CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 68: THE DEATH OF A CELESTIAL DRAGON, MAKING HISTORY

"Is there really a Golden Bell as big as a house?"

One day, Saint Rosward, out on Sabaody Archipelago with his precious daughter to buy a slave to show off to other Celestial Dragons, stared at the obsequious merchant before him and warned excitedly, "If you dare lie to me, I’ll take you back as a slave."

"I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare. I would never deceive you."

Startled, the merchant dropped to his knees and vowed, "I swear on my life, the Golden Bell is absolutely real."

"Where is it? Hurry and take me there!"

Seeing the merchant wasn’t lying, Saint Rosward urged impatiently.

The pleasure among Celestial Dragons is mutual one-upmanship.

If he really found a Golden Bell as big as a house, he would surely shine at the gatherings.

At his side, Saint Shalulia looked expectant. "Father, may I skip the slave? I want the Golden Bell too."

"No problem. Once we have the bell in hand, both you and Charlos can play with it."

"Wonderful!"

In their words, both Rosward and Shalulia already regarded the Golden Bell as their property.

As with "all under heaven belongs to the king."

Calling themselves "descendants of the Creator," the Celestial Dragons regard the entire world as their possession.

Sabaody Archipelago is merely their back garden, and those commoners like slaves have to be granted charity before they may set foot there and be blessed to behold the radiance of the gods.

Even so, they disdain breathing the same air as humans, so both Rosward and Shalulia wore bubble headgear.

Therefore...

That commoner who owns the Golden Bell should feel honored to have it taken.

If the bell was truly that big and that beautiful, enough to let him outshine other Celestial Dragons, Saint Rosward wouldn’t mind making the owner his lapdog, to let him feel the radiance of the gods up close.

Celestial Dragons—the utterly decayed descendants of kings after eight hundred years.

"A real Golden Bell—so huge!"

When Saint Rosward and Saint Shalulia rode their slave to the island pier where the large three-masted ship was moored,

From a distance, Rosward saw the colossal Golden Bell standing on the deck.

Forged from countless gold four hundred years ago in the Golden City, able to ring with a deep, magnificent song, to guide fleets through storms and kindle hope, called the "Lamp of Shandora," the Golden Bell conquered Rosward in an instant.

No matter what, he had to get that Golden Bell and make it his most precious collectible.

"A dragon—a real dragon!"

Shalulia, by contrast, was immediately captivated by the little dragon standing at the bow, gnawing on a huge drumstick fetched from the hold.

Women have no resistance to cute things, and Celestial Dragons are no exception.

Without even glancing at the bell, Shalulia said excitedly to Rosward, "Father, I don’t want the bell anymore. I want that dragon!"

"Fine, fine. I’ll go bring it back now." Rosward nodded, then moved to order the slave beneath him to advance.

"Lord Saint Rosward, please do not proceed."

Their black-suited bodyguard, who had been trailing the Celestial Dragons, hurried forward to advise, "Dragons are dangerous and irascible creatures. For your safety and Lady Shalulia’s, please allow me to call in the Marines."

"Out of the way!"

Before Rosward could speak, Shalulia, seated on the slave, kicked the suited man over and scolded, "It’s just a little dragon—why all the fuss? Catch it for me in a moment and put a slave collar on it."

"If it dares not obey, I’ll break it in slowly."

"Go on, take me to seize that dragon."

With that, Shalulia rode the slave toward the large three-masted ship.

Watching a fresh batch of dead men walking approach from afar, the little dragon, still chewing a drumstick bigger than itself, swallowed it in one bite, then opened its maw toward Rosward’s entourage.

That familiar white light appeared in the eyes of those coveting the bell on the pier, as well as the coaters working on the large three-master.

"Hey, hey... this can’t be for real, right?"

"The dragon won’t actually do it, will it?"

"Stop right now! Those are World Nobles—you’ll get me killed!"

"..."

Amid the stunned stares of the coveters and bystanders, and the coaters’ furious shouts, the little dragon spewed a massive white beam at Rosward’s party.

"This is bad!"

After several months, the little dragon had risen to six stars.

Aside from lacking the mysterious spear, its strength was in no way inferior to Karl’s little dragon—beneath the cute exterior was a true monster.

Even a casual Gale Burst was a lethal strike in the eyes of the Celestial Dragons’ bodyguards.

After all, who would ever imagine someone would attack Celestial Dragons—the World Nobles—on Sabaody Archipelago, beneath Mariejois, next door to Marine Headquarters!

So the beam mercilessly engulfed the suited guards, as well as Saint Rosward and Saint Shalulia’s party, and a mushroom cloud blossomed on the ground.

When the mushroom cloud dissipated...

A giant crater, and heaps of mangled corpses and severed limbs filled the coveters’ and bystanders’ eyes.

"..."

The whole world seemed to fall silent.

No one knew how long it lasted.

A throat-ripping scream finally shattered the mood:

"Run for your lives!!!!"

"Th—the Celestial Dragons are dead! A Marine Admiral is coming!"

"Damn it, all my wealth and property are on Sabaody—I can’t just leave!"

"Boss, hurry up and run! If we don’t go now, I won’t make it!"

"Damn dragon—damn Dragon Knight!"

"This island is finished!"

"..."

Like the end of the world.

The coveters and the coaters dropped everything, scrambling toward other ships at the pier, hijacking vessels like pirates, wishing for wings to flee Sabaody at once.

Even as they fled, they cast hateful looks at the little dragon.

The little dragon tilted its head slightly, puzzled.

