Trait [Timidity], the final mission

Lu Ye said nothing, looking up at Jessica's peaceful little face. The freckles on her cheeks were as cute as stars.

He recalled how the little girl had looked when she talked to him about gladiatorial combat, solemn and excited, her eyes shining...

Courage, honor, sacredness, mercy, greatness...

Every word of praise was lavished on a game of killing.

Now the Gladiator King she had longed to see had cut open her belly. Scarlet blood ran down her dress to her calves, then along her bare little feet, dripping onto the ground one drop at a time.

Hoffman reminded him softly, "Saint Longinus, it's time for you to eat."

Black Armament Haki had already crept up to his shoulders, giving both arms a gleaming metallic sheen.

Lu Ye shook his head, brushed a finger across Jessica's little toes, and put the smear of blood on it into his mouth.

He hadn't drawn a lottery, but the familiar screen suddenly appeared before his eyes:

[Monster's trait]: "Timidity"

[Blessing's footnote]: "If the whole world is your enemy, timidity will only make you braver.

Your combat state will no longer end, and your senses will be sharper than those of a sheep surrounded by wolves."

[Mysterious message]: "Badge number 7538, this is your final mission:

You will have no teammates and no reinforcements. Alone, you will venture deep into enemy territory, suppress the riotous seas, and reshape order. This time, you need answer to no one for your actions. The justice in your heart is your only superior!"

Lu Ye licked the blood from the corner of his mouth. Understood. Officer Lu is back on the team. Nobody knows how to be a double agent better than me.

"I was wondering how much a Celestial Dragon's life is worth. Would 3.25 billion Beli be enough? If it isn't..."

Lu Ye glanced at the Gladiator King and his son. "I can't come up with any more!"

The Armament Haki continued spreading upward, reaching his neck.

Freck looked alarmed and hid behind Augustus. "Longinus, are you serious? Are you really going to turn against fellow Celestial Dragons like us over two slaves?"

Augustus put on a stern face and looked down at him disdainfully.

"Young man, go back and ask your father, Homing, to tell you how much a descendant of the Creator is worth.

"Also, ask your father whether having only three people buried with me after a defeat that cost me face would be a very paltry affair. If this weren't the Holy Land Mary Geoise, how many people would have to die to appease my anger?

"Young man, you don't know the rules. Don't think a little strength gives you the right to look down on everyone in the Holy Land!"

Doffy tugged at Lu Ye's arm and urged him through gritted teeth in a lowered voice, "Don't be rash, Longinus. Someone's going to die! If you want slaves, I'll give you as many as you want when we get back..."

Rosy and Mjosgard also reached out to stop him, shaking their heads desperately.

Lu Ye brushed their hands aside, stepped forward, and chuckled. "Old man! Your face is so valuable, but what about mine? If I give you face, what happens to mine? I promised to give them their freedom, but now they're dead..."

Augustus sneered. "They're dead, so what? What face does a little brat like you have? Wait until you're my age before you talk about face!"

"Heh, which one of us doesn't know the rules?"

Lu Ye shook his head and took another step forward. "Since we're all supreme Celestial Dragons, naturally, the stronger one has the higher standing. You're older? What the hell does your age have to do with me? Doesn't that just mean you were already trash when you were young?"

Freck's hands trembled as he raised his gun and pointed it at Lu Ye. "Y-you stay back! I'll shoot!"

Ignoring him, Lu Ye took another step, bringing him right in front of the two men.

The muzzle of Freck's gun was pressed against Lu Ye's forehead.

Lu Ye looked up and met the eyes of Augustus, who stood nearly three meters tall. The killing intent radiating from his body made even Augustus's hair stand on end.

"I really don't know how much a descendant of the Creator is worth, but I imagine a son of God is much the same thing. The fair market price is thirty pieces of silver apiece. What about you? How much do you want to price yourselves at?"

Bang!

Freck could no longer endure the torment in his heart. His hands shaking violently, he squeezed his eyes shut and finally pulled the trigger.

"Too slow!"

Lu Ye merely tilted his head slightly and dodged the bullet with ease.

Boom!

The special bullet hit a distant wall, blasting a hole in it.

Freck opened his eyes in a daze. Before he could pull the trigger again, Lu Ye had seized the muzzle. With a creak, he crushed it flat.

Behind them.

Hoffman glanced at Flora, who was holding Evan back. "You saw it too?"

Flora nodded with a seductive smile. "My, my! That was Observation Haki, all right. A three-and-a-half-year-old with both types of Haki. What an enviable talent!"

Evan looked up at the sky and said lazily, "My, my! Going on a job with two teammates who have incredibly powerful Observation Haki can really make you despair sometimes."

Instead of bantering with Evan, Flora said to Hoffman seriously, "Captain, contact Saint Garling. If we don't intervene and a Celestial Dragon dies, things will get complicated."

