silver beard, a vertical scar above his right eye, and round, thin-rimmed glasses.

Despite his advanced age and current status as a 'slave,' he remained upright, with sharp eyes, and exuded composure and calmness.

This person was none other than Silvers Rayleigh, the right-hand man of the Pirate King Roger, and known as the Dark King.

As for why someone with his strength would be in this iron cage where slaves are imprisoned, it's because he's short of money again.

I urgently need to get some money to buy some alcohol to drink.

However, he obviously couldn't collect his money for drinks with peace of mind today, because he had to get down to business.

Rayleigh slowly turned his head to another spot on the other side, where there was another iron cage.

Inside the iron cage, a girl no more than ten years old huddled in a ball, her exposed face filled with panic and helplessness...