Catching Up with the Celestial Dragon, Utterly Cruel

After communicating with the nearby sea creatures using the Voice of All Things, Rono confirmed the Celestial Dragon's location.

That guy hadn't gone far!

If he followed this road, he would definitely catch up with him.

As the Revenge sped ahead at full speed, Rono took the opportunity to check his system panel.

[Host: Rono]

[Age: 17]

[Strength: (mid-level Shichibukai)]

[Speed: (mid-level Shichibukai)]

[Stamina: (mid-level Shichibukai)]

[Haki: Advanced Conqueror's Haki, Advanced Armament Haki, Advanced Observation Haki]

[Other Abilities: Advanced Swordsmanship! Advanced Combat Experience!]

[Devil Fruit Ability: Flame-Flame Fruit: Absorption]

[God-Tier Ability: Voice of All Things!]

Compared to his strength when he fought Roger, he had improved considerably.

First, he had picked up Roger's God-Tier Observation Haki, the Voice of All Things.

On top of that, absorbing the Flame-Flame Fruit's ability had further increased his destructive power.

He was now about on the same level as Doflamingo and Kuma, roughly equivalent to Yonko First Mate Level.

And with a fine blade in hand—the Kotetsu, one of the Twenty-One Great Grade Swords-even Roger might not be able to defeat him now!

Rono was quite satisfied with this result.

After all, he had only been at sea for a little over ten days, yet he had gone from a commander to Shichibukai Level. His strength had skyrocketed like a rocket. It had happened incredibly fast.

"As long as there isn't an Admiral-level powerhouse around, I can at least catch up with that Celestial Dragon, kill him, and get away unharmed."

"No, even if there is an Admiral, I should still be able to kill that Celestial Dragon. But if I want to retreat, I'll have to pay some price."

Rono had a rough estimate of his own strength.

As he was now, he should be able to fight an Admiral-level powerhouse. What was more, he hadn't even factored in the boost from the system.

In fact, if he really ran into an Admiral-level powerhouse, Rono wouldn't merely be able to fight him. He might even pick up some powerful abilities and quickly advance to Admiral Level!

Of course, the likeliest possibility was that there wouldn't be any Admiral-level fighting force guarding the Celestial Dragon at all. Usually, there would only be a few CP0 agents at Vice Admiral Level.

After all, Admiral-level fighters were exceedingly rare across the entire sea. How could they stay by the Celestial Dragons' sides all the time?

Only after something happened to a Celestial Dragon would the Marines send an Admiral-level force to clean up the mess.

That was why Celestial Dragons were so arrogant.

In terms of strength, a pirate with a bounty of over a hundred million could handle these swine-like Celestial Dragons.

But the consequence of doing that would be endless pursuit by a Marine Admiral, so most pirates took a detour whenever they saw a Celestial Dragon.

Rono, however, was the opposite. He couldn't wait for the Marines to send an Admiral. That way, his strength would grow by leaps and bounds again.

After two days of sailing, Rono crossed Reverse Mountain and entered the Grand Line. He sailed for another day before finally catching up with the Celestial Dragon.

After all, the Revenge wasn't particularly fast. Luckily, he had still caught up in the end.

At the harbor of an island, a luxurious cruise ship dozens of meters tall was moored.

Even from a distance, he could see every part of the ship.

Every single part was encrusted with diamonds, jewels, jade, and gold!

The gems glittered in the sunlight, their extravagance truly breathtaking.

Two flags hung from the ship's mast.

One was the flag of the World Government, while the other bore the Celestial Dragon Hoofprint, the symbol of the Celestial Dragons.

The Celestial Dragon Hoofprint was their mark. They branded every slave with it-even slaves—so they could assert their ownership.

Rono opened his Observation Haki and quickly pinpointed the Celestial Dragon's location.

As it happened, the island was called Jaya Island, and the Celestial Dragon was currently in Mock Town.

Mock Town was a small town on Jaya Island, a low-rent version of the Lawless Zone, crawling with pirates.

The reason the Celestial Dragon had stopped there was very simple.

He had received word that the Heavenly Tribute from the East Blue had been robbed!

Not only that, many rare slaves had also been freed, including many beautiful Fish-Man slaves.

This had left the Celestial Dragon furious. He badly needed somewhere to vent, so he had chosen Mock Town.

The pirates of Mock Town were usually arrogant, but the moment they saw the Celestial Dragon arrive, they all dropped to their knees. They didn't want to anger him and bring down a Marine Admiral.

Meanwhile, in the middle of a street in Mock Town, a man with a transparent spherical glass helmet, a face full of fat, a bowl cut, a gourd-shaped face, and a runny nose stood out particularly.

He was a World Noble, a Celestial Dragon!

Beneath this Celestial Dragon, a strong-built man covered in bruises was on all fours. A bomb collar hung around his neck.

On closer inspection, he was a fairly well-known pirate with a bounty of 68 million Beli!

Now he had become the Celestial Dragon's mount.

The streets on both sides were packed with pirates kneeling in rows.

They were all extremely nervous. Seeing the Celestial Dragon's sour face, they were afraid he might suddenly fly into a rage.

Soon, something no one expected happened.

Suddenly, the Celestial Dragon climbed down from his "mount." A man in a crisp black suit and dark sunglasses immediately stepped forward and respectfully asked:

"Saint Charlos, what are your orders?"

Hearing this, Saint Charlos spoke through his runny nose. "This mount is covered in wounds, and I'm tired of playing with him. Pick someone here to replace him."

At those words, the "mount" was overjoyed. He immediately knelt and thanked the Celestial Dragon. "Thank you, Lord Celestial Dragon! Then I can leave, right?"

Saint Charlos's expression suddenly twisted. "Commoner slave, did I say you could leave?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Saint Charlos immediately ordered the man in the black suit beside him: "Go, bring out the torture device I prepared!"

At the order, several guards in black suits immediately carried over a transparent glass tank covered with black cloth.

The tank was large enough to hold seven or eight people.

"What is the Celestial Dragon going to do?"

Everyone present was bewildered at the sight.

But when the black cloth was removed, everyone's expressions instantly turned to sheer terror-

The transparent glass tank was filled with nearly a hundred venomous snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and other poisonous creatures!

They were all highly venomous species!

The creatures squirmed incessantly inside the sealed tank. Just looking at them made one's scalp go numb!

The Celestial Dragon, however, looked at the tank with an extremely excited expression.

"Excellent! Strip this commoner slave naked right away and throw him in!"