Sky Pirate Crew

"..."

"??????"

"!!!???"

"Hey!!!!!!"

After the initial confusion and inability to react, the unexpected words left everyone bewildered. Moments later, the entire warship filled with successive gasps.

"Who was it?"

"Did I hear that wrong?"

"Who would actually dare to say that to a Celestial Dragon...?"

Gasparde was the first to pinpoint where the voice had come from. He looked back at the mast behind him in horror.

His movement drew everyone's attention, and they all looked up.

Under the dazzling sunlight, two burly young men had appeared atop the lookout platform of the warship's main mast at some unknown point.

"Eh..."

Everyone sucked in another breath and cried out in alarm.

They had initially thought the voice was merely an illusion, but the appearance of these two figures proved that everything they had just heard was real. Someone had actually dared to provoke a Celestial Dragon.

The four members of CP9 moved swiftly, positioning themselves in front of the Celestial Dragon to protect him as they fixed the two men on the mast with murderous intent.

Gasparde frowned tightly as well. He knew trouble had come knocking. Looking at the red-haired youth's smiling face atop the mast, he felt a faint unease. With a cigar between his teeth, he asked in a low voice,

"Who are you?"

"Us!?"

As their voices rang out, the two unexpected guests leaped down from the mast and landed steadily on the deck, right in the middle of the surrounding Marines and CP9 agents.

Then, the red-haired youth among them enthusiastically addressed everyone present, like a guest paying a visit.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ye Mu, and I'm the captain of the Sky Pirate Crew. This is my younger brother, Enel, the vice-captain of the Sky Pirate Crew. We've just set sail, so we hope all of you Marines will take good care of us from now on..."

"!!!"

"..."

Whether they were Marines, CP9 agents, or Celestial Dragons, everyone present stared at the two young men before them as if they were lunatics.

Gasparde's expression grew even uglier.

"You're certainly bold. As expected, newborn calves really don't fear tigers. Do you know that you're provoking the Marines right now?"

The reply to Gasparde's words came from Enel, who sounded somewhat displeased.

"This guy is really annoying me. Ye Mu, should I take care of him?"

"!!!"

Gasparde froze instantly.

Just then, a voice that made everyone tremble slightly rang out.

"You lowly trash, how dare you ignore me..."

"Let me get past..."

Everyone immediately turned toward the voice. The Celestial Dragon emerged from behind the protection of the four CP9 agents, riding a Fish-Man. His expression was ugly as he pointed a pistol at the red-haired pirate who had suddenly appeared and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"Bang..."

A bullet shot out, but the red-haired youth did not move at all. Instead, the blond youth extended two fingers and clamped the bullet tightly between them.

"!!!"

The Celestial Dragon's pupils abruptly widened, and his expression grew even more furious.

"Damn lowly trash... You still dare to resist..."

He was just about to pull the trigger and fire again when he suddenly saw the bullet clamped between the blond youth's fingers leap to life, sparks and lightning dancing around it.

"Crackle, crackle..."

"Bang..."

A violent boom tore through the air...

In that instant, the hearts of the four CP9 members responsible for protecting the Celestial Dragon and Gasparde all clenched tight.

At that moment, everything else vanished from their world. All they could see was the strike wrapped in thunder, transformed into a Railgun and fired straight at the Celestial Dragon's forehead.

"This is bad..."

The five of them thrust out their hands toward the attack, trying to block it.

But none of them managed to stop it...

"Bang..."

Amid what sounded like shattering glass, a hole appeared in the glass dome above the Celestial Dragon's head. An identical hole appeared in his forehead.

Everything had happened too quickly. The Celestial Dragon seemed not to have reacted at all, an expression of disbelief still on his face.

Only when blood began flowing from the hole in the Celestial Dragon's forehead did the world before him turn completely dark. His obese body lost all strength and fell from the Fish-Man, crashing onto the deck with a crisp, ringing sound that echoed in everyone's heart.

Silence...

At that moment, the entire warship was silent...

There was not even the sound of anyone swallowing.

Everyone stared incredulously at the dead man...

The Celestial Dragon was dead...

The Celestial Dragon had been killed...

Was this an illusion? Or had I gone mad?

Only then did the golden-haired youth who had done all this speak in a somewhat lazy voice.

"So noisy... Ye Mu, it's fine that I killed this guy, right?"

"Hahahaha, of course it is. This was already one part of our plan. This is the guidance of fate, hahahaha..."

At that moment, the only sound on the entire warship was Ye Mu's unhinged laughter.

"Ah..."

Only then did everyone truly come to their senses.

The Celestial Dragon was really dead.

The Celestial Dragons, known for centuries as the descendants of the creators and the nobles of the world, whom no one had ever dared offend, had just died.

Every Marine aboard the warship felt as though their sanity was being challenged.

Some were nearly hysterical, some clutched their heads and sobbed, and others stood frozen in place...

Gasparde was not much better off. His expression was horrified, while the other four CP9 members were even paler.

The Celestial Dragon was dead, and he had been killed right in front of them.

Regardless of the reason, they were absolutely doomed...

In the end, Gasparde was the first to recover. Gritting his teeth, he asked the two audacious youths before him in a dark tone,

"Do you know what you've done...?"

"Hahahaha, of course. It was only a Celestial Dragon..."

After saying that, his expression shifted slightly, becoming a little more serious.

"Don't make those faces. Because what comes next will be even more exciting... This warship is transporting the Heaven Tribute, right? If I take the Heaven Tribute away, you won't mind, will you..."

East Blue, Loguetown...

Ever since a week ago, when Roger had been secretly escorted here by the Marines in preparation for his public execution more than half a month later, Loguetown had been heavily surrounded by the Marines.

To prevent any possible accidents, Buddha Sengoku, a Marine admiral, had appeared here to oversee Loguetown.

Marine hero Garp, two of the future three Marine admirals—Aokiji and Kizaru—as well as dozens of vice admirals were all here, not to mention the other Marines.

If the Marines had not been busy suppressing the turmoil in the New World, Marine Admiral Kong, Zephyr, and Akainu would probably have appeared here as well.

Aside from the Marines, quite a few pirates had also concealed their identities here, preparing to watch the execution of the One Piece.

In addition, the World Government's spy organizations and media tycoons were here as well, preparing to broadcast the entire execution of the One Piece live.

It could be said that Loguetown had now absolutely become the center of the entire One Piece world...