The Emissary

The day after the God Valley Incident.

Dragon suddenly jolted awake from his nightmare. At some point, his back had been soaked in cold sweat, and it felt as though the entire world was swaying.

Several seconds later, he gradually recovered amid the sound of waves striking the hull and realized that it was not the world swaying, but the cabin he was in.

Where is this...?

The dim surroundings prevented Dragon from making any judgment for the moment. The only thing he could confirm was that someone had carried him onto this ship while he had been unconscious.

Right, why had he passed out?

Dragon clutched his throbbing head and suddenly remembered. That was right! He had been trying to save a pair of helpless infants!

Memories flashed through his mind, the final image freezing on the figure of a dazzling blonde angel.

No, not an "angel," but a "pirate"! Lilith, the "Enchanted Angel"!

Dragon finally remembered who had knocked him out. He clenched his fists in anguish, his nails digging into his flesh without him noticing...

He could not even save two infants! What could he possibly do?

The dark room suddenly brightened as the sailor assigned to look after Dragon opened the door and entered, carrying a meal.

Seeing that Dragon had awakened, the sailor set down the food and hurried away without giving him any chance to ask questions.

"Seriously... where the hell is this?"

Dragon muttered, but his gaze drifted uncontrollably toward the meal. Touching his growling stomach, he was ultimately conquered by his appetite.

Just as Dragon wolfed down his food, Annus, having been informed by a sailor, arrived at the cabin where Dragon was staying.

The instant Annus opened the door and stepped into the room, Dragon's pupils shrank sharply. He hunched over like a startled leopard and assumed a guarded stance!

Clang!

The iron plate and its food scattered across the floor.

Annus glanced at the plate before turning his gaze to Dragon's wary eyes. He chuckled softly. "Looks like you know who I am."

"'Calamity' Annus! The Enchanted Angel is your accomplice, isn't she? Where are those two infants? Hand them over now!"

"Relax, Dragon." Annus casually pulled over a chair and sat down.

"How do you know my name?!" Dragon asked in shock.

Why would the infamous Calamity know an insignificant nobody like him?

"I also know that your father is Garp," Annus said softly. "Relax. I'm not a bad person."

Yet Dragon did not let his guard down in the face of Annus's friendly demeanor.

The man before him was a super criminal with a bounty worth billions of Berry. His infamy made countless people tremble at the mere mention of him. Any Marine who had encountered Calamity would involuntarily shudder whenever that name came up!

"Drop that tone you use to coax children! I'm not an idiot! Calamity isn't a bad person? The pirates would laugh their teeth out if they heard that!" Dragon said.

"That is merely a slight misunderstanding the world has about me. You experienced the God Valley Incident from beginning to end—do you still believe in the 'world' everyone talks about? Just as the Marines do not represent 'justice,' pirates are not necessarily 'evil.'" Annus spread his hands.

Dragon was momentarily speechless, unable to refute Annus's words. Indeed, after this incident, he had begun to doubt the so-called justice preached by the Marines.

The higher-ups must know the truth of what happened, yet they kept silent and even concealed it from the rank-and-file Marines!

The Marines' justice is not the people's justice at all. It is the government's justice! The Celestial Dragons' justice!

Human Hunting... the very existence of that game revealed that the Celestial Dragons were nothing more than beasts wearing human skin!

As Dragon dwelled on this, Annus casually continued, "Those two infants are both alive and well. In the future, they will grow up safely under my protection..."

"Grow up safely under a pirate's protection?" Dragon could not help laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Annus raised a brow. "Your prejudice against pirates runs too deep, Dragon. Looking at things from only one perspective will never allow you to see the whole picture."

Dragon fell silent for a moment before saying, "Maybe you're right, but I still can't trust you... Besides, why did you save me? Your companion nearly killed me!"

No matter what Annus said, Lilith had nearly killed him—that was an indisputable fact. Why should he trust Annus, her accomplice?

Hearing this, Annus showed a helpless expression. He shook his head and said, "Nothing like that will happen again...

"As for why I saved you, the reason is simple.

"I am about to return to my birthplace, Sky Island, which lies ten thousand meters above the sea. I will lose contact with the Blue Sea. The reason I saved you is because I want to train you as my emissary in the Blue Sea."

Sky Island?

Dragon froze. The legendary islands hidden deep in the sky actually existed?

"You said you came from Sky Island? And... what do you mean by emissary?" Dragon asked.

Annus replied, "That's right. Sky Island truly exists. Many humans like me, humans who bear wings upon their backs, live there.

"As for an emissary, it is similar to a spokesperson. The job is to carry out certain activities according to my orders and relay the latest news to me. Something like that."

Dragon immediately refused. "I will never work for a pirate!"

Annus sighed. "The Rocks Pirates have already disbanded. I am no longer a pirate, so you do not need to worry about that."

"Once a pirate, always a pirate! Do you think a single sentence from you can erase the sins you committed in the past?!" Dragon said emotionally.

"You are being too emotional, Dragon. Think it over carefully before giving me an answer..."

Annus shook his head, deciding to give Dragon some time alone. In any case, they were still quite a distance from Water 7.

He then walked toward the door. Upon reaching it, he suddenly stopped, turned around, and left Dragon with these words.

"Of course, you may also refuse me. I will drop you off at the nearest Marine branch. Given your identity, someone will likely take you back to headquarters soon enough. But if you do that, you will lose your chance to change this world."

"What... do you mean?" Dragon's expression changed.

"Have you ever thought about what this world would be like if the Celestial Dragons did not exist?"

Annus smiled and closed the door.

As the last sliver of light vanished, darkness once again swallowed the troubled Dragon.

Dragon slowly slid down the wall until he collapsed onto the floor.

Become... a pirate's emissary?

What exactly does this man want to do?!

A world without Celestial Dragons... Could it be that he intends to kill every single Celestial Dragon?

After thinking for a long time, Dragon still found no answer. His mind was a mess, and with his body utterly exhausted, he eventually fell into a deep sleep once more.