Celestial Dragons

After the exclamation subsided, the Port fell silent.

The man in front of me was disheveled; his expensive suit was wrinkled from being soaked in seawater, and his bubble hood had a large tear in it.

Behind him were only two heavily wounded guards, who could barely stand.

But he still held his chin up, his contempt undiminished.

"What are you looking at? Come and help me up right now!"

Saint Mjosgard, clutching his bleeding shoulder, roared, "Find Doctor! Prepare the ship! And bring back my slaves!"

"Those lowly Fish-Man dared to escape! I, the Holy One, will capture them all and hang them one by one in the Port!"

No one answered.

Several soldiers gripped their weapons tightly, their knuckles turning white.

One of the Fish-Man soldiers instinctively touched the side of his neck, touched the scar left by the old collar, and quickly put his hand down.

"Did you hear me?!"

Saint Mjosgard roared again.

"You Fish-Men, how dare you disobey my orders?!"

A moment ago, in the reception room of the Ryugu Palace.

Ron was sitting at the table, listening to Jinbe recount the recent events of the Sun Pirates.

"Several shipping routes are already operating reliably to and from the sea."

Jinbe pointed to the nautical chart.

"Resupply and repairs are still troublesome, and it's even more troublesome when attacked by pirates."

"That's easy."

Ron pushed a stamped document over.

"The naval-approved route has been approved."

"The Branches along the way will provide supplies and repairs, and your registration Adventure Group will not be hindered by race."

Jinbe flipped through a few pages, then suddenly looked up.

"Even the authority to deal with pirates is written in there?"

"You can handle it yourself within the specified limits."

Ron tapped on the file.

"If you encounter anyone robbing civilians or trafficking people, deal with them directly. Just submit the record afterward."

Jinbe looked at the document again and then carefully put it away.

"I will inform Boss Fisher Tiger about this as soon as possible."

"However, the rules still need to be followed."

Ron looked up at him.

"Just because someone is human doesn't mean we should treat everyone as an enemy."

Jinbe was about to nod, a soldier rushed in.

"Report! A Celestial Dragons has been spotted at the Port!"

Ron looked up, Jinbe stopped what he was doing.

"Celestial Dragons?"

The other party claims to be Donquixote Saint Mjosgard!

The soldier swallowed hard and added, "His ship was attacked by a giant Sea Kings; the hull is destroyed, and the crew suffered heavy casualties."

"He himself was also seriously injured and now only has two guards left."

Ron stood up and picked up his coat, which was draped over the back of the chair.

Let's go.

Jinbe nodded and walked out first.

When Ron and Jinbe arrived at the Port, a large number of Fish-Man had already gathered there.

Someone recognized Saint Mjosgard and stopped in their tracks.

Immediately afterwards, someone in the crowd shouted out.

It's him!

"That's the beast!"

"My sister was kidnapped by him! There's still no news of her!"

My father's fate is still unknown!

The crowd surged toward Saint Mjosgard, and several soldiers quickly stepped in to stop them.

An elderly woman with a cane pushed her way to the front of the crowd.

She looked up at Saint Mjosgard, her hand holding the cane trembling slightly.

"My son... was taken away by you!"

Kill him!

We can't let him leave Fish-Man Island alive!

Saint Mjosgard Garuda, who had been waving impatiently, gradually stopped when he heard the shouts and curses from those people.

He glanced at the angry faces around him, then suddenly raised his voice.

"How dare you! Do you know who I am? I am Celestial Dragons! Celestial Dragons!"

"Dare to lay a finger on me, and the entire Fish-Man Island will be buried with me!"

He shoved the guard aside and reached out to push aside the Fish-Man soldier blocking his way.

The next second, a hand gripped his wrist tightly.

That's enough.

Jinbe stood before him, his face as cold as ice.

"Put your hand down."

"Who do you think you are, daring to touch this holy being?!"

Saint Mjosgard, trying to resist with his other hand, Jinbe had already grabbed his other wrist, completely subduing him.

Jinbe winked at the two Fish-Man soldiers beside him.

"Keep an eye on him."

Two Fish-Man soldiers immediately stepped forward and grabbed his arms, one on each side.

Jinbe strode to the front of the crowd and spread his arms to block them.

"Put the knife down first."

His voice wasn't loud, but it made several people in the front row stop in their tracks.

A young Fish-Man, his eyes red with grief, roared, "Why didn't anyone tell him these things when he kidnapped our family?!"

Jinbe looked at the man but did not refute him.

I will not plead for him.

He took a step forward.

"But we can't let Fish-Man Island be implicated because of him."

Suppressed sobs rose from the crowd; some people turned their faces away, their fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

When Queen Otohime arrived, Jinbe was standing in front of the crowd.

Shirahoshi was following behind her.

At only six years old, Shirahoshi was already several meters tall, standing behind the guards and towering over everyone around her.

Standing at over two meters tall, Otohime was already quite tall in the crowd, but even standing next to her daughter, she still had to look up to see her face clearly.

Instead of having the soldiers disperse the crowd, she walked up to them.

Otohime looked at everyone, her voice still gentle.

"I don't ask you to forgive him, but if he dies on Fish-Man Island, the World Government will definitely investigate."

"When warships come in, it's the island's residents who will suffer."

"I don't want to see everyone lose any more."

Some people in the crowd slowly lowered their weapons, while others still refused to let go.

Saint Mjosgard didn't care at all what Otohime said.

"Shut up! You lowly Fish-Man, when did you become the ones to lecture this holy man?!"

Seeing that the two guards' attention was drawn to the crowd, he suddenly exerted his strength and broke free from their grasp.

