Chapter 153

"It's neither this nor that, what are you?" Samael said, scoffing.

Rando an awkward smile. He and the Five Elders Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, were indeed related by blood, but there were many generations between them.

The Five Elders are Undying monsters... he thought to himself. When he was a child, he had seen several of the Five Elders, and all these years later, their appearances had not changed at all.

"I really am a member of the Shepherd Family. Killing me will do you no good. You've only captured me for ransom, right? Don't worry, I can definitely satisfy your demands!"

"And him?"

Samael pointed at the terrified Charlos.

Rando glanced at him. "He's from the Rosward Family; there are no Five Elders in the family."

Upon hearing this, Samael understood and chuckled slyly:

"Stop talking nonsense and just give me your Five Elders' contact number."

"Yes..."

Rando obediently recited a string of numbers.

Upon learning the contact information, Samael immediately shouted into the air:

"Please, Ain."

The news of the Celestial Dragons being kidnapped in the Sabaody Archipelago quickly reached the ears of the World Government.

The first to receive the news was the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Steelbone Sky.

He was completely stunned after receiving the call from Tokikake.

"What did you say? Saint Rando and Saint Charlos have been kidnapped? Who could it be!?"

"There are three in total: Big Eye from the Seven Deadly Sins and Lust Sigma, and... the Supernovas, Porthos D. Ace!"

How did the Seven Deadly Sins get involved with the Supernovas?

Kong rubbed his forehead in exasperation. He had just ordered people to recruit Ace to become Shichibukai and have Admiral Candidate to protect the Celestial Dragons in the lower realms.

Before long, bad news began to arrive one after another.

The only good news is that the other Celestial Dragons that Mammon was protecting is alright... at least for now.

Thinking of this, Steelbone Kong immediately roared:

"Immediately notify Mammon and tell him to keep the person under strict protection and prevent them from moving around outside!"

"Yes."

"And you, Tokikake! You were right there, so how did you manage to get Celestial Dragons captured?"

"I'm very sorry, the enemy is too strong."

"Hmph, trash. We'll talk about your fate later."

Steelbone and the air were at odds. After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, he immediately got up and went upstairs to the Room of Authority to report the situation.

Even for him, as the World Government's top official and commander-in-chief of the entire military, meeting the Five Elders is not easy.

After going through layers of notifications and waiting for a full fifteen minutes, we were finally allowed to enter.

Pushing open the door to the Room of Authority, five old men stood or sat, looking quite relaxed.

Even though there's nothing wrong, it takes fifteen minutes to give a single report... Steelbone Hollow thought to himself, full of complaints.

"What's up?"

The Warrior God of Agriculture, Shepard X. Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, seemed to be in a good mood, and took the initiative to ask with a smile.

Not only him, but the other four were the same.

During this period, the Seven Deadly Sins disappeared without a trace, causing no disturbance, and enjoyed a rare period of peace and quiet.

More importantly, even though Lord Imu personally intervened, he was ultimately unable to capture any of the members.

What does this tell us?

This shows that in that battle at Marine Headquarters, it wasn't that they didn't do their job properly, but that the enemy was simply too cunning. Even you, Lord Imu, couldn't capture them, could you?

Therefore, everyone tacitly chose to selectively forget, and without Lord Imu's explicit order, the Five Elders did not want to deal with the Seven Deadly Sins for the time being.

"Saint Shepherd Ju Peter's about a member of your family..."

Steel Bone Sora took a deep breath and briefly explained what had happened in the Sabaody Archipelago.

After hearing this, Saint Shepherd Ju Peter's smile froze on his face, his tone tinged with disbelief:

"The Seven Deadly Sins have reappeared?"

The focus is on your family members, right? Are you even listening...? Steelbone Kong had to repeat himself, finally saying:

"Regarding Shepard Saint Rando's arrest..."

Who is Rando?

Saint Shepherd Ju Peter frowned.

As one of the top five clans among the Celestial Dragons, the Shepherd Family has at least eight hundred or a thousand people with the surname Shepard. He simply doesn't have the time to remember them all.

Steel Bones Empty was speechless.

Judging from the Five Elders' attitude, they don't seem to care that much about the Celestial Dragons being kidnapped; on the contrary, they are more concerned about the Seven Deadly Sins.

Upon realizing this, he immediately recited the murderer's name.

"The two who made the move were Big Eyes and Sigma, along with a pirate Supernovas, Portgas D. Ace."

"Let the Admiral handle it."

Saint Shepherd Ju Peter walked to the sofa, sat down, leisurely poured himself a cup of tea, and then added, "Find a way to save them."

That's it, that's it?

Steel Bones - Empty - Full of Doubts.

There have been incidents of Celestial Dragons being attacked before. Back then, when he was still Fleet Admiral, it was an extremely urgent situation. Several branches of the army were mobilized, and it even came down to launching the Buster Call before it was finally resolved.

