"By the way, any trace of Ledfield?"
Malverick asked casually.
Rayleigh shook his head.
Not even the World Government knew where Ledfield had gone.
The CP organizations—world-class intelligence agencies with agents everywhere—still couldn't locate him.
"Never mind. As long as he continues to be a threat to the Navy, that's enough."
Just then, Malverick's phone rang.
He answered.
"Malverick, the targets have arrived at Sabaody Archipelago."
It was Robin's voice.
"Good. Leave it to you. Make sure you capture them."
"I need them alive. Dead ones are useless and only cause trouble."
"Oh, got it."
Rayleigh, hearing Malverick speak as if planning to capture someone, felt a very bad premonition.
"Hey, brat, what are you planning to do this time?!"
Malverick didn't respond.
He finished his drink, then rose with his group.
"Old man, don't wander around these next few days. If things get messy, take Aunt Shakky back to Amazon Lily."
And with that, they left, leaving Rayleigh alone.
After a long silence, Rayleigh sighed.
"That kid really can't stop causing trouble…"
He had only just returned, and Malverick was stirring things up again.
Before long, Shakky returned.
"You said you'd be back tonight. What happened?"
"Nothing much. The Celestial Dragons arrived. To avoid any incidents, I figured I should come back early."
Shakky had barely finished speaking when Rayleigh stood up sharply, gripping her shoulders.
"What did you just say? Celestial Dragons are here?!"
"Yeah. Five of them, all at once."
"This is bad—! That reckless kid! How can he have the nerve to…!"
The result was obvious.
Malverick's next target was — the Celestial Dragons.
He hadn't said it to Rayleigh's face because he didn't want to give the old man a heart attack.
Malverick needed more than just diversions (like Barrett and Ledfield).
He also needed protective talismans.
Requirements:
• High status
• Weak strength
• Low intelligence
• Easy to manipulate
And what coincidentally met all four criteria?
Celestial Dragons.
(All except a tiny handful of special cases.)
With them as shields and Ledfield & Barrett drawing the Navy's attention, Malverick would gain time to develop in peace.
Either hide in Germa or head to the Grand Line to seize territory—
and the latter required time.
Meanwhile, a full Celestial Dragon family had arrived—five people:
Grandfather
• Father
• Two sons
• One daughter
The Celestial Dragons valued purity of blood.
Only children born of Celestial Dragons counted as Celestial Dragons.
Any child conceived with a commoner was eliminated before birth.
Due to generations of closed in-group marriage and the tiny population, inbreeding was inevitable—
explaining why so many of them behaved… dimly.
The five of them had just disembarked.
Each was riding atop a slave being forced to crawl across the ground.
Behind them, several chained women followed carrying flower baskets.
Their guards stood flanking both sides.
Because no one would dare attack Celestial Dragons, the guards weren't particularly strong.
If a Celestial Dragon was harmed, Marine Headquarters—close to Sabaody—would dispatch an Admiral immediately.
Crowds lined the street on both sides, kneeling with heads lowered, terrified that the Celestial Dragons might fire on anyone who displeased them.
Many had seen innocent people killed simply for failing to kneel.
"Hurry up and crawl! I still need to buy slaves!"
One Celestial Dragon tugged the hair of the slave carrying him, irritated.
The slave did not react—his eyes empty, moving only in mechanical obedience.
"Papa, I want to buy lots of slaves! I want my whole cage filled!"
"Of course, son. Anything you want!"
"Being our slaves is an honor for these commoners!"
"Hm?"
Suddenly the Celestial Dragon looked ahead.
He raised his pistol.
Someone wasn't kneeling—
they were chatting and eating snacks instead.
To a Celestial Dragon, that was intolerable disrespect.
"Reiju, try this takoyaki! It's delicious!"
"Mhm, really tasty!"
"Here Alice, you try too!"
Seeing them continuing like nothing was happening, the Celestial Dragon exploded with anger and pulled the trigger—
—But before he could fire, a hand appeared on his shoulder and slapped him off the slave's back.
The guards hurried to help him up.
But then several more hands sprouted across his body—
smack, smack, smack, smack—
He was overwhelmed instantly.
"Who's doing this?!"
The guards tried to intervene, but had no idea where the attacks were coming from.
At that moment Robin and the other two girls walked forward.
"I did it."
"And not just him—the other Celestial Dragons… and all of you… none of you are escaping."
Robin crossed her arms.
"Bloom—Clutch!"
Petal-like illusions fluttered through the air.
Hands erupted across every guard's body—gripping necks and legs and pulling them down.
There was a series of joint-twisting impacts, leaving their bodies immobilized on the ground.
None of them died, but all were completely incapacitated and groaning in pain.
Robin waved her hand lightly, ending the ongoing slaps on the Celestial Dragon.
His face was swollen beyond recognition.
"You filthy commoner! How dare you lay hands on us—the creators of this world! Release us or you'll suffer a fate worse than—"
"Too noisy."
Reiju frowned, firing a glob of sticky purple material.
It plastered over their mouths, sealing them shut so only muffled sounds escaped.
Citizens on both sides of the street watched in stunned silence.
Someone actually attacked the Celestial Dragons?!
Run.
They had to run.
The crowds scattered in panic, terrified of being caught in the situation.
Meanwhile, one guard collapsed on the ground managed to pull out a Den-Den Mushi.
He began contacting the Marines.
Robin didn't stop him.
She simply watched him report everything.
Malverick had instructed this.
He wanted to see who the Navy would send.
—------------------------------
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