"The life of a Celestial Dragon is even more luxurious than I imagined," Meiser remarked as he arrived at Saint Maverick's estate, surveying his surroundings. "Gold and jewels are everywhere. It seems these Celestial Dragons are even wealthier than I thought!"
"Because we Celestial Dragons enjoy the Celestial Gold, we never lack funds," explained Saint Maverick, who was under Meiser's control. "The member nations of the World Government pay the Celestial Gold tribute every year, so we never run short of money to spend!"
"Celestial Gold, huh."
Meiser pondered for a moment, then turned to Saint Maverick and said, "Take me to see your treasury."
"Yes."
Saint Maverick nodded, then turned and headed toward the massive building in the distance.
As for the other guards under Meiser's control?
They obediently stayed by Meiser's side, not venturing anywhere else.
Upon reaching the treasury, Saint Maverick commanded, "Open the gates!"
"Yes, Saint Maverick," the guard at the entrance replied respectfully.
With that, he turned and opened the heavy doors, then stood respectfully to the side.
"Let's go," Saint Maverick said.
After addressing Meiser, Saint Maverick led him inside, leaving everyone else outside. Once the guards were ordered to close the gates, Saint Maverick announced, "Everything I own is here."
Meiser remained silent, instead taking a thorough look around before finally asking, "Why is there so little Berries?"
There was no shortage of gold, silver, and jewels, but the amount of Berries—readily spendable currency—was pitifully small.
Meiser calculated carefully; there were only a few billion Berries here. Was that reasonable?
This was a Celestial Dragon, after all!
"We are Celestial Dragons. Money is merely a number to us," Saint Maverick explained. "So there's no need to fill the entire treasury with it."
"Then what do you usually spend?"
"We have a monthly allowance," Saint Maverick said. "My monthly pocket money is around 2 billion Berries."
After a pause, Saint Maverick added, "Besides... most of the time, we don't even need to spend money."
As World Nobles, they had the right to enjoy everything in the world, so often there was no need for currency.
As for that 2 billion Berry allowance... in the end, it was just for maintaining appearances. Whether they had it or not didn't affect their daily activities.
"T-two billion Berries in pocket money..."
Meiser's mouth twitched slightly. Was this the privilege of the World Government?
How utterly absurd.
"In fact, if it's not enough, we can always apply for more Berries," Saint Maverick stated.
According to Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro, they needed to spend this portion of Berries to keep the economy circulating.
Though he didn't understand the reasoning, since the Five Elders demanded it, they complied.
Thus... the Celestial Dragons would exhaust their monthly allowances completely—after all, there would be more next month, right?
Meiser fell silent upon hearing this. The World Government was truly extravagant.
But...
This worked to his advantage!
Scanning the vault's contents, Meiser stroked his chin and remarked, "Though there are only a few hundred million Berries, there's no shortage of gold, silver, jewels, and valuable antiques."
As he spoke, he pulled out a Sealing Scroll.
Then, he began storing items from the vault.
"Mine!"
"Mine!"
"All mine!"
With growing excitement, Meiser chanted while packing until every valuable in the vault was secured inside the Sealing Scroll. After finishing, his gaze settled on a peculiar box.
"What's in here?" Meiser wondered aloud.
"A Devil Fruit!"
"A Devil Fruit?"
A glint of curiosity flashed in Meiser's eyes. He stepped forward, opened the box, and examined its contents closely.
"This shape...
A pure white Devil Fruit with leaves resembling clouds, yet upon closer inspection, not quite.
What ability could this be?
The Cloud-Cloud Fruit?"
After a moment's thought, Meiser turned to Saint Maverick and asked, "Do you know what Devil Fruit this is?"
"I'm not sure," Saint Maverick shook his head. "But it can be identified using the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia."
Hearing this, Meiser's eyes lit up. "Do you have a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia here?"
"No."
"None?"
"Why would we keep a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia when we don't even consume Devil Fruits ourselves?" Saint Maverick explained. "These fruits are merely used to reward subordinates or slaves, so we never bother learning their abilities."
