Rossi drew a deep breath. Armament Haki surged across his palm like a tide, tempering the long blade, which had softened into a thin strip, back into a sharp edge before he returned it to its sheath.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru, you waited here specifically for us. Surely it wasn't just to demonstrate your ability?"
"Indeed."
She nodded, her dignified face betraying no change in emotion.
"But I'm more interested in the story you mentioned earlier... or was that a piece of history the Celestial Dragons used to flaunt their military exploits?"
Rossi almost blurted out a denial, but a turn of thought stopped him.
In these seas, ruled by the Celestial Dragons for eight hundred years, had no one ever broken through Marine Headquarters' ironclad defenses, climbed the steps of the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, only to-
Fall to a certain being, their very name erased from the records thereafter?
Just like those hundred blank years of history, it could never have happened naturally.
Given this world's yearning for "freedom,"
he refused to believe that no one had tried to topple the throne in eight hundred years.
At least ten years ago, that pirate ship that gathered so many top-tier powerhouses, "Rocks,"
had tried to replace the Holy Land's flag with its own skull flag and stage a change of regime.
Unfortunately, they had been intercepted before reaching their destination.
"It seems you have more information than I imagined, Vice Admiral Tsuru."
Rather than answering her question, Rossi tossed the subject back to her.
"Then in what capacity do you intend to speak to us? As a Vice Admiral of Marine Headquarters, a high-ranking member of the World **, or... a loyal guard dog of the Celestial Dragons?"
"The person standing before you is merely a Marine following the