Chapter 191: On the Eve of the Battle
“Lord Figarando Greene, the venue and prizes for this ‘competition’ have been decided.”
A handsome man with dazzling blond hair styled into a strange crescent shape put down the sword he was wiping and looked up with interest.
"Oh, continue."
"Yes, the Five Elders have announced that the venue for this 'competition' will be an island called 'Valley of God'."
"Valley of Gods? A mere island in the lower realm dares to use the name of 'God' in its name. It is utterly disrespectful..." Saint Grimm's expression darkened. For him, who believed in the absolute exalted status of the Celestial Dragons, those lowly people daring to use the name of "God" was an absolute act of usurpation. For this reason alone, everyone on the island should be executed.
The CP0 officer in charge of the report paused, and seeing that Grimm had no intention of continuing, continued, "In this 'competition,' in addition to the Celestial Dragons who have signed up, there will also be members of the Knights of God, as well as Lord Jaigolusia Satan and Lord Izanbaron V. Nassjuro in charge of security."
"Saint Satan and Saint Nasujuro?" That's a bit unexpected. In the triennial 'competition,' the Celestial Dragons would select a lower-world island, seal it off, and place the slaves captured over the past three years there, along with the local inhabitants, as prey for the 'competition.' The more prey hunted, the more points earned, and the winner would gain extremely high prestige and honor even among the Celestial Dragons.
As a member of the Knights of God and an ambitious individual rarely seen among the Celestial Dragons, Grimm is determined to win this 'competition'.
However, considering that many of the Celestial Dragons who signed up for the competition are incompetent fools who, even if they can paralyze their prey, still spend a lot of time getting themselves all dirty and filthy before they can find the right spot to kill them, the protection of the Knights of God and the Navy is still very necessary.
But this time, two of the Five Elders have actually come out? Even if this 'competition' is said to determine the position of the leader of the Knights of God, the level of importance attached to it is too high. Or is the prey or prize of this 'competition' particularly exciting?
Green Gu Sheng was not deterred by his own guesses; on the contrary, he became excited when he realized that this 'competition' was exceptionally different.
For an ambitious person aiming for a high position, the bigger and more glamorous the stage, the better.
"Yes, both of the Five Elders will be involved. And among the prey for this 'competition' are members of the David clan, members of the Bakania clan, members of the resistance, and pirates who have been captured and disposed of harmlessly."
The so-called "harmless treatment" involves injecting Devil Fruit users with seastone fragments and surgically severing more than 50% of the muscle groups of ordinary pirates, turning them into interesting prey with only a name but no ability to resist.
"And the prizes for this competition, in addition to honor and jewels, include eight powerful Devil Fruits, as well as Shakya, the former captain of the Kuja Pirates, who was captured on Beehive Island a year ago and is known as the most beautiful woman in the world!"
As CP0 spoke, he handed a photo to Grimm. He had no interest in the so-called "world's most beautiful woman" chosen by the lower realm, but his heart skipped a beat when he saw the woman who was still noble and beautiful even though she was bound hand and foot and locked in a dungeon.
"Such a beautiful face, how could it appear on a lowly commoner from the lower realm..." Grimm believed so naturally that all the beautiful and valuable things in this world should be enjoyed by the Celestial Dragons. "I will be the winner of this 'competition'. This commoner is qualified to be my new wife."
When he thought of his wife, a gentle, red-haired figure suddenly appeared in Greene's mind.
That woman was nice; she was beautiful, cheerful, and enthusiastic. Even after learning his identity, she wasn't as frightened as other slaves, unable to speak. He rarely showed such interest in a commoner for so long, even allowing her to bear children with the blood of noble Celestial Dragons.
"Have you found Ayagya?"
Given Grimm's status, he could find as many women as he wanted. A woman's life was insignificant, but the child bearing his blood in her womb was very important.
Grimm would not allow his children to grow up in a place like the Netherworld.