Though linked heart-to-heart with Karl, it could not read his memories.

So it had no idea what a "Celestial Dragon" even was.

Sensing with Observation Haki, the little dragon only knew those people were eyeing the Golden Bell and were bad, and with Karl’s tacit permission in his heart to kill, it naturally showed no mercy.

Seeing the coaters flee toward other ships to escape,

Realizing it might have caused trouble, the little dragon hurried to use the heart-link ability to relay the situation to Karl.

"Sigh..."

On another islet, shopping with Carina and the others, Karl suddenly sighed helplessly. "I tried so hard to keep a low profile, yet I still ran into the world’s biggest fools."

"What happened?"

Carina and the others looked at Karl in surprise.

"Let’s go. I need to leave Sabaody for a while."

Karl turned back the way they’d come and told Carina and the others what had happened at the ship.

"No way—we’re that unlucky?"

Hearing that the little dragon had killed Celestial Dragons, Carina and the others widened their beautiful eyes.

Carina looked regretful. "If I’d known, I shouldn’t have brought the Golden Bell. Without that priceless treasure, we wouldn’t have drawn so much trouble."

"Now it’s too late."

Robin said calmly, "The news that Celestial Dragons were killed will soon reach Mariejois and Marine Headquarters."

"As one of the three great organizations under Mariejois, Marine Headquarters will definitely dispatch an Admiral immediately to arrest us."

"Marineford is next door to Sabaody. At the speed of a Marine warship, it won’t even take half an hour to arrive."

"Even if I leave Sabaody now, we’ll be chased at sea..."

After a slight pause, Robin continued, "Better than staying here where the Marines can keep sending reinforcements. My chances of survival are higher on the sea."

"Even though my ship is slower than a Marine warship, with Karl’s wide-range sensing and the Rumble-Rumble Fruit’s long-range strikes, our chance of escape is at least ninety percent—provided..."

As if recalling something, a hint of fear crossed Robin’s face. "Provided the Admiral chasing me isn’t Aokiji."

"I’ll leave with Xiao Bai. I’ll stay to draw the attention."

Karl spoke up.

"Karl, don’t be reckless!"

Carina, unusually nervous, said, "Here on Sabaody you might handle one Admiral—but could you beat two or three? Come with me—we’ll have a very good chance to get away."

"Foolish girl, when did I say I’d fight alone?"

Karl patted Carina’s head and smiled. "Did you forget? Xiao Bai is the true Rumble-Rumble Fruit user. Once you’re somewhere safe, at her speed she can rush back from the sea to support me."

"You know how fast I am. Even if all three Admirals move, unless they can fly—and fly fast enough to catch me and Xiao Bai—they won’t be able to stop me."

"As long as you break out, it means I’ve broken out too."

Hearing this, Carina and the others finally exhaled.

"True enough—for now I’m a burden to you and Xiao Bai."

Carina nodded, no longer stopping him, and gave one last reminder. "In that case, the rear guard is yours—just don’t overdo it!"

"Relax, I’m not about to abandon and leave this world."

Karl teased with a smile.

"Ufufufu... if you come back without a scratch, I’ll give you a very big reward."

Carina tried to motivate him that way.

"It’s a deal. Pinky swear!"

No doubt—Carina succeeded.

After making their plan, Karl scooped up Carina and Nami in his arms, hung Perona in front, carried Robin on his back—who was nearly his height—and rushed at extreme speed back to the islet where the large three-master was docked.

Marineford, the Fleet Admiral’s office.

"Buru-buru... buru-buru..."

"Moshi moshi... what—Celestial Dragons were killed?!"

"N-no, Fleet Admiral, Saint Rosward and Saint Shalulia were killed by a little dragon."

"What are the Mariejois guards doing that they can’t handle a little dragon?"

Sengoku, correcting documents, scolded with a headache, "Does that dragon have an owner?"

"Yes—after verification, I confirm the dragon’s owner is the Dragon Knight Karl, the man who defeated Crocodile."

"?!"

Sengoku’s eyes widened, and he asked quickly, "A bounty hunter would dare kill Celestial Dragons? Tell me now—what exactly happened on Sabaody?"

"Well, here’s how it went, Fleet Admiral..."

"...Idiots, the lot of them!"

After hearing the report, Sengoku burst out, "Arrest the one who egged on the Celestial Dragons and throw him into Impel Down!"

"Yes, Fleet Admiral!"

The Marine on the other end answered instinctively, then asked, "And... what about the Dragon Knight?"

"Do not engage. That man isn’t someone you can handle. Just keep eyes on him—I’ll send support immediately!"

After setting down the Transponder Snail, Sengoku cursed furiously, "Two fools! They leave others alone and go provoke them instead! Now not only are they dead, they’ve pushed a promising talent to the other side. Damn Celestial Dragons!"

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, mind your words..."

Stationed at Headquarters for a turn, Admiral Kizaru sipped tea, filing his nails, having heard it all. He pursed his lips and drawled at the flustered Sengoku, "Someone bold enough to kill Celestial Dragons—this is a first even for me. Defeated a Warlord of the Sea a few months ago, and now makes history again... worthy of a super rookie. So frightening."

"Borsalino, take a trip."

At last calming himself and setting his stance, Sengoku said to Kizaru, "After all, one duty of an Admiral is to protect and handle Celestial Dragon incidents."

"In that case, this old man will pay a visit."

Kizaru rose slowly, those long legs carrying him to the door at a leisurely stroll, as if stepping out for a walk. "I’ll be back soon."

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