Hoffman nodded and took a red Den Den Mushi with a mohawk from his coat. Before he could dial, it started ringing on its own.

"Purupuru~ Purupuru~"

Hoffman answered the Den Den Mushi and said respectfully, "Saint Garling, I was just about to..."

Before he could finish, the Den Den Mushi interrupted him. "Yes, I already know. I'll be at the scene within five minutes."

The Den Den Mushi's expression was calm, and the sound of wind rushing past at high speed could be heard from the other end.

Hoffman asked quietly, "Saint Garling, do you need us to take control of the situation? Saint Longinus has already started attacking the other two Celestial Dragons."

The Den Den Mushi appeared to consider it, then said indifferently, "There's no need to intervene. Record Longinus's performance."

"Yes."

Hoffman saluted the Den Den Mushi and added, "There's something else I think I should report. Saint Longinus has awakened Observation Haki."

The corners of the Den Den Mushi's mouth lifted, and it gave a grunt of acknowledgment.

"Ka-chunk~"

The Den Den Mushi hung up.

At that moment.

Lu Ye had already punched Freck until he doubled over like a shrimp, then caught Augustus as he tried to flee, lifted him with one hand, and slammed him into the ground.

Armament Haki had completely covered him to the top of his head. His bloodthirsty primal instincts battered at his reason, awakening the hatred and killing intent in Lu Ye's heart!

Lu Ye, black from head to toe, let out a roar. The surging blast of air made both father and son wet their pants.

The agents of Augustus's family shakily tried to raise their guns.

Hoffman and the other two stepped in front of them, imposing as heavenly soldiers descending from the sky.

"Think carefully, idiot juniors. Are you qualified to interfere in a war between descendants of the Creator?"

Crack! Crack!

Empowered by the [Strongman] trait, Lu Ye twisted more than a dozen finger-thick iron rods off the railing with his bare hands. He held them like swords of judgment.

"I was wrong. Please, please don't, don't kill me!"

The two bastards cried and begged for mercy.

"Fools, it's too late..."

Lu Ye picked up four iron rods and gently swayed them in his hand, a red light glimmering in his pupils.

"The people who could forgive you are already dead, so you'll have to apologize to them in heaven, if you're even qualified to go there..."

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

The four iron rods came down in a flash, piercing the two men's palms and pinning them firmly to the ground.

"We're Celestial Dragons, Longinus! You can't do this to us!"

The two gray-haired dung beetles let out heartrending cries.

A cruel smile curved Lu Ye's lips. "What a coincidence. I'm a Celestial Dragon too."

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Four more iron rods came down, piercing their calves and leaving father and son unable to so much as move.

"Don't you call doing whatever you want freedom? Then why do you start talking about rules when I do whatever I want?"

"Longinus! Garling will execute you for this, just you wait! If you kill us, you won't die a good death either!"

Augustus shouted in a shrill voice.

"Huh? When have I ever been afraid of dying a bad death? In any case, you'll definitely die a worse death than me."

Lu Ye finished speaking with a smile, and four more iron rods came down.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

The rods plunged into their lower abdomens, and blood instantly stained their white spacesuits red.

"Aaaah!!!!"

Father and son screamed in agony, their voices echoing through the arena for a long time.

Inside their bubble helmets, both men's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Lu Ye turned and beckoned to Doffy and Rosy. "Amin, Anan, do you have any cash on you?"

Rosy took a ten-thousand-Beli note from a pocket and timidly offered it to him. "Is this enough?"

After handing the money to Lu Ye, Rosy turned and ran.

Lu Ye really did look like a demon now!

"Anan, why are you running?"

Lu Ye rubbed his temples, doing his utmost to stay rational. He picked up the checks from the ground, crumpled them into a ball, and tossed them to Doffy and Rosy. In a calm voice, he said:

"They're yours. Consider them my apology. I've wronged you these past three years. If I really do get executed, burn some paper money for me if you have a conscience."

Rosy picked up the bloodstained checks and murmured, "Oh," head bowed, voice clearly on the verge of tears.

Lu Ye turned back and glared viciously at Augustus and his son. "As for you, this is all you get. Enjoy it now! Sayonara!"

He pressed the ten-thousand-Beli note into their wounds in turn, then ripped a lamp from the wall. Scalding hot oil poured down, and eerie green flames flared up on their lower abdomens.

Lu Ye took the remaining iron rods in his hand and thrust them into the fire one after another.

The screams went on without end.

"Lastly, I've really hated the sight of these things for a long time."

Lu Ye sat on their chests and smashed both bubble helmets with one swipe of his hand, showering their faces with shards of glass.

Lu Ye spat. "Only fucking turtles belong in fish tanks!"