One Piece: New Century Hextech Warriors

Chapter 69 The Empress's Revenge

Da, da, da.

The crisp sound of footsteps echoed in the secret passage, like the heartbeat of some enormous creature, making Hancock inexplicably uncomfortable.

She slowly surveyed her surroundings. The staircase leading to the second basement level was much longer than the one before. The candles on the walls on both sides of the staircase were no longer hanging there; instead, there were bright incandescent bulbs. The pale light reflected off the hard walls that were comparable to the hull of a warship.

To her surprise, the staircase was unusually wide, easily accommodating more than ten people walking side by side. She wondered what it was used to transport.

After walking for more than twenty minutes, they finally stepped onto flat ground.

"arrive."

The three philanthropist sisters smiled slightly, turned to look at the other side, and looked intoxicated, as if there was some beautiful scenery there.

"This is?!"

Even Hancock, who is usually calm, was so shocked by the sight before her that she gaped open.

They stood at the entrance of a prison, in front of which were dozens of individual cells surrounded by bulletproof glass, forming a huge complex.

Unlike those filthy and smelly prisons, this prison was clean and tidy. Each cell was several dozen square meters in size and fully equipped. The prisoners were not starving and emaciated. There was even a melodious piece of music floating in the air.

If it weren't for the fact that each cell was filled with rare slaves such as fishmen, minks, and long-limbed creatures, it would really look like a nice hotel.

Once Hancock and the others had recovered from their shock, the philanthropist calmly introduced, "As you can see, this is my true treasure."

He bowed slightly and smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry I didn't show you my best goods earlier, but there's nothing I can do about it. After all, not every customer is as generous as you. Good things should be reserved for those who truly appreciate them."

Behind Hancock, her two younger sisters clenched their fists and made barely audible "clicking" sounds.

They were trying hard to clench their teeth and not let their anger show.

Hancock took a deep breath and smiled faintly, "I really didn't expect that such a highly praised philanthropist would be doing this kind of business in private."

The philanthropist chuckled, completely unconcerned: "There's always someone who'll do business serving someone as important as you."

"Furthermore, as you have seen, in order to ensure quality, the living conditions I provide for these slaves are excellent, even better than the homes of most commoners. It is their good fortune to become my goods."

He glanced proudly at the complex of prison cells and continued, "Don't worry, whoever you choose, I have a way to deliver it to your door."

"By the way, some of my clients are Celestial Dragons, so you don't have to worry about being intercepted by those annoying Marines."

Hancock raised an eyebrow, understanding dawning on her.

No wonder this guy has access to so many rare slaves and can build such a huge secret prison; it turns out he has the Celestial Dragons backing him up.

Although the slave trade is prevalent in this world, the vast majority of it is illegal. Only a very small number of slave traders have the right to trade with the Celestial Dragons and are not afraid of being arrested by the Navy.

She asked curiously, "Since you're qualified to do business with the Celestial Dragons, why don't you just openly run a slave shop?"

"As far as I know, there are quite a few similar shops in the Sabaody Archipelago. Given how sought-after your goods are, I imagine you'll make a fortune."

The philanthropist seemed unsurprised by her question, shaking his head and chuckling, "You know, it's hard to be a slave trader for long. You can easily go bankrupt if you're not careful. Besides, the Celestial Dragons' support isn't permanent. The day they stop liking my goods, that's when I'll go bankrupt."

"So, outside I am a businessman doing legitimate business, and inside I can also do some small side jobs, and incidentally build connections with important people like you."

"In business, I've always believed in not putting all your eggs in one basket!"

The philanthropist concluded with an inviting gesture: "Having said all that, do you have any items that catch your eye?"

"To be honest, I have a very important client scheduled to come and look at the goods later. The client doesn't really want any outsiders present when they're selecting the items, so I suggest you make your decision soon."

Hancock nodded, her gaze suddenly drawn to the largest cell.

"You have one of those kinds of guys?"

Inside, a male giant was found imprisoned!

As far as Hancock knew, since the legendary Giant Hammer Band and Giant Warrior Pirates disappeared many years ago, giants have rarely been seen at sea, except for a small number of giant officers in the Navy.

These giants usually prefer to stay in Elbaf and rarely go to sea. They are as rare as the Mink Tribe, and each giant slave is priceless.

But this giant was different from the other slaves of normal build. He was emaciated, with messy hair, and sat helplessly against the glass wall on the ground with empty eyes.

Upon hearing Hancock's question, the philanthropist suddenly rubbed his forehead and chuckled bitterly: "Ha, it's that idiot. Come to think of it, he and I have a history."

The philanthropist slowly walked to the giant's cell, a look of reminiscence on his face.

"Two years ago, I went out to sea to find goods. Unfortunately, I encountered a storm and fell into the sea. I was about to drown when a huge sailboat suddenly came by. Then a big hand pulled me onto the boat and saved my life."

"You've probably already guessed it, this is the guy who saved me back then."

He sighed softly and continued, "He said he was considered a boy among the giants, and that he had secretly run away from home to explore, and he was very happy that he was able to save me."

"I am a grateful person, so I invited him to visit the Sabaody Archipelago, hosted a grand banquet for him, and then invited him to join my team as my bodyguard to search for more valuable goods together."

"As a result, he flew into a rage, causing a scene at the banquet and even trying to take me to the navy. In desperation, I had no choice but to have someone subdue him, and he was eventually locked up here."

"He's not eating or drinking right now, and he's only staying alive because I'm giving him IV fluids. I guess that's how I repay him for saving my life!"

He chuckled after saying that, "This big, clumsy guy is a bit of a nuisance here. I'm waiting for someone destined to buy him. If you're interested, I can sell him for 80%—no, 60% off!"

As he told the story in a nonchalant tone, Hancock felt the blood rush to her head, almost blowing the top of her head off.

But now was not the time to get angry. She glanced around and frowned, saying, "I do have a few things I like, but you don't have any surveillance devices like Den Den Mushi or bugging devices here, do you?"

"After all, I'm not a Celestial Dragon. Buying slaves is inherently risky, and I don't want my personal information to be leaked."

The philanthropist, looking utterly insulted, exclaimed, "What kind of talk is that?!"

"I assure you there's absolutely nothing like that here, and as you can see, there aren't even any guards—it's all to protect our clients' privacy to the greatest extent possible!"

Hearing this, Hancock nodded in satisfaction: "That puts my mind at ease."

She had just secretly used her Observation Haki to investigate, but found nothing unusual.

"Let's get started."

Before she could finish speaking, her two younger sisters rushed up and surrounded the philanthropist.

"Sir, what do you mean by this?"

The philanthropist's tone turned cold, and a glint of icy light flashed behind his elegant gold-rimmed glasses.

Hancock finally didn't have to act anymore; she raised her chin high and resumed her queenly demeanor, looking down on everything.

"Do you remember the little girls you abducted years ago?"

The philanthropist's expression changed, and he suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "So it was you!"