North Star Colosseum

After leaving the bedchamber, Doffy looked at the thoroughly satisfied Rosy and ground his teeth in anger.

Taking their ignorant little brother to the colosseum wasn't just about his bet with Charlos. He also wanted to put their little brother in his place and reestablish his authority as the older brother.

He couldn't match him in physique or studies, but after living a few years longer, surely he had to know more? What a rare opportunity today had been.

But Rosy had acted like a starving ghost reincarnated. For one more bite of roast meat, he had nearly gotten into a fight with Doffy, only to turn around and look at Longinus with a fawning expression.

Damn it, Doffy had only ever seen that expression on the face of a certain World Government official. He had spat in the man's face at the time.

Wasn't it just a few pieces of roast meat? Didn't they have cooks in their own bedchamber?

"Burp-"

A mouthful of gas carrying the aroma of meat rose from his stomach, and Doffy burped very rudely.

Rosy leaned closer and said seriously, "Doffy, did you eat too much? I told you not to snatch mine..."

"Shut up!"

Noticing that Rosy had also drawn Lu Ye's attention, Doffy gritted his teeth and growled under his breath.

Rosy pulled his head back and said timidly, "I just wanted to say, don't snatch my food next time. Your stomach will feel bad if you eat too much. I was just concerned about you..."

Doffy's face flushed red. He snorted heavily and hurried ahead.

It's bad enough that our little brother is laughing at me, but you're so stuffed you can barely pull your pants up over your hips. How can you have the nerve to say that?

Rosy hurried after him with quick little steps. When he wasn't hungry, he was still happy to stay with Doffy, like two paupers huddling together for warmth.

Ever since Lu Ye got the Hoffman Agent Squad, neither of them had brought attendants along when they went out.

Just imagine: before two people had even spoken upon meeting, your attendant eagerly greeted the other person's attendant first...

You'd totally lose it, okay!

But just as Garling was a hero to the Celestial Dragons and Garp was a hero to the Marines, the Hoffman Squad were heroes to the CP Agents.

Stopping your subordinate from greeting his own idol... Hm?

[Comical sideways grin]: Yare yare! You wouldn't be jealous, would you? No way, no way?

Doffy's and Rosy's little faces turned red. I'm not! I didn't! I'm just a little unhappy, and besides... how can you call it jealousy when it's a Celestial Dragon?

The air was filled with a cheerful atmosphere!

Lu Ye followed at a distance with Sullivan and Hoffman and the others.

He watched the two little ones: one's shoulders were bouncing up and down from time to time, while the other had his hands on his hips, waddling along with difficulty and constantly begging the first to slow down.

The corners of Lu Ye's mouth lifted.

Doffy was already eight and went to the Celestial Dragons Academy in Pangaea Castle every day.

Rosy had just turned six and no longer had a runny nose, but he still looked silly.

According to the original plot provided by the dead rat, these two brothers in misfortune should have been foraging in a garbage dump in the North Blue by now.

As things stood, Lu Ye's intervention had completely rewritten the blond family's fate, allowing them to continue their dreary lives as vermin.

Great! Just great!

It's great being vermin!

Extremely satisfied with reality, Lu Ye wasn't even interested in asking about what happened next in the Pirate King plot. Several times, Jinbao tried to speak, only for Lu Ye to stuff roast meat into his mouth.

As that outrageous saying went: I'm a Celestial Dragon, born at the pinnacle of power. If you want to stand before me, talent and hard work are both dogshit, and the gods' blessings are just decorations carved on that shit. If you really want to cross the gulf, you'll have to tie a god to your belt.

Family, familial love... Sixth Master couldn't agree, but he would surely repay the care and affection the blond's Pops and Lady Daisy had shown him.

"Saint Longinus, should we catch up? We'll lose sight of Saint Doflamingo and Saint Rosinante soon."

Holding a serving tray, Sullivan bent slightly and leaned close to Lu Ye's ear to offer the quiet reminder.

Lu Ye took a doughnut and tossed it into his mouth. "The North Star Colosseum-that's what Doffy called it, right? You know where it is, don't you?"

Sullivan's eyes trembled almost imperceptibly before he nodded gently. "Of course. The North Star Colosseum was founded by Saint Augustus. It is currently the most magnificent slave colosseum outside Pangaea Castle."

Lu Ye waved a hand. "Then let's take our time getting there. I can get a good look at Mary Geoise outside the clan's territory, too."

Sullivan nodded, brushed off his tailcoat, and slowed his pace to follow behind Lu Ye, his back straight.

Behind him were three swordsman cooks with broadswords on their backs, carrying tall stacks of food boxes filled with the desserts Lu Ye needed to stay alive.

Further back were Hoffman and his two companions in white coats, their faces stern, "peerless expert" written on their left cheeks and "keep your distance" on their right.

Lu Ye wasn't wearing the white spacesuit standard among the Celestial Dragons, and his short, tousled blond hair was a far cry from the traditional dung beetle hairstyle. Many Celestial Dragons stopped and looked at him askance along the way.

Lu Ye ate his desserts, completely ignoring them as he looked around without restraint.

Judging by its geographical environment, the Holy Land Mary Geoise truly was a rare paradise.

The air was warm and sweet, and for more than three hundred of the year's three hundred and sixty-five days, the sun shone brightly.

The hard Red Line had never been suited to growing plants. The Celestial Dragons' ancestors had forcibly conscripted slaves to carry soil up to this highest of lands bit by bit.

Now, every Celestial Dragon's bedchamber had an evergreen lawn, and flowers bloomed year-round on both sides of the stone-paved roads. Inside Pangaea Castle, it was even more splendid.

As they passed some of the bedchambers, they occasionally heard discordant sounds: extremely noisy singing and dancing, the wild, unrestrained laughter of certain idiots, or piercing screams and pleas for mercy.

Lu Ye picked at his ear and asked Sullivan beside him with a look of disgust, "Hey! What do these pieces of trash usually do at home? Renovate?"

Sullivan's expression was complicated. He glanced at the broad-faced, round-eyed Hoffman and lowered his voice. "Saint Longinus, there are some things we aren't in a position to speak about..."

Lu Ye shrugged. "You don't dare say it. Whatever, I'll see for myself as we go."

The North Star Colosseum was on the edge of the Donquixote territory, some distance from Homing's bedchamber. Lu Ye strolled for nearly forty minutes, eating desserts nonstop along the way, barely making up for the energy consumed by the Armament Haki on both his hands.

The North Star Colosseum itself was a huge, magnificent white building. From a distance, it resembled a giant polar bear lying on the ground. It was dozens of meters high, and up close, it was like a snowy mountain.

The entrance to the colosseum was the giant bear's roaring mouth. Even Hoffman, who stood over three meters tall, looked like a dwarf before it.

Beyond it was a dim passageway, with emerald velvet curtains hanging down on either side. Light could faintly be seen at the far end.

At the entrance, they immediately caught a peculiar smell of blood mingled with sweat. Roars, curses, and shrill cheers surged through the passage from within like a tidal wave, as though the gates of hell had opened.

Lu Ye stopped in his tracks instinctively, frowning.

The dense air of crime gave off a truly nauseating stench.

Sullivan bent down and asked softly, "Saint Longinus, are you feeling unwell?"

Lu Ye shook his head slightly. "No. Let's go in."