Chapter 286: Planning
An electronic voice suddenly emerged from the speakers lining the conference hall.
"Death will continue."
Every person in the room, including the presiding Celestial Dragon, turned toward the source.
The speakers had originally been installed to amplify the host's voice throughout the chamber.
This time, however, the voice did not belong to the Celestial Dragon.
It did not sound natural either. It had clearly been altered through some kind of device.
Given the subject of the conference, its meaning was obvious.
The killer was announcing himself.
It was an open provocation.
"Who are you?!" the Celestial Dragon shouted.
His furious demand had not been intended as a genuine question, yet the voice answered.
"Me?"
The mechanical tone echoed through the room.
"I am no one."
"But I am the one who will pass judgment upon you."
"Judgment?"
The Celestial Dragon's face twisted with rage.
"Don't be absurd! I am a Celestial Dragon, a descendant of the Creator Gods!"
"You dare claim that you can judge a god?"
"Such arrogance will be destruc..."
The electronic voice interrupted him.
"Gods?"
"Perhaps they exist. Otherwise, how could my existence be explained?"
"However, I do not believe in gods."
"I do not fear them either."
"And I certainly do not fear a group of fools who merely call themselves gods."
Veins bulged across the Celestial Dragon's forehead.
Had other World Nobles been present, their reaction would have been no less violent.
Nothing enraged them more than hearing their supposed divine bloodline denied.
The