Still, Juice Tastes Better

A gust of wind swept across the ground, sending a scrap of waste paper fluttering into the air.

Doka's expression froze, and he spoke softly: "Are you saying there are a lot of human traffickers hiding in this port?"

Charlos shot him a sidelong glance, his tone flippant and arrogant. "Yeah. Rather than asking me, why don't you ask this fat pig?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand and took the teacup Amina handed him, leisurely sipping the tea.

Then he flipped his wrist, pouring all the tea remaining in the cup over Earl Baron's back.

The scalding tea soaked through his clothes, and Earl Baron suddenly cried out in pain. "Ah!"

He immediately clenched his teeth, his entire body trembling violently as he desperately suppressed the groans in his throat, not daring to make another sound.

Cold sweat quietly broke out on Doka's forehead. He did not even dare breathe too loudly.

"What's wrong, Doka? Is there a problem?"

Doka swallowed hard and hurriedly lowered his head. "N-no, there's no problem."

"Good that there's no problem."

Charlos handed the teacup toward Amina, who quickly reached out and took it.

"You'd better pay more attention to the human traffickers. After all, if they abduct me, that could be dangerous."

Cold sweat trickled down Doka's cheeks. He hurriedly spoke up in defense. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Earl Baron, lying on the ground, also forced out a voice in agreement. "That's right, Saint Rosy Charlos. Who in this world would dare traffic a Celestial Dragon?"

"That might not be true." Charlos's tone was light, but it carried a bone-chilling menace. "After all, just now, someone here dared to fire a gun in front of me. Someone else even dared to take poison and kill himself in front of me. Most importantly, Baron, you actually wanted to drag that person away right in front of me."

Earl Baron's body jolted violently. His back heaved continuously under the crushing pressure, and cold sweat dripped from his jaw onto the ground. He did not dare raise his head. All he could do was lie there, his throat bobbing as he failed to utter a single word.

Doka stood to the side, his expression growing increasingly grave. His gaze shifted repeatedly between Charlos and Earl Baron, and his back was already drenched in cold sweat.

Earl Baron's face was covered in tears, and his voice trembled so badly it was barely recognizable. He hurriedly explained, "N-no! I was only afraid that lowly commoner would offend you..."

"Whether he offended me or not is for me to decide. It's not your place to make that call."

Charlos leaped down from the cushion and landed steadily on the ground. He turned and looked down at Earl Baron, who was sprawled out in a sorry state, his tone cold and indifferent.

"Earl Baron, do you think your authority is very great?"

"N-no! I absolutely never thought that!" Earl Baron trembled violently and hurriedly shook his head.

"If you didn't have my permission, why did you dare order your men to drag him away on their own?"

Earl Baron panted heavily and defended himself in a trembling voice. "Y-you had your foot on that person... So it wasn't as if you hadn't..."

Charlos's gaze suddenly turned cold. "Oh? Are you saying that if I hadn't been stepping on him, you would have been fully justified in sending people to move him?"

"N-no, that's not it! Absolutely not!" Earl Baron was scared out of his wits and hurriedly denied it.

Charlos raised a hand and rubbed his brow, sighing casually. "Oh dear, I've been out in the sun too long. I'm going back to my ship to get some proper rest."

"Colonel Doka."

"I'm here." Doka immediately answered.

"Investigate Earl Baron thoroughly."

"Understood."

"Oh, right. While you're at it, investigate whether the Velocia Kingdom is full of people like this."

"Yes!"

With his hands behind his back, Charlos slowly walked toward the luxurious ship. When he passed by the little girl, he stopped.

"Rukia, come aboard with me."

The little girl froze, then widened her eyes. "Huh? Me? I'm going aboard too?"

"Yes."

Only after Charlos and the others had left did Earl Baron tremblingly push himself up from the ground, every bone in his body feeling as though it had come loose.

Colonel Doka raised his hand and slapped him viciously across the face.

"You idiot! How dare you cause this kind of trouble in front of a Celestial Dragon!"

Earl Baron clutched his burning cheek, his voice aggrieved. "I... I only wanted to show my loyalty."

Colonel Doka stared at him, his tone filled with lingering fear. "That was a Celestial Dragon! With a single word, he could mobilize a Marine admiral. If anything had happened to him here today, even the slightest thing, the entire Velocia Kingdom would have faced a Buster Call. None of us would have escaped."

When the words "Buster Call" fell, Earl Baron's legs went limp, and he fell heavily to his knees, all color draining from his face.

His voice was choked with tears as he asked in panic, "Colonel Doka! W-what do we do now?"

The onlookers by the street erupted at once. Frightened whispers rose one after another.

"A Buster Call? It's actually a Buster Call!"

"I've heard of it! Ohara was completely destroyed by a Buster Call some time ago!"

"That's right! An entire island of scholars vanished overnight. Not a single person on the island survived!"

"How terrifying... That island was famous throughout the world, and it was simply gone..."

Everyone's faces turned pale, their hearts engulfed by extreme fear. No one dared utter another word.

Doka let out a vexed sigh.

"For the next few days, we can only cater to his wishes and make sure he has a good time, hoping he'll completely forget about this. During this period, keep all your men under control and make sure they behave."

He stared fiercely at Earl Baron, his tone cold and threatening. "If our source of wealth is cut off because of you, I absolutely won't forgive you."

"Yes! Yes! I'll do as I'm told!" Earl Baron hurriedly nodded again and again.

"Fall out!"

At Doka's command, he led the group of Marine soldiers away.

As the Marine unit disappeared into the distance, the street finally fell completely silent.

The previously obsequious Earl Baron instantly changed his expression. He stomped viciously on the ground and growled through clenched teeth.

"Damn Marines! Damn Celestial Dragons! Damn them all!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a silent black figure suddenly landed beside him.

"Earl Baron, behind you~"

He abruptly turned around and saw a mysterious person in a pure-white suit and mask standing silently behind him, staring fixedly at him.

"You..."

On the deck of the luxurious ship, Charlos reclined in a deck chair, a cup of juice in his hand. He took a sip.

"Mmm, this still tastes the best."

Amina stood to the side with a fan in her hand, waving it for him again and again.

"Waving a fan all the time is so boring. I can blow on you with my mouth instead. If you don't like that, my wings can fan you too, and they can even shade you from the sun."

Charlos glanced at her. "No."

Amina paused slightly. "Huh? Why?"

Charlos turned to look at her, his tone carrying a hint of teasing. "You definitely want to get handsy with me."

Amina wrinkled her nose and retorted, "Listen to you. It's always boys getting handsy with girls. When have you ever heard of girls getting handsy with boys?"

Charlos stared at her. "Do you not feel embarrassed saying that?"

Amina pursed her lips, her eyes darting around as she stubbornly said, "I'm not embarrassed."

"Yeah, right."

At that moment, Amira slowly led Rukia onto the deck.

Charlos casually set down his glass of juice, his gaze settling on Rukia as he said blandly, "You need to eat more. Otherwise, you won't be able to fill out that outfit."

Rukia asked softly, "Do I really have to dress like this? I've noticed that they don't wear clothes like this."

Charlos casually explained, "You don't understand. Those two are combatants, so they have to be ready to fight at any moment. You don't have any abilities. Since you'll be staying on the ship, this outfit is fine."