Chapter 391 - The Laid-Back Admiral Appears

The Celestial Dragons look down upon all other beings outside their own circle, but even they have a peculiar respect for special benefactors like Wood and Tezzoro.

In fact, to secure more wealth for their lavish spending, Wood and Tezzoro had gathered quite a few Celestial Dragon lackeys. Tezzoro, who once served as a slave to the Celestial Dragons, reveled in the twisted satisfaction of now using money to control them, and he even harbored thoughts of marrying into their ranks to dismantle and absorb them from within.

Wood had warned Tezzoro several times, reminding him that villains were often just experience points for the main characters. Following such cliched paths could easily lead to unexpected consequences.

But Tezzoro was blinded by his desire for revenge, unable to heed Wood's warnings, driven by his lingering need to avenge his lost love.

Unable to dissuade him, Wood eventually chose to cut off some of their cooperative ventures with Tezzoro through the Wood Weapons Company. Wood knew that, given his current resources and influence, he could stand on his own in the seas without relying on Tezzoro, the economic powerhouse.

It was no surprise that Lulietta Rozwad sought help from Wood. To her, they were still business partners, and if the Rozwad family perished here, it could negatively affect Wood's business.

At first, Lulietta found it hard to believe that anyone in the world would dare attack them. But upon seeing her father, Rozwad Saint, and her brother, Charlos Saint, lying on the ground foaming at the mouth, she began to panic.

These peasants were truly crazy. Lulietta did not want to end up like her father and brother, bruised, bloody, and sprawled out on the ground, nor did she want to be killed here. If she were to die, what good would the Marine Admirals avenging her death be?

How could the life of some lowly pirates compare to hers, Lulietta Rozwad?

She had heard of Wood's reputation on the sea. Not only was he the world's biggest arms dealer, but Lulietta also knew that he was a powerful combatant. The guards and slaves around her were no longer reliable; they had all been beaten down by Luffy and the others. Lulietta could only hope Wood would help her.

Upon hearing Lulietta's plea, both Kid and Law turned to Wood with wary expressions.

Wood's reputation preceded him. As a presence rivaling that of the Four Emperors, even the proudest of the Supernovas, Eustass Kid, understood he stood no chance against Wood at this stage.

If even Kid felt that way, Law certainly didn't think otherwise. To Law, Wood was even something of a benefactor, which was why he had addressed him as "Mr. Wood" earlier.

Law had a deeper understanding of Wood's strength compared to Kid. Though he had been young, Law had witnessed Wood in action before. The very man Law feared, Donquixote Doflamingo, had been humiliated by Wood over a decade ago. And now, Wood had become someone even Doflamingo feared to provoke.

"I'm sorry, Lady Lulietta," Wood said casually, "While I may be a pirate of some capability, the three before you are not ordinary pirates either. They are the Supernovas, each with bounties ranging from 200 million to 310 million Belli. Combined, their total bounty isn't far off from my ten-billion-Belli bounty.

"If it's just me alone, there's no guarantee I'd be able to take on all three. So, killing them is out of the question, but I can at least make sure you don't get hurt."

Lulietta clearly lacked common sense when it came to the concept of "strong pirates" on the Grand Line. She had heard that pirate strength was determined by bounty, and if the combined bounties of these three pirates came close to ten billion Belli, it made sense that Wood might not be able to beat them.

However, Lulietta overlooked a crucial detail: even combined, Luffy, Kid, and Law's bounties did not add up to ten billion Belli.

Moreover, Wood's bounty had remained stagnant at ten billion Belli for years only because the Marines had stopped actively pursuing him due to his relationship with the Celestial Dragons. Had the Marines still been after him, Wood's bounty would easily have reached thirty billion Belli after his recent skirmishes with Big Mom and Kaido.

Luffy wasn't interested in fighting a woman. Kid, unlike Luffy, wasn't reckless enough to attack a Celestial Dragon. And Law? He was even more prudent than Kid. Besides, given how Wood had spoken, it was only proper to show some respect.

"Eustass Kid, Straw Hat Luffy, Trafalgar Law—you are completely surrounded by the Navy..."

Luffy had wanted to catch up with Wood, maybe even test out his recent gains and settle the score from their fight back in Alabasta. But just then, a standard Marine declaration echoed from outside the auction hall.

The Marines outside the auction house were stationed on Sabaody Archipelago, led by a Marine Captain. The speaker was one of their subordinates, a Marine Lieutenant.

The Grand Line was dotted with various Marine branches, and although Sabaody Archipelago was close to Marine Headquarters, it was still considered an outpost.

Compared to other Marine branches, Sabaody's position was particularly thankless. Unlike other branches, which were far removed from Headquarters and could get away with slacking off, Sabaody was too close to Headquarters for that. Additionally, the high number of pirates and criminals made the workload almost unbearable.

However, while the workload was heavy, there was one advantage: proximity to Marine Headquarters meant that Sabaody was absolutely safe. There was no chance of the branch being wiped out by a powerful pirate crew like in other regions.

But today, as the Marine Captain stationed on Sabaody was about to take a coffee break amidst his heavy workload, a messenger ran in, breathless, with an urgent report.

"A World Noble, a Celestial Dragon, has been attacked by the Supernovas on the island!"

Heavens have mercy. Upon hearing the news, the Marine Captain's head began to buzz. He knew exactly what kind of trouble came with a Celestial Dragon being attacked. If anything went wrong, their entire contingent would face severe consequences.

