One Piece: The Legendary Pirate

On a regular basis, food and water were delivered. Though scarce and barely enough to survive, Darvy learned—as he was momentarily brought outside periodically for sanitary matters—that he and the pirate in the cell were receiving a special care in comparison to other slaves.

Their cells, as he passed by under the watch of the soldiers, were filled with stench and cries of horror. And he recognized that stench. It wasn't just from the wastes that humans excreted, but also from the decomposing bodies. He learned that even slaves had a grade.

At this point of time, he couldn't help but think,

'What happened to the people on that island? Loris. Lyon. Tatara. They...'

The ship has been afloat for three days. At this point, he knew that it was being lifted by some machinery, judging by how rapidly the ship seemed to be travelling upward.

When he believed to have gotten used to the cold environment and the searing burn on his back began to reveal the accursed 'Hoof of the Soaring Dragon', the door to his cell opened.

Harshly, he and the pirate were unchained and yanked. Holding onto the chains connected to the cuffs on their necks, the soldiers pulled them out as if they were livestocks, and for the first time, they walked all the way to the edge of the hall where a foreign machinery, one which a soldier called an 'elevator', lied.

Stepping into it, they were brought up to the deck of the ship. Then, Darvy got to see after a long stay in the ship, the bare sight of the sun and the blue sky.

Witnessing such intensity of light after having his eyes gotten accustomed to the darkness, Darvy squinted his crimson-colored eyes. As they adjusted and his vision cleared, he saw how luxurious the ship was.

The ship—not only was it enormous beyond belief, but also had a pseudo-building attached atop its deck. Unlike the filthy, dark, and gloomy area that lied below the deck, the view above was glamorous and aesthetic beyond belief; it was unlike any other that Darvy has ever seen.

He didn't get to witness this view for a long period of time, however, as he was kicked and forced to keep moving. Turning his head to the front such that the pirate's back appeared, Darvy found himself shocked yet again.

Beyond the pirate's back, there was a city lying on top of the huge cloud.

'We are on the sky...?'

Darvy took back what he thought about the pseudo-building on the ship. Compared to the gigantic buildings on the city, one on the ship was nothing. The designs, the color, the mightiness that they gave off—he came to think that based on its appearance, it truly did deserve to be called the land of gods.

However, below such buildings were extremely long lines of slaves connected all the way from the closest building ahead to the ship. The foremost slaves were being inspected by the soldiers before they were forced to pass through the gate on the building. Gone was the awe within Darvy, and the cold feeling entered him as he saw dread in the expressions of slaves.

The soldiers holding onto his chain continued to yank him. Darvy realized that he and the pirate in front of him weren't placed on the line but were being sent elsewhere.

'Where?'

For a long time, they walked past the never-ending lines of slaves, though slowly because Darvy's weak body couldn't keep up, much to the soldiers' annoyance.

"A guy like this?"

One soldier grumbled,

"A gladiator? Kiddo's in a worse state than an average house slave."

"Watch your mouth."

Another said in a warning tone,

"It's not like this is the first time it happened anyway."

'...Gladiator?'

It was enough of answer for Darvy to learn why he and the pirate were considered 'special'. Why they didn't join the line.

The soldier then snorted as he gazed at Darvy in pity,

"I have no idea what you did to earn Celestial Dragon's remorse, but you're in for something much worse than them, kiddo."

That was the end of their conversation, and they continued walking. 

Darvy looked left and right, trying to find anyone whom he could recognize. However, he found none, for there were far too many slaves. He estimated that the number reached at least a few hundreds in number.

Eventually, they arrived the entrance of a dome-like building, guarded by two soldiers wearing the same armor as ones who were yanking him and the pirate.

Nodding and briefly conversing, the guards opened the way, allowing the soldiers, pirate, and Darvy to enter the building.

As the sun disappeared upon their entry, the scene visibly darkened. Darvy felt that the air has gotten chill upon the disappearance of sunlight as they moved. Unlike him who remained calm and filled his head with trivial thoughts, the pirate in front of him seemed scared, shaking violently as he walked. Seeing this, the soldiers snorted and shook their heads.

