"Not bad. You finally look like a proper human being," Valthior casually commented when he saw Gaban come out.
Before arriving, Gaban had been dressed in a flashy beach shirt, plain shorts, and the ever-popular pirate flip-flops, along with a cheap pair of sunglasses—completely unremarkable.
Now, however, he wore a low-key yet luxurious noble outfit, primarily light blue in tone, styled somewhat like a knight's attire—sharp and elegant at the same time.
His casually tied ponytail had been meticulously groomed, even adorned with a top-grade sapphire hair accessory.
Even his sunglasses had been replaced with a finely crafted pair made of tortoiseshell and black crystal.
On his feet were high boots made from the fur of some unknown rare animal.
Around his wrist was a bracelet composed of twenty-two pure black gemstones.
As the saying goes, clothes make the man—and it wasn't just talk.
At this moment, Gaban exuded an overwhelming aura of nobility. He looked far more striking than before.
"This outfit costs around 7 billion Berries! And only now do I 'look like a human' to you!?" Gaban said, utterly shocked.
The clothes themselves weren't that expensive—but the bracelet, hair accessory, sunglasses, and other items all started at hundreds of millions. The black gemstone bracelet alone cost over 3 billion Berries.
Valthior didn't bother responding to that and instead asked, "Anything else you want to buy? Want to keep browsing?"
"No, no… I'm under immense psychological pressure right now. I almost feel like calling you Lord Valthior…" Gaban waved his hands frantically.
And that was just what he was wearing.
The packages carried by the servants behind him had already amounted to over 40 billion Berries in total. Even though many of those were for Roger and the others, as the one directly experiencing it, Gaban felt the pressure intensely.
"Lord?" Valthior chuckled. "What you're wearing isn't even as expensive as what my butler Alfred wears. You're not qualified to call me that yet."
Although Alfred was still a servant, as the butler of the Jaygarcia family, he represented their image—he couldn't afford to look shabby.
Seeing that Gaban had no intention of spending more, Valthior didn't push it. He stood up and said, "Let's go. To the military port. The Marines should have everything ready by now."
"Yes, Lord Valthior, as you say," Gaban replied with a grin, joking along.
Clearly, despite his earlier complaints, he had already adapted to the situation.
...
When Valthior's group arrived at the military port of the Sabaody Archipelago—
They saw that the Marines had already received their orders.
A massive warship was prepared at the dock, and a large number of Marines stood in formation, waiting to receive them.
At the front of the formation stood a Marine Vice Admiral.
Valthior didn't recognize him—he'd probably never seen him before. Most likely the commander of the Marine base stationed at Sabaody.
The Vice Admiral himself was thoroughly confused.
Earlier, he had received orders to escort a member of the Jaygarcia family—a Celestial Dragon—to Mary Geoise.
At the time, he had been puzzled.
As far as he knew, there hadn't been any Celestial Dragons on the island recently. So where had this one suddenly come from?
This was a serious dereliction of duty on their part.
After all, one of their primary responsibilities at this base was to protect the Celestial Dragons. And yet one had arrived—and was even about to leave—without him hearing a single word about it.
It made him wonder if someone was deliberately setting him up.
But now that he saw them—
He didn't recognize the Celestial Dragon himself, since the attire didn't match the usual style.
However, he did recognize Lincoln, the Jaygarcia family's local representative.
That alone confirmed the identity—this was definitely someone from the Jaygarcia family.
But…
That guy dressed like a noble… something's not right.
If he wasn't mistaken, that man was a pirate, wasn't he?
Don't think I can't recognize you just because you changed clothes—you're "Mountain Eater" Scopper Gaban, with a bounty of 334 million Berries!
What are you doing here? Is this even still a Marine base!?
At the same time, he recalled a report from half an hour ago—his subordinates had spotted the Roger Pirates in the lawless zone.
Good grief… they're not even trying to hide it anymore?
Valthior didn't recognize the Vice Admiral, and since the journey from Sabaody to Red Port would only take a short time, he didn't bother with any formalities.
Without even greeting him, he walked straight past, completely ignoring him, carrying the arrogant air typical of a Celestial Dragon as he strode into the military port.
Though Gaban found it a bit strange, he had seen his share of big scenes. He simply adopted an aloof expression and followed behind Valthior.
Only Lincoln paused in front of the Vice Admiral.
"Vice Admiral Winnick, I leave the rest to you. Please ensure that our young master is safely and swiftly escorted to Mary Geoise."
Young master!?
Winnick was startled at first, then quickly realized.
"I understand. Please rest assured!"
As a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, he had some access to high-level intelligence.
He hadn't connected the dots earlier due to how sudden this was—but now he remembered.
This unusual Celestial Dragon was none other than the one rumored within Headquarters—Jaygarcia Valthior of the Roger Pirates.
Saint Valthior.
Headquarters had privately warned them—under no circumstances should they provoke this man.
So even though a major pirate like Gaban stood right in front of him, Winnick had already decided to pretend he didn't recognize him.
Who? Never seen him before.
After all, what kind of pirate wears tens of billions worth of Berries? Not recognizing him was perfectly reasonable!
All he needed to do was escort these two safely to Mary Geoise.
Anything beyond that was far above his pay grade.
...
Before long, after Valthior and Gaban boarded the ship, Marines quickly followed, and Vice Admiral Winnick also came aboard.
Seeing Valthior standing on the deck enjoying the sea breeze, clearly uninterested in speaking with him, Winnick wisely kept his distance.
After ordering the ship to set sail, he silently stood near the mast, acting as though he didn't exist.
Meanwhile, Gaban wandered around the deck with great curiosity, examining this and that.
After taking it all in, he returned to Valthior's side with a grin.
"I've dealt with Marine warships plenty of times before, but never like this. This trip was worth it."
"Hahaha, if you like it, I can have the Marines gift you one later," Valthior laughed.
"Forget it," Gaban smacked his lips. "These standard Marine warships are great, but the Oro Jackson is our home."
That said, Marine warships were indeed exceptional.
Among ships of similar size, only a few specially crafted vessels could compare.
They had speed, firepower, and durability.
In a proper naval battle, a standard pirate ship stood almost no chance against them.
Even the cannons on these warships were larger than those on many pirate ships.
Sure, stories often depicted poor accuracy—but in real combat, a single direct hit could turn an ordinary pirate ship into fireworks.
Even in boarding combat, how many fighters could a typical pirate ship carry?
A standard Marine warship could hold up to two thousand soldiers at full capacity.
That alone spoke volumes about their strength.
Typically, only Marine Headquarters officers at the rank of Rear Admiral or above were assigned such ships.
Ironically, the outfit Gaban was wearing right now could buy dozens of these warships.
The sheer extravagance of the Celestial Dragons truly belonged to a different world.
Something ordinary people could scarcely even glimpse.
No wonder a single Heavenly Tribute could drain an entire nation's treasury.
...
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