Is This the Presence You Wanted?

As Gawain finished speaking,

the slaves kneeling and prostrating themselves on the ground around him instantly found themselves unable to contain their curiosity.

Who was Old Thief Oda?

They cautiously yet swiftly raised their heads and looked toward the Celestial Dragons.

On ordinary days, they would never have dared to lift their heads and meet a Celestial Dragon's eyes as one passed by.

Because if they made eye contact with those Celestial Dragons, who knew what cruel treatment they would suffer?

But now...

Every one of them raised their heads, their eyes bright as they stared expectantly at the Celestial Dragons they had once barely dared to glance at.

They watched as Gawain grabbed Saint Charlos's golden collar with his left hand and swung his clenched right fist viciously at Saint Charlos's face.

"It's about to hit!"

"Just a little closer!"

"Ha ha~!"

"Keep it down!"

Amid hushed, delighted murmurs as soft as a breeze, Gawain's fist slammed into Charlos's thick, stupid nose!

Bang!

Tears instantly burst from Charlos's eyes. He grimaced in pain while flailing both hands wildly.

Nearby...

"The Celestial Dragon... he's bleeding!"

"Good hit, Saint Gawain!"

"Damn it, keep it down, even lower!"

The slaves whispered among themselves, terrified yet indescribably thrilled.

As for danger?

They did not care about danger at all now.

After seeing this scene, they could laugh even if they died right here!

This was a sight they would never have dared imagine, even on their deathbeds!

At the same time, the guards and Cipher Pol agents responsible for the surrounding perimeter exchanged utterly baffled looks.

They were far more disciplined than the slaves. Even though they had more convenient conditions for talking, none of them spoke.

But what did it matter if they did not speak? They looked at one another, and each could read what the others wanted to say in their eyes.

"A Celestial Dragon got beaten up... this... this really is..."

"What are you sighing about? Are you just going to watch and not do anything?"

"Who's going to do anything?"

"Not me."

"We are indeed responsible for protecting the Celestial Dragons, but the one throwing punches is also a Celestial Dragon!"

"Have you forgotten Walter's lesson? Don't make decisions for Saint Gawain!"

"Ahem, let's pretend we didn't see anything!"

The guards exchanged glances, and no third person dared involve themselves in this beating.

And so, Gawain began pummeling Charlos's fat face with one fist after another.

As he punched, Gawain roared furiously.

"You useless fool! You couldn't even control your slave and let her crash into my head!"

Bang!

"Since she hit me, whatever pain I felt, you should repay it double!"

Bang!

"Shoot me, then! Why aren't you shooting now?"

Bang!

"Didn't you love shooting innocent girls? That Merfolk looked barely fifteen or sixteen!"

Bang!

"Didn't you enjoy that feeling? So how does it feel now?"

Bang!

With that, Gawain casually snatched the gold flintlock pistol from Charlos's hand.

Yet the instant he took the gun, his entire waist dipped toward the ground!

Do not forget, Charlos's pistol was made entirely of gold.

And an old-fashioned flintlock nearly thirty centimeters long, if made of gold...

Would weigh at least thirty kilograms!!!

Gawain could lift it, of course, but he could only barely hold the gun in one hand.

He could not even raise the pistol level!

In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Gawain's mind.

This truly was the world of Pirate King!

It was filled with countless gigantic creatures, and the oxygen content was many times that of Earth!

Here, some people could level dozens of mountains with their bare hands, while others used barbells weighing several or even dozens of tons for training!

Charlos really was a weakling in this world.

But even a weakling, even one who never trained, could develop physical abilities far beyond those of ordinary people simply by absorbing the nutrients of his daily life!

And the standards of ordinary people in the world of Pirate King...

They could probably all become elite athletes in the real world!

Across from him, Charlos, whose collar Gawain still gripped, had expected to continue getting beaten.

But the anticipated fists and gun butt did not keep smashing into his face.

So he opened one eye. When he saw Gawain's awkward struggle to lift the gun...

Charlos understood.

He had not been beaten because he was too weak. Gawain was much weaker than him!

He had merely been frightened by Gawain, then stunned by his decisive movements!

"Ha ha, Gawain, I was actually frightened by you and forgot just how weak you are!

"You're trash who can be knocked flying by a female Merfolk! Ha ha ha ha!!!"

Amid a burst of wild laughter, Charlos regained his composure and viciously grabbed Gawain's left hand, the one holding his collar.

"How dare you hit me!!!"

Charlos roared.

"Even my father has never hit me!!!"

Boom!

Charlos threw a wild punch that happened to slam into Gawain's stomach!

Clatter.

That was the sound of Charlos's pistol slipping from Gawain's hand and falling to the ground.

Clang, clatter...

That was the sound of Gawain being sent flying by Charlos's furious punch!

Gawain staggered backward across the ground for over ten meters before finally stopping.

Enduring excruciating pain, Gawain coughed up blood. As blood spilled from his mouth, he looked toward the sky with an amused expression.

You really could not trust manga completely. He had severely underestimated Charlos's physical abilities!

Before, he had only known that the strong people in this world were strong, that Luffy, who wanted to become the Pirate King, was strong.

His father, his grandfather, his friends, and his enemies were all strong.

But now, he was certain. Even ordinary people in this world had no such thing as true weakness.