"I'm sorry, Lord Grimgus... we still haven't found Lord Ayagya's whereabouts."
Green Gu Sheng frowned deeply. He was certain that Ayagya was just an ordinary young, beautiful woman with a good personality, and that she could not possibly have escaped CP0's search on her own.
Moreover, as his woman, Green Gu Sheng had people secretly monitoring and protecting her, but just half a year ago, Ayagya and all the agents around her disappeared without warning!
Greene instinctively felt this was a conspiracy against him, and even considered what he would be willing to give in exchange for the woman and child if someone threatened him with them.
Money is irrelevant; power is another matter. As for the other party's demands, if they threaten his position among the Celestial Dragons, then Grimm will have no choice but to personally sever the relationship that would bring him shame.
Like other Celestial Dragons, Grimm could have countless "wives" of this lower-world bloodline, and any one of them could bear him children if he wanted to. Grimm would never allow a mere woman he found to relieve boredom to affect his ambitions.
“Keep searching.” Grimm calculated the time. If nothing unexpected happened, Ayagya should have already given birth. “The first target is that child. If we can’t take my child away, then kill them all on the spot.”
"yes!"
——
On a certain World Government fleet.
Slaves, handcuffed and wearing explosive collars, huddled in the lowest level of the fleet, their clothes tattered. Poor ventilation and excessive density filled the air with a foul odor.
The slaves, already accustomed to this environment, huddled numbly in the corner, waiting for an unknown fate to befall them.
In a corner of the prison, a few children squeezed through the crowd and quietly gathered together.
The boy with the afro looked at the thin girl in the burlap clothes: "Ginny, did you succeed?"
Ginny raised her head, and through the haphazardly cut stubble of her hair, her bright eyes shone through. There was no numbness of a slave in them; instead, they burned with the fierce flames of unyielding resistance.
“I’ve already figured out how to send our message to the intelligence agency.” Ginny took out the Den Den Mushi she had stolen and modified from her bosom and showed it to her friends. “It’s just a pity that this Den Den Mushi is in such bad condition, otherwise I could have gotten more information instead of just sending out this message.”
As slaves, they naturally had no way to communicate with the outside world. Even the dirty Den Den Mushi in her hand was a nearly dead one that Ginny found in a garbage dump. She carefully raised it for a long time before it was barely able to recover to the point where it could make calls.
The little boy with the afro looked at the listless Den Den Mushi in Ginny's little hand, excitedly rubbing his hands together, wanting to touch this great contributor, but afraid that he might hurt the already damaged Den Den Mushi if he didn't handle it well.
"So, our location has been sent out?" another boy with a round head and shaved head asked expectantly. "Will someone know our situation? Will someone come to rescue us?"
"Ha, Kuma, you're too naive. After all this time, haven't you realized that no one would offend the World Government for the sake of a few slaves like us?"
"Huh?! How could this happen?!"
"Alright, Ivankov, stop bullying Big Bear." Ginny carefully put away the Den Den Mushi and once again used her talent for perceiving people to mediate between the two. "Big Bear, Ivankov is right. We can't put our hopes on others. Instead of waiting for a rescue that we don't know when or if it will even come, we should focus on saving ourselves!"
"I've already found out that besides slaves, there are many famous pirates on the ship that set sail with us."
"...But I heard that all the pirates who were captured, except for those who were used for training by the Knights of God, had their hands and feet crippled and were no longer capable of fighting."
“But they still have experience and connections!” Ginny’s eyes gleamed. “If we spread the word about them, maybe someone will come to their rescue!”
Ivankov's eyes lit up: "Yeah, Ginny, didn't you see that... that thing a few days ago, Ginny...?"
"It's Ms. Shakky!" Recalling the woman imprisoned in solitary confinement, whose attire and lifestyle were no different from a princess's if you ignored the shackles on her hands, Ginny couldn't help but blush. "Sister Shakky told me that as long as we can find a way to spread the word that she's also in this fleet, someone will definitely come to rescue her!"
