Bait to Strengthen Conqueror's Haki

Food City, harbor.

Masts of all kinds of ships stood like a forest. Among them, a Government Ship flying the World Government flag, decorated with extravagant splendor, was especially conspicuous.

On the road from the commercial district to the docks, the crowd parted like a tide to either side and fell to their knees.

A Celestial Dragon wearing a transparent spherical helmet sat arrogantly atop the back of a muscular slave. In his hand, he held a refined steel ring from which five slender chains extended, their other ends fastened tightly to the explosive collars around the necks of five young dancers.

Their eyes were vacant, their steps unsteady, and their exposed skin was covered in old and fresh scars.

Cipher Pol agents and fully armored Holy Land Guard Forces surrounded them as though facing a great enemy, their wary gazes sweeping over every bowed head.

Suddenly, a laborer by the roadside, hunched from prolonged hunger and toil, could no longer endure the long kneeling. His body tilted, and with a thud, he collapsed into the middle of the road, directly blocking the procession's path.

"You filthy lowlife! Who gave you the nerve to block the path of the Creators' descendants?!"

The Celestial Dragon's tiny eyes widened behind the glass helmet, then filled with rage. He directly pulled out a gold-inlaid flintlock pistol and fired three shots at the trembling body on the ground.

The acrid smell of gunpowder spread through the air. The laborer let out a pained groan and fell into a pool of blood, his fate unknown.

The crowd suppressed terrified gasps. No one dared move, and no one dared speak. Only the faint sound of fingernails digging into the dirt and teeth grinding together could be heard.

The Celestial Dragon spat, as though he had merely