"....."
"???????"
"!!!???"
"Eh!!!!!!"
At first, the sudden voice left everyone too stunned to react. Confusion quickly turned into a wave of sharp gasps rippling through the warship.
"Who said that?"
"Did I hear that right?"
"Who would dare speak to the Celestial Dragons like that...?"
Gasparde was the first to pinpoint the source of the voice. He turned toward the mainmast behind him, his face tense with alarm.
His movement drew everyone's attention upward. Under the glaring sun, two burly teenagers were suddenly visible atop the lookout post of the warship's main mast.
"Eh..."
Another wave of gasps erupted, followed by startled cries.
They had all assumed the voice was just an illusion—but now, with these two figures appearing out of nowhere, it became clear that what they heard was real. Someone had actually dared to provoke the Celestial Dragons.
The CP9 agents sprang into action, instantly shielding the Celestial Dragon behind them. Their murderous glares locked firmly onto the two intruders on the mast.
Gasparde frowned deeply. He could tell trouble had just walked in. As he looked at the red-haired boy smiling up on the mast, a faint unease crept into his heart. With a cigar in his mouth, he spoke in a low voice.
"Who are you?"
"Us!?"
With that reply, the two strangers leapt down from the mast, landing steadily on the deck, now surrounded by Marines and CP9.
Then, the red-haired boy among them beamed like a friendly visitor and spoke loudly to everyone present.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Yemu, captain of the Sky Ocean Pirates. This is my little brother Enel, the first mate of our crew. We've just set sail—so we hope you Marines will take good care of us going forward..."
"!!!"
"..."
The Marines, CP9 agents, and even the Celestial Dragon stared at the two young men like they'd lost their minds.
Gasparde's face twisted further in discomfort.
"You've got guts, I'll give you that. Reckless like newborn calves who haven't met a tiger yet. Do you even realize you're provoking the Marines right now?"
Enel, clearly irritated, answered before Yemu could.
"I can't stand this guy. Yemu, should we take him out?"
"!!!"
Gasparde froze in place.
Then, a chilling voice rang out, shaking everyone to their core.
"You filthy peasants... how dare you ignore me..."
"Out of my way!"
Everyone turned toward the voice. The Celestial Dragon had stepped out from the protection of the CP9, mounted on a fishman. His face twisted in rage, he pointed a pistol at the red-haired pirate and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Bang..."
A gunshot echoed, but the red-haired boy didn't even flinch. Instead, the blond teen calmly raised two fingers and caught the bullet midair.
"!!!"
The Celestial Dragon's pupils widened in shock, his fury deepening.
"Damn scum... you actually dare to resist..."
Just as he prepared to shoot again, he noticed something strange—the bullet gripped between the blond boy's fingers had started to crackle, sparking with electricity...
"Crackle..."
"Bang..."
A sharp explosion rang out...
In that instant, the hearts of all four CP9 agents guarding the Celestial Dragon—and even Gasparde—seized with tension.
For them, the world momentarily froze. All that remained was the lightning-charged blow, transformed into a super-electromagnetic railgun, hurtling straight toward the Celestial Dragon's forehead.
"Damn it..."
All five lunged forward, hands outstretched, trying to intercept the blast.
But none of them made it in time...
"Bang..."
With a sound like shattering glass, a hole appeared in the protective dome above the Celestial Dragon's head—and another, directly in the middle of his forehead.
It happened so fast the Celestial Dragon didn't even register it. His face was still frozen in disbelief.
Only when blood began to stream from the wound did his vision finally go dark. His bloated body went limp and toppled from the fishman mount, landing on the deck with a sharp, echoing thud that rang deep into everyone's hearts.
Silence...
The entire warship fell completely silent...
Not even the sound of someone swallowing could be heard...
Everyone just stared in stunned disbelief at the corpse...
The Celestial Dragon was dead.
The Celestial Dragon had been killed.
Was this a hallucination? Or had they all gone mad?
Then the golden-haired youth who had done it all let out a lazy-sounding remark.
"So noisy... Hey Yemu, it's fine that I killed this guy, right?"
"Hahahaha, of course it is! That was part of the plan. This is fate guiding us—hahahaha!"
Right now, the only sound on the warship was Yemu's crazed laughter.
"Ah..."
Only then did everyone fully grasp what had just happened.
The Celestial Dragon was truly dead.
For centuries, the so-called descendants of the Creator, nobles of the world, had never once been defied. And now—one was dead.
The minds of every Marine aboard the ship felt like they were cracking under the pressure.
Some went mad, others collapsed sobbing into their hands, while others simply stood frozen in place...
Gasparde wasn't much better, his face twisted with terror. The four CP9 agents were pale as corpses.
A Celestial Dragon had been killed—right in front of them.
Whatever the reason, it didn't matter.
They were finished...
Eventually, it was Gasparde who managed to recover first. Gritting his teeth, face dark, he glared at the two brazen young men and demanded:
"Do you even realize what you've done...?"
"Hahahaha, of course. It's just a Celestial Dragon..."
After saying that, their expressions shifted slightly, becoming a touch more serious.
"No need for those faces. Something even more exciting is about to happen... This warship's carrying the Heavenly Tribute, isn't it? If we take it with us, you don't mind, right...?"
...
East Blue, Loguetown...
Ever since Roger had been secretly brought here by the Marines a week ago in preparation for his public execution in half a month, Loguetown had been tightly surrounded.
To prevent any unexpected incidents, Admiral Sengoku himself had taken command in the town.
Marine hero Garp, and two of the future Three Admirals—Aokiji and Kizaru—were also present, alongside dozens of Vice Admirals. And that wasn't even counting the rest of the Marine forces.
If not for the need to suppress the chaos currently unfolding in the New World, Fleet Admiral Kong, Zephyr, and Akainu would likely be here too.
Aside from the Marines, many pirates had also gone into hiding here, hoping to witness the Pirate King's execution.
On top of that, World Government intelligence agencies and major news magnates had arrived as well, preparing to broadcast the execution live for the entire world.
At this moment, Loguetown had truly become the center of the entire One Piece world...