"Ginny! How can you believe everything you hear? Maybe that woman has already joined the Celestial Dragons."
Ginny thought that Ivankov could speak ill of Shakky so casually because he had never seen her in person. Anyone who had seen such beauty would not doubt that she alone was enough to ignite a world-changing conflict.
Big Bear spoke well of Ginny: "Ivankov, Ginny is the smartest one among us, you can't go wrong by listening to her!"
“I’m not questioning Ginny, I just feel that someone who’s always been treated well can’t connect with ordinary slaves like us…”
Bang! Bang!
Two loud crashes echoed from the nearby railings, reverberating in the dimly lit cabin where the slaves were imprisoned. Those slaves, who had been captured less than a year ago, were reminded of the horrific scene and began to huddle together, trembling. Meanwhile, many more slaves remained unresponsive, their eyes wide open as if they were clay or wooden statues, showing no reaction to the external stimuli.
"Quiet down, or I'll cut your tongues out!"
The people guarding these slaves outside the door were certainly not high-ranking agents of the World Government; judging from the metal collars around their necks, these people were also slaves.
However, unlike other slaves who tried to cover up the collars that represented shame and the Sky Dragon Hooves branded on their bodies with their clothes, they instead showed them off as if to flaunt it.
Ivankov gritted his teeth in resentment: "See? I told you, not all slaves are the same." While they were trying every means to escape from this hell, many were willing to voluntarily become slaves just to get closer to the Celestial Dragons.
Ivankov couldn't understand it; he thought those people were simply insane!
"Military...Military Palace Master?!"
Just then, the guard, who had been holding up the iron bar to teach a few unfortunate slaves a lesson and vent his boredom from this terrible job, suddenly saw a tall figure appear in front of him.
A young woman dressed in a black military uniform, wearing headphones and a newsboy cap, with bandages wrapped around her nose, stood in front of him. She scanned the iron bar in his hand with her heterochromatic eyes, tilted her head in confusion, and asked, "What...are you doing?"
“My lord, these slaves are all worthless. If we don’t discipline them regularly, they’ll easily cause trouble. We’re still at sea, after all. If something really happens and disturbs the peace of lords like you in the upper decks, that wouldn’t be good.”
"is that so?"
Junzi's gaze fell on the fresh wounds on the slaves.
With a soft thud, a sharp, arrow-shaped object pierced directly through the custodian's chest.
"These slaves are the property of the Celestial Dragons. You, a fellow slave, have disposed of them without authorization. Where do you place yourself?"
"Lord Jun... Lord Jun Gong, I absolutely did not mean to offend you, please forgive me, I... Ah!"
Junzi stepped back to avoid getting splattered with the filthy blood of slaves, then randomly pointed to a slave who was locked in a cage and looked fairly lively.
"You, come out here. You will be in charge of looking after these properties from now on."
"...Yes, sir!"
The small group, who had watched this scene from the corner, exchanged glances, nodded to each other, and then quietly dispersed like water droplets, minimizing their presence like the most ordinary slaves.
Beehive Island.
Having just finished a call with Shanks, Valerie stroked the Den Den Mushi in her hand. Her dark eyes were devoid of any light, and she was so frightened that the poor little Den Den Mushi shrank back into its shell and refused to come out.
Suddenly, a loud cheer erupted outside.
Violet took a deep breath, got up, and pushed open the door. What she saw was Lockes standing at the highest point, waving into the distance.
"Next destination: Beehive Island!"
"Target: Reclaim our treasure!"
"Shakky, Shakky, Shakky!"
Amid the pirates' frenzied shouts, Rocks turned around as if sensing something and saw Violet standing quietly at the back of the crowd.
Vera nodded slightly at him.
She is ready.
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Author's note: I've been feeling really hot lately. I ate a Burger King and got a sore throat, now it's incredibly painful [crying emoji].
Help! I don't want to drink herbal tea! [crying emoji]
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