Chapter 90: The Bidding War and the Reveal

“Five billion Berries!” Marco’s voice cut through the heavy, suffocating air of the ballroom like a knife.

“Six billion!” Katakuri countered instantly, his deep, resonant voice echoing from behind his massive scarf.

The Sweet Commander hadn’t even blinked.

The lesser pirate captains and underworld dons in the room had completely fallen silent.

They were entirely priced out.

What started as a frantic bidding war had rapidly devolved into a terrifying clash of Emperor treasuries.

The air pressure in the room was physically dropping as the raw, unbridled Haki of the three Envoys began to passively leak into the environment.

“SEVEN BILLION!” Queen roared, his cybernetic arm transforming into a massive, clicking mechanical claw that gouged deep trenches into the mahogany table.

“Don’t play games with the Beast Pirates, you brats!

Kaido-san wants that Elixir!”

“Eight billion,” Marco replied smoothly, his half-lidded eyes fixed entirely on the glowing yellow vial resting in its velvet case.

“Pops needs it more.

We aren’t leaving without it.”

On the stage, Donquixote Doflamingo was practically vibrating with euphoric greed.

His red sunglasses caught the light of the chandeliers as he spread his arms wide, soaking in the absolute desperation of the world’s most powerful crews.

“Fufufufu!

Eight billion from the Whitebeard Pirates!” Doflamingo cheered, his god-complex soaring to unprecedented heights.

“Do I hear nine?

Remember, gentlemen, immortality is priceless!”

Queen’s cybernetic eye whirred, focusing on the smug Warlord.

The Lead Performer’s patience completely evaporated.

He wasn’t going to sit here and play an auctioneer’s game while Kaido’s prize dangled in front of him.

“TEN BILLION BERRIES!” Queen bellowed, the sheer volume of his voice shattering several empty wine glasses across the room.

“Ten billion, paid in solid gold, right here, right now!

But the bidding ends now, Joker!

Hand over the first vial, or I’ll tear this tacky palace down to the bedrock and take it off your corpse!”

The ballroom fell dead silent.

The Beast Pirates flanking Queen drew their massive blades, their bestial eyes locked onto the stage.

Doflamingo’s smile tightened into a rigid, dangerous line.

He hated being threatened in his own kingdom, but ten billion Berries for a single vial was a king’s ransom.

And appeasing Kaido’s right-hand man was the priority.

“Very well, Queen-san,” Doflamingo conceded, gesturing smoothly to his executives.

“The first vial goes to the Beast Pirates for ten billion Berries.

Trebol, bring our esteemed guest his prize.”

“Behehehe!

Right away, Doffy!” Trebol snickered, his slimy body trailing across the stage.

He picked up the velvet case containing the first violently glowing vial and slithered down the steps, crossing the tense ballroom.

He placed the open case directly onto the ruined wood of Queen’s table.

Queen stared down at the mystical yellow liquid.

It hummed with light.

Capping it was the pristine, unbroken red wax seal of the dragon and the wing.

“Dr.

Kuro,” Queen grunted, not taking his eyes off the prize.

“Verify it.”

A thin, rat-faced man wearing a stained white lab coat and a Beast Pirate armband stepped out from behind Queen.

He was their lead biological scientist, a man tasked with maintaining the volatile SMILE fruit integrations back on Wano.

Dr.

Kuro pulled a pair of heavy magnifying goggles over his eyes and produced a small, complex chemical testing kit from his coat.

He leaned over the vial, his hands trembling slightly under the murderous gaze of everyone in the room.

Up on the stage, Doflamingo stood tall, a look of supreme confidence on his face.

He wasn’t sweating the test.

He had found the vials in the ancient ruins of Mystoria.

He just knew they were real.

Dr.

Kuro carefully slipped a specialized scalpel beneath the wax.

With a sharp crack, the intricate red seal broke.

The doctor removed the stopper.

He leaned in, taking a deep sniff of the glowing liquid.

His brow furrowed.

He dipped a thin glass pipette into the vial, drawing a single, glowing yellow drop.

He squeezed the drop onto a chemical testing strip.

The strip didn’t change color.

It didn’t react.

It just got wet.

Dr.

Kuro pulled his goggles up, his face suddenly draining of all color.

He dipped a gloved finger into the liquid and touched it to his tongue.

The silence in the ballroom was absolute.

You could hear a pin drop.

Across the room, Charlotte Katakuri suddenly flinched.

