On this vast sea, detestable characters were everywhere.
Pirates, bandits, mafias, scum within the Marines, and foreign invaders—these armed forces all bring endless trouble and disaster to those living on the islands.
But there’s only one group of people who are universally despised across the world, yet no one dares speak out against them—the Celestial Dragons.
Marines from the Four Seas have to be cautious about exposing themselves if they want to do anything illegal. Bandits and pirates get arrested. But Celestial Dragons are different—everything they do is legal, endorsed by the World Government, and backed by the entire Marine force, making it difficult for people to deal with them.
Upon seeing a Celestial Dragon, the average person has only a few possible reactions—either try to hide or kneel respectfully.
Even if someone dares to strike a Celestial Dragon, the people around would just run away, afraid of getting caught up in the aftermath.
As for the pirate crews of the Four Emperors, they aren’t afraid of the Celestial Dragons, but they’re also not interested in taking the initiative to provoke them. Unless things truly go to hell, both sides generally mind their own business. Even those Celestial Dragons wouldn’t recklessly stir up trouble in the New World.
There are still people in Mariejois who can keep these Celestial Dragons in check. Picking a fight with the Emperors of the Sea brings no benefit to the Celestial Dragons.
The higher-ups among the Celestial Dragons aren’t all idiots. The leaders of several families all know how to consider the future. Otherwise, Tesoro wouldn’t have been able to proceed so smoothly. It’s very difficult to negotiate with idiots.
Olga, on the other hand, is the kind of person who never has to worry about consequences when she acts. After all, she has many identities to hide behind. As long as she doesn’t trigger a worldwide chain reaction, the cost is practically nothing to her.
As long as a Celestial Dragon doesn’t die, the worst that’ll happen after getting beaten up is that it’ll attract a Marine Admiral. And someone already made the first move. If she beats up a couple more, the outcome won’t change.
“I’m not interested, but go easy—you might cause trouble if you kill them.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine! Look at that fat bastard, didn’t he take a beating just fine? That straw-hat guy punched his face out of shape and he still didn’t die!”
The current generation of Celestial Dragons are so rotten that they were beyond saving, but their ancestors were different. The original twenty kings who founded the World Government actually had some real capability.
When Luffy throws a punch in anger, he doesn’t hold back. To him, as long as someone is his comrade, they’re worth fighting for with everything he has.
Anyone who tries to take his friends—no matter who they are—is his enemy.
That punch was strong enough to blast a hole through a wall, yet Charlos only lost consciousness—his body was actually quite durable.
A dark purple energy spread out from beneath Olga’s feet, gradually enveloping the entire Human Auctioning House. After that, everyone inside the auction hall witnessed a scene they could never have imagined in their lifetime.
“Is that guy insane?! He actually punched three Celestial Dragons in a row!”
In the auction hall, Kid’s jaw nearly dropped in shock. He’d thought he was already fearless enough, but someone even more reckless had shown up. Punching the first Celestial Dragon could be explained as a fit of rage, but going after the other two? That he couldn’t understand at all.
“There’s no real difference. Whether you punch one or punch three, the result’s the same. But now that things have gone this far, a Marine Admiral is definitely on the way…”
“Who cares. Let’s go, Killer. We’ve gotta get out of here before the Marine Admiral shows up.”
Law made the same decision as Kid, and even the Straw Hat crew fell into confusion.
……
“Luffy!
“Why did you punch three of them?!”
“Huh? That guy tried to buy Camie, and he wanted to steal Hercules too! And I only punched one of them! I didn’t even touch the other two—was that you guys?”
Looking at the shattered glass helmets of Rosward and Shalria, Luffy instinctively denied what he’d just done.
“Bon-chan, did you turn into me and beat them up?”
“Nope~ Even though I’d love to hit them too, I wasn’t the one who did it. And I saw it too—it really was you, Mugi-chan, who took all three of them down!”
“Yeah, you just ignored what we said and beat those three guys to a pulp. Anyway, we should probably grab Camie and get outta here now.”
Sanji lit a cigarette, starting to think about where they should go next. Olga’s illusion wasn’t some mind-affecting trick—it was a real, physical illusion acting on reality itself.
The Straw Hat crew had no way to tell it was an illusion. From their perspective, it really looked like Luffy had beaten up all three of them.
“Really…? Don’t tell me… I fell asleep just now?!”
Hearing his crewmates’ words, Luffy fell into self-doubt. After a brief moment of confusion, he came to a conclusion that no normal person ever would—he figured he might have beaten up the remaining two Celestial Dragons while sleepwalking.
“No way that’s possible!” xN
“Wait! Camie’s gone!”
The Straw Hat crew couldn’t make sense of Luffy’s logic at all. Meanwhile, Nami noticed that Camie, who had previously been placed on the auction stage, had disappeared without anyone realizing it.
At that moment, a giant suddenly emerged from backstage, and scattered slaves began fleeing in different directions. Only Rayleigh, whose collar had been removed, had his gaze locked on Luffy’s straw hat.
“If you’re looking for that mermaid, someone has already rescued her. Fishman Island is under Whitebeard’s protection and they also have complex ties to the Beasts Pirates—there’s no need for you to worry about her safety up there.”
“Speaking of that girl… she really did stir up quite a scene.”
Hearing that Camie had already been rescued, the Straw Hat crew finally felt at ease and began thinking about how to leave the place. At the same time, thanks to Luffy’s straw hat, they had their first real interaction with Rayleigh.
Compared to them, other people were having an even bigger headache.
…..
“Fleet Admiral Sengoku, someone has attacked the Celestial Dragons, and not just one, but three of them. They even took them as hostages. That means we have no choice but to act, right?”
“Borsalino….”
“Don’t worry, Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Leave it to me.”
The Celestial Dragons being attacked couldn’t be ignored, but there was also Drake on the island. They couldn’t capture him as well, which meant they needed someone with exceptional acting skills to handle the situation.
As an Admiral, Kizaru was well aware of Drake’s mission. There were also other factors involved, which ultimately led him to take on this task voluntarily.
At the same time, Kuma, along with other Pacifistas and Sentomaru, also headed toward Sabaody Archipelago.
【Dragon, your son really takes after you. He is just as gutsy as you. Let me lend him hand one last time…】
This was the final mission he would carry out with Kuma’s personality. After this, he would temporarily go offline. But before that, he would ensure that leader’s child could leave this dangerous island safely.
While the Marines were beginning to assemble at Sabaody Archipelago, Olga had already taken Camie and escaped, embarking on their journey back to Onigashima. What was happening at Sabaody Archipelago had nothing to do with her.
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.
Become a Patron!