Encountering the Celestial Dragons!

"Captain?" Norton called softly from the side.

Swain was sound asleep on the deck. The weather was nice today.

Before this, Swain had asked Jordi to make him a reclining chair.

Jordi was the shipwright Swain had recruited in Water 7.

Swain had merely described its shape and function before sending him off to make it.

According to Swain, this task was his test for joining the crew. (In truth, it was just someone's hedonism.)

In less than two days, Jordi had put it together, and the result was pretty good! From then on, Swain came to the deck every noon for a nap.

He was even considering whether to pick up a pretty maid at the Sabaody Archipelago. That would be perfect.

"Hm?" Hearing someone call him, Swain groggily sat up.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Looks like there are people fighting up ahead!" Norton said, pointing forward.

They had been sailing at sea for nearly a month, and they were less than half a day away from the Sabaody Archipelago.

There were countless pirates heading for the New World. Running into people fighting at a time like this was perfectly normal.

They had even encountered two groups of pirates during their voyage, but once those pirates saw Swain, they had slunk away.

What a joke!

This was a pirate with a bounty of 1.6 billion Beli! And he could fight an Admiral to a draw! How could they possibly be stupid enough to provoke him?

That was the shared thought of every pirate who encountered Swain.

Honestly, that was not wrong.

At this point, Swain was probably among those with the highest bounties on the Grand Line.

1.6 billion was still too little for a pirate who could stand shoulder to shoulder with an Admiral!

After all, once Four Emperor Buggy established Cross Guild and began placing bounties on Marines, an Admiral was worth three billion Beli!

That alone was enough to show Swain's strength!

Swain looked in the direction Norton was pointing. Sure enough, two groups had started fighting.

Yet the situation was rather strange: one side was chasing, while the other was fleeing.

The fleeing group did not fight back.

Even though their ship had been bombarded until it caught fire, they still did not fight back.

"Is something wrong with their heads?" Norton could not help mocking.

They were being attacked and still would not fight back?

That was obviously a problem with their brains!

"If they fought back, they'd probably die even worse," Jordi said as he came over.

Swain watched in silence as well.

Now Norton was completely confused.

"Celestial Dragons?" Norton finally noticed the flag on the ship behind them.

"Head over there," Swain ordered.

Jordi looked doubtful after hearing that. "Shouldn't we avoid provoking them?"

After all, that was how most people in this world saw things.

Celestial Dragons!

Supreme and inviolable! Even if they bullied you, you could not fight back!

But...

Swain had no intention of listening to that bullshit rule!

He had long since grown sick of the Celestial Dragons! In other people's eyes, they were supreme "gods."

In his eyes, they were nothing but a pile of shit!

"Head over there!" Swain ordered again.

His tone allowed no doubt.

He knew Jordi's advice was well-intentioned.

But...

He had come looking to pick a fight with the Celestial Dragons!

Under Jordi's control, the Neptune sped forward.

Meanwhile, on the Celestial Dragons' ship...

"Open fire! Blast them into scraps!"

"Damn commoners! How dare they sail ahead of me!"

Two men wearing bubble helmets spoke one after the other.

"Yes." A subordinate dropped to one knee to obey.

On the pirate ship under attack...

"Captain! If we don't fight back, we'll all die here!"

"What are you yelling for?! Those are Celestial Dragons! Celestial Dragons!"

"They aren't just any random people! If we fight back, we'll die even worse!" the captain shouted in terror.

Looking at the captain cowering before him, he felt helpless.

He raised his gun and aimed it at him. "Give the order!"

"Dicky, what are you doing?" Facing the gun barrel, the captain finally stopped shouting.

A gunshot rang out!

The man named Dicky was shot to the ground.

Blood flowed from the back of his head. He was dead!

"Dicky!"

The captain watched the man who had been by his side ever since they first set sail collapse to the ground.

Every laugh they had shared, every beautiful memory they had made.

At that moment, they all flooded into his mind.

He was dead...!

The fear of the Celestial Dragons in his heart.

Was instantly swallowed by the rage filling his chest.

"I'll kill you!!!"

The captain shouted at the Celestial Dragon holding a pistol before him.

The Celestial Dragon looked at him with contempt.

It was as if an ant had just died, and this ant was being rather noisy.

"Insolence! How dare you disrespect a god!"

A man in a suit appeared.

Naturally, he was the Celestial Dragon's bodyguard.

"Shigan!" Armament Haki coated his finger.

It pierced straight through the captain's chest.

To the bodyguard's surprise, the man before him was still not dead.

The rage in the captain's heart had made him unable to feel the pain in his chest.

He raised his blade, intending to slash the man's neck.

But...

Before the bodyguard could strike back, another gunshot rang out, and he collapsed.

Even before his death, the unwillingness in his eyes never faded.

"What trash! I had to handle something like this myself."

One of the Celestial Dragons behind him spoke.

He fired several more shots into the captain's head, splattering red and white matter across the ground.

"Not bad. Your marksmanship has improved again!"

The two Celestial Dragons chatted casually.

It was as if the dead really had been nothing more than two insects.

The Celestial Dragons' ship was already nearing the Sabaody Archipelago's port. Looking ahead, they could see a large crowd that had come to welcome them.

Just then.

A ship of similar size approached from behind them.

Swain and Norton stood at the bow of the Neptune.

Completely fearless!

"Another two commoners who don't know their place!" The Celestial Dragon was utterly enraged.

Today, people had dared to offend him again and again.

This time, he intended to throw whoever had offended him into a boiling cauldron.

Yet it had never occurred to him that no one had offended him at all.

He alone demanded that everyone revere him like an emperor!

But there would always be someone to break that rule!

To shatter his sweet dream!

"Norton, burn their flag!" Swain ordered.

Norton stretched his muscles, his bones cracking loudly.

He had long been disgusted by the way these Celestial Dragons acted.

If the captain had not held him back, he would have rushed out long ago and turned all these scum into roasted suckling pigs.

What Hoof of the Soaring Dragon? More like suckling pig hooves!

With a beat of his wings, he flew into the sky.

"What is that commoner trying to do?"

Norton swung his blade forward.

A blade-shaped flame shot out and burned the lofty flag to ashes!

Luke had specially forged this weapon for him.

Naturally, people on the Sabaody Archipelago were watching these developments.

"How dare they?"

"That pirate flag looks kind of familiar!"

"It's that rookie pirate from a while ago! Swain!"

Someone recognized Swain standing aboard the Neptune.

"The one in full armor is Norton, the 300 million Beli man!"

"They're declaring war on the World Government! Isn't that too reckless?"

"Offending the Celestial Dragons? They won't live long!"

"Not necessarily! That Swain is the man who fought Admiral Kuzan to a draw!"

The crowd discussed it heatedly. Some agreed, while others argued back.

But they still underestimated Swain's audacity.

Offending the Celestial Dragons? He was planning to kill those things! (P.S.: "Things" is not the author's typo!)

Swain made his move as well.

With a thought, he slowly raised his right hand.

At once, the sea began to churn violently.

Then, a Sea Waves nearly a hundred meters high began to gather.

At that moment, the Celestial Dragons' ship looked no bigger than an ant.