Whether the Five Elders or the Holy Knights finally daring to approach—
All of them sucked in cold air. Staring in disbelief at the completely unharmed Aus.
That legendary Garling Saint still had torn clothing. But Aus looked like he'd just stepped out of a spa.
Clothes pristine. Condition perfect. Not a scratch visible.
"What's with the staring?"
Aus rolled his neck. Body already screaming for fuel. Fighting someone on Captain Roger's level still brings pressure.
Age gap was real. Beat his peers without breaking a sweat. But facing this kind of monster? Foundation gaps showed.
Just using "Surgery: Micro-Warp" to heal injuries and fix his clothes had burned serious stamina. Especially that thing...
Aus still felt sick thinking about it.
Observation Killing.
He'd awakened Observation as a kid. Grown used to seeing the world transparently. Every detail.
Getting "blindfolded" suddenly? Felt wrong.
"Just sparred with Garling Saint. Truly worthy of God Valley's most dazzling Celestial Dragon king. Incredible swordsmanship and Conqueror's."
Aus took his cloak back from a blushing female Celestial Dragon Knight. Draped it over his shoulders.
Saw the dazed Five Elders and stunned Knights. Blinked.
Oh. Right.
Garling's current peak status matched peak Four Emperor Shanks. Top-tier on the seas.
This scene's impact—
Like telling the world a nineteen-year-old supernova crushed Four Emperor Shanks without a scratch.
That was Kid's wet dream.
"Don't look at me like that."
"Garling Saint had the upper hand. I look fine because of my fruit ability."
Aus had nothing to hide. Raw strength didn't match? It didn't match. Subordinates hyping him up was one thing.
But in front of real experts, acting tough crossed into disrespect.
"Barely held on..."
Hearing this, the watching Knights finally relaxed. Understanding dawning.
That's more realistic...
Otherwise too absurd.
After the Five Elders left, Garling had wanted to spar. See Aus's true strength.
Aus had zero objections.
Tossed his cloak to a rosy-faced female Knight.
Then put away his finale weapon—the Black Gun.
Winning? Divine Departure.
Struggling? Fist Bone.
Desperate? Pull out the big black sniper.
Fighting Garling—the current world's true "Greatest Swordsman"—Aus wanted to sharpen his blade skills.
So—
The originally split sky?
Shattered.
Aus's Conqueror's got suppressed. Rare. This fight's weight matched young Aus facing peak Shanks head-on.
Maintaining combat ability under both their full-force Conqueror's clashes? Even Vice Admirals would struggle.
True peak showdown.
Ordinary Knights didn't even qualify to watch.
If they hadn't held back, flying sword energy would've reached Mary Geoise. Sliced the Holy Land into sections.
Hearing Aus's explanation, they remembered—
Intelligence said Aus had this ability. Long as stamina held, he could warp his body back to pristine condition post-battle.
But just fighting Garling this long proved his strength.
"By the way, Aus."
Saturn glanced at the obliterated battlefield. No energy to ask more. Pulled out a tiny chip.
"Lord Imu agreed. You're a special Holy Knight member now. Independent action. No mandatory orders."
Diplomatic phrasing.
Actually just honorary. For the Holy Land, difference of feeding one more non-working Celestial Dragon. They didn't expect Aus to actually serve.
Understanding what happened, female Celestial Dragon Knights who'd watched both battles started gossiping:
"Eh? Saint Aus just joined?"
"I heard they were recruiting exceptional newcomers recently."
"Wait—if you had kids with a Celestial Dragon like Aus, would the child still be a Celestial Dragon?"
That question stumped managing Garling and the Five Elders.
Theoretically, as an external Celestial Dragon, Aus's status had no hereditary rights.
But combined with a female Celestial Dragon? The child nominally met the requirement—both parents Celestial Dragons.
And the mother was pure-blooded. Who'd dare say the kid lacked "God's" blood?
After long thought, they answered.
"...Probably."
Holy Land Mary Geoise.
Kings and nobles gathered for the quadrennial World Government Reverie. The MVP? Undoubtedly the rare new face—
Nurturing King Doctor Kik.
"King Kik, pleasure meeting you..."
"Truly educated him brilliantly! Such an outstanding grandson!"
"No weak grandfather raises a tiger cub! Mr. Aus's success clearly stems from King Kik's excellence!"
"Ah, ahahaha!"
The little old man clasped hands behind his back. Drowning in flattery. Couldn't help the smug grin.
This... is personal magnetism!
What he didn't know—
The kings kissing up to Old Kik? Most relied on Aus for their livelihoods. Some countries' pillar industries were literally propped up by Aus's underworld operations.
Think they'd willingly stroke the old man's ego otherwise?
"Heh... been ages since I've been back."
Not far off, the Hawk-Fish-Bird trio gathered. Aloof Mihawk and Crocodile had no one approaching.
Doflamingo, though? Swaggered around arrogantly.
"Don't see any of my former... compatriots. Better if they're dead..."
Doflamingo kicked back. Strings puppeting armored soldiers. Face twisted in vengeful glee.
Now under Aus's banner, he'd eventually accumulate enough power to take revenge on these Holy Land bastards.
Couldn't restore his Celestial Dragon status? He'd drag the Celestial Dragons off their divine throne.
This thought had consumed him for a while now. Until Aus returned.
Watching him approach with a smile, showing off his trophy—a Celestial Dragon ID chip—Doflamingo felt the world collapse:
"Just now? Fought some Holy Knights."
"Got Celestial Dragon status."
A certain flamingo: ...
Really became the joker.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (40+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/DarkGolds
Happy reading, everyone!