Chapter 2Half an hour later.
The entire Sabaody Archipelago had completely exploded into chaos.
"Hiss… That Tian Chen King has some insane guts—he actually killed a Celestial Dragon!"
"That's right! A ton of people saw it with their own eyes. When Celestial Dragon Saint Lulia Palace looked down on Tian Chen King like he was nothing, her head just rolled clean off her neck and hit the ground!"
"But Tian Chen King actually has the strength to back it up! Maybe he really doesn't give a damn about Celestial Dragons!"
"I think so too!"
"After all, most of you didn't witness the terrifying scene in person!"
"Those densely packed soldiers in golden armor—there had to be at least 100,000 of them—descended from the sky out of nowhere! Golden light flashing everywhere, like gods descending from heaven!"
"They were all marching with unbreakable momentum, guarding Tian Chen King. The scene was pure dominance!"
"Descending from the sky? With flashing golden light? Is it really that miraculous?"
"Hmph, that's not even the most ridiculous part!"
"You know Groves 60 to 69, right? That's where a massive force of Marine Headquarters elites is stationed. When they heard a Celestial Dragon had been killed and these mysterious golden-armored soldiers were planning to rebel, disrupt order, and establish some 'Giant Empire' here…"
"The battle erupted instantly."
"But guess what happened?"
"What happened?!"
"I heard those golden-armored soldiers are ridiculously strong. The elite Marines stationed here couldn't even handle them one-on-one!"
"Each golden soldier could take on ten elite Marines at once!"
"And the craziest part? They're completely invulnerable—impossible to kill!"
"Even Sentomaru from the Science Division deployed Pacifistas and fired laser beams, but the pierced golden soldiers healed at visible speed!"
"What?! That's… that bizarre?!"
"These golden soldiers… could they really be gods descending?!"
"Who knows?"
"Anyway, it's straight-up insane!"
"Yeah, us regular folks should stay the hell out of this fight. We wouldn't even know how we died!"
The people of Sabaody Archipelago were usually the type to love chaos, but right now, none of them dared get involved.
Tian Chen's 100,000 Heroic Spirit Army was, for the moment, only facing the Marines stationed here.
The battle was effortless.
"Damn it, these golden-armored soldiers are truly freakish!!!"
"What the hell are their bodies made of? A slash doesn't even draw blood or flesh!"
"I'm numb at this point!"
"Even if I chop off their arms, they just reform from countless strands of golden light!"
"And their combat power is insane! Someone tell me how we're supposed to fight this?!"
"How about… we just hide and slack off?"
"Yeah, let's slack off! Charging in is basically suicide!"
"Makes sense. Even the Pacifistas couldn't turn the tide. I don't wanna die!"
The elite Marines stationed at Sabaody were actually pretty sharp—they all had survival instincts.
It seemed they were truly living for themselves.
Or perhaps, in their eyes, one dead Celestial Dragon wasn't worth throwing their lives away for revenge.
"Quick! Since we've decided, let's retreat now!"
"This fight is impossible—these opponents aren't even human!"
"If Admiral Kizaru were here, he'd probably slack off too in this situation!"
"Right, right! This grove's gonna fall sooner or later. Better head to the next one and defend there. If that falls too, the brothers there can slack off with us."
After one grove was completely overrun by the Heroic Spirit Army…
On an adjacent grove, Vice Admirals Momousagi (Peach Rabbit) and Chaton were jointly commanding thousands of Marines. They had been skirmishing and stalling against a few thousand golden soldiers.
But with the neighboring grove lost and several thousand more Heroic Spirits rushing over as reinforcements, the pressure skyrocketed.
"Damn it! Were the soldiers over there a bunch of idiots? They lost that fast?!"
"Aaaah! Vice Admiral Momousagi! Vice Admiral Chaton! The pressure here is insane!!!"
"Those golden soldiers aren't human at all! We can't kill them—cough cough—brothers, if we hadn't run fast, we'd be dead!"
Chaton grumbled and cursed.
Then he saw a huge wave of Marines flooding into their ranks, all crying and begging for shelter.
Chaton's face immediately darkened.
What the hell is wrong with these guys? No backbone at all—they're ruining Headquarters' image!
"Hmph! Whose unit are you clowns under?"
"Uh… Reporting to Vice Admiral, we're under Admiral Kizaru's command."
Chaton paused. Kizaru's men, huh?
Fine then, never mind.
Momousagi, ever understanding, spoke up.
"You can't blame them this time. Even if Chaton and I teamed up here, we can only stall these golden soldiers—we can't crush them."
The shelter-seeking soldiers' eyes sparkled as they looked at Momousagi, moved to tears.
"Vice Admiral Momousagi, you're… you're too kind! We love you so much!"
"Wuwuwu… Only Vice Admiral Momousagi understands how tough it is for us men!"
Chaton got jealous and snapped.
"Shut up! One more word and I'll cripple you!"
Just then…
Tian Chen received the system prompt.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host! At least half the people on Sabaody Archipelago now know you intend to establish an empire named 'Giant' here.""You have successfully obtained the system reward: One Celestial Palace City. Please prepare to receive it."
Then, high above, violent thunder and lightning cracked through the sky.
Every person on Sabaody Archipelago instinctively looked up, drawn to the spectacle thousands of meters in the air.
In the void there, not only did thunder flash endlessly—intense spatial distortions were tearing reality apart.
Everyone held their breath.
Suddenly, a massive golden city separated from the void!
Tian Chen's eyes burned with excitement.
This was the Celestial Palace City!
Wasn't this far more magnificent, grander, and divine than Holy Land Mary Geoise?
As expected from the system—top quality!
With the city's appearance, Tian Chen felt an instant, intimate connection to it.
As if with a single thought, he could appear inside.
"No way! Teleporting up instantly? This is the perfect moment to show off and ascend as emperor!"
Tian Chen willed it.
The Celestial Palace City shifted directly overhead, then a faint golden energy beam descended.
In that moment, not only did he feel total mastery over the Supreme King's Power…
But standing in the beam, his body slowly rose into the sky.
Tian Chen glanced at his suit and tie.
This won't do.
He immediately used the Supreme King's Power to condense a set of black dragon imperial robes.
Full transformation from head to toe.
His entire aura changed in an instant—majestic and unmatched!
The Heroic Spirit Army across Groves 1 to 79 saw their king rising slowly.
Every single one dropped to one knee, bowing in unison from all directions.
"We pay respects to our Emperor!"
"We pay respects to our Emperor!"
"We pay respects to our Emperor!"
...
Vice Admirals Momousagi and Chaton, Sentomaru, countless soldiers—they all felt an overwhelming urge to kneel.
But snapping out of it, their hearts couldn't calm down.
Everything happening today was too absurd, too unprecedented in their lives!
Tian Chen felt his life had reached its peak.
Being the absolute center of attention—pure bliss.
But if not now, when to declare himself emperor?
Tian Chen struck an invincible, arrogant pose, hands slightly raised.
With a thought, he used the Supreme King's Power to summon nine golden dragons, their majestic roars echoing as they coiled around the entire Celestial Palace City.
With the perfect backdrop set…
Tian Chen, exuding natural authority, slowly looked down at the masses below and spoke.
"I am Tian Chen!"
"Here! I establish the Giant Empire!"
"Self-proclaimed! Tian Chen the Great Emperor!"
...