Meiser paused briefly before instructing, "Then find me a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. I need to identify this."
If the fruit possessed a powerful ability, he would save it for his companions.
If it was useless... he'd leave it to Shakky to handle.
"Understood," Saint Maverick nodded.
"One more thing," Meiser added, as if recalling something. "Get me a Photo Transponder Snail and a Fax Transponder Snail as well."
"Understood!"
The man then turned and headed out, intending to have guards request a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia from higher authorities.
Watching Saint Maverick's retreating figure, Meiser muttered to himself, "The situation here is mostly resolved. Now, it's up to the Clones."
He had already deployed numerous Clones—everything would commence once night fell.
Satisfied that nothing was overlooked, Meiser picked up the Devil Fruit and approached the Sealing Scroll.
"Let's seal the Devil Fruit for now," he decided.
As he spoke, he placed the fruit onto the scroll, preparing to seal it away.
"Seal!"
Hmm?
Staring at the completely unchanged Devil Fruit, Meiser had a few question marks pop up above his head.
"Why can't it be stored in the scroll?"
Recalling the characteristics of the Sealing Scroll, Meiser muttered, "Ordinary Sealing Scrolls can't seal living beings. Does that mean... this thing counts as a living creature?"
Could there be a demon's consciousness inside?
That doesn't make sense, does it?
But aside from this explanation, Meiser couldn't think of any other possibility.
Just then, Saint Maverick closed the door and walked back in, saying, "Everything has been arranged. Someone will bring the items to us soon."
Hearing this, Meiser nodded, then stood up and placed the Devil Fruit back into the box.
Weighing the box in his hand, Meiser muttered, "It seems I'll have to carry this thing with me if I want to take it away."
But considering the potential battles ahead, Meiser found himself in a dilemma.
If a fight broke out, this Devil Fruit might get knocked away or destroyed, which wasn't what Meiser wanted.
After thinking for a moment, Meiser murmured, "Then I'll hide the Devil Fruit within the Red Line first."
Once the Clone finished its task, he would have it deliver the Devil Fruit beneath the Red Line. That way, no one would be able to get their hands on it.
Having confirmed his next course of action, Meiser turned his attention to Saint Maverick.
Then, he showed him a particularly 'kind' expression and said, "Don't worry, I'll send you down soon enough."
"Understood!"
Mary Geoise at night appeared even more magnificent than during the day, but that splendor belonged to the Celestial Dragons—it had nothing to do with the slaves living in Mary Geoise.
The moment the sun set, those slaves were herded back to their cells by the guards to rest, with no chance to witness the prosperity outside.
After glancing at the quiet slave quarters, several armored guards gathered together and began chatting in hushed tones.
"It's been getting more and more exhausting lately," a bearded man said.
"Tell me about it," a bald man replied. "The security has suddenly tightened so much."
"Do you think something big is happening?" a tall, thin man whispered. "Otherwise, there's no reason for it to be like this."
"Are you saying someone has their eyes on Mary Geoise?"
"It's not impossible..."
-
Listening to the guards murmuring outside, the slaves in the cells looked up at them.
Then, cautiously gathering together, they whispered, "What do they mean? Could someone be planning to attack this place?"
"Impossible... This is Mary Geoise, where a large group of Celestial Dragons live!"
How could anyone possibly attack the heart of the World Government?
That would be pure suicide!
"I actually hope someone does attack this place," one slave said. "Then we might have a chance to escape."
He had had enough of this hellish life!
"Don't even think about it," an old man who had lost all his spirit said weakly. "No one would dare do such a thing."
No one dares to defy the gods of this world... No one!
"Who says there isn't?" A young man said excitedly, "Didn't a man named Fisher Tiger come here in the past?"
"He liberated all the slaves!"
If someone like that were to appear again... wouldn't they have hope?
"Don't think about it. There won't be a second Fisher Tiger." The old man waved his hand.
"Why?"
This time the old man didn't answer, instead looking at the ceiling with an extremely complicated expression, as if recalling something.
