Shaya: Sister-in-law, you should change how you address me!

"..."

As Shaya's words fell, the graceful figure behind him immediately trembled.

"Those government officials are all experts, aren't they?"

After a long moment, the figure seemed to have steeled herself mentally and asked Shaya in a soft voice.

"Yes."

"They are all members of CP0, the World Government's highest intelligence organization!"

"Within the entire CP system, they are elites who can take on a hundred men each!"

"They are each proficient in the six Rokushiki techniques, as well as Observation Haki and Armament Haki!"

Hearing this, Shaya answered the figure behind him truthfully.

"With their strength, using the perception of Observation Haki to sense every move of everyone on this warship shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The figure continued to whisper to Shaya.

"Naturally..."

Shaya still answered truthfully.

"Then, if you don't touch me for this whole week, won't they be suspicious?"

"Won't they report it to the Five Elders? Won't they raise doubts?"

"After all, right now, I'm nominally one of your wives..."

The figure continued to question Shaya.

Over the past week, Stussy had already explained the major powers of the Holy Land to Rouge. Rouge understood that once they arrived at the Holy Land, Shaya's word would no longer be absolute...

In the Holy Land, there were eighteen other families on par with Shaya's!

These eighteen families, equally renowned as Shaya's, were the original members of the World Government—the descendants of the twenty families known as the World's Creators...

Of those twenty families, aside from the Nefertari family, all nineteen had moved to the Holy Land, becoming the current Celestial Dragons...

Moreover, among the Celestial Dragons, there was a public leader—the Five Elders, hailed as the highest authority of the World Government!

And if any Celestial Dragon violated the laws of the Holy Land...

They would be arrested and judged by the enforcement body known as the Divine Knights!

So Rouge was afraid. She feared that the efforts of Shaya, Garp, and Roger would be in vain. She feared that their schemes would be exposed—not only would she and the child in her womb be lost, but Shaya would also face judgment by the Divine Knights. Even if she died, she would have no face to meet Roger in the afterlife...

"Rest assured! They wouldn't dare use Observation Haki to probe my room."

To this, Shaya gently reassured her.

"But what if they do?!"

Rouge's voice trembled slightly.

"..."

Rouge's words made Shaya pause.

"Let's err on the side of caution. We absolutely cannot let our efforts go to waste!"

Before Shaya could speak, Rouge's voice continued from behind him.

"Then..."

Shaya slowly turned around.

As if afraid Shaya would be tense, Rouge took the initiative to offer a gentle kiss and said softly, "If anything, I'm the one taking advantage of you. You don't mind, do you?"

"Sigh, I'm sorry, Brother Roger!"

"Sorry, my son, Ace..."

"This is all for your birth!"

With that, Shaya let out a soft sigh, cursed the Five Elders a hundred times in his heart as beasts, and reluctantly pressed toward Rouge.

"I..."

Before Rouge could finish, through the moonlight outside the window, Shaya and Rouge's shadows had already melded tightly together~

"You should change how you address me now."

To this, Shaya looked at Rouge and said firmly.

They couldn't leave any cracks in their actions...

Outside the cabin, the CP0 guarding the door let his imagination run wild, a grin creeping onto his face: "Damn, as expected of a Celestial Dragon! How should I put it—only Celestial Dragons know how to have fun!"

The next day, noon.

Shaya, supporting Rouge whose legs were weak, and with his arm around Stussy, who was dressed in a white ladies' suit, swaggered back to the Holy Land~

As for Garp, he had already taken a detour back to Marine Headquarters...

After reporting the past month's itinerary to Fleet Admiral Kong, and without anyone's permission, he took his personal Marine warship and set sail with Bogard once more!

They said that this time, he wouldn't return until he had captured the 'Pirate King' Roger.

At this, Fleet Admiral Kong flew into a rage yet again...

It was said that this time, the Fleet Admiral, known as Steel Bone, punched half his own office to pieces, then called in Sengoku, a Marine Admiral, and gave him a thorough dressing-down.

Sengoku: "I'm done! Trouble comes knocking even when I'm sitting at home..."

It was right around the time Shaya returned with Stussy and Rouge.

The Five Elders immediately summoned the World Government agents who had accompanied Shaya on his journey.

"Did the Figarland family brat do anything strange during the months he traveled with you?!"

Jaygarcia Saturn Saint, the Scientific Defense Warrior and one of the Five Elders, questioned the assembled agents in a cold voice.

"Reporting to Lord Saturn Saint, over these past months, Lord Saint Shaya has, aside from capturing a large number of pirates, stayed for one month on Baterilla Island in the South Blue. During that month, only Stussy and Vice Admiral Garp accompanied Lord Saint Shaya..."

The agents replied truthfully to Saturn Saint's inquiry.

As the agents' words fell, among the other four Five Elders, the expressions of the 'Environment,' 'Agriculture,' and 'Finance' Warriors remained unchanged.

Only the 'Law' Warrior's brow furrowed slightly, but it quickly relaxed. Shaya's actions had not violated Celestial Dragon law, so he had nothing to say.

"Hm?"

Saturn Saint, the Scientific Defense Warrior, furrowed his brow again.

"What did you do on that island for a month?"

Saturn Saint said, turning his gaze to Stussy.

"Making babies~"

Stussy replied, a slight blush coloring her pretty face as she answered truthfully.

"Huh?!"

Saturn Saint's eye twitched slightly.

"Lord Saint Shaya took a liking to a pink-haired woman on Baterilla Island and spent a month discussing the facts of life with her..."

"By the way, that woman is now pregnant and is due to give birth in about nine months~ Oh, and it seems I'm not far behind either!"

"After all, my dear Lord Saint Shaya also favored me during that month, even when that woman was on her period~"

Stussy reported truthfully to the Five Elders.

"Then why didn't Shaya bring anyone else?"

Saturn Saint asked Stussy, puzzled.

"Lord Saint Shaya said he doesn't like government agents using Observation Haki to perceive his every move; it makes him feel like he's being spied on~"

Stussy replied without changing her expression, her face neither red nor her heart racing.

"Then why did he specifically bring Garp?"

Saturn Saint continued questioning Stussy.

"Lord Saint Shaya said he brought Garp for the sake of his own life safety!"

"It is also a punishment bestowed upon Garp, the Hero of the Marines, for his unwillingness to be promoted to Admiral, for his unwillingness to become a shield protecting the great Celestial Dragons!"

"The more Garp refuses to become a follower of the Celestial Dragons, the more Lord Saint Shaya intends to make Garp stand guard for him! He must teach Garp that the Marines are merely the surface of the World Government, that the Marines' existence is solely to serve the Celestial Dragons, and that he should not be too arrogant or overstep his bounds!"

Stussy answered Saturn Saint and the others as Shaya had instructed her.

Chapter 2, brothers, please keep reading! Please keep reading! Still begging for reads! And let me shamelessly ask for some votes to climb the rankings! Thank you!