Fujitora and Gild Tesoro

"Reject...?"

Saint Krilaf was taken aback at first, but after confirming that the other party had rejected him, he immediately flew into a rage. His face darkened, and he said, almost word by word, "Fujitora, do you even know who you're talking to? You're World Nobles, the most esteemed of all! You're Celestial Dragons with divine blood!!"

"Know."

Fujitora remained calm and composed. Although he had heard about the Celestial Dragons' deeds, he realized after experiencing them firsthand that their World Nobles was far worse than the rumors suggested!

However, being in the Navy, he couldn't ignore the feelings of this World Nobles. If he hadn't joined the Navy, given his nature, he would have left long ago.

Saint Krilaf's face darkened. "If you know, then hand over those two slaves now. Don't make me say it a second time, you rude and filthy wretch!!"

"I'm sorry... but I will not hand it over."

Fujitora remained unmoved, neither moving nor making a move, simply standing still and confronting Saint Krilaf.

"Hey, you guys, and you guys too!"

Saint Krilaf was furious, practically spitting fire. He pointed at the Marine soldiers beside Fujitora and roared, "Marine Fujitora has offended Celestial Dragons! Seize him immediately, and hand over those two brats too!!"

The naval soldiers glanced at the unmoved Fujitora, then lowered their heads as if he didn't care. Regardless of the fact that they were Fujitora's men, they felt it was their duty to protect the two young children.

"You bastards, you bunch of bastards! I'll show you what happens when you offend the World Nobles!"

Saint Krilaf pulled out his revolver. Although he was furious, he had not completely lost his mind. He did not point the barrel at Fujitora, but instead aimed at the few low-ranking marines who were blocking the child's way.

Bang!

The bullets flew over instantly.

Fujitora, holding his Cane Sword in his right hand, suddenly drew it; a flash of silver light, and it was sheathed again, the bullet falling to the ground without warning.

Fujitora finally lost his patience at Saint Krilaf's sudden attack. He nodded slightly to him, "Your Excellency, Celestial Dragons, please excuse me for taking my leave!"

Having said that, he swung his arm back, his cloak billowed, and turned to leave.

Saint Krilaf's hand, gripping the pistol, trembled involuntarily. He felt an immense sense of humiliation, as if his face had been stripped off and thrown to the ground, to be trampled upon.

"Don't think that just because you're Marine Admiral, you can be so disrespectful to the Celestial Dragons. Your power is only granted to you by us. With just a word from me, I can strip you of your current position immediately, Fujitora!!"

Fujitora didn't turn around. He didn't want to get entangled with this Celestial Dragons. If the World Government dismissed him from his position because of this, he would have nothing to say.

"Oops..."

Gild Tesoro, accompanied by his bodyguard Mr. Tanaka, appeared at just the right moment from a short distance. In a few steps, he was beside Saint Krilaf, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. He added fuel to the fire, "Excuse me, I witnessed the whole thing. I never imagined... that Marine Admiral would be so disrespectful to the great Saint Krilaf. This is terrible! How could this happen? You are the most esteemed World Nobles! How could you... how could you be..."

As he spoke, Gild Tesoro sighed, his gaze towards Saint Krilaf filled with obvious sympathy, a gaze that made the latter feel an overwhelming sense of humiliation, almost bursting from his throat.

Saint Krilaf snorted, gripping his revolver tightly. Even in his rage, he knew that the gun alone wouldn't be enough to subdue Fujitora. He had to maintain his composure, lest Gild Tesoro laugh at him.

"That bastard won't be so smug for long. I'll teach him a lesson soon!!"

Gild Tesoro nodded in deep agreement. "Saint Krilaf, you are the most distinguished guest on our ship. How dare he be so disrespectful to you! Even I am deeply angered. If you permit, let me teach him a lesson and show him who truly stands at the pinnacle of the world's noble bloodline!"

"Really..."

Saint Krilaf made no attempt to hide his delight, glaring at Fujitora's retreating figure with hatred. "Gild Tesoro! If you can do it, teach this ungrateful bastard a lesson! Whatever happens, I'll take full responsibility!"

"I'll teach this fool a lesson about right and wrong..."