He drew a pistol from the waist of the guard beside him and pointed it at Otohime.

"Stop putting on airs in front of me! You lot should have been—"

Bang!

Jinbe grabbed his wrist holding the gun and shoved him to the side.

The bullet grazed Otohime's side and struck a stone pillar in the distance.

"Mother!"

Gunshots rang out, startling Shirahoshi.

She saw the bullet whiz past her mother, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Several Fish-Man in the front row heard the crying and instinctively turned around. The once noisy Port gradually quieted down.

Immediately afterwards, a muffled tremor came from the seabed.

Thump--

The seawater outside the Port suddenly surged.

Several enormous figures emerged from the deep sea.

"What is that?!"

"Sea Kings?!"

Three enormous Sea Kings appeared on the outskirts of Fish-Man Island, their massive bodies churning the water and causing ships anchored near the Port to rock from side to side.

They didn't rush towards the Port; instead, they turned and swam towards where the Shirahoshi was.

Shirahoshi's crying had not stopped.

The three Sea Kings lowered their heads simultaneously, their enormous eyes gazing across the sea at the Shirahoshi on the Port.

The Fish-Man, who had been shouting and cursing, all stopped.

No one knows why these Sea Kings are here.

Saint Mjosgard looked up at the giant beast in the sea, and his mouth, which had been cursing just moments before, suddenly stopped.

"Monster..."

He took two steps back, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.

Ron didn't look at the fallen Celestial Dragons; his gaze remained fixed on the three Sea Kings.

"I see..."

Jinbe looked at Shirahoshi, then at the Sea Kings in the distance, his brows slowly furrowing.

Shirahoshi placed her hand beside her mother, Otohime reached out and took one of her fingers, tilting her head back to softly comfort her.

"Shirahoshi, Mother is here."

After a while, Shirahoshi gradually stopped crying.

She slowly bent down, brought her face close to her mother's, and sniffled.

Otohime raised her hand and wiped away the tears on her face.

The three Sea Kings turned around, swung their huge tail fins, and swam back into the deep sea.

The water flow outside the Port calmed down after a while.

Until the last dark figure disappeared, no one on the Port spoke.

Ron withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Saint Mjosgard was lying on the ground.

"Don't let him die here."

Several medical staff members had already arrived with a stretcher.

After a moment, one of the Fish-Man soldiers couldn't help but ask, "Are we really going to save him?"

Otohime gently grasped Shirahoshi's fingertips, took a deep breath, and turned to the medical staff, instructing, "Send him to the Ryugu Palace. Heal his injuries first."

The Fish-Man soldier stared at Saint Mjosgard for a few seconds before he and his companions lifted him onto the stretcher.

Curses still drifted intermittently from the crowd; the anger remained, but no one dared to charge forward.

Ron walked over to Jinbe.

I have high hopes for him.

"Especially those two guards, don't let them take advantage of the chaos to take the person away, and don't let them cause any more trouble."

I'll arrange for someone to keep watch.

Ron glanced again at Shirahoshi beside Otohime.

The little girl had stopped crying; one finger was still gently hooked around her mother's hand as she looked down at them.

"I'm heading back now. Contact me directly if there are any issues with the flight route."

"Good."

Ron raised his hand and slashed open an Air Door beside him, stepped inside, and the door slowly closed behind him.

A week later, in a guest room in the Ryugu Palace.

Saint Mjosgard finally awoke.

He opened his eyes and found himself lying on a strange, large bed, his wounds already bandaged.

A medical worker sat beside the bed, with medicine and a glass of warm water next to him.

The sounds of Fish-Man talking drifted in from outside the window, occasionally punctuated by bursts of laughter.

"Here it is..."

"Your Excellency, you're awake!"

The guards quickly came over.

Saint Mjosgard rubbed his forehead.

The enormous eyes in the deep sea, the Fish-Man wielding weapons on the Port, and the queen standing in front of everyone...

He sat up abruptly.

"Where are the Fish-Man?!"

"My Lord, you are currently in the Ryugu Palace on Fish-Man Island."

"Of course I know!"

Saint Mjosgard roared, "My question is, what about those lowly commoners who dared to surround me? Have they all been arrested and executed?!"

The guard lowered his head.

"The princess didn't pursue those Fish-Men, and even specially ordered the Doctor to treat your injuries first. You've been unconscious for a whole week."

Saint Mjosgard turned his head and looked through the open window, seeing Otohime accompanying Shirahoshi for a walk in the courtyard.

She held Shirahoshi's drooping fingers, listening to her daughter say something.

Halfway through her speech, Shirahoshi suddenly stopped, bent down, and brought her face close to her mother's.

Otohime smiled and raised her hand to touch her daughter's cheek.

The two continued walking forward.

Saint Mjosgard's gaze fell upon Otohime.

The woman who almost died from his own gunshot somehow managed to get someone to save him.

And those Fish-Man who had just wanted to kill him did not take the opportunity to retaliate.

He looked out the window, and after a long while, he muttered to himself, "Why did you save me, Saint?"

Outside the window, Otohime led Shirahoshi slowly away.

Shirahoshi walked very carefully, afraid of damaging the flowers and plants in the courtyard.

Saint Mjosgard watched them until their figures disappeared around the corner of the courtyard.

He looked down at his bandaged hand, opened his mouth, and then slowly closed it again.

After a long while, he leaned back against the headboard.

"Get out."

The guard was taken aback for a moment, then quickly retreated.

Saint Mjosgard remained gazing out the window, her eyes fixed on the view for a long time.