Arceus in One Piece - Chapter 76
“It’s colder at the North Pole!”
“No, it’s colder at the South Pole!”
“No, obviously, it’s colder at the North Pole!”
Shanks and Buggy, both eight years old this year, were apprentices of the Roger Pirates. They had been on Roger’s ship since they were very young.
The argument escalated from a debate to a quarrel and finally to a fight, but the members of the Roger Pirates seemed accustomed to this and didn’t think it was strange at all.
“Alright, you two. You’ve been arguing about this since you were on the ship. If you want to know the answer, go see for yourselves!”
However, there was a better time for a fight. Behind them, Rayleigh settled the matter with a punch for each of them, fair and square.
“Now is not the time for you to argue. Use this time to restock supplies; we’ll be setting sail soon.”
After the Battle of the Valley of the Gods, there hadn’t been any change in the bounties of the Roger Pirates. In the reports of the World Government, it was entirely credited to the Marines, who had created the “Marine Hero, Kapu,” to boost the prestige of the Marines.
Although Kapu’s strength warranted him the position of a hero, the World Government played a significant role as well.
As a witness to the events, Kapu had been chasing after the Roger Pirates whenever he detected their traces over the years, almost treating Roger as his destined enemy.
But Kapu didn’t quite like the World Government’s behavior of covering up the truth, and he also had a dislike for the Celestial Dragons. He had always refused the promotion to Admiral.
Becoming an Admiral would mean a decrease in freedom. They would have to be stationed in specific locations and deal with special events. In comparison, Vice Admirals had more freedom in their actions.
To better pursue Roger, Kapu refused to accept the position of Admiral.
And this decision had the most significant impact on Sengoku. The mechanism of the Three Admirals had long been established, but now with the position of the Three Admirals vacant, Sengoku had to take on additional responsibilities. With Zephyr retiring to become the Chief Instructor and Kapu refusing promotion, Sengoku found himself particularly busy most of the time.
Every time he saw the vacant position at Marine Headquarters, even now as the Fleet Admiral, he couldn’t help but complain about this matter.
In their generation, there were no others who could take on the role of Admiral, so the Marines temporarily maintained this state. After the Battle of the Valley of the Gods and the demise of Rocks, the overall situation at sea had improved considerably.
Sengoku managed to handle the extra workload, and when the new generation grew up, the vacancies for Admiral would naturally be filled, rather than forcing someone unqualified into the position.
Having just escaped from Kapu’s pursuit, the Roger Pirates needed to replenish their supplies quickly to avoid being caught again.
Even apprentices had their responsibilities. Shanks and Buggy also had things they needed to purchase, and after being scolded by Rayleigh, the members of the Roger Pirates dispersed to take care of their tasks.
At that moment, Olga was bargaining with someone. The commotion over there didn’t interest her; she wasn’t interested in pirate-enslaved people, and she didn’t need laborers or the like.
Since she had chosen the path of a pirate, she had to be prepared for anything. Her target was ordinary people, and likewise, those were the cheapest type in the slave market.
Human trafficking was a legal business here, but in affiliated countries, it wouldn’t be put out in the open. There would be hidden names like “employment agency.”
And the pricing here was straightforward.
Criminals and nationals of non-affiliated countries were both trading commodities. As for nationals of affiliated countries, sorry, only nationals of non-affiliated countries were brought here. This was just a fig leaf for humans.
Nearly two hundred years ago, the Ryugu Kingdom of Fishman Island became an affiliated country of the World Government, but the price for Fishmen was always the highest. Once a Fishman appeared, they would definitely fetch a high price at auction.
Olga and Elizabeth had a total of ten million berries, which was already a considerable sum for pocket money.
There were price standards for human trafficking as well. According to the prices decades later, the starting price for ordinary humans at auctions was 500,000 berries, but that was at auctions, where the starting price was usually much lower than the actual value of the item.
The people Olga had her eye on had an average selling price of around 1 million berries. She only wanted to take a few people with her, so the quality was more important than the quantity.
“Look at these people. They’re all skin and bones! And this one, it looks like it’s about to die. How dare you ask for this price!”
Since the kidnapping incident in the Natahuo Kingdom ended, she had changed all the patterns on her clothes. Now, she was wearing a T-shirt with the symbol of the Beast Pirates printed on it, and it was this symbol that gave the slave trader the patience to explain.
In the New World, pirates with territories were unwilling to offend each other. Kaido had also joined this group.
“Miss, the price is already very cheap, and if you look at these people, although they’re a bit thin, they’re healthy. With a few days of rest, they’ll be fine. Ten million berries for eight people is already quite cheap, and they can all work.”
“Fifteen of them, and that’s final. These are not top-quality goods anyway, and that’s what they’re worth.”
“It’s difficult for me to do business like this. How about I give you thirteen, but they can only be children, and I’ll throw in a gift for you.”
In the slave market, the price of women was generally higher than that of men, and the cost of young adults was higher than that of older people or children. Olga wasn’t interested in strong pirate enslaved people, so the determining factors for the price were age and appearance.
As Olga said, there were no “premium goods” here. Those people had already been sent to auctions, and these were the leftovers after the first round of screening.
The seller happened to have these 13 kids on hand. They were of average appearance, aged between twelve and thirteen, too old to be used as adult labor but too young to be trained as elite guards.
He also wanted to get rid of these burdens. If they died in his hands, he would lose money, and keeping them would still cost him money. He saw that Olga was interested, so he decided to make a deal.
“Deal. And what’s the gift?”
“I’ll give you a treasure map. But I’m not sure what’s hidden in it.”
The merchant handed a map to Olga along with a chain. This was different than the high-quality collar used for premium goods; these people were only bound by ordinary chains.
“Hey! You two, stop wandering around. Keep an eye on these people. I bought them with my money.” Olga ordered the members of the Beast Pirates who were nearby.
She was indeed an apprentice, but not an ordinary one. She belonged to the Reserve Cadre of Officers.
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