The Celestial Dragon who dared to act so arrogantly toward Sengoku was Saint Naya, full name Saint Jaygarcia Naya.
As the name implied, he was a member of the Jaygarcia family.
He was the direct descendant of Saint Jaygarcia Saturn, one of the current Five Elders and the God of Science and Defense.
Although Naya looked ugly and misshapen, he was the only male heir of the current Jaygarcia family.
Thus, he received special attention from Saint Saturn.
It was this absurdly privileged status, comparable to that of imperial relatives, that completely intimidated Sengoku, forcing him to endure Naya's blatant disrespect.
Even when his own Marines died right before his eyes, Sengoku could only pretend not to see.
Sengoku's heart was in turmoil, so frustrated he felt like vomiting blood.
In the end, he convinced himself to turn and walk toward the bow of the ship, opting to turn a blind eye.
"Hmph, you worthless Marine scum, how dare you interfere with me? You're asking for death!"
"As the God of the World, killing a couple of lowly commoners is nothing. How dare you give me attitude? You don't know your place!"
"All lowly commoners who dare defy the will of the gods deserve to die!"
"You there! Hurry up and serve me! Do you want to die too?"
Of course, though Naya was arrogant and domineering, he wasn't foolish.
He was still in the New World and needed to rely on Sengoku to return safely to Mary Geoise.
After cursing and grumbling a few times, he paid no further attention to Sengoku.
Instead, he loudly berated another trembling concubine nearby.
This was another concubine he had acquired from who-knows-where, one he had long forgotten.
The first thing that caught his eye about her was her large bust and the aura of a married woman.
Naya declared: The flavor of a married woman—truly exquisite!
"Y-yes, my lord."
The trembling woman stepped forward and began massaging Naya.
Only then did Naya close his eyes contentedly, calming down slightly.
But barely a moment after closing his eyes, a violent explosion startled him awake.
Boom~
"Damn it, what's going on now? So noisy!"
Naya opened his eyes and cursed loudly.
But when he looked up, he was instantly stunned, his mouth agape in terror.
"What is this…?"
Not only was Naya's reaction extreme, but many Marines with weaker mental fortitude also wore expressions of despair.
Some soldiers even dropped their weapons, which clattered to the ground.
"Heh… hehe… Is this…?"
"The end of the world? It must be the end of the world, right?"
Above the five warships, three massive vessels descended from the sky, plummeting toward them at incredible speed.
The earlier explosion was the sonic boom generated by the ships' rapid descent.
Faced with such a meteor-like assault, the warships on the sea had nowhere to hide and could only confront it head-on.
In this moment of despair, Sengoku finally broke his silence and sprang into action.
"Shiki's Float-Float Fruit… Damn that bastard, attacking us at a time like this."
Clang! Clang!
Standing at the ship's bow, Sengoku cursed under his breath as he watched the vessels above him, his body erupting with intense golden radiance.
His originally unremarkable stature instantly swelled, and spirals began forming atop his head.
Within moments, his body had expanded to over ten meters tall, encircled by golden halos that exuded extraordinary beauty.
As a user of the Mythical Zoan-type Buddha Fruit, Sengoku now resembled a superhuman.
"Buddha Palm!"
"Ha~"
A golden shockwave shot forth from his broad palm with a whoosh, obliterating one of the ships above into splinters.
"Ha~"
"Ha~"
Two more palm strikes followed, reducing the remaining two vessels to exploding debris.
A rain of wooden shards descended from the sky, granting the marine soldiers renewed hope for survival.
"Oh~"
"As expected of Vice Admiral Sengoku! We're saved!"
"We don't have to die after all! Sob... Vice Admiral Sengoku, sob..."
"I love you, Vice Admiral! We've survived!"
...
Witnessing Sengoku's effortless elimination of the lethal threat, the marines erupted in cheers.
But soon they noticed that the much-admired Vice Admiral remained tense, showing no signs of relaxation.
The same applied to the four other Vice Admirals and ten Rear Admirals across the remaining warships - none displayed any letup in vigilance.
The soldiers quickly quieted down, gripping their weapons anew and preparing for battle.
Suddenly, the waters surrounding the five warships fell into terrifying silence.
Even Saint Naya became affected by the tension, fidgeting restlessly in his chair without uttering a word.
Soon, this silence was completely shattered by an arrogant laugh.
"Gyahahaha! Sengoku, it's been a while. Never thought you'd become such a coward."
"Remaining silent while a Celestial Dragon points and screams right in your face - quite the show you put on for me!"
A golden figure appeared in the sky above the warships, looking down upon the nervous marines below.
Shiki addressed Sengoku, having watched the entire scene from the clouds with great amusement.
His old rival actually being so submissive before a Celestial Dragon...
Shiki only regretted not having a Den Den Mushi camera on hand. Had he recorded and broadcast the scene worldwide, it would have made Sengoku truly famous.
What a pity. Such a shame.
Seeing the three ships he'd thrown using his Devil Fruit power completely destroyed, Shiki remained indifferent.
They were merely his method of announcing the arrival of the great Shiki.
It must be said that the 21-year-old Shiki, aside from combat, was particularly fond of showing off.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that most top-tier fighters in this world enjoyed and excelled at flaunting their power.
This certainly included Brian, who also loved to show off.
What was the point of possessing such strength and high status if one didn't flaunt it?
For the powerful to refrain from showing off was more wasteful than wearing fine robes in the dark!!!
Facing Shiki's provocation, Sengoku remained calm and completely ignored him.
Instead, he focused all his attention on Brian beside Shiki, his heart trembling with shock.
As a fighter of Admiral level, Sengoku sensed intense threat emanating from Brian.
Clearly, this was a powerhouse of equal caliber to himself, and a new face at that.
The simultaneous arrival of two fighters of his own level was undoubtedly catastrophic news.
'Damn it, this operation was supposed to be top secret. How was it leaked?'
'And to make matters worse, it attracted those lawless bastards from the Rocks Pirates. This is trouble, damn it.'
'And this man... he's never appeared in any Marine intelligence records. Is he a new recruit? Or another hidden asset of Rocks?'
'Shit, and of all times, I have a Celestial Dragon to protect in this situation. Fuck!'
The thought of the Celestial Dragon behind him made Sengoku's mood even heavier.
Facing stronger enemies with weaker forces, plus having a huge burden to protect - this was practically a disastrous start.
Even with Sengoku's top-tier Marine strategic mind, he genuinely couldn't think of a way to turn this absurd situation around.