NOVEL NEXT Chapter 156: Intervention
Just as Vahn was thinking about how to teach the self-titled Saints a lesson, a loud crashing sound and a large explosion of dust and debris emanated from the back/entrance of the auction hall.
'Right on cue...' thought Vahn, pretending to divert his attention from the trio of Celestial Dragons by half-turning his body to peer back, one of the disadvantages of having many wings. He found it a little odd that very few people got up from their seats despite someone flying a giant fish into the hall, but since most of the people present were fairly affluent or criminals who illegally purchased and exploited slaves, he assumed they were used to witnessing and perpetrating violence.
"Dammit, Luffy...first you grab me by my neck, nearly breaking the damn thing, and now you send us crashing into a building. I swear, one of these days, I'm going to slice you clean in half..." complained a muscular man of average height and uncommon, almost mint-green hair. His lightly tanned body was covered in numerous scars, including a prominent, exceedingly straight line from his left shoulder to his lower right hip, and his outfit, at least at that moment, consisted of an open, red-and-white-striped shirt, a green haramaki that allowed him to keep three distinctive katanas affixed to his right hip, dark green, nearly black pants that reflected a green hue, and black leather boots.
"Hey, I got us here, didn't I...?" asked Luffy, freeing himself from beneath a pile of rubble in a sleeveless blue sailor's shirt, dark blue shorts with fur around the leg holes, banded straw sandals, and, as usual, his trademark straw hat. With the two was an odd-looking, pear-shaped man and a large flying fish that had been converted to a mount, but they were just there to get the duo to the auction house quickly.
Pulling themselves together, Luffy and Zoro looked around to take stock of the situation before simultaneously looking up at Vahn. The fact it had taken them that long to notice him despite the fact he was emitting light in a dimly lit hall was impressive in its own right.
"Whoa, who's this chicken guy? And why is he so shiny...?" asked Luffy, causing Vahn to feel like he might fall out of the air. He had telepathically messaged Nami to pretend they had no affiliation, but he didn't expect to have been forgotten by Luffy despite only a month or so passing from the young pirate's perspective.
Spotting Camie on the stage, Luffy ostensibly lost interest in Vahn, his expression changing from curiosity to resolute fury as he bolted forward, shouting, "Camie! We've come to save you...!" without any other thoughts in his mind.
"Wait, Mugiwara(Straw Hat)...!" shouted the pink-skinned, octopus-like man, leaping forward to grab and attempt to hold Luffy back. However, despite the drastic difference in size and build, Luffy continued forward without difficulty.
pawa pawa pawa
"I've had enough of this! Get down from there at once...!" shouted Saint Rosward, his expression uglier than ever as he raised the gem-encrusted, club-like cane he used as a walking stick, revealing it to be a firearm as he opened fire on Vahn, somehow missing him completely despite only a few meters separating them. At the same time, he caused the crowd, who had been behaving like they were watching a stage play, to tense and begin to panic as he ordered, "Guards! Arrest everyone here! I won't allow a single person to escape accountability for this heinous lack of regard and social decorum toward their betters...!"
In response to Saint Rosward's command, dozens of armor-wearing men of various shapes and sizes rushed into the auction hall, accompanied by an even greater number of barrel-shaped individuals dressed similarly to clowns. The former group, sporting bulky silver or black armor, conical helmets, and long spears as weapons, were Royal Guards in service of the Celestial Dragons, while the latter were the employees, slave traders, and goons working for the auction house.
With one of Saint Rosward's bullets spontaneously impacting the center of his forehead, dealing no damage to him, Vahn's expression firmed. The plan he outlined with Grayfia and Venelana had him appear but ultimately leave everything in the hands of the Straw Hats, their allies, and the other pirate groups present. However, Shalria's belief that she could claim him and Rosward's ongoing attempt to kill him for simply turning around made him think the world would be better off without both...
'Let's not go setting any troublesome precedents...' Vahn told himself, his focused gaze on Rosward causing the man to fall back and break out in a cold sweat, just like his son. Shalria noticed this and attempted to ask him what was wrong, but before she could, the overly spoiled fifteen-year-old started freaking out as Vahn sent a thin laser through her helmet, causing it to become depressurized and her personal supply of oxygen to leak out with a loud hiss. Like other Celestial Dragons, she sincerely believed that the air breathed by those they had deemed lesser than them was tainted, so even though she could breathe just fine, she clawed at her helmet and passed out from the shock of believing she was suffocating.
Noticing that the Auctioneer and his men were attempting to cart Camie away, Vahn descended upon them in an instant, using several of the light-formed feathers of his angelic wings to pierce the men's arms, legs, and, in the case of the Auctioneer, several spots on his torso. The ridiculous-looking man had made a living out of taking away the freedoms of others, so while Vahn didn't kill him, he left him absent his dominant arm and both legs from below his knees.
Seeing Vahn appear, effortlessly deal with her captives, and then veil the container she was in with his wings like a literal Guardian Angel, Camie's dark purple eyes glistened like stars as she brought her hands together in wonderment rather than prayer. The green-haired swordsman, Zoro, saw this and sent an exceptionally swift, bluish-white sword beam at him, but it didn't so much as ruffle one of Vahn's feathers. Immediately after, Nami smacked him with her custom pale blue bo staff, loudly informing him and those with a keen ear that he was on their side.
