Upon receiving news that Giorno was being auctioned off in the Sabaody Archipelago, Marco immediately sailed from the New World straight here.
Consequently, he had little firsthand knowledge of the specific events that had transpired there.
Originally, he had thought that if Giorno were indeed bought by someone at auction, it might actually be a good thing. At least he would know the brat's whereabouts clearly. He could simply knock out the buyer, retrieve Giorno, and even curry favor with the boy, which would serve his purpose for this trip.
However, the information he gathered from the pirates painted a completely different picture.
Various versions of the events that had unfolded at the Grove 1 auction in the preceding days circulated among the Sabaody Islands. After sifting through them, Marco managed to piece together a few common threads.
1. Giorno and "Dark King" Rayleigh had become intertwined, and the Slave Collar had no effect on them.
Given Rayleigh's involvement, Marco could easily understand why Giorno had effortlessly broken free from the Auction's Slave Collar. A mere explosive collar was no match for Rayleigh's skill. If Giorno had enlisted Rayleigh's help, escaping the collar's restraints would have been perfectly logical...
2. Because the Celestial Dragons were involved, Admiral Zephyr of the Marine Headquarters personally intervened.
Admiral Zephyr... Marco had thought the once-formidable "Black Arm" Admiral had long since retired. He never expected him to resurface because of the chaos Giorno and the others had caused at the Sabaody Archipelago.
Three, the final outcome of the battle: neither Giorno nor Rayleigh was captured, and Admiral Zephyr returned empty-handed.
Since Zephyr himself had been deployed... it was likely that Rayleigh had intervened to block him, thus protecting Giorno.
This was good news for Marco. Since Giorno now owed Rayleigh such a significant debt, he was likely still by Rayleigh's side.
Finding Rayleigh would probably lead them straight to Giorno...
In Grove 1, Marco adjusted his glasses. Light reflected off the lenses, illuminating the scene just ahead.
...
The original site of the auction house had been reduced to rubble, with workers swarming around the wreckage both inside and out.
At the heart of the ruins lay a massive crater, seawater pouring in to form a turbulent whirlpool, a stark testament to the utterly destructive battle that had raged there not long ago.
"'Black Arm' and 'Dark King'... just legendary names," Marco mused.
Having grown up with his father, a true legend rivaling the Pirate King Roger himself, Marco held little reverence for such figures. What truly intrigued him was the newcomer who had entangled himself with these legendary figures, Giorno Giovanna. If Marco remembered correctly, the youth was still quite young.
Finding no further clues here, Marco quickly departed.
Whether he noticed it or not, several Marines were stationed around the auction ruins, lying in wait for Giorno or Rayleigh. One of them caught a fleeting glimpse of that distinctive pineapple head, a rare sight indeed!
"Am I seeing things?" the Marine rubbed his eyes, chuckling awkwardly. "How could the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates suddenly show up here from the New World...?"
In truth, Marco had made no attempt to conceal his presence. He hadn't even bothered to hide the tattoo on his chest, a cross entwined with a crescent moon pattern inspired by Whitebeard's iconic mustache.
His unique Mythological Zoan fruit granted him both the ability to fly freely, allowing him to come and go as he pleased, and the near-immortality of the Phoenix-Phoenix Fruit. Moreover, since he wasn't here to cause trouble, he felt no guilt and cared little for secrecy. He moved openly among the Sabaody Archipelago islands, neither drawing undue attention nor remaining completely inconspicuous, discreetly inquiring about Dark King Rayleigh.
...
"So he really is the legendary pirate. If he wants to hide his tracks, there's no way to find him... Not even my Observation Haki can detect a trace of him. Is he just that skilled, or is my Observation Haki too rusty?"
Marco strolled through the streets of Island 19, completely ignoring the increasingly wary glances directed his way. He scratched his pineapple-shaped hair.
"Should I just go straight to the Marine Base and ask?"
