Chapter 18 - Friends or Foes?

At the Charlos Residence…

A crowd of servants and eager subordinates hung nervously at the door of Charlos's bedroom.

"Oh, my lord, my lord! A whole herd of mermaids has suddenly appeared in Mary Geoise!" They murmured among themselves. "Those are the very mermaids you're most interested in! Just a while ago, that dead mermaid caused you to lament for over ten minutes!"

However, the continuous screams and the furious curses from Charulia Palace echoed through the room.

In the end, the servants lacked the courage to knock on the door and reluctantly dispersed.

Though Charlos missed out on this wave of mermaids, nearly all the other Celestial Dragons received news of the mermaid influx within ten minutes!

This news not only sent many Celestial Dragons scrambling for nets and fishing rods but also chains and shackles. Some of the more extreme Celestial Dragons even brought along bomb guns!

Such bomb guns were quite popular in Mary Geoise, boasting power roughly equivalent to grenade launchers. However, their exorbitant price had prevented widespread deployment within the Navy.

But the Celestial Dragons didn't care about cost; every household had one of these. For instance, the infamous Charlos Marko had sunk Sabo's ship with just two shots from such a gun.

On the other hand, Gawain was walking through the streets with Mjosgard, accompanied by the anxious mermaids.

Sensing the tension among the mermaids, Gawain chuckled softly and clapped his hands to get their and Mjosgard's attention.

"Mjosgard, while our mermaid friends may have arrived in Mary Geoise under less than peaceful circumstances, they are among the first mermaids to come and go from this place compared to others from the Dragon Palace. Since we've decided to leave, why not introduce these girls to this sacred place? It's already our fault for letting them arrive in such a sad manner. If we can't even show them the scenery before they leave, it would reflect poorly on you as their host!"

"Yes, yes, that's true!" Mjosgard nodded heavily, making an effort to shake off his nervousness.

Summoning his courage, he ignored the approaching bodyguards and distant shouts from either side of the road, loudly introducing the surroundings to the mermaids.

"Gawain is quite perceptive; if he hadn't mentioned it, I might have forgotten to tell you about our city! Right now, we are walking in the center of the world—the most important political hub of the World Government: Mary Geoise!"

Mjosgard pointed to the massive castle that seemed to reach the sky behind them.

"That is the Lambrose Castle, the heart of Mary Geoise, where our esteemed Elders, the Five Elders, reside! Surrounding Lambrose are the tall towers of the Pangu Castle, which serves primarily for hosting banquets and holding the World Conference every four years for royalty from allied nations. Speaking of which, next year is another World Conference—how nostalgic!"

"As for the ground we're walking on, this area is the hereditary territory of the nineteen noble families of the world, established around Pangu Castle. Since all the Celestial Dragons from around the world live here, it's also known as the Land of the Gods! Of course, our servants, guards, soldiers, and slaves reside here too. I've never counted, but in terms of population, there are likely over a million people! After all, each Celestial Dragon has hundreds of servants and guards, plus an even more terrifying number of slaves. One Celestial Dragon essentially represents a large team with thousands of members. There are at least two thousand Celestial Dragons registered here."

As Mjosgard spoke with gusto, the mermaids' tension noticeably eased.

The lively red-tailed mermaid Triss, who often took on the role of the big sister, chimed in. "So, Mjosgard, where is Gawain's family located?"

"Ah, Gawain's family…" Mjosgard thought for a moment and pointed westward. "In that direction, if you cross through the Rosward and Camael families, you'll reach the area belonging to Gawain's family. However, they have very few members; there's only ever one Gawain in each generation, so their vicinity isn't particularly bustling."

As he explained, Mjosgard pointed toward the distant walls surrounding Mary Geoise, towering at a height of 180 meters!

Looking at the towering city walls, Gawain couldn't help but smirk.

With walls this high, even Allen wouldn't be able to get through!

"That's our next destination, the main gate of Mary Geoise! Mary Geoise has only two gates: the East Gate leading to the Grand Line and the West Gate heading to the New World. Since we won't be going to the New World, our goal is the East Gate of Mary Geoise!"

"Wow!"

"Yay!"

"I think I can see the forest!"

"The sun is so beautiful!"

"Thank you, Mjosgard, for the introduction!"

The mermaids' earlier tension melted away as they looked around expectantly.

Whether it was the sunlight, the forest, or the flowers, these were all part of their dreams! If they hadn't longed for the sun, they wouldn't have snuck out from their underwater kingdom ten thousand meters deep, and they certainly wouldn't have been captured by slave traders.

However, their moment of joy was short-lived. Before the mermaids could fully appreciate their surroundings, numerous servants armed with nets and chains surged to the front, blocking Gawain and the others.

Seeing them, Mjosgard clenched his fists tightly. "Damn it, you bastards dare to block my way!"

He cursed, but his voice was quickly drowned out by two or three louder ones!

"Mjosgard!"

From the back of the crowd, a Celestial Dragon seated atop a massive slave shouted.

"You disgrace! The Donquixote family has really shamed the Celestial Dragons these past years! Whether it's Homing or you, how dare you sympathize with those foolish lower beings!"

"That's right! Elrewn, when Mjosgard bought the mermaids from me, I thought he was going to kill them for fun. I never expected he would keep them all this time, and now he even intends to… Ha-ha, they're walking toward the East Gate, aren't they?"

"Shut up!" Mjosgard's expression darkened. "Elrewn, Pluming , you two better not insult my friends! They're not foolish slaves; they are the kin of Queen Otohime!"

"Hahaha, Mjosgard, you're the only one who would consider those things friends!" Pluming sneered, then turned to Gawain. "And you, Gawain, right? Do you enjoy showing off this much? You just knocked out Charlos this morning, and now you're leading these damned mermaids out of Mary Geoise in the afternoon! Have you forgotten the Mary Geoise incident eleven years ago? That despicable Fish-Man Tiger took over three thousand of our slaves back then! Which of our families didn't have slaves escape during that incident, huh?!"

The white-haired Celestial Dragon Pluming viciously pointed at the mermaids behind Gawain. "Throughout history, except for the incident caused by Fish-Man Tiger, no slave has ever left Mary Geoise! And it's the same now!"

At this point, Pluming raised his pistol, aiming it at the most prominent target among the mermaids: the red-tailed mermaid Triss.

As he aimed, he shouted, "Stop the mermaids! Kill those damned slaves…"

…

Pluming 's voice suddenly cut off as he swayed dangerously on the back of the slave before finally rolling his eyes and collapsing to the ground.

In the center of the crowd stood Gawain, his expression unchanged, softly uttering a single word: "Get lost!"

His Conqueror's Haki surged forth, instantly shattering the ground beneath him into dust.

Simultaneously, Celestial Dragons and their subordinates on the surrounding streets fell one after another.

In the Lambrose Castle, the Five Elders felt the rapidly spreading Conqueror's Haki.

They exchanged glances, then…

Smack!

They all slapped their foreheads in unison.

"He really is a guy who doesn't like to be bound by rules!"

"Haha, just as I like it! Which Conqueror's Haki wielder should be constrained by so-called rules?"

The Five Elders sighed with emotion and then began to laugh and discuss various matters from earlier.

Meanwhile, Gawain was a bit dazed…

While he indeed intimidated all the bastards blocking their path, the problem was that he was still far from mastering his Conqueror's Haki.

Thus, under the influence of his indiscriminate Conqueror's Haki, everyone behind him, whether it was Mjosgard or the lovely mermaids, also rolled their eyes in unison.