Chapter 24: The Ugly Celestial Dragons

In the Calm Belt, there are only two types of ships that might be sailing: naval warships and the ships of the Celestial Dragons.

Vivian, who had returned to his room to sleep, quietly made his way to the warship's basement. He pressed a switch, and the bottom of the ship opened quickly, allowing seawater to rush in. A small lifeboat, resembling a submarine, floated to the surface.

Vivian immediately climbed into the boat, took off his navy uniform, and changed into civilian clothes. He needed to be prepared in case the system threw any strange options at him. Besides, as a navy officer, he had to hide his identity. If he ended up fighting the Celestial Dragons, his only option would be to defect.

"Compared to pirates, the navy's salary and benefits are more appealing to me," he muttered.

The boat then submerged and quickly approached the Celestial Dragons' large ship.

…

[Task: Lower a lifeboat and approach the unknown ship alone (Completed)]

[New Task: Rescue more than half of the slaves on the Celestial Dragons' ship (Current Task: Part 5)]

As the small boat silently approached the slowly moving Celestial Dragons' ship, a new task list popped up, making Vivian sigh.

As expected, the task wasn't going to be simple. Escorting Buggy to Impel Down had gone too smoothly, which didn't fit the system's usual tricky nature. To get benefits from it, one had to pay a price.

The random medical skills from another dimension… Clearly, such life-saving skills would come with high risks.

"Since I've already accepted it, I might as well take the risk for a life-saving skill," he thought. As a Chinese person in his previous life, he had often been taught the concept of "since you're here, you might as well do it," so he couldn't return empty-handed.

He pressed a button, and a suction cup attached the submarine firmly to the back of the large ship. After observing for a while and timing the footsteps above, he leaped onto the deck.

Under the dark night sky, the lavishly decorated ship was still brightly lit. Vivian suddenly emerged from the shadows, knocked out two patrolling guards with a single blow, and quickly changed into one of their uniforms. He then threw the two guards into the sea.

After wiping the blood off his hands, Vivian picked up a spear that had fallen to the ground and walked into the cabin as if nothing had happened.

…

Whip crack!

Whip crack—crack—!

The sound of a whip hitting flesh echoed.

"You lowly slaves dare to steal food from the kitchen?"

Whip crack!

Another whip landed harshly on a middle-aged man's face, causing his skin to split open. With a scream, the man fainted and fell to the ground.

"Get up! Who allowed you to lie down?"

Whip crack!

Whip crack—crack—!

One whip after another.

Even though the man had already lost consciousness, Saint Jalmack continued to lash out with the whip, showing no signs of stopping.

After a while, drenched in sweat, Saint Jalmack finally stopped, panting heavily. He turned his gaze to the trembling guards standing in the corner of the hall.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and throw his body to feed my new pets!"

"Y-yes, Lord Jalmack!"

The guards swallowed hard and quickly ran forward, lifting the middle-aged man who had been beaten beyond recognition, and hurriedly left the hall.

"These lowly races…"

Saint Jalmack was still somewhat angry, his large belly heaving up and down.

He had clearly stated that those who lost in the fight were not allowed to eat for a week.

But why did some people dare to disobey his orders in this world?

Thinking of this, the anger that had just subsided flared up again. Saint Jalmack picked up a flintlock pistol from the table, pointed it at another group of male slaves in the room, and smiled wickedly, "Well, today it's your turn."

"I'll give you ten minutes to determine the winner. The last one standing will be spared. Those lying on the ground will be shot and turned into exquisite human specimens."

As he spoke, his eyes narrowed with excitement, making his already hideous face look even more grotesque under the bubble helmet.

"Oh, and if more than one person is left standing, then everyone will die by my hand."

"Now… let the game begin!"

Bang!

With the sound of a gunshot, the shackled slaves glanced at each other. In the next moment, they simultaneously erupted into a frenzy, viciously attacking those standing next to them.

…

"This bastard sure knows how to play," Vivian muttered.

Standing at the door, Vivian watched the scene through a crack, his fists clenched tightly, his nails digging into his flesh.

The Celestial Dragons were even more disgusting than he had imagined.

"No wonder Garp never wanted to be promoted to Admiral. If it were me, I would've smashed this guy's head in long ago."

Unfortunately, he didn't have Garp's strength.

"The task says to rescue more than half of the slaves, so I guess I don't have to save the ones in this room?"

He struggled internally.

But his feet felt like they were made of lead, unable to move.

"What should I do?"

His brain raced.

"Maybe… I can create some noise to lure this guy out?"

[Option 1: Enter the room and kill the Celestial Dragon. (Reward: Advanced Armament Haki, Advanced Observation Haki, Mastery of Conqueror's Haki)]

[Option 2: Enter the room and knock out the Celestial Dragon. (Reward: Ability from the dimension "Bungo Stray Dogs" - "Please Do Not Die")]

[Option 3: Leave and continue searching for the ship's prison. (Reward: Random skill experience +1)]

[Option 4: Create chaos to lure the Celestial Dragon out and stop this farce. (Reward: Random basic attribute +1)]