Xu Nian snatched the bracelet from Kurogane Ren's hand and waved him off.
"Go on."
Then she turned to Esdeath and Teresa.
"I spotted a clothing shop over there just now. The stuff looked pretty good. Let's go take a look."
"Alright."
Watching the three women leave in high spirits, Ren could only sigh.
Shopping really was a universal female talent.
He glanced around, then began looking for the route to Area 1. If he remembered correctly, there was supposed to be an auction house there—one that would later become one of Doflamingo's businesses.
But when he finally arrived…
There was no auction house.
Ren stood there for a moment, confused.
Had he remembered wrong?
Or… was he simply too early?
He swept his gaze across the quiet area, then slowly came to a realization.
Right.
At this point in time, Doflamingo hadn't become one of the Seven Warlords yet.
He was still just a pirate, still being hunted by the Marines.
Back when Treysia told him the World Government had already gathered the Seven Warlords, Ren never asked exactly who they were. Thinking about it now, Doflamingo was probably still on the run, which meant he naturally hadn't built up his underworld empire yet.
So of course the fixed business of an auction house didn't exist here.
That was annoying.
Did he have to find another one?
Ren released his Observation Haki.
Under its reach, he quickly found another auction house elsewhere on the island.
He headed over immediately.
When he arrived, he was just about to step inside when someone blocked his way.
"Sir, may I ask what you're here for?"
The guard's tone was polite.
Ren answered honestly, "I'm here for the auction."
He planned to check the place out first before deciding whether he wanted to entrust them with his items.
"The auction has already begun," the guard said with a courteous smile. "But first, please show your invitation."
"An invitation? You need one for this?"
Ren blinked.
He had always assumed auction houses were open to anyone. After all, in the anime, nobody ever seemed to stop people at the entrance.
The guard took one look at Ren's expression and immediately understood.
No invitation.
This was normal. They dealt with people like this all the time.
So he stayed respectful and said, "Then please provide proof of identity to verify who you are."
Ren couldn't help thinking these guards were pretty decent. They weren't judging him by appearances at all.
But really, they didn't dare.
In this world, not having an invitation didn't mean someone was insignificant. Plenty of people simply decided on a whim to visit an auction house. That was perfectly normal.
And in the One Piece world, you never knew whether the person standing in front of you was just an ordinary civilian…
or a monster in disguise.
In a normal world, offending the wrong person might cost you your job.
Here, it might cost you your life.
If a guard provoked someone truly dangerous, the auction house would only protect him if it could afford to. If it couldn't, he'd be thrown away without hesitation.
That was why guards like these made it a point to memorize the faces of famous pirates and rising figures at sea.
If someone came without an invitation and wasn't immediately recognizable as a major figure, they needed some other kind of proof.
Wealth. Status. Influence.
Something.
Unfortunately for them, none of the guards recognized Ren.
Ren scratched his head.
Proof of identity?
He'd transmigrated into this world. Where the hell was he supposed to get an ID?
"I don't have any," he said.
The guards exchanged glances before the lead guard answered apologetically, "In that case, sir, I'm afraid we can't let you in. Without an invitation or proof of identity, you'll have to come back another time."
"Oh. Alright."
Ren didn't get angry.
They were just following procedure, and he wasn't the kind of person to blame people for doing their jobs.
But right then, a group of pirates swaggered straight inside.
No invitation.
No ID.
And the guards not only didn't stop them—they welcomed them with smiles.
Ren raised an eyebrow and asked, "They don't seem to have invitations or proof of identity either. Why can they go in?"
The pirate at the front, a burly man with a thick chest and absurdly skinny legs, burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! How are we the same? I'm a famous pirate with a bounty of fifty-five million Beli!"
At that, one of the guards hurried over to Ren and whispered anxiously, "You should leave. We know who they are because they have bounties. That's why they're allowed in."
Ren tilted his head.
"So if I have a bounty, I can get in too?"
The guard nodded quickly.
"Yes—but it has to be at least thirty million. You should just go before this turns into trouble."
Before Ren could answer, the pirates behind the burly captain were already laughing their heads off.
"You?"
"With that scrawny little body?"
"Our captain could probably blow you over with one breath!"
"Hahaha! A wanted criminal? Please. If he has a bounty at all, it's probably a few thousand Beli."
"No, no, no. I'd say he's worth a few ten-thousand a night to some rich old woman."
"Hahahaha!"
The burly captain stepped forward smugly and flexed his bicep.
"If you want a bounty, kid, at least look like me."
Ren looked him up and down.
His upper body was bloated and massive.
His legs were thin enough to snap in a strong breeze.
Ren honestly felt a little sorry for them.
Sometimes he really wondered how people in this world managed to support those ridiculous bodies on such tiny legs.
The captain noticed Ren making that little clicking sound with his tongue and thought he was being mocked.
His face twisted.
With a furious roar, he yanked out his saber.
"Die!"
The auction house guards immediately retreated several steps.
The pirates behind him started shouting encouragement.
"Go, Captain!"
"Teach this brat a lesson!"
Ren had originally intended to talk things out.
There was no glory in bullying fodder, after all.
But apparently the man was either too frightened to think straight… or genuinely stupid enough to swing first.
Ren sidestepped the slash with ease.
Then he shouted at the top of his lungs—
"Rozan Rising Dragon Fist!"
Of course, he didn't actually know that move.
He just thought yelling something cool made the punch feel more dramatic.
A split second later, his fist slammed upward into the man's chin.
Boom!
The captain was launched into the air like a cannonball.
He flew so far Ren was pretty sure he landed in the next district over.
Ren watched him disappear and muttered to himself, "I only used twenty percent of my strength. Are pirates these days really this weak?"
Everyone at the entrance stared at him in dumbfounded silence.
The remaining pirates panicked and pulled out their weapons, aiming them at him.
Ren glanced at them and said calmly, "I suggest you—"
Bang!
One of them fired before he could finish.
Ren's expression twitched.
So much for being reasonable.
He tilted his head slightly and let the bullet pass.
Then he vanished.
Shave.
In the blink of an eye, Ren tore through the group, grabbing them one by one and tossing them into a heap.
A moment later, the entire bunch of pirates was piled together like discarded trash, groaning in pain and stacked on top of each other in a humiliating tangle.
Ren dusted off his hands and looked back at the auction house guards.
"Can I go in now?"
The guards stared at the pile of pirates, then at Ren.
All of them nodded immediately.
"Yes, of course!"
One of them swallowed hard before asking cautiously, "May we ask for your name, sir?"
Ren smiled faintly.
"If you dig through the bounty posters from three years ago, you should be able to figure out who I am."
With that, he turned and walked into the auction house.
This time, no one dared stop him.
But after taking a few steps, he paused, turned around, and tossed something to the guard who had tried to warn him earlier.
The guard caught it instinctively.
A gold bar.
"This is for you."
The guard froze for a second, then bowed deeply.
"Thank you for your generosity, sir!"
And with that, Kurogane Ren finally stepped into the auction house.
The real show…
was about to begin.