An Oni in God's Valley

After the welcoming of the new members of the crew, Koa was supposed to leave the Sabaody Archipelago, until he heard from Gild that there was an auction for a Devil Fruit in Area 1, which made Koa curious. He wanted to know which Devil Fruit was being auctioned to add to their arsenal. So he decided to stay for a few more hours to attend the auction, and thinking about the Devil Fruit auction, he then suddenly remembered to give his newly recruited crew the chance to pick Devil Fruits.

"Hey, among the four of you, does any of you want to eat a Devil Fruit? I have so many stocks in the storage, and just let me know if you plan to eat any," Koa then said to the newly recruited crew members as he handed the Devil Fruit lists to them to see what the choices are. Gild went first as he looked at the entire collection of Devil Fruits and did not find what he wanted. Despite Gild giving up on being the richest man in the sea, he still wanted to have wealth, so he wanted to find the Goru Goru no Mi, the Devil Fruit that would allow him to have control over gold.

"The Devil Fruit that I want is not in our inventory, so I'll just wait if we ever come across it in the future," Gild said to Koa, which made Koa nod his head. Then he turned to Miss Fortune and Leslie, who had the list, as they both contemplated what they should eat. Miss Fortune's eyes laid upon the Warp Warp Fruit, to which she consulted her sister about it to see if Leslie also wanted the Warp Warp Fruit, as she would immediately give it to her.

"I'll take the Warp Warp Fruit," Miss Fortune said, which made Koa nod as he crossed it off the list. Leslie did not choose to pick any, as she did not have her current role in the crew yet and planned to train first before having one. Then it comes to Stella, as her official title on the ship is being a nurse, something that she learned from tending to her father's injuries whenever the gangs beat him up for not paying his debts.

"I don't have any plans to eat a Devil Fruit so far, thank you for the offer," Stella said as she thanked Koa for the offer. Of the four that were offered, only Miss Fortune chose to eat a Devil Fruit, in which Koa made Greenbull go to the vault as he made him fetch the Devil Fruit. Greenbull then grinned at Miss Fortune, as if indicating that he was the one who was more trusted by Koa, which made Miss Fortune angry for some reason.

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After eating their lunches that Joichiro prepared on the ship, Koa, Greenbull, Kuzan, Gild, and Enel all came to Area 1, as it was here where the auction would happen. The others chose to stay on the ship, as they wanted to guard it, plus there was nothing in the auction that would interest them. Leslie, Stella, and Miss Fortune also did not want to go back to Sabaody anymore, as it was a bitter reminder of what had happened to them before. Joichiro just offered to tour them around the entire ship, as they had only reached the dining room yesterday, with Urf excitedly wanting to show the gym and exercise rooms—something that Urf, Enel, and Greenbull would frequent if there's nothing to do.

After a few hours of walking and shopping once again, Koa and his companions reached the auction site, which Gild led them to.

"Boss, this is the auction site that would sell the Devil Fruit. They proudly announced it yesterday, intending to invite more bidders," Gild said, as he pointed to the building. When Koa went inside, one of the field managers immediately recognized him. Being one of the most budding pirates in the sea, and one of the most famous, they would not foolishly provoke Koa's wrath, so the field manager immediately greeted them.

"We are honored that the Captain of the Koa Pirates chose to attend our auction, and with his right and left wings with him, I will immediately prepare a comfortable seat for you and your companions to make the auction more enjoyable," the field manager immediately sucked up to Koa, which made Koa smirk, with Greenbull and Kuzan also smirking, while Enel and Gild looked on in admiration. Enel respected Koa's authority, but Gild, having lived in Sabaody his entire life, knew that most of the managers in the establishment would not easily bow down to anyone—but here Koa was, just arriving, and the others were already sucking up to him.

'I hope that one day, I earn a reputation like that,' Gild thought, as he then followed Koa and the others, as they were being brought to the front of the auction, with the most comfortable seats that were available. As they all settled in, Koa looked around and saw that they were not the only pirate crew in here, as even ones that were not recognizable were present, and Koa could feel that all of their attention was focused on the auction, as they were hoping to get the Devil Fruit.

After a few minutes of waiting, a person walked onto the stage wearing a tuxedo with a microphone—it was the auctioneer, which indicated that the auction would officially begin. Koa and the others then turned their attention to the auctioneer.