After a moment, he said, "Kid... don't give people hope so casually."
Hearing this, the young man who had just been speaking stiffened.
Yes, hope...
His purpose in saying those words was to give himself and everyone else hope to keep living.
What was wrong with that?
Did they have to become numb, not knowing why they were living?
He just wanted to bring everyone hope. What was wrong with that?
Just then, a man's voice came from outside the cell, accompanied by the sound of metal scraping.
"Heh, I was wondering what these guys were talking about. So it's about that guy." A bearded man holding a spear looked coldly at the slaves. "How reckless!"
"Still dreaming of a second Fi... second villain appearing? What wishful thinking!"
"That's right, give up on that idea!" A bald man sneered as he looked at the slaves. "No one in this world would do something like that again!"
It was already incredible enough that such an audacious person appeared once. There couldn't possibly be a second!
So... what these slaves were hoping for would never happen.
The slaves, their hopes cruelly shattered, slowly lowered their heads, despair appearing in their eyes.
Just as the other party said, no one would come to save them. So... they would never escape this hell.
"Maybe it would be better to just die..." a man with his head bowed murmured to himself.
He had been captured here with his wife, but because she had blocked a Celestial Dragon's path, she had been casually killed by them.
He still remembered the words his wife had said to him as she died.
Live on...
Even in the depths of hell, strive to live on.
Only by living would there be a day when they could see the light again.
But... but did he really still have hope?
He...
"Rather than living cowardly like this, it would be better to die!" The young man looked coldly at the guards.
"Well, well~"
"There really is someone who isn't afraid of death?"
Looking at the stubborn young man staring at them, the guards showed interested expressions.
Then the bald man opened the cell door and entered, spear in hand.
"Kid, the moment you said those words, you committed a capital offense, you know!!" The bald man grinned viciously at the young man. "I have the right to execute you right now!"
But unfortunately, the bald man didn't see even a trace of fear on the young man's face, as if... he appeared completely unintimidating.
This scene directly enraged the bald man.
"You truly have no regard for your own life," the bald man snarled.
As his words fell, the spear in his hand thrust forward, piercing the boy's arm without resistance and nailing him to the floor!
"Guh!"
Pinned to the ground, the boy immediately felt indescribable pain, his expression twisting from the agony.
"See this, kid? This is reality!" The bald man spat and said, "You'll never escape in this lifetime. You can only live as slaves until death ends it all!"
While speaking, the bald man pulled out the spear and aimed it at the boy's thigh. "Don't worry, I won't let you die so easily!"
"After all... this is a rare pleasure~"
"Hahahaha!"
"Right, don't let him die so easily!"
"Go on, Baldie, pierce his thigh!"
"Hahahaha!"
Hearing the bald man's words, the other guards burst into laughter, their eyes filled with an inexplicable gleam.
It felt as though... their very natures had become twisted!!
Listening to his companions, the bald man grinned viciously. "Don't worry, I won't let him die easily."
Hearing the commotion, the other slaves instinctively shrank back, afraid they might become the next victim.
But the boy paid no attention to their words, instead fixing his gaze on the moonlight outside.
No... more precisely, on the man standing in the moonlight!
'Who is that...?'
The next moment...
"Thump!"
"Thump!"
"Thump!"
Several sounds resembling crushed watermelons echoed, and then all the slain guards were dragged underground by Meiser using Earth Release Technique.
After completing this, Meiser strode into the prison cell.
Seeing Meiser's calm expression, the slaves swallowed hard, momentarily at a loss for words.
Had this man just eliminated the guards who tormented them so easily?
Meiser paid no mind to their stares, instead focusing his gaze on the boy.
Then, he said, "Do you want to live?"
"Yes!"
Hearing this, Meiser's lips curved into a slight smile. "Then strive to survive!"
Watching as Meiser casually tossed the keys before him, the boy's eyes lit up!
At this moment, freedom was calling to him!!!
--Enjoying the story? Want more chapters? Check out my Patreon and support me for 40+ advance chapters.
Just search for "LegendaryTL" on Patreon!"
Thanks!