"They have to kneel even to the Five Elders? Do you know who the head of the World Government is?" Dragon pressed urgently. He had met the Five Elders, and they didn't kneel to Celestial Dragons. For someone to make the Five Elders kneel, they must possess absolute power and authority.
"You think I'm omniscient? That person isn't someone we can know about right now. When your Revolutionary Army is strong enough to shake the World Government, perhaps then you'll find out."
Bege shook his head. Apart from knowing the World Government head's name was Imu, he knew nothing else. So, he didn't answer Dragon.
"This world holds too many secrets. To understand the truth of the world, one must become stronger. Only the strong have the right to know and the right to speak." Bege patted Dragon's shoulder and walked away.
"Godfather, besides various treasures, there are also three Devil Fruits among the Celestial Tribute!" One of Bege's men and a Revolutionary Army officer approached, carrying a box. Inside, three Devil Fruits were nestled.
Bege took out an Illustrated Guide of Devil Fruits and looked them up, but only found information on one.
"The Voice-Transmission Fruit. It allows one to directly transmit their spoken words into another person's mind. This fruit is quite good."
Bege then looked at the other two Devil Fruits. Banana-shaped, they looked like Zoan Devil Fruits by all accounts, and likely not Ancient Zoans or the rarer Mythical Zoans.
"How should we divide these three Devil Fruits?" Dragon also walked over, glanced at the fruits in the box, then at the encyclopedia in Bege's hand, and inquired.
Bege immediately put away the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, grabbed the Voice-Transmission Fruit, and said, "I want this one. You can pick one of the others. As for the last one, we'll split it fifty-fifty. But splitting it isn't ideal, so I can give you its market value. A Devil Fruit costs at least a hundred million Berries. We're friends, right? So let's say one hundred million, that's fair enough. Half of that is fifty million. Just give me fifty million Berries."
"I'll pick first. I want the Devil Fruit in your hand," Dragon said calmly, naturally not falling for the ploy.
"Hey, hey, hey, Dragon, don't be like that. It's not like it's a particularly important Devil Fruit. Is there any need to fight me for it?" Bege casually tossed the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia to Dragon, letting him see the information on the Voice-Transmission Fruit.
"The Voice-Transmission Fruit... a very useful fruit. It's not impossible for me to give it to you. How about we trade it for this Devil Fruit Encyclopedia?" Dragon said, brandishing the book in his hand.
"You really don't let yourself lose out on anything, do you?"
"We don't have an empire as vast as yours. We revolutionaries are currently lacking in everything; we have to be meticulous with our resources."
"Fine, fine, fine. Take it and make a copy, alright? Consider it my contribution to your cause," Bege waved his hand helplessly.
In the depths of the deserted island, the officers from both sides divided the enormous Celestial Tribute into two shares. Dragon then took half of his share of the treasure and set it aside. He intended to use these treasures to purchase weapons and ammunition from Bege. They discussed and drew up a long procurement list, which was then handed to Bege.
"I hope to receive these items as soon as possible," Dragon said.
"Rest assured, I'll prepare them for you as soon as I get back. I'll notify you then."
Bege satisfyingly put the list away. This venture had not only netted him enormous wealth but also a massive order, putting him in an excellent mood.
Dragon nodded. His officers took the remaining treasure and boarded their ship, leaving the deserted island.
Bege loaded the treasure and the warship into his internal castle and then returned to Sky Island.
The next day, when the World Government couldn't contact the Celestial Tribute transport fleet, they knew something had gone wrong. They immediately dispatched ships to investigate. Eventually, in that sea area, they discovered some fragmented warships and corpses. The vast majority of the bodies had long since been devoured by sea creatures, leaving no trace.
A few days later, after further investigation, it was finally confirmed that the Celestial Tribute had been intercepted, and all escort personnel were presumed dead.
The World Government was enraged. The Marines and CP organizations joined forces to investigate the Celestial Tribute robbery. However, with no witnesses at the scene, all guards dead or missing, and the warships sunk to the bottom of the sea, they had no leads. They searched the New World like headless chickens, completely unable to trace it back to Bege.
Over a month later, the weapons, ammunition, and resources Dragon needed were ready. Bege descended from Sky Island alone and handed over these supplies to Dragon.
He didn't immediately return to Sky Island but prepared to stay in the New World for a while to capture some fierce beasts. He utilized the Shipping King's channels, the Lemon Island channels, and the Revolutionary Army's channels to gather information on numerous beast islands in the New World, planning to make a tour.
New World, a primitive island. It was a medium-sized island with dense forests teeming with ferocious beasts, so no one dared to live there. He had heard rumors of giant dragons appearing on this island and had come this time specifically to see what this world's dragons actually looked like.
He didn't travel in his conspicuously marked airship but on an ordinary sea vessel.
The ship docked at the island. Bege, a cigar in his mouth, strolled leisurely towards the depths of the forest.
From within the dense woods came a low growl. A famished, brightly-striped tiger had spotted Bege. It sprang out ferociously, blocking Bege's path.
Bege merely glanced at it. The two-meter-tall tiger broke out in a cold sweat from fear, prostrating itself on the ground, as docile as a large house cat.
"Little kitty, I'm in a good mood today and don't feel like killing you. Scram," Bege swaggered past. The tiger, as if relieved of a heavy burden, glanced at Bege's retreating figure, wished it had several more legs, and frantically dashed into the forest, disappearing.
"Don't tell me there are no dragons here," Bege muttered, somewhat dejected after wandering for half a day without seeing any sign of a dragon.
But just then, as luck would have it, the sky suddenly darkened. Bege looked up and saw a colossal creature fly overhead.
It resembled a giant red lizard with wings.
This was a red dragon, about thirty to forty meters in length.
"It really does look quite similar to Western dragons!"
Bege leaped into the air, making several jumps, and quickly caught up to the dragon, landing directly on its back and sitting nonchalantly on its head.
The red dragon's eyes rolled upwards, spotting Bege on its head, and it immediately became enraged. It was the king of beasts on this island! For a mere human to sit on its head was an extreme indignity.
Its body suddenly writhed and rolled, trying to throw Bege off.
However, Bege seemed to be nailed to the red dragon. No matter how it rolled or performed difficult aerial maneuvers, it couldn't shake him off.
Finally, the red dragon dived straight into the forest, darting through the trees, trying to knock Bege off with branches. It charged through the forest four or five times, but still couldn't dislodge Bege.
The red dragon, infuriated, began to continuously spew fire.
"Oh, it can breathe fire too? Interesting," Bege said, casually eating a banana he held, watching the red dragon's performance as if it were a show.
The red dragon, carrying Bege, flew towards the sea, intending to dive underwater and drown him.
"Can't let you drag me into the sea." Bege sensed the red dragon's intention and brought a fist down on its head.
The red dragon's eyes bulged. It seemed to lose consciousness, its body stiffening, and then it fell from the sky like an arrow into the forest below.
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