By the time Ryuen returned to the villa, it was already evening.
"*Sigh… (ε=(′ο｀*)))*"
"That old woman is so heartless. I gave her such a great idea, and she didn't even offer me a meal…" Ryuen muttered gloomily as he landed in the yard.
He noticed that only Daisy was in the villa. It looked like the others hadn't come back yet.
"Daisy, where is everyone?" Ryuen asked curiously.
"They're at an auction. Lindgas has been trying to please them, so he bought a bunch of stuff for them. After the auction, there might even be a banquet," Daisy replied without looking up.
"Pleasing them?"
"Lindgas really has a talent for being a simp. By the way, why are you back alone?" Ryuen found it a bit odd.
With Daisy's personality, she wouldn't normally miss out on something like this. But now, she was here alone.
Daisy didn't answer. She just kept working on whatever she was doing, occasionally flipping through a book.
Curious, Ryuen sat down beside her and watched for a while. He soon realized that the book was about Vivre Cards.
"Are you making our Vivre Cards?" Ryuen asked to confirm.
"Not ours. I'm testing whether I can make Vivre Cards for animals—like your bird," Daisy said as she kept working.
"What did you say?" Ryuen was surprised.
At that moment, Daisy closed the book and looked at him seriously. "I'm trying to make Vivre Cards for animals. If it works, we can use your ability to control birds and leave one on each island we visit.
That way, as long as the bird is alive, we'll always know the direction of that island.
Of course, the bird needs to have a long lifespan, even longer than humans, to make it truly useful."
Daisy finished speaking, and Ryuen's eyes immediately lit up. The method Daisy mentioned might not be very effective in Four Seas.
But in New World, this method was actually quite common. The only difference was that people in New World used Vivre Cards for humans, while Daisy was thinking of using them for animals.
"Not bad, Daisy. You've gotten a lot smarter lately..." Ryuen praised.
"Of course! I'm really smart. I haven't figured it out yet, but it won't take much longer," Daisy said proudly.
"Nice, nice. Keep up the good work." Ryuen patted Daisy's dog-like head, and before long, her hair was a complete mess.
"Ryuen!"
"Ahahaha... Sorry, sorry! It's just a habit..."
~~~~~~
After finally calming Daisy down, he also joined in to study the Vivre Card. He was quite curious about it too.
While they were busy researching, over at the auction house on Island No. 1...
The attendees were puzzled by the sight of seven ordinary people sitting in the Celestial Dragons' VIP section.
This had never happened before!
Of course, the other Celestial Dragons were unhappy about this, but their status in Mary Geoise was not as high as Lindgas.
So all they could do was keep their dissatisfaction to themselves.
"You guys are so out of the loop! Let me tell you, those people are from the Dream Exploration Team. They're VIP guests of Saint Lindgas!" a well-informed noble whispered.
"The Dream Exploration Team?"
"Hey!"
"Are you talking about the team that mapped the world and single-handedly pushed for the establishment of global orphanages?"
Upon hearing this, the people around them started paying close attention.
"That's right!"
"It's them. They were invited by Saint Lindgas to attend this auction." The knowledgeable noble said proudly.
"No way~~~"
"To see them in person… I'm so lucky..."
"Don't you think they're really adorable..."
"You're absolutely right. They're adorable! No wonder I've always admired them..."
Now that everyone knew the Dream Exploration Team was here, the auction house became even more lively. Some bold attendees even wanted to ask for autographs.
Nami and the others happily agreed to their requests.
~~~~~~
The auction continued. After the jewelry bidding was over, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived.
The slave auction!
Even though Doflamingo had been taken down, this highly profitable business had quickly been taken over by others. As long as the slave system wasn't completely abolished, human trafficking would never truly stop.
...
"Ladies and gentlemen, and most esteemed Celestial Dragons, we now come to the most exciting part of today's auction!"
"Bring them in!"
At the auctioneer's command, a massive iron cage was brought onto the stage. Inside it... were members of the Mink Tribe!
Boom!!
"The Mink Tribe?!"
"It's been a long time since we've seen one. I can't believe there are Minks in this auction!"
"Ahahaha!"
"I have to win this bid no matter what!"
...
The moment the crowd saw that the cage contained Minks, the excitement in the auction house reached its peak!
The nobles were all shouting, each eager to claim the Mink Tribe as their own.
"Mink Tribe?" Robin was surprised.
"Robin, do you know about this race?" Nojiko asked curiously.
The others also looked at Robin with curiosity.
"Yes."
"When I was a child in Ohara, I read about the Mink Tribe in the books stored in the Tree of Knowledge."
"They are a race that lives on Zou, a moving island. They are isolated from the world and rarely interact with outsiders…" Robin slowly explained what she knew about the Mink Tribe.
"Lindgas, bid on this Mink Tribe," Nami said immediately after hearing Robin's explanation.
"No problem! I'll place a bid right away!" Lindgas responded happily.
As long as he could keep these ladies happy, he was willing to spend as much money as needed!
However, the rest of the Dream Exploration Team looked at Nami in confusion.
"Nami, do we really need a Mink Tribe member on our ship?" Anya asked doubtfully.
"Of course! When we enter the New World, we'll definitely have to go to Zou. But since Zou is a moving island, this Mink Tribe member can guide us there!
Besides, don't you think this Mink Tribe is adorable? It would be perfect to keep Sugar company." Nami said with a grin.
After hearing Nami's explanation, the others suddenly understood.
"Keep me… company?" Sugar stopped eating her blueberries, pointing at herself with the blueberry still on her fork.
"That's right. She's small, you're small—you two can play together," Nami said, smiling with narrowed eyes.
While they were chatting, Lindgas had already won the bid for the Mink Tribe member!
~~~
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