Racism? The Superman Theory Backfires

Mjosgard's Adam's apple bobbed. He quietly removed his bubble helmet and placed it over the Fish-Man slave's head.

Tap... tap... tap-tap...

Light, steady footsteps sounded in the passage, and everyone turned to look.

Garling slowly emerged from the darkness, his hand resting on the sword at his waist. His sharp aura was oppressive. He looked around and said indifferently:

"Can anyone tell me what happened here?"

Doffy and Rosy were already in floods of tears. Hearing the question, they clamped their hands over their mouths, sobbing, their shoulders shaking.

Cold sweat beaded on Mjosgard's forehead, and he bowed slightly to Garling.

Lu Ye, the person involved, was instead covered from head to toe in pitch-black Armament Haki. Sitting on the two dying bastards, he confessed openly:

"Uncle, I'm the one who killed Augustus and his son!"

"Uncle?"

The corners of Garling's mouth rose. "We Celestial Dragons don't seem to have such a strange family tradition, though it's quite novel... Now that you've done it, I assume you're well aware of the consequences?"

Lu Ye was about to speak when Garling flashed in front of him. Garling looked down at him with a cool, indifferent gaze, as if he were looking at an insignificant ant, then lashed out with a powerful kick. The air itself shrieked and boomed.

Boom!

Lu Ye was sent flying, crashing through several walls in succession. Dust billowed and shattered stone flew everywhere.

Garling glanced at Augustus and his son, smiled faintly, and said to Hoffman and the other two, "Clear the area! Take those two out as well."

Hoffman nodded. He and his two teammates picked up Augustus and his son, whose bodies were riddled with bloody holes, then walked over to Doffy and the others. In a low voice that brooked no refusal, he said:

"My lords, Saint Garling has ordered the area cleared. Please come with me."

Doffy trembled all over. Gritting his teeth, he shoved Hoffman aside and screamed furiously at Garling's back, "You're not fair! You didn't show up when he was being bullied, so what gives you the right to execute him now?!"

Rosy wiped away tears and sobbed, "He's only three years old, and nobody ever taught him what he couldn't do..."

Cold sweat instantly soaked Mjosgard's back. He tumbled off the slave's back and scrambled over to cover Doffy's and Rosy's mouths, then said timidly:

"Lord Garling, what Doffy and Rosy mean is, is... Longinus is insane. This was all an accident!"

"Clear the area!"

Garling repeated the order in those two terse words, then slowly walked toward the dust-choked rubble.

Hoffman motioned for Sullivan and the other agents to help forcibly escort the three young nobles, Doffy, Rosy, and Mjosgard, away.

Mjosgard breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had escaped a disaster, and slumped over Evan's shoulder like a dead fish.

Rosy sobbed quietly, smearing snot all over Sullivan's face.

Of course, it could have been Sullivan's own snot. He was crying too, walking and weeping with an exceptionally sorrowful expression, but his steps were steady and completely silent.

Doffy had long since stopped crying. He stared at Garling's back with fierce hatred, his sunglasses reflecting a bone-chilling glint.

"Roar!"

Lu Ye's roar came from within the dust. The next second, his black figure shot out, his fist aimed straight at Garling's face.

"You seemed to be speaking normally just now, so I thought your madness had been cured. It seems I was somewhat disappointed..."

Garling neither dodged nor blocked, letting the fist strike his forehead. A surging shockwave burst out between them, sending their hair and clothes flying wildly backward.

"Quite a bit more force, but still feeble."

Garling casually raised a finger. Flying Finger Pistol!

A sharp burst of force pierced Lu Ye's chest. His floral shirt burst with a bang, and a fist-sized hole exploded through the back of it!

His body flew backward like a rag, tumbling dozens of times across the ground before the force was barely spent.

Even with his entire body covered in Armament Haki, Lu Ye had felt his breath catch, as though his heart had nearly shattered.

He staggered to his feet and spat out a pool of blood!

"Have you come to your senses?"

Garling asked coldly.

"A little..."

Lu Ye shook his head, and his wise brain once again occupied the high ground.

The side effect of the [Hangry] trait had not flared up in three years. The kick had just dazed him, and his wild side had barely come online before a finger poked it right back down.

Lu Ye forced himself to focus. He really didn't want Garling and a certain goddess with a nasty sense of humor batting him back and forth like a Ping-Pong ball again.

"Uncle, did you come to execute me?"

Lu Ye wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and spoke with a quiet chuckle.

Garling tilted his head. "You killed a Celestial Dragon. Shouldn't you be executed?"

"If I thought I deserved to be executed, I would have run already. You haven't even asked me why I wanted to kill them..."

"Oh? And what was the reason?"

Garling folded his arms, seemingly quite patient.

"The reason is that they killed a slave I wanted to set free."

Boom!

Garling's smile fell, and a powerful aura erupted from him. The air around them seemed to thicken, weighing on Lu Ye like hundreds of pounds.