His Advanced Observation Haki flared, peering exactly five seconds into the future.

The Sweet Commander’s eyes widened behind his scarf.

He instantly took a step back, his body tensing for absolute war.

Dr.

Kuro looked up at Queen.

The rat-faced scientist looked like he was about to cry.

He was sweating so profusely his lab coat was soaked.

“W-Well?” Queen demanded, a vein popping on his thick forehead.

“Is the Elixir real?”

“I-I-It’s…” Dr.

Kuro stammered, his voice cracking with absolute, unadulterated terror.

“Master Queen…

this…

this isn’t medicine.”

Queen froze.

“What?”

“I-It’s a protein slurry,” Dr.

Kuro squeaked, holding the vial with shaking hands.

“It’s…

it’s blended tropical fruit, fructose syrup, and a harmless bioluminescent algae isolate to make it glow.

It has absolutely zero regenerative properties.

It’s…

it’s just juice.”

The words hung in the air.

Just juice.

For one, agonizing microsecond, the universe seemed to stop spinning.

Up on the stage, Donquixote Doflamingo’s brain completely short-circuited.

His jaw went slack.

The confident, arrogant king was instantly replaced by a man staring into the abyss.

Juice?

But he found it in the ruins!

It had a seal on it!

The rumors were verified!

“JUICE?!” Queen roared, the sound hitting the room like a physical shockwave.

The Lead Performer grabbed the heavy mahogany table and violently flipped it into the air.

He snatched the vial from the terrified doctor’s hand and crushed it in his massive cybernetic grip.

The glowing yellow liquid exploded outward, splattering across the pristine marble floor in a sticky, useless puddle.

“YOU SCAMMED US, JOKER!” Queen bellowed, his body rapidly expanding as he partially transformed into his massive Brachiosaurus form, his head scraping the chandeliers.

“YOU SOLD THE REAL ELIXIR TO THE CELESTIAL DRAGONS AND TRIED TO FEED US TRASH!”

“Kill him!” a random pirate captain screamed from the back.

“He dragged us all the way to Dressrosa for a fake!”

“He must be hoarding the real medicine in the vault!” another underworld don yelled, drawing a pair of flintlocks and firing directly at the stage.

The bullets sparked against Doflamingo’s invisible strings, but the dam had completely broken.

Total, apocalyptic chaos erupted.

Dozens of pirate crews, convinced they were being played, violently turned on the Donquixote Family.

Swords clashed against steel.

Gunfire deafened the ballroom.

Big Mom’s enforcers began smashing the guards through the walls, while Marco’s blue flames ignited near the entrance.

“WAIT!” Doflamingo screamed, his voice cracking with pure, desperate panic.

“I didn’t…..I don’t…..!”

But nobody was listening.

To the New World, the Joker’s word was suddenly entirely worthless.

He was a fraud.

A scam artist who had insulted the Emperors.

I sat back in my loveseat, watching the bloodbath unfold.

A heavy Beast Pirate Gifter was thrown across the room, crashing into the table next to us.

The glowing yellow “elixir” was currently being trampled into the carpet.

The illusion was shattered.

The credibility of the underworld’s greatest broker had just been publicly, violently executed.

I looked at Robin.

She was elegantly brushing a piece of debris off her purple gown.

“Shall we?” I asked softly.

“I believe the entertainment has concluded,” Robin smiled, her eyes reflecting the fires beginning to burn in the ballroom.

I stood up, offering her my arm.

We didn’t draw our weapons to join the fight.

We seamlessly just slipped through the chaotic, panicking crowd, moving toward the grand double doors at the back of the room.

As we reached the exit, a figure stepped out of the smoke beside us.

Marco the Phoenix looked at me.

His sharp eyes flicked from the absolute terror on Doflamingo’s face back to my completely calm, unsurprised demeanor.

Marco was a veteran of the seas, he wasn’t stupid.

He saw the Warlord who had fought Kaido casually walking away from the greatest scam of the century without a single ounce of disappointment.

Marco slowly smirked, a look of profound, quiet respect crossing his face.

He didn’t say a word.

He just turned his back on the screaming, fighting crowd of idiots and walked out the heavy doors right alongside Robin and me.

We stepped out into the cool night air of the palace courtyard, leaving the Joker entirely alone to face the wrath of the monsters.

The first phase of the execution was complete.

Now, it was time to drop the cage.

———————————————————————————————————

For more chapters

Curtis Branscum, Vince, Eric