"Yes!"
Under the control of Uchiha Madara's genjutsu, the middle-aged man now regarded Lin Xuan as his master. He responded respectfully and immediately withdrew to prepare for the auction, while also notifying the Celestial Dragons.
Upon hearing Lin Xuan's words, Rayleigh's eyes widened in shock: "You're actually going to auction off your own companion as well?"
Lin Xuan grinned and said, "Of course. If I don't auction him, how can I have a reason to cause chaos at the auction?"
He had another thought he didn't voice: If I don't stir up trouble at the auction and kill a Celestial Dragon or two, how can I lure a Navy Admiral here? How else can I quickly farm reputation points?
Hearing this, Rayleigh grew even more uneasy: This guy really is targeting the Celestial Dragons!
Ignoring Rayleigh's reaction, Lin Xuan once again used Uchiha Madara's ocular jutsu to take control of the other slaves in the dungeon, leaving only Rayleigh untouched.
Earlier, he had kept them around to farm reputation points, but now that they were no longer useful, it was better to control them.
As for setting them free?
Lin Xuan hadn't even considered it.
For him, it might have been as simple as lifting a finger, but he had no intention of doing so. Not only were these people strangers to him—many of them not even decent individuals to begin with—but even if he wanted to play the hero, he had to consider a practical issue.
The auction house was heavily guarded outside. Releasing these people would only be sending them to their deaths. What was the point?
As for Rayleigh, Lin Xuan kept him around for one reason: to continue contributing reputation points!
Rayleigh, seeing his actions, grew increasingly uneasy and asked, "Hey, what exactly are you planning?"
Lin Xuan smiled and said, "Relax, didn't I already have them auction you off first? It won't interfere with you selling yourself! As for what I'm planning, just keep watching and you'll find out!"
Find out my ass!
Rayleigh nearly cursed out loud.
He thought Lin Xuan was a complete madman. At the same time, he felt it was necessary to make a quick escape—otherwise, he might get dragged into this mess for no reason!
It wasn't that he was afraid of trouble, but he was quite content with his current life of seclusion. He didn't want to lose it all of a sudden and end up being hunted by the Navy.
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man had arrived at a heavily guarded, luxurious palace somewhere on Sabaody Archipelago.
He knelt on the ground, his expression one of utmost reverence.
Before him stood three Celestial Dragons and a dog.
However, his status in this place was even lower than that of the dog.
The three Celestial Dragons in front of him were Saint Roswald, his daughter Shalulia Palace, and his son Charlos.
To emphasize their nobility, male Celestial Dragons added "Saint" to their names, while female Celestial Dragons added "Palace."
After listening to the middle-aged man's report, Charlos asked with great interest, "You're saying there's a batch of very beautiful female slaves at the auction?"
Shalulia, on the other hand, was intrigued by another matter: "I'm more interested in that handsome male slave. His eyes are actually red—it'd be fun to buy him and play with him! A red-eyed human dog sounds quite interesting!"
Their gazes then turned to their father, as if awaiting his decision.
Seeing this, Roswald said, "Since you're both interested, let's go take a look together. It's been a while since I've bought any interesting slaves. This time, we'll get that Dark King Rayleigh. A former subordinate of the Pirate King would make a decent slave to show off in public!"
Charlos immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Haha, let's hurry then, Father! But don't you dare compete with me for those beautiful female slaves!"
Roswald replied, "Fine, fine, they're all yours!"
At the same time, countless so-called elite men and women from the upper echelons of society on Sabaody Archipelago also received the news and began gathering at the Human Auction House.
One man said excitedly, "This time, I'm definitely buying several beautiful female slaves. I'm getting tired of the ones at home!"
Another gentlemanly-looking man smiled and said, "Oh? How about we trade some later?"
A lavishly dressed woman said fervently, "I wonder if there will be any fishman slaves this time? Those creatures are incredibly strong—so thrilling!"
Another noblewoman sneered, "What's so great about fishman slaves? They're all just weird freaks. Personally, I'd prefer mermaids—much more aesthetically pleasing! Too bad they're so hard to capture. It's been ages since I've seen one!"
...
Unsurprisingly, corrupted by the influence of the Celestial Dragons, these so-called upper-class individuals also enjoyed the feeling of superiority.
It seemed that emulating the Celestial Dragons by trampling slaves underfoot made them feel more noble.
However, they were well aware of the gap between themselves and the Celestial Dragons. When the topic of Celestial Dragons came up, they were even more reverent than ordinary civilians.
After all, no matter how wealthy or powerful they were now, a single word from a Celestial Dragon could strip them of everything. Naturally, they were filled with awe.
Before long, the three Celestial Dragons—Roswald and his two children—arrived at the auction house, and the grand auction was about to begin!
----------
T/N:
Access 35 chapters in advance on my Patreon: [email protected]//allbluestories