The True Celestial Dragons

Whitebeard's majestic gaze began with his "eldest son," the Phoenix Marco, and swept across them one by one, waiting for each man to nod before moving to the next.

And so, no matter how unwilling they were, they had no choice but to accept the fact that they had inexplicably gained an "uncle" much younger than themselves.

Zhu Mang was speechless at this: "Hey, hey, I never agreed to be anyone's uncle."

He had no interest in being an elder to a group of bizarre-looking men who were so much older than him.

"Gurararara, did you come here to make them contribute to the war against the World Government?" Whitebeard skipped the topic entirely; he had only said that in hopes of finding a pillar of support for his children before he died.

This was the worry of an old father for his offspring.

"As for that, I'm afraid you'll have to ask Sengoku," Zhu Mang shrugged.

"No, we are pirates. We only respect the strong. As for Sengoku, he hasn't reached the level where I would bow my head. Gurararara... cough, cough, cough, cough—" Whitebeard tried to laugh heartily, but broke into a fit of coughing, his mouth filling with blood that even stained his chest red.

"Pops!"

"Pops!! Stop talking!!"

Marco and the others rushed forward in a panic, only to be pushed aside by Whitebeard once again.

"I know my own body. All of you, stand back!" Whitebeard wiped the blood from his mouth, a flash of nostalgia in his eyes. "My hometown was a member nation that couldn't afford the Heavenly Tribute. So, the King split the land in two, exiling all the poor to the other side of the country to reduce the amount of the tribute..."

He looked at Zhu Mang with burning eyes and asked, "Then I ask you, why are you doing all this? To rule the world?"

"Why?" Zhu Mang paused, then scratched his head. "Probably because I can't stand the existence of trash like the Celestial Dragons. Hmm... perhaps you could consider me a hobbyist. A hobbyist... traveler."

He had originally wanted to mimic a certain Caped Baldy and say "a hero for fun."

But upon reflection, he was neither bald nor a hero.

To this world, he was perhaps more of a passerby.

"Traveler" suited him better.

"Gurararara, a hobbyist traveler, eh?" Whitebeard laughed, bracing one hand on the deck as he gripped the hilt of his Murakumogiri, struggling to stand.

At that moment, the aura around him actually began to rise again, bit by bit.

"Come, let me see the spirit of a traveler!" The power of tremors rolled over Whitebeard's body, all of it converging into the Murakumogiri in his hand, finally condensing into a white orb of light at the blade's edge.

"Fine then," Zhu Mang tapped his toes lightly, lifting off the deck and drifting into the air until he hovered about fifty meters away from Whitebeard.

"Then I'll fight you using one-fifth of my power."

Zhu Mang held up five fingers, then folded them down until only one remained.

"Damn it, he's looking down on Pops too much!"

"To dare say he'll only use one-fifth of his power!"

"Pops' body..."

"Shut up!" Marco turned and barked, his fists clenched as he stared fixedly at the broad back of his father and the Monkey-Tailed Man whose tail swayed casually in the sky. "This is Pops' final swan song."

Elsewhere.

Watching Zhu Mang leave with Ace toward the Whitebeard Pirates, the expressions of those present varied.

But for the most part, they were filled with indignation.

Only Garp's expression held a hint of hidden relief, his heart unburdening.

However, they considered the current plight of the Navy.

After what Gebinz had done, coupled with the broadcast from the Visual Den Den Mushi before it was cut, it was truly a case of "if it isn't shit, it's still shit."

Those high-and-mighty Celestial Dragons would likely not listen to any of their explanations.

Besides, in truth, aside from Kizaru the "corporate slave," the others all harbored some level of dissatisfaction with the World Government and the Celestial Dragons.

Sengoku thought for a moment and said, "Do you really think all Celestial Dragons are like the ones you've seen—wearing stupid fishbowls, looking fat and bloated, even sporting snot bubbles, spending their days bullying men and oppressing women?"

"Eh? It seems you have a good idea of the Celestial Dragons' character, Sengoku, hahahaha, yet you've never shown it," Garp laughed loudly.

"Hmph, if all Celestial Dragons were such trash, you wouldn't need to tell me. The moment I succeeded as Fleet Admiral, I would have led the Navy to overthrow their rule!" Sengoku snorted coldly.

His creed was "Justice that reigns supreme." If he hadn't been truly powerless, how could he have tolerated such a sinful race continuing to survive and defecating on his head?

But this also showed that he was now in a state of "breaking the pot since it's already cracked."

He was actually cursing the Celestial Dragons as trash in front of so many people.

"Among the Celestial Dragons, there are two different types."

"One kind is the sort that likes to wear fishbowl helmets. These guys are often self-important, feeling that as World Nobles, they are a cut above us 'commoners,' and they even disdain breathing the same air as us."

"Ara? Can they breathe different air just by wearing a fishbowl?" Aokiji asked, puzzled.

"I don't know about that, but their fishbowl helmets must be some kind of special item that filters the air," Sengoku shook his head.

"There is no need to pay attention to such idiotic Celestial Dragons."

"But the other kind..."

His gaze flickered toward Doflamingo, who was kicking stones in the distance.

"The true Celestial Dragons!"

"Why do you think the Celestial Dragons are called the 'Royal Family'?"

"Because 800 years ago, the Twenty Kings saved the world from the depths of misery and established the World Government, and the descendants of those Twenty Kings became the Celestial Dragons, hence the name 'Royal Family'..." Aokiji's voice trailed off as he spoke.

There didn't seem to be much logic in that.

"It is because these Celestial Dragons possess a powerful bloodline! For ordinary people on the sea, becoming a powerhouse requires immense effort, reliance on a Devil Fruit, and so on. Even the existence of a Vice Admiral is a rarity when looking at the world as a whole."

"However, for a Celestial Dragon, a little bit of effort is all it takes to become such a powerhouse!"

"Furthermore... the so-called 'qualities of a king,' the Conqueror's Haki, which might only appear in one out of a million people on the sea, has a very high awakening probability among the true Celestial Dragons!"

"It can be said that every Celestial Dragon possesses the potential to become a king!"

"This is the true reason they are called the 'Royal Family'!"

"And it is the true reason they have been able to suppress the seas for hundreds of years!"

Sengoku's voice left those present utterly stunned.