Chapter 3 - Is This the Momentum You Wanted?

Accompanied by Gawain's last words, the slaves kneeling and lying on the ground were suddenly filled with restless excitement.

Who is this "Oda"?

Cautiously yet swiftly, they lifted their heads to look in the direction of the Celestial Dragons.

On ordinary days, they wouldn't dare to raise their heads to make eye contact with the Celestial Dragons as they passed by. Because once their eyes met, who knows how cruelly those Celestial Dragons would treat them?

But now…

They all raised their heads, their eyes bright and filled with expectation, fixated on the Celestial Dragon they used to be too afraid to even glance at.

They watched as Gawain grabbed Saint Charlos's golden collar with his left hand, while his right hand clenched into a fist and swung fiercely toward Charlos's face.

"It's going to hit!"

"Just a little more!"

"Ha-ha~!"

"Keep it down!"

Amidst the soft and joyful murmurs, Gawain's fist landed squarely on Charlos's thick and stupid nose!

Bang!

Tears streamed from Charlos's eyes as he squinted in pain, struggling wildly with his hands.

Beside them...

"The Celestial Dragon is… bleeding!"

"Good hit, Gawain!"

"Damn it, keep it down, quieter!"

The slaves were terrified yet inexplicably excited, whispering among themselves.

As for danger?

They didn't care about danger at all now. Because after witnessing this scene, even if they were to die, they could laugh right there on the spot!

This was a scene they couldn't even dare to imagine until death!

Meanwhile, the guards and CP members on duty looked at each other in a daze, completely bewildered.

They were much more disciplined than the slaves; even though they had better conditions to discuss, they remained silent.

But what good was silence? They exchanged glances, and everyone could feel the unspoken words in each other's eyes.

"A Celestial Dragon is getting hit; this… this is really…"

"What are you marveling at? Just watch, why don't you do something?"

"Who cares?"

"I don't care."

"We do have a responsibility to protect the Celestial Dragons, but the one fighting back is also a Celestial Dragon!"

"Have you forgotten the lesson from Wott? Don't make decisions for Gawain!"

"Ahem, pretend you didn't see anything!"

The guards exchanged glances, and thus no one else dared to involve themselves in this beating.

And so, Gawain continued to rain punches down on Charlos's fat face.

While hitting him, Gawain yelled in anger.

"You incompetent fool, you can't even manage your slaves, and now she ran into my head!"

Bang!

"Since she hit me, you should repay me double for my pain!"

Bang!

"Shoot! Why aren't you shooting now?"

Bang!

"Don't you love shooting innocent girls? That mermaid looks only about fifteen or sixteen!"

Bang!

"Don't you enjoy this feeling? How does it feel?"

Bang!

At this point, Gawain casually snatched the golden flintlock pistol from Charlos's hands.

However, the moment he grabbed the gun, he suddenly felt his entire body drop toward the ground!

Let's not forget that Charlos's handgun was entirely made of gold.

A flintlock pistol of this length, measuring thirty centimeters, made of gold...

It weighed at least sixty pounds!!!

Of course, Gawain could lift it, but with one hand, he could only barely manage to hold the gun.

He couldn't even hold the handgun outstretched!

In that moment, a multitude of thoughts flashed through Gawain's mind.

This truly is the world of One Piece!

It's filled with countless gigantic creatures and has an oxygen level many times that of Earth!

There are people who can flatten dozens of mountains with their bare hands, and others who can use barbells weighing several tons for exercise!

Charlos was indeed a weakling in this world.

But even as a weakling, even if he never exercised and relied solely on the nutrition he consumed, his physical constitution could still reach levels that ordinary people would find difficult to match!

And the standard of those ordinary people in the world of One Piece...

Would probably make them sports champions in the real world!

On the other side, Charlos, being held by his collar, thought he would continue to be beaten.

But the anticipated fists and the stock of the gun did not continue to pound on his face.

So he opened one eye, and when he saw Gawain struggling to lift the gun, he suddenly realized.

Getting beaten up wasn't because he was too weak; Gawain was much weaker than he was!

He was just scared by Gawain and then stunned by his decisive actions!

"Haha, Gawain, I was actually scared of you to the point of forgetting how weak you are! You're just garbage who can be knocked away by a mere mermaid, ha ha ha ha!!!"

Accompanied by a series of wild laughs, Charlos regained his composure and firmly grasped Gawain's left hand, which was still holding him by the collar.

"How dare you hit me!!!"

Charlos shouted loudly.

"Even my father has never hit me!!!"

Boom!

Charlos swung his fists wildly and just happened to hit Gawain in the stomach!

Clatter.

That was the sound of Charlos's pistol slipping from Gawain's hand and falling to the ground.

Clang, clang…

That was the sound of Gawain being sent flying backward by a punch from Charlos in a fit of anger!

Gawain staggered back ten meters before finally stopping.

Enduring intense pain, blood flowed from Gawain's mouth as he looked up at the sky with a smile.

You really can't trust manga; I underestimated Charlos's physical abilities!

Previously, I only knew that the strong in this world were exceptionally powerful, like the aspiring pirate king Monkey D. Luffy. My father, my grandfather, my friends, and my enemies were all strong.