This time, however, it was completely different.

After much thought, Steel Bone Sky focused the problem on the Seven Deadly Sins.

This organization is really too troublesome; even the Five Elders don't have much hope of saving them.

"Understood."

Since the Five Elders all have this attitude, Kong is happy to take it easy and just assign an Admiral to handle it.

Just as I was about to turn and leave, the Den Den Mushi suddenly started ringing.

Steelbone Kong paused, looking in the direction of the sound, finally locking onto Saint Shepherd Ju Peter.

"This is my private contact."

Saint Shepherd Ju Peter put down his tea, got up, took out Den Den Mushi from his pocket, and walked towards the corner window while answering the call.

His intention was to prevent private contacts from disturbing the peace Room of Authority.

As soon as Thought Waves connected, a shrill laugh echoed in the room.

"Heh heh heh, who is the Five Elders Ju Peter... Your men are in my hands. If you want them alive, prepare the ransom!"

The Saint Saturn scoffed, "That voice... Samael of the Seven Deadly Sins."

"So, the purpose of kidnapping the Celestial Dragons is indeed to collect ransom?" Saint Nusjuro's gaze turned icy. "Hmph, how audacious! Do you think you can succeed so easily!"

Hearing the discussion between the two fellow stars, Saint Shepherd Ju Peter's face turned extremely ugly.

Samael continued shouting, "Huh? Are you mute?"

"I am Ju Peter, what do you want?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm asking, Lord Five Elders." Samael chuckled. "I'm kind-hearted, so I'll use weight to calculate it."

Saint Shepherd Ju Peter paused, "What do you mean?"

"Are you deaf?" Samael scoffed. "Weight! Two Celestial Dragons together weigh about 140-150 kilograms. Prepare 140-150 kilograms of Devil Fruits. Once you get the goods, you'll release them. Understand?"

At the entrance, Steel Bone Sora was dumbfounded. When did Devil Fruits start being measured in "jin" (a unit of weight)?

As expected of the Seven Deadly Sins, they always come up with some new tricks, but this time they're going to be disappointed.

Steel Bone Kong quietly observed the expressions of the Five Elders. Apart from Saint Shepherd Ju Peter, the other four looked very calm.

Saint Shepherd Ju Peter took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart:

"Impossible! If it were just gold and silver, we could agree to your demands, but if you want Devil Fruits, there's absolutely no room for negotiation!"

Um?

On the other end of the Thought Waves, Samael was taken aback; this reaction was completely unexpected.

"Shepard Rando, isn't this a member of your family?"

"I don't remember this person, but since their surname is Shepard, it might be."

Saint Shepherd Ju Peter spoke coldly, showing no concern whatsoever for the life or death of a mere family member.

Seemingly basking in the pleasure of "winning" in the verbal exchange, Saint Shepherd Ju Peter remarked with a hint of sarcasm:

"If you intend to use the lives of two Celestial Dragons to threaten us into giving you Devil Fruits, then I regret to inform you that your plan has failed!"

"Hmph, is that so? The World Government is so poor that it can't even afford Devil Fruits?"

"Heh... do you think we're fools? Your organization possesses methods that allow people to quickly master Devil Fruit abilities. Devil Fruit Awakening in the outside world is extremely difficult, but..."

Almost every member in your organization can reach this level!

Honestly, if you're willing to use this as leverage, the matter of Devil Fruits isn't entirely untouchable.

After Saint Shepherd Ju Peter finished speaking, he waited quietly for a reply.

The World Government is extremely envious of this method that allows ability users to Awakening their powers quickly.

If they knew this method, with the number of Devil Fruits they possessed, they could build an army of Awakening in a very short time!

In fact, this plan already existed.

However, the consequences of failing to Awakening one's abilities are severe, especially for those who fail to Awakening their Zoan; they are all ultimately sent to the Impel Down.

A long silence suddenly fell over the Room of Authority.

About half a minute later, a soft chuckle came from the Den Den Mushi:

"I see."

This isn't Samael's voice, this is...

The Five Elders all paled.

"Host!"

Good afternoon, Five Elders.

Dimon's voice was calm and his tone indifferent. "It seems that threatening you with the Celestial Dragons to force you to hand over the Devil Fruits is no longer an option."

"Hmph, you'll never get a single fruit again!"

Saint Saturn sneered, "Even if a fruit appears on the black market, I will send someone to buy it at a high price immediately. You Seven Deadly Sins will have no chance in the future."

"Hehehe... Interesting. Please give my regards to your master and tell him that I have prepared a small gift for him, which he will receive soon."

"Well then, goodbye."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Thought Waves was cut off.

Meanwhile, on the deck of the Wave-Breaking Warrior.

Dimon turned to look at the two Celestial Dragons in the Storyboard Space, and spoke with a smile:

"It seems the Five Elders are unwilling to exchange Devil Fruits for your lives."