Take Charlos, for example.

At the auction house on the Sabaody Archipelago, Luffy had punched him dozens of meters away.

Yet he had merely fainted. Nothing serious had happened.

Later, Mjosgard had sent Charlos flying dozens of meters with a spiked club.

Yet he had still only fainted. Again, nothing serious had happened.

That was dozens of meters! Even a car accident might not send someone flying dozens of meters!

And he had been hit by a spiked club!

From this, it was clear that no matter how much of a weakling Charlos was, his physique was still countless times stronger than Gawain's, an ordinary person who might fracture a bone just by falling down.

So...

So after being punched away by Charlos, Gawain's internal organs had suffered enormous damage.

In the distance.

Countless slaves and guards had been watching in anticipation one second, only to stare dumbfounded the next.

"Saint Gawain was sent flying!!!"

"Save him!"

"Damn it, Saint Gawain is so kind-hearted, but his body is too weak!"

"This can't continue! Stop Saint Charlos!"

For a moment, the guards and Cipher Pol agents all used Soru, moving directly between Gawain and Charlos.

This was completely different from when Gawain had beaten Charlos. After all, everyone could see that Saint Gawain did not have the strength to kill Saint Charlos.

It was like walking down the street and suddenly getting slapped twice. If you fought back, both you and the person who hit you would be detained for seven days.

Because regardless of whether he hit you first, it was still mutual fighting, not self-defense.

The slaps from the person who hit you were no more lethal than Gawain's punches at Charlos!

The guards could watch Celestial Dragons fight. They were all Celestial Dragons, so the guards could not stop them.

But they could never allow a Celestial Dragon to die before their eyes.

Gawain, lying on the ground, understood that better than they did themselves!

Gawain raised a hand, and the guards hurried to help him up. But just as they were about to lift Gawain, Charlos spoke.

"All of you, get out of my way!"

As he roared, Charlos bent down and scooped up the fallen pistol.

Hysterically loading the gun with powder and a bullet, Charlos gripped it and charged toward Gawain.

"Get out of the way, did you hear me? Get out!!!"

"Get lost!"

"Don't stand between me and that bastard Gawain! I'm going to teach him a proper lesson!"

"He actually made my nose bleed! How did he dare!!!"

Amid his furious curses, the guards helplessly retreated to either side.

As they backed away, they anxiously waited for a different order from Gawain.

They had to obey every command from a Celestial Dragon, but if different Celestial Dragons gave conflicting orders, they could choose between those orders as circumstances required.

But unfortunately, Gawain could not speak at all right now!

Without receiving an order from Gawain, the guards could only retreat and let Charlos approach him.

Looking at Gawain lying flat on the ground, gasping heavily as blood slowly flowed from the corner of his mouth,

Charlos raised his gun!

The surrounding guards tensed. They all prepared to intercept the bullet. With Charlos's order, they did not dare stop him, but Saint Charlos had not ordered them not to catch the bullet!

At the same time, Charlos sneered and cursed.

"Gawain, you dared hit me! Even my father has never hit me!

"Where's your presence now?

"Gone? Then it's my turn!"

Facing Gawain's contemptuous gaze, Charlos hysterically prepared to pull the trigger.

Watching Charlos's finger tighten, watching the golden muzzle that still emitted faint wisps of smoke,

Gawain spat out a mouthful of blood, then revealed an even more disdainful smile.

Could Charlos kill him when they were both Celestial Dragons?

What a joke.

But merely surviving was far from enough. He could do more—he could already feel it!

The power in his heart finally took shape. Gawain turned his head and looked up from below at Charlos towering above him.

Facing the gun barrel, Gawain coldly narrowed his eyes.

At that moment, time in Mary Geoise seemed to freeze.

The next second, an invisible force centered on Gawain and rapidly swept across all of Mary Geoise.

Nearly ninety-nine percent of the slaves, along with a large number of guards too weak to resist it, collapsed straight to the ground.

The entirety of Mary Geoise instantly became a city of unconscious people, and that was only because most of them were too far from Gawain!

Near Gawain, the shockwave's power multiplied countless times over.

The guards charging toward Gawain to shield him from the shot were instantly blasted away.

Then came Charlos, who rolled his eyes back and instantly fainted as he too was violently hurled away by the shockwave.

After driving back every living being near Gawain, the shockwave slammed directly into the surrounding buildings.

The next second, every building within a two-hundred-meter radius around Gawain instantly collapsed!

Dust filled the air, completely obscuring the entire plaza in the blink of an eye.

All was silent. Other than Gawain's heavy breathing and the occasional cough, not a single sound could be heard.

The silence lasted for a long time, until the dust had settled back onto the ground.

Gawain spoke through the pain.

Feeling the silence around him, he looked up at the sky, once filled with clouds but now utterly clear, and spoke softly.

"Since just now, what has kept burning in my heart really was Conqueror's Haki.

I have to thank my past life. That worldview which looked down on princes and nobles and held generals and ministers in contempt gave me a heart worthy of brewing Conqueror's Haki!

So, Charlos.

This... is the aura you wanted, isn't it?"

During the launch of this new book, I hope you brothers can send more recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and follow-up reads my way.

Let's make it onto Sanjiang, onto the featured cover, and onto the rankings.

It's about time we took a few drinks from Qidian's bowl too!