"Grow some bones, old man. Even this bony kiddo's fine, so why are you overreacting?"

Fearful, the pirate nodded frantically as his body continued to shake. Snorting again, the soldiers decided to take their attention off as they arrived their destination: the dark area filled with numerous cells.

Some cells were filled and some cells were empty. Each cell, quite small in size, housed only one slave. As they walked, Darvy noticed that many of them looked strong and ferocious, and was reminded of the muscular man with axe in the past.

Two cells, adjacent to each other, were opened. Darvy and the pirate were pushed into them. The cells were closed and the chains connected to the cuffs on their necks were connected to iron hooks that existed on each cell.

The soldiers then left, and there was a silence. Darvy, in a sitting position, turned his eyes and saw that the pirate was still trembling.

'...'

Then, time passed. Sitting in the darkness, locked, there was nothing left for them to do except to wait—unless they were to converse with each other. Unfortunately, none of them were in a state to converse.

So Darvy thought.

Celestial Dragons. Mary Geoise. Ruler of the world. Land of gods. City atop the cloud.

He tried to combine the information he'd gotten thus far so that he could predict the future and prepare appropriately.

Slavery. Special ones. Gladiators. Different from the long line of slaves.

'The reason why we are being kept in these cages independently... is to prevent our "loss of value". In other words, to prevent us from fighting and killing each other.'

Gladiator. In other words, fighter. It was a form of entertainment that spectators attain from watching two people fight.

Then, there were the words of that Celestial Dragon, Saint Brysus or whatever.

'You cost me dearly, making me lose one of my most prized slaves.'

'He was supposed to be one of the highlights in the upcoming entertainment! You ruined the fun that I was anticipating it for...'

Darvy deduced that this 'form of entertainment' was interactive. In other words, the Celestial Dragons could help a certain slave win a fight.

'A sponsorship? No, more like...'

Brysus seemed quite sensitive about what was his property and what wasn't. If Darvy were to assume that this is the generic trait of rich ones, then having multiple of them invest in a single slave would ruin the fun.

Thus, it made more sense that each slave was bound to one Celestial Dragon or master.

'Hoof of the Soaring Dragon is the mark that all Celestial Dragons commonly use then, not just by that Brysus guy. He was the one responsible for catching all these slaves. Locking us up in different cells... for quality control. He will sell us to other Celestial Dragons.'

Based on the flow of his thoughts, Darvy concluded that what awaited them in the nearest future was the 'auction'.

Question is, then what?

Does being sold at a more expensive price have any merit? How does he know if some Celestial Dragons are normal-minded or not?

Really, there wasn't much that Darvy could do.

But perhaps...

'Perhaps, yes.'

Darvy's eyes narrowed in the darkness.

'A flap of a butterfly from one end can result in a hurricane on another.'

His eyes, unlike most of the other slaves, didn't contain a hint of despair. Perhaps it was because he, unlike them, wasn't exposed to these tyrants named Celestial Dragons until now... or no.

Since the start, Darvy has always been incapable of fear, for he has never feared death.

...

Raising his head slightly, Darvy began to observe other slaves. Reading their eyes and faces, he wrinkled, then flattened, his facial expressions as if practicing.

Slowly, the dull gleam entered his eyes. Slowly, his posture slouched and his face lost its strength and vibrancy. Though he couldn't replicate the despair in their eyes, he on the outward managed to become one of them.

__________

"Ladies~ and gentlemen~! You've all been waiting for a long time for this!"

Within a huge dome, there were many seats basking under the bright light. They, with some having been occupied by the Celestial Dragons and some not, were glamorous and huge, to the extent that they looked almost akin to a bed.

These Celestial Dragons, all dressed up in a space-suit-like white garment plus a glass bowl on their heads, yawned or expressed excitement.