Gild Tesoro glanced at Saint Krilaf without showing any emotion, then looked at Fujitora's back, a smug smile playing on his lips. He thought, "Those who offend me won't leave so easily!"

"That guy dares to go against me, he's incredibly stupid!" Saint Krilaf chimed in, unaware that he himself, who was being used as a shield, was also one of the stupid guys Gild Tesoro was referring to.

"Gold Powder!"

After aligning himself with the Celestial Dragons, Gild Tesoro no longer needed to worry about Fujitora's status Marine Admiral. He spread his arms, and all the Marines in front of him stopped in their tracks. Gold began to spread from their heels up to their thighs, and the skin and joints on their feet instantly stiffened, rendering them unable to move.

"What's going on?!"

Immediately, all the marines stared in shock at their feet, bewildered as to what had happened.

Fujitora slowly turned around to face Gild Tesoro behind him. Although gold dust had also seeped into his body, it wasn't spreading as quickly as in the others. With his Observation Haki, he had heard every word of the conversation between Tesoro and Saint Krilaf. He said in a deep voice, "What exactly is your purpose, sir, that you are so determined to oppose the Navy?"

"Did you do this?!"

Upon hearing Fujitora's words, Smoker suddenly understood the sudden situation and turned his elemental body towards Gild Tesoro.

Gold dust is effective against the human body. Even Zoro's terrifying physique, honed two years later, was helpless after being invaded by gold dust. However, the elemental transformation of Logia Fruit users can stop the spread of gold dust within their bodies. But once they revert to their physical form, the gold dust will irreversibly continue to expand. This is the powerful method that has allowed Gild Tesoro to control everyone on the Gran Tesoro for so many years.

"This is an instruction from Saint Krilaf; I am merely following orders!"

Gild Tesoro was slightly surprised by Smoker's elemental transformation, but didn't take it to heart. An uncontrollable smile appeared on his face. "Because you were all so rude, lacking even the most basic manners. After doing something wrong, do you think you can just leave like nothing happened!"

The marines looked down at the gold that stretched upwards to their waists, and began to murmur in shock and unease.

Although Fujitora couldn't see, he could sense the panic among the marines. His heart sank, and he said coldly to Gild Tesoro, "Sir, please stop. Don't do anything pointless... or I will consider it a provocation against the Navy!"

Gild Tesoro sneered, "How could this be a provocation against the Navy? I'm disciplining disobedient subordinates on behalf of Saint Krilaf. I'm serving the World Government now!"

"Haha, that's right!"

Seeing Fujitora's discomfiture, Saint Krilaf was overjoyed and gloated, "You bunch of disobedient bastards! Gild Tesoro is working under my orders! If you know you're wrong, then hurry up and apologize. But apologies are useless. Just stay like this and reflect on what you did wrong!!"

"..."

Fujitora remained silent in the face of Saint Krilaf's sympathy. He tried to move his leg joints but found it difficult to move... When exactly was something tampered with?

Gild Tesoro, sensing Fujitora's confusion and feeling confident of victory, laughed arrogantly, "Remember the gold dust you were covered in when you came in, you fools?!"

Fujitora thought to himself, "So that's how it is..."

"Gild Tesoro, you're playing with fire!"

As soon as Smoker stopped transforming into his elemental form, the gold dust within his body would immediately activate, forcing him to remain in a smoke state. As time ticked by, his stamina was also being depleted. Knowing that the current situation was not optimistic, he no longer hesitated, transformed into white smoke, and charged out, his right hand, imbued with Armament Haki, slamming heavily towards Gild Tesoro.

Gild Tesoro casually flicked his wrist, and the gold on the ground swirled upwards like soft water, transforming into a solid wall that blocked Smoker's attack.

He shrank his hand again, and the golden wall instantly transformed into countless Golden Vines wrapped in Armament Haki, flowing out and wrapping around Smoker's limbs in an instant. Although Armament Haki can capture the flowing state of Logia, it cannot seal them. Just as the latter was about to use Smoke Escape, several golden spikes formed by the vines, wrapped in Haki, pierced into his right abdomen, and blood flowed out along the golden spikes.

Smoker's eyes widened, and a mouthful of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. Returning from the smoke to his physical form, he felt his power draining away. Under the control of the gold dust within him, his lower body was instantly stained gold.

