Things Had Gotten Serious

"What kind of Celestial Dragon are you? You're nothing but trash!"

Roya ground Saint Charlos's head beneath his foot.

"Admiral Roya, please don't! He's a Celestial Dragon..."

Every Marine who witnessed the scene had trembling legs. Some tried to persuade him, while even more of them wished they could turn around and run for their lives.

After all!

He was a Celestial Dragon!

In their eyes, the Celestial Dragons were supreme beings.

Yet Roya, as a Marine Admiral, was supposed to serve the Celestial Dragons. Instead, he had actually attacked one and pinned his head beneath his foot.

This could be called an incident that would shock the entire world.

It would be one thing if some audacious pirate dared to strike a Celestial Dragon, but for a Marine to do so—and for that Marine to be the Navy's Fourth Admiral—was simply unheard of!

Thus, aside from being terrified, quite a few Marines had already run off to report the matter.

After all, assaulting a Celestial Dragon was a grave crime, even for a Marine Admiral!

"Saint Charlos!"

After Saint Charlos was beaten by Luffy, several bodyguards had immediately been dispatched to him.

When those lapdog bodyguards saw their master being beaten, they rushed forward at once to attack Roya.

Roya, who had a short temper, did not indulge them. He abruptly raised his head, and another fierce wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted, knocking all the bodyguards unconscious.

"Admiral Roya, you absolutely must not!"

"You are an Admiral of Marine Headquarters, while Saint Charlos is a Celestial Dragon!"

"If..."

Sentomaru also rushed forward immediately to dissuade him.

Before Sentomaru could finish, Roya turned his head and shot him a glare.

"If what? I already did it. What can you do about it?"

"So what if he's a Celestial Dragon? He's still nothing but trash."

"What, is the Marines' so-called justice just about being the Celestial Dragons' dogs?"

Roya spoke with imposing authority, his eyes brimming with a terrifying aura.

Those words left Sentomaru speechless. More importantly, he was wary of Roya's strength.

If Admiral Kizaru had been here instead, Sentomaru might have dared to argue a few points.

But facing Roya, Sentomaru truly did not dare refute him. After all, Roya was the man who had defeated one of the Four Emperors, Kaido, and forced him to surrender. On top of that, Roya was radiating killing intent at this very moment. If he really failed to read the room, would he not simply be making trouble for himself?

Marine Headquarters.

Inside the Fleet Admiral's office.

The Marines stationed on the Sabaody Archipelago had reported back that Roya had beaten Saint Charlos.

Bang!

After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Fleet Admiral Sengoku shot to his feet and slammed his palm heavily onto the desk, shattering it into pieces.

"That brat Roya!"

"I sent him to deal with the pirates who assaulted the Celestial Dragons on the Sabaody Archipelago!"

"How did he end up beating a Celestial Dragon himself? This is utterly ridiculous!"

Sengoku was so furious that his face nearly turned green. He no longer cared about maintaining his image as he began cursing loudly.

"Hahahahaha."

"That brat Roya has guts! He actually beat up that piece of trash!"

Garp burst into laughter beside him.

"Garp!"

"You can still laugh?"

"Do you know how serious this is?"

"If it were you, would you attack a Celestial Dragon?"

Sengoku snapped at Garp furiously.

Just as Sengoku had said, throughout the entire Marines, apart from Roya, the only person who would dare defy the Celestial Dragons' orders and openly call them trash was likely Garp.

But!

No matter how much Garp disliked the Celestial Dragons or ignored their arrangements, he could not lay a hand on one.

As a legendary Marine hero, if Garp truly struck a Celestial Dragon, the nature of everything would change.

Sure enough.

Garp's expression gradually darkened as well.

"That's true. That brat Roya was a little too impulsive. So tell me, what should we do next, Sengoku?" Garp said.

"This time, we both have to go in person."

"But before that, to prevent that brat Roya from actually killing a Celestial Dragon—otherwise things will truly spiral out of control—I'll have Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan head over first and stop Roya if possible!" Sengoku said anxiously through gritted teeth.

At the same time.

The three Marine Admirals, who were carrying out missions elsewhere, all received Sengoku's orders.

Kuzan, who was still riding his bicycle across the sea, was the first to receive the news.

"My, my, that guy really is something. He actually dared to attack a Celestial Dragon?"

"Although I'm already on my way back to headquarters, I'm feeling too lazy to go. What should I do?"

"Forget it. I should make the trip, or Mr. Sengoku will lecture me again."

Kuzan sped up his bicycle. The sea beneath his path froze solid, and even the Sea Kings foolish enough to attack him became ice sculptures one after another.

Over on Akainu Sakazuki's side.

He too was on his way back to Marine Headquarters.

When he heard that Roya had attacked a Celestial Dragon, he nearly burned the entire warship with his Magma-Magma Fruit.

"Roya?"

"Hmph! I'll head to the Sabaody Archipelago right now!"

"I want to see just how capable you really are. Even if you possess heaven-defying abilities, once you lay hands on a Celestial Dragon, I can still take action against you!"

Sakazuki said as he clenched his fists.

Sakazuki had originally planned to find an excuse to fight Roya after returning to Marine Headquarters, to see just what strength had earned him promotion to Fourth Admiral.

Now, things had worked out perfectly. He no longer needed any excuse. Roya's attack on a Celestial Dragon was more than enough reason to take action.

However.

The closest Admiral, Kizaru Borsalino, had already arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago after receiving Sengoku's orders.

"Moshi moshi."

"Sentomaru, are you there?"

Borsalino puckered his lips as he called into the Den Den Mushi.

Before long, the Den Den Mushi received Sentomaru's reply. "Old man, have you arrived? We're at..."

Sentomaru gave Borsalino their exact location.

Having obtained the location, Borsalino hung up the Den Den Mushi and glanced in that direction. Then, after transforming into light, he vanished from the spot.

At the Marine base.

Roya was still stepping on Saint Charlos, though he was now sitting in a chair. The Marines around him watched him tremblingly, not daring to move or speak.

"My, Admiral Roya, you really are terrifying!"

Admiral Kizaru Borsalino's voice came from not far away.