In contrast, the speaker, one who was leading the event, was wearing a white suit and had his hair slicked back with wax. Though fancy in appearance, his figure was thin and the smile on his face seemed forced. On his forehead, there was the 'Hoof of the Soaring Dragon', which told that this speaker too was a slave.

In a goofy manner, the speaker snapped his fingers. Correspondingly, circus-themed music began to play.

"Now, let us welcome~ the gladiators of the 33rd season!"

The large door on the right opened slowly with a creak. Within the silence, the soldiers entered one by one, pulling out cells that had wheels on their bottoms. Within each cell, there sat a person. Those people were those who would be 'gladiators', the source of Celestial Dragons' entertainment.

"With 253 having died in last season, we brought just the amount! It's taking quite some time to bring them all in, so please understand!"

"...Huh? 253? Wasn't it 252?"

One Celestial Dragon, seemingly a man in his twenties, raised an eyebrow at that. Sweating profusely upon the man's question, the speaker bowed and replied respectively,

"One has been lost during the expedition! Please do understand!"

"Hm..."

The Celestial Dragon tried to stroke his beard, only to realize that he was wearing a glass bowl as he slammed his hand against it. Embarrassed, he lowered his hand and coughed before asking,

"Who may it be? The one who died?"

"It's Piggy 'the Butcher', Your Majesty."

Many Celestial Dragons gasped in shock.

"Well, figures. Why else would he be seated here?"

One rolled his eyes.

"No way!"

Another cried, clearly shocked.

"Piggy was ranked at 12th in power rank!! How the fuck did Dhrash lose it?!!"

Brysus, or Brysus Dhrash the one who led the expedition, too was seated among them. Standing up angrily, he shouted at the Celestial Dragon who cried,

"Shut up!! It's not like I expected that to happen!!"

"C'mon!! Now I can't look forward to the rematch between Piggy and—"

"Like I said, SHUT UP!!"

As they argued, the left and right were quickly filled with numerous cells. The soldiers, standing in a guarding formation in front of those cells, came to a stop.

Laughing nervously as the argument continued from above, the speaker timidly spoke,

"T-Thank you for the wait! With the preparation having finished, we can now begin!"

Though the voice wasn't as loud as before, the surroundings instantly quietened; it seemed that the Celestial Dragons had been anticipating this moment for a long time.

"Prior to the start, I would like to introduce the new power measuring system that entered the house: namely the 'Doriki' Power Level!"

As the speaker said so, a smaller door behind the speaker opened, and two exhausted slaves dragged out a machine that resembled a punch machine.

"This machine accurately depicts the physical strength of a player upon that player punching on this punching pad!"

Jokingly, the speaker walked up to the punching machine and punched on it. The number on its screen began to fluctuate rapidly before stopping at the number 5.

"""HAHAHAHA!!!"""

The Celestial Dragons laughed at that, and the speaker too, with a nervous smile, laughed along with them. 

"The Doriki of all the existing gladiators have already been measured and the record will be available starting tomorrow! Unlike them, the Doriki of these new gladiators today will be measured here on this spot, after the conclusion of the auction!"

"A-ha! So it's like a gamble! You can buy one for an expensive price but it can turn out to be trash!"

One Celestial Dragon yelled, filled to the brim with excitement.

"E-xactly—!"

Some Celestial Dragons clapped or rubbed their hands together excitedly.

Backing away from the punching machine, the speaker then declared,

"With that having been explained, we will now begin the auction! The first one is..."

One cell was unlocked and opened, and the soldiers took out the seemingly malnourished boy with pale skin and red hair long enough to cover his eyes. He, helplessly dragged by the soldiers, looked down without energy.

"Darvy, the pretty boy with mesmerizing red-colored eyes!"

Darvy stood in front of the crowd of the Celestial Dragons. One soldier grabbed his chin and lifted up such that his face has become visible.

He saw, the greed in the eyes of the so-called gods. He couldn't help but think that rather than gods, they looked more like devils.

"The starting bid is 500,000 Berries! I wonder which generous master will be willing to take this one who may be hiding a secret or two!"

And thus, the auction began.