Just as the Sea Emperor's First Division Commander was considering leveraging the Marine's information channels, a commotion erupted at the street corner ahead. With a thunderous crash, a wall shattered, and three figures tumbled out one after another.
The first figure was a woman of the Longleg Race. She kicked the human man beside her into the air while shouting to another Fish-Man Robust Man, "Run!"
The injured Fish-Man Robust Man gritted his teeth and muttered, "If it weren't for this severe water shortage these past few days..."
"Enough excuses!" the human man gasped as he struggled to his feet. "My legs are weak from hunger too! If we don't run now, those bounty hunters you despise will catch us..."
The trio hurried past, each casting a sidelong glance at Marco, the pineapple-headed man.
This guy... he's strong... The thought flashed simultaneously through the minds of Fish-Man Lobster, human Herman, and Longleg Race Rege.
...
In one breath, they sprinted from Island 19 to Island 20, nearing the edge of Island 21 before daring to slow down and catch their breath.
"If you... love the water so much... huff... why didn't you just jump back into the sea? huff... Isn't Fish-Man Island right below us? huff..." Herman wiped his sweat.
Lobster, panting heavily, leaned on his knees and said gravely, "If I left, you two... would be even easier to capture..."
"Heh..." Rege, her Long Legs splayed as she leaned against a mangrove tree trunk, exhaled deeply. "Despite your fishy smell, you're surprisingly kind-hearted... heh..."
Her smile slowly faded as horror crept across her upturned face, which was still pressed against the tree trunk.
A figure wreathed in Blue flames, Pineapple Head, whom they had encountered earlier, smiled and waved down at her from the trunk. "Hello there."
"What?!"
Herman and Lobster were both startled, snapping their heads up to look. But there was no one on the tree trunk. Instead, a figure wreathed in blue flames had materialized beside them without their noticing.
'Such incredible speed!' Rege, the Longleg Race girl, thought in shock.
Marco patted the flame flickering on his shoulder and pointed to his own neck. "You all have marks on your necks where slave collars used to be... If I'm not mistaken, you escaped from the Grove 1 Auction during the earlier chaos, right?"
The trio's expressions darkened.
Marco waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry, I'm a pirate, so I'm not on the World Government's side. I'm not interested in your past as slaves. What I want to know is... what exactly happened during the battle that destroyed the Auction a few days ago? Do you know the whereabouts of Dark King Rayleigh, Jolyne Cujoh, or Giorno Giovanna?"
Rege sneered, "Save your breath. We won't tell you anything."
Jolyne Cujoh was their savior, the one who freed them from slavery! Even if Jolyne herself hadn't intended to do them a favor, Rege would never stoop so low as to betray her savior.
"I know you," Fish-Man Lobster said, his eyes burning as he stared at Pineapple Head. "You're one of the legendary 'Whitebeard's' subordinates, aren't you?!"
'Whitebeard?!' The two companions exchanged stunned glances at the Fish-Man.
"I believe in Whitebeard's virtue!" Fish-Man Lobster declared solemnly. "I'm willing to tell you everything we know... but you have to help us deal with the bounty hunters who've tracked us here..."
"Hunters?" Marco suddenly looked up, his gaze fixed on the approaching figures. Three bounty hunters, identical as triplets, stalked into view, sneering coldly. "Three stray dogs... thinking they're 'Skullcrusher' or 'Ghost Beard'?" "Thinking they're Giorno Giovanna or Jolyne Cujoh? Heh heh heh..."
"Hmm? Big Brother, Second Brother, who's this Pineapple Head?" Stephen Evans, still wrapped in bandages, asked his two similarly bandaged elder brothers in confusion.
Marco chuckled. "Looks like that Giorno guy has stirred up quite a mess. This just makes things easier..."
The great battle at the Auction, Giorno had faced Zephyr alone?
Marco couldn't deny his shock when he heard this news from the three Celestial Dragon slaves.
(End Of This Chapter)
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