Gild Tesoro casually manipulated the flowing gold, suspending Smoker like a specimen on a wall made of gold, the latter resembling a sinner nailed to a pillar of shame.

Even with the Celestial Dragons as a shield, killing Smoker would likely cause serious problems later on. Gild Tesoro certainly wouldn't be that stupid, and the pleasure he gets from humiliating his opponent far outweighs the thrill of killing him!

He was in a very good mood. Looking at Smoker, who was immobilized on the golden wall, the exhilarating feeling of being in control filled him once again. So, what happened next...?

Gild Tesoro looked at the two children hiding in the navy, their necks and below completely corroded, only their heads still able to move. He slightly bent his right hand upwards, and two Golden Vines immediately sprouted from the ground, wrapping around the two children and sending them towards him. He SMILE and glanced at Saint Krilaf, "Saint Krilaf, these two exquisite golden works of art are my gift."

"This is amazing!!"

Looking at the two children covered in gold, Saint Krilaf was overjoyed. All the Celestial Dragons, including himself, loved collecting strange and unusual things, and with these two golden works of art made of real people, he finally had the chance to show off to the Saint Charlos family!

"Gild Tesoro, this is my final warning. I hope you will stop. This is a country recognized by the World Government, so I want to avoid unnecessary conflict as much as possible. But you have crossed my bottom line time and time again..."

Before Fujitora could finish speaking, Gild Tesoro interrupted him, "Trying to threaten me with such nonsense? Don't be ridiculous. Look at what you can do now. Even Marine Admiral can't do anything here!"

"Since you still think that way... I can no longer show any mercy!"

Fujitora held the Cane Sword in his right hand in a reverse grip and drew it upwards.

A purple wave of gravity instantly rippled outwards, and the pores on his body opened wide, spewing out golden dust and all the shattering gold on his skin!

"How could this be...?"

Seeing Fujitora's limbs already moving freely, Gild Tesoro was also astonished. In all his years of managing the Gran Tesoro, no one had ever been able to force out gold dust on their own. Fujitora was the first person to achieve this!

Gild Tesoro's expression darkened slightly. "Even so, what can you do?"

"Take all the gold off them!"

"Don't be naive. Even if you force out the gold dust, you still can't defeat me here," Gild Tesoro sneered. "Tanaka, take Saint Krilaf away from here. It's too dangerous here."

If something were to happen to Saint Krilaf on this ship, Gild Tesoro would ultimately be the one who suffers the most.

So Tanaka took the Celestial Dragons and left the scene temporarily.

Fujitora, carrying his Cane Sword, walked step by step toward Gild Tesoro in his wooden clogs. He had initially been somewhat worried about hurting the Celestial Dragons, but now he was no longer concerned.

Sensing the disappearance of Saint Krilaf, Fujitora suddenly drew his Cane Sword and swung it at Gild Tesoro from a distance, sending a purple sword wave towards the latter in an instant.

Gild Tesoro used the same trick again, manipulating the surrounding gold to form a golden wall that instantly blocked his way.

The purple sword wave did not sever the golden wall with sharp cuts, but instead crushed it with an extremely powerful, overwhelming force, quickly flattening the golden wall along with the ground. The aftershocks blew Gild Tesoro away from behind the golden wall, sending him crashing into a tall building made of gold.

The next moment, the entire golden building was like a candle melting in a fire, forming flowing golden water. This golden water converged and shaped towards the center, and in just a few blinks, it formed a colossal object made of gold— the Golden Giant!

"Here, I am invincible!"

Gild Tesoro, the Golden Giant, laughed wildly and slammed his massive fist down heavily on Fujitora below!

Fujitora nimbly dodged backward, just outside the range of the golden fist's attack, and suddenly drew his sword to block it, activating his Devil Fruit ability.

Due to its size, the Golden Giant controlled by Gild Tesoro experienced an unimaginably exaggerated gravitational force, causing its knees to involuntarily bend and it to kneel on the ground.

Taking advantage of the moment the Golden Giant knelt, Fujitora used the giant's arm as a stepping stone to charge forward.

With a swift movement, a flash of white light streaked through the air, and half of the Golden Giant's head was severed, crashing to the ground with a deafening thud.