'It is what it is...' thought Vahn, exhaling faintly from his nose as he placed his right hand against Camie's water-filled glass prison and placed it in his Inventory, causing the water within to plummet. Camie also fell, causing a startled, unsurprisingly pleasant-sounding cry to emanate from her throat, but Vahn promptly moved forward to catch her, holding her like a Princess as he asked, "Are you okay...?" in a calm, composed tone.
"Me...?" asked Camie, staring at Vahn with wide, starstruck eyes as she confirmed, "I'm not injured or anything...but—wait, where's my collar...?" Reaching up to touch her neck, Camie found that the large, metal, bomb-toting collar that had been forcibly affixed to her neck was missing. She was going to warn Vahn that she couldn't escape unless it were removed, but it was already gone. Even stranger, a five-pearl necklace with a stylish bronze key now dangled from her neck.
"Your previous neck accessory didn't suit you, so I figured I'd give you a new one..." explained Vahn, punctuating his words with a wink. The green-haired mermaid unsurprisingly smelled fishy, but she had an attractive face and, at least as far as her upper half was concerned, an exceptional physique. He certainly wouldn't mind seeing her around the palace, so if she offered to repay him, the key would come in handy.
(Just don't forget to give one to Nico Robin) reminded Sis, causing the smile on Vahn's face to cramp ever-so-slightly as Camie, sporting an even more starstruck expression and a prominent blush, clasped the key tightly and responded, "Thank you so much...!" with a cheery, song-quality voice that, according to folklore, could entice even the most steely of sailors to a watery grave.
"You're very welcome..." responded Vahn, offering a smile and a slight nod before turning his attention to the seating area. Most of the auction-goers were in the process of rushing out, fearing they would be implicated after Saint Rosward's comment, but two prominent groups remained, ostensibly to see how things played out. Vahn immediately recognized them as the Heart and Kid Pirates, the former Captained by the fan-favorite Trafalgar D. Water Law and the latter the infamous but not irredeemable Eustass 'Captain' Kid. Unsurprisingly, both Captains were staring directly at him, Law sporting an amused smile and Kid scowling as if he owed him money, but Vahn only gave the duo a cursory glance before focusing his gaze on Nami.
[Since I'm already here, should I teleport everyone to safety...?] asked Vahn, causing Nami to startle slightly as, while their telepathic link was still active, she wasn't expecting him to speak all of a sudden.
[I mean, it would save us the trouble of escaping ourselves] responded Nami, sending three grown, fully-armored men flying with a swing of bo staff. She and the other Straw Hats were much stronger than the Royal Guards and auction personnel, but due to the inordinately high durability of virtually everyone in the world of One Piece, it was difficult to put the men down without killing them outright. And, despite calling themselves pirates, the Straw Hats did their best to avoid killing.
[Alright, then, standby...] said Vahn, closing his eyes and expanding his domain to encompass the entirety of the auction house, nearly 200m in diameter. Ordinarily, he could only extend it a few tens of meters without first erecting a barrier, but in his transformed state, he felt he could grow it much larger.
While locking on to the energy and life signatures of everyone present, Vahn became keenly aware of a powerful will observing the scene play out from within the oversized cell used to contain prospective slaves. It gave the impression of a colossal tiger relaxing peacefully in front of the only exit to a cave, but Vahn didn't feel intimidated in the slightest as he locked onto the inordinately powerful man and the giant accompanying him, an imposing figure that was nearly twenty meters tall while sitting...
With the auction house being structured like a concert hall, Vahn got to enjoy the rather humorous scene of several famous figures from the world of One Piece briefly floundering in the air as he teleported everyone to an empty grove several kilometers from the auction house. The teleportation method he had used was known as spatial transference, so everyone kept their positions and even their momentum relative to him when the transfer was initiated.
"Kyaaa! Vahn, you better—"
Before Nami could finish shouting, Vahn caught her with his light-formed wings. He would have caught Robin as well, but the raven-haired woman didn't require his assistance, producing a pair of distinctive, black, bat-like wings that allowed her to gracefully descend to the ground.
"Gah! Who's the asshole...!?" exclaimed Kid, a notably tall and muscular man with medium-length red hair styled to resemble flames, sharp orange eyes with gold-rimmed goggles in place of eyebrows, a sharp and angular nose, and purple lips that were almost perpetually fixed in a malicious grin or deep grimace. His attire was rather flamboyant, consisting of a black and gold fur coat with a fluffy maroon inlay, black and yellow lizard-print pants with a frilled red fringe, black leather boots with silver spikes, and a blue sash under a green belt fastened by a circular buckle with a four-leaf clover-like pattern in the middle.
Ignoring Kid's exclamation, Vahn set Nami down gently with his wings, causing her to exhale faintly from her nose as she reciprocated his smile and asked, "Did you enjoy showing off and playing hero?"
"For the most part..." confirmed Vahn, offering a curt nod as everyone, particularly the octopus-like man and what appeared to be a stuffed, bright orange starfish with a multi-colored reggae hat, rushed over to express their relief at Camie's safe rescue. The green-haired mermaid was a little overwhelmed, becoming teary-eyed, but when the octopus-like man, Hatchan, tried to accept her from Vahn's arms, she cutely clung to him and insisted that he carry her a while longer...
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