"Quick, release the Battle Slaves!"
The battle had been raging for some time before the fleet's commander finally came to his senses. He bellowed out the order to release the Celestial Dragons' Battle Slaves.
The so-called Battle Slaves were defeated pirate captains or powerful slaves who had been captured. After being carefully selected by slave traders, they were sold to the Celestial Dragons. While being a slave to a Celestial Dragon was a deeply humiliating affair, it did come with one benefit: access to treasures the outside world never saw. Things like the relatively common Devil Fruits, various precious martial arts secrets, extremely rare famous swords, or advanced technology were all commonplace in the hands of the Celestial Dragons.
The more obedient of these Battle Slaves would be bestowed with various treasures and then dispatched around the world to serve the Celestial Dragons' whims. Of course, the fate of the vast majority of slaves was to be played with until they died.
In a situation like this, where they were clearly facing an enemy they couldn't handle, the fleet commander had no choice but to release all the Battle Slaves, hoping these dogs raised by the Celestial Dragons could be of some use.
CRASH!
Just then, a tremendous crash resounded from the flagship.
"ROAR!"
A Tyrannosaurus rex charged onto the flagship and began a mad slaughter, its ferocious battle cries echoing across the entire battlefield.
"Good work, Drake," Bellamy called out. "Kill them all!"
He erupted with a palm strike, sending a warship flying sideways and violently capsizing two ships to its right. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he executed a small leap that sent him soaring a hundred meters into the air.
Something doesn't feel right.
Even as he fought, Bellamy felt a persistent sense of wrongness. Why was this fleet's resistance so weak? He had charged right in without facing any cannon fire to stop him, and no officers had emerged to organize a counterattack. The fleet seemed completely unprepared for battle, as if they were just here on a sightseeing tour. It was too abnormal.
Did I attack the wrong people?
Just as Bellamy began to doubt the identity of the fleet, a coarse roar echoed from below.
"Who is so bold as to attack the Heavenly Tribute!"
A group of slaves with thick collars around their necks suddenly surrounded Bellamy from all directions.
"Heavenly Tribute?" Hearing the name, Bellamy instantly understood. So, it was the Celestial Dragons' fleet. In that case, he hadn't killed the wrong people after all. He had blundered, mistaking the fleet escorting the Heavenly Tribute for the grand fleet sent to ambush him.
But so what? Since he was already here, he might as well kill them all.
"No wonder the resistance was so weak."
Bellamy tilted his head, looking down at the collared slaves. "And you lot... are you here seeking liberation from me?"
"Liberation?" The Battle Slaves were confused. What did he mean, liberation?
"What nonsense are you spouting? Get down here and die!"
Most of these Battle Slaves were those who had willingly become the Celestial Dragons' dogs after receiving benefits from them. To be honest, if Bellamy knew their background, he probably couldn't even be bothered to fight them, fearing he'd dirty his fists.
Bellamy hovered in the air for a moment, recovering his breath. Just as he was about to make his move and slaughter them, a short, stout figure leaped out.
"Chachachacha!"
"How dare you ignore us! I'll show you the power of the great Japa!" The short, squat man began laughing to himself. Then, his body began to rapidly transform. A strange-looking, green-haired turtle soon appeared on the deck.
"I am the user of the Turtle-Turtle Fruit, Model: Green-Haired Turtle!" he declared. "What do you think? Scared now, are you?"
The Celestial Dragons could easily obtain many Devil Fruits, but strangely, they almost never ate them themselves. Instead, they would often take out some unidentifiable Devil Fruits and casually bestow them upon their underlings for their own amusement. This green-haired turtle was one such case. Boa Hancock had also eaten the Love-Love Fruit under similar circumstances. Her two sisters had also eaten two Snake-Snake Fruits while under the Celestial Dragons' control.
In the hands of the Celestial Dragons, these treasures of the sea seemed to be worthless. It was as if some great secret was hidden behind this fact. But very few people knew of this secret, so no one ever stopped to wonder: was eating a Devil Fruit truly a good thing?
"You're kind of disgusting me."
The green-haired turtle was already shockingly ugly before his transformation. Once he transformed, all the hair on his head turned green, and he now had a giant turtle shell on his back. The repulsive sight reminded Bellamy of that snot monster, Trebol.
"You... you've soiled my eyes."
Charisma was a real and tangible power. Beautiful people were naturally afforded many advantages in life. It would be a mistake to think beauty was useless; it was a real force, one that could, at times, move the world. But by the same token, those who were ugly suffered for it. For instance, this green-haired turtle had provoked Bellamy's killing intent the moment he appeared.
"What? You dare to look down on the great Japa!"
The green-haired turtle was still shouting when a hand silently came to rest on his head.
"You're getting off easy."
Before the words had even faded, the green-haired turtle's head exploded.
Bellamy wiped the blood from his hand and turned to scan his surroundings. His ice-cold gaze sent a chill down everyone's spine. The green-haired turtle may have been ugly, but he was one of the strongest among the Battle Slaves. His turtle shell had astonishing defensive power and was nearly indestructible, yet now his head had been silently crushed.
Even the dimmest of the Battle Slaves now understood: they were facing an unstoppable monster.
"What do we do?"
The group looked at each other, but not a single one thought of running. They knew that the moment they tried to flee, the slave collars around their necks would detonate.
"No one's running?"
These slaves didn't seem like the type to have much backbone. Bellamy thought for a moment and immediately understood.
"Ah, so you can't run." He shook his head and let out a derisive laugh. "This is why I pursue power so relentlessly." This was the fate of the weak. They didn't even have the right to choose their own death. It was too pathetic.
"Then I'll grant you liberation."
Bellamy was still so soft-hearted, unable to bear witness to such a sad state of affairs.
With a casual punch, he blew up the green-haired turtle's body, sending a shower of blood everywhere.
Fish-Man Karate: Blood Sea Current!
Bellamy caught the splattering blood in his hand, molding it into a long whip that swept out towards the Battle Slaves in front of him. Under the immense force of his power, the soft, yielding blood transformed into a whip of steel. The moment it touched the Battle Slaves, bones shattered and flesh was torn asunder.
After a single strike, no one was left standing on the deck. The fleet's military force was utterly powerless against Bellamy.
Or rather, this fleet was never meant for combat in the first place.
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