But now, I'm certain that there are no true weaklings among ordinary people in this world.

Take that Charlos guy, for instance. He had once been blasted dozens of meters away by Luffy in the auction house at Sabaody Archipelago. Yet he just fainted; nothing major happened.

Later, he was hit by Saint Mjosgard , who sent him flying dozens of meters with a spiked club. Again, he merely fainted; still no big deal.

Dozens of meters? A car accident might not even send someone flying that far!

Moreover, he was struck by a spiked club!

From this, it's clear that no matter how weak Charlos is, his physique is undoubtedly far stronger than mine, as a regular person who could fracture a bone from a fall.

So…

At this moment, after being punched away by Charlos, Gawain suffered tremendous internal injuries.

In the distance, countless slaves and guards, who had been filled with anticipation just a second ago, were now wide-eyed in shock.

"Saint Gawain has been blasted away!!!"

"Quick, save him!"

"Damn, Saint Gawain has a good heart, but he's too weak!"

"We can't let this continue; stop Saint Charlos!"

In an instant, the guards and CP members all executed the shave technique, placing themselves between Gawain and Charlos.

The scene was entirely different from when Gawain was hitting Charlos earlier. Everyone had seen that Gawain's strength couldn't kill Saint Charlos.

It was like walking down the street and suddenly getting slapped twice by someone; if you fought back, both you and the one who hit you would be detained for seven days.

It didn't matter whether he slapped you first or not; it was still considered a fight, not self-defense.

The slaps that hit you were just as non-lethal as Gawain's punches on Charlos!

The guards could watch the Celestial Dragons fight among themselves—they were all Celestial Dragons; they couldn't interfere.

But they absolutely could not allow a Celestial Dragon to die in front of them.

This fact was clearer to the fallen Gawain than it was to them!

Gawain raised a hand, and the guards immediately reached out to help him, but just as they were about to lift Gawain, Charlos shouted.

"Get out of my way!"

As he shouted, Charlos bent down to grab the fallen handgun.

Hysterically loading the gun with gunpowder and bullets, Charlos charged toward Gawain with the weapon in hand.

"Get out of my way! Did you hear me? Get out!"

"Move!"

"Don't block me from that bastard Gawain; I'm going to deal with him properly!"

"How dare he make my nose bleed? How could he!?"

Amidst his furious curses, the guards reluctantly retreated to the sides.

As they backed away, they anxiously awaited any different commands from Gawain.

They had to obey every instruction from the Celestial Dragons, but if different Celestial Dragons issued conflicting orders, they could choose to act based on their judgment.

But unfortunately, Gawain couldn't speak at this moment!

Without waiting for Gawain's command, the guards had to step aside, allowing Charlos to approach Gawain.

Seeing Gawain lying there, gasping for breath, with blood slowly oozing from the corner of his mouth, Charlos raised his gun!

The guards tensed up; they were all prepared to take the bullets. With Charlos's command, they dared not interfere, but he didn't order them not to take the bullets!

At the same time, Charlos sneered as he insulted Gawain.

"Gawain, how dare you hit me? Not even my father has hit me! Where's your momentum? It's gone? Then it's my turn!"

Facing Gawain's disdainful gaze, Charlos was about to pull the trigger in a fit of rage.

Watching Charlos's finger tighten around the trigger and the faint smoke drifting from the golden barrel, Gawain spat out blood and then revealed an even more contemptuous smile.

As a fellow Celestial Dragon, could Charlos really kill him?

What a joke.

But not dying wasn't nearly enough; he felt he could do much more!

The power in his heart finally took shape. Gawain turned his head and looked up at the high and mighty Charlos from below.

Facing the gun barrel, Gawain narrowed his eyes coldly.

At that moment, it felt as if time in Mariejois had been paused.

In the next second, an invisible force centered around Gawain rapidly swept across the entire Mariejois.

Almost ninety-nine percent of the slaves, as well as a large portion of the guards who lacked strength, collapsed directly to the ground.

Mariejois instantly became a city of unconsciousness, and that was still due to being too far from Gawain!

As they got closer to Gawain, the shockwave's power increased exponentially.

Guards rushing to shield Gawain from bullets were immediately sent flying.

Then there was Charlos, rolling his eyes and instantly fainting, also being violently thrown by the shockwave.

After the shockwave knocked back all life near Gawain, it slammed against the surrounding buildings.

In the next second, all structures within a radius of two hundred meters from Gawain instantly collapsed!

Dust filled the air, quickly shrouding the entire square.

All was silent, and apart from Gawain's heavy breathing and occasional coughs, no other sounds could be heard.

This silence lasted for a long while, until the dust settled back to the ground.

Gawain, enduring immense pain, finally spoke.

He felt the stillness around him, looked up at the originally cloud-covered sky, now clear and without a single cloud, and softly said,

"What has been burning in my heart since just now is indeed the Conqueror's Haki. Thank you for my past life; the worldview of the noble, proud, and royal gave me this heart capable of nurturing the Conqueror's Haki!

So, Charlos.

Is this… the momentum you wanted?"