The Captain looked at the wanted posters that had been handed to him by a sergeant. Staring at the faces of Luffy, Kid, and Law, his face darkened further.

The culprits were three individuals with bounties exceeding one hundred million Belli each, and as the Captain scanned through their files, it was clear none of them were easy to deal with.

Especially the Straw Hat kid, grinning like a fool—he had already taken down one of the Warlords of the Sea!

Despite the headaches that came with the task, the Marine Captain quickly gathered his forces and surrounded the slave auction house. They had no choice. Even though these Supernovas were far from pushovers, duty dictated that they act, no matter how outmatched they were.

"Captain, we've got the entire slave auction house surrounded, but no one has come out yet. There's no sign of the Rozwad family either."

After setting up a perimeter and bringing out all the weapons they had, the Marine Sergeant saluted and reported to the Captain.

"Have we contacted Headquarters? The enemies are Supernovas with average bounties of three hundred million. There's no way we can stop them with just our current forces—we need more reinforcements."

The Captain had already ordered Headquarters to be contacted as soon as they set off. He reported that they were in the middle of an intense firefight with the pirates responsible for attacking the Celestial Dragons, stating that their forces were vastly outmatched, and they were suffering heavy losses.

Whether or not they were actually fighting was irrelevant for now—what mattered was to show that they were putting up a valiant effort. Later, if they were held accountable, they could say they did all they could.

"Headquarters has responded. They've asked us to hold out a little longer. Vice Admiral Sentomaru, along with the latest Pacifista prototypes, is on the way.

"As for additional support, given the involvement of the Celestial Dragons, Headquarters has decided to dispatch one of the Admirals, Kizaru, to deal with the pirates."

Hearing that an Admiral had been dispatched, the Marine Captain felt his confidence swell. Admirals were the peak of Marine power, rivaling, or perhaps surpassing, the Four Emperors. Dealing with some Supernovas would be child's play for an Admiral.

Maybe this would be his ticket to getting out of this hellhole assignment, perhaps even earning him some commendations.

Inside the auction house, Luffy, Kid, and Law realized that an Admiral would soon be arriving, so they decided it was time to make their escape.

For the three Supernovas, the Marines stationed in Sabaody were far from a threat. The trio's combined Devil Fruit abilities made short work of the Marines, leaving them scattered and broken.

The entire archipelago fell into chaos. Cannons fired, and several areas were reduced to rubble due to the bombardment.

Amidst the sudden turmoil, numerous pirates took advantage of the confusion, hoping to loot as much as possible before making a quick getaway.

But as a cannonball soared through the air above Sabaody Archipelago, a man with wavy black hair, wearing sunglasses and dressed in a yellow-striped suit, appeared atop it, looking both flamboyant and sleazy.

"Yasakani no Magatama!"

From high above, Kizaru struck a bizarre pose, and in the next instant, countless beams of light began raining down from the sky, blanketing the area below.

The light bullets fell like a torrential rain, an area-of-effect attack that covered a wide radius. For the average pirates caught within this barrage, there was no hope of escape.

Some tried to block the beams with their swords, but it was either too late or completely ineffective. The beams cut through metal like butter, piercing both weapons and the bodies of those wielding them.

"So this is the power of a Marine Admiral, Kizaru," one pirate muttered bitterly as he tried to flee. "Dammit, who was the idiot that punched a Celestial Dragon and got us all in this mess?!"

With an Admiral on the scene, the pirates had only one option—run. Fighting was not an option, not when facing a Marine Admiral, one of the strongest figures in the world. Even the Supernovas, for all their strength, were nothing but children compared to an Admiral.

"Captain, we have to get out of here! Admiral Kizaru is here—if we don't leave now, we're all going to die!"

A pirate, sporting a generic look, tried to convince his captain—a blond man—to flee. But the captain, Hawkins, merely stared at his Tarot cards, unmoved by the urgency in his subordinate's voice.

"Escape survival probability, ten percent. Chance of victory in combat, zero point one percent. Standing our ground, survival probability, eighty percent."

As he spoke, Hawkins revealed the final Tarot card in his hand, adding, "Relax. Today is not the day I see my demise. We will survive this."

The crewmate, looking back and forth between his calm captain and the approaching Admiral Kizaru, couldn't match Hawkins' composure. Without another word, he turned and ran.

Under normal circumstances, Hawkins' crew trusted his readings. But this time? Kizaru was standing right there, and Hawkins had just claimed that their chances of surviving by staying put were higher than running. It was absurd.

Unfortunately for the fleeing pirate, his decision would cost him dearly. He hadn't made it far when a beam of golden light caught up to him in an instant, piercing straight through his heart.

"I told you, didn't I? The chance of survival when running is only ten percent. Why couldn't you believe it?" Hawkins sighed.

After swiftly dispatching the fleeing pirate, Kizaru turned his attention to Hawkins, pointing his fingers and firing off a series of golden beams.

For anyone without Observation Haki, evading Kizaru's light-speed attacks was impossible. Even a Supernova couldn't hope to dodge such an assault using only their eyes.

Beams shot through Hawkins, but strangely, there was no blood, nor did he appear to be in pain. Instead, a series of burnt straw figures fell from his body.

"Basil Hawkins, bounty of 249 million Belli. So that's your power, huh? Looks like it's not a Logia type, since it has a physical form."

Kizaru said with a wry smile, "But still, you Supernovas... you guys are all monsters. An old guy like me, just a step away from retirement, wouldn't want to get taken down by one of you, would I?"