The ground beneath Lu Ye's feet began to crumble slightly, and his body inexplicably wanted to kneel before Garling.

"You're saying you killed your fellow Celestial Dragons for the sake of a lowly slave?"

Dark lines filled Garling's eyes, and his killing intent was palpable.

Lu Ye had long known that his uncle, the Hero King, was a thoroughgoing racist who believed Celestial Dragons stood above all else.

Question: What was the solution to racism?

Answer: The superman theory. Knock every lowly breed that rose to power on bloodline alone off its pedestal.

Lu Ye endured the pressure, staggered a step forward, and raised his head to look Garling straight in the eyes. His gaze resolute, he said:

"You're saying they're your fellow Celestial Dragons? With their weak bodies, stupid minds, and inferior character, if they count as nobles, what does that make powerful, intelligent, and elegant individuals like us?"

Garling said coldly, "Answer my question. Did you kill Augustus and his son for the sake of a slave?"

Anyone who shields trash is lower than trash...

"Of course it couldn't have been for a slave!"

Lu Ye scoffed, narrowing his eyes as he said contemptuously, "I did it for my dignity! The dignity of a pureblood! Commoners aren't worth mentioning, and a bunch of dirty-blooded Celestial Dragons with no future are no different from commoners. What right did they have to defy my will?!"

When Lu Ye finished his edgy speech, most of the aura around Garling receded. He said indifferently, "Tell me more about purebloods and dirty bloods."

Lu Ye spread his hands, his black face filled with savagery:

"Compared to that bunch of trash, which of us looks more like the descendants of the creators? Which of us looks more like living gods? Which of us inherited the great power of our ancestors?

"What gives a bunch of trash the right to imagine they can stand as our equals just because they're born of the same mother?

"Why are they weak? Isn't it because their bodies are mixed with the dirty blood of commoners?

"Did you hear what that old bastard Augustus said to me? He said my standing wasn't worth a thing because I was too young, and that I wouldn't have any standing to speak of until I was as old as him.

"So I drove iron rods into his body one by one, to tell him that a pureblood's status isn't determined by ridiculous things like family or age, but by the blood they're born with. I was born superior to him!

"Inferior breeds are only fit to be our food!"

Garling's lips curled upward. "An interesting theory. So you think you did nothing wrong?"

Lu Ye grinned. "Of course I did nothing wrong. I don't just want to kill Augustus, that old piece of trash, and Freck, that little piece of trash. I want to kill every dirty-blooded Celestial Dragon in the Holy Land!

"Their very existence disgusts me. Every breath they take is a grave sin. They're more hateful than commoners. Their very lives bring shame upon the divine blood flowing in our veins!"

Garling stroked his chin. "You almost convinced me, but under the current rules, you still have to be executed."

Only almost? Even the superman theory didn't work?

Lu Ye stared blankly for a moment, then shook his head with a bitter smile. He sat cross-legged on the ground, looking like a man ready to bare his neck for the executioner's blade:

"Then come on!

"I thought you were as proud as I am, Uncle. Turns out you think you're one of them.

"Kill me. I won't hate you. I just have a few regrets..."

Garling asked, "What regrets?"

Lu Ye looked up and met Garling's eyes, his black face full of unwillingness:

"I hate that I was born too late.

"If I were ten this year, I don't believe those two pieces of trash would have dared disrespect me.

"If I were fifteen this year, when something like this happened, I could have fought my way out and left.

"The sea is vast. There's no cage that can hold the strong, and there are plenty of ships that lead to freedom.

"If I were twenty this year..."

Lu Ye suddenly stopped. Garling asked with great interest, "What if you were twenty?"

Lu Ye paused, then laughed heartily and said:

"If I were twenty this year, I'd wait right here for you to come execute me!

"Then I'd beat you into the ground, step on your chest, and force your head around to look at those two pieces of trash, and ask you:

"Was I fucking wrong or not?!"

Garling let out a chuckle. After a moment, it grew into belly laughter, and he threw back his head and laughed...

Outside the passage at the North Star Colosseum.

Everyone had heard only the violent explosions earlier. After a long silence, Garling's laughter suddenly rang out.

Rosy held Sullivan, and the two of them cried even harder.

Mjosgard shuddered. "Lord Garling is so brutal. He executed Longinus, and he's actually this happy about it..."

Doffy sat in a corner, clutching Lu Ye's food box and stuffing food into his mouth. Cream was smeared all over his face. As he ate, he glared fiercely in the direction of the laughter and mumbled indistinctly:

"One day, I'll be stronger than Garling. I'll avenge Longinus. Our Donquixote Family will never forget this hatred!"

Hearing Doffy's declaration of vengeance, Mjosgard edged farther away, his heart pounding:

When I get back, I'll talk to Mother about being adopted into her family...

I don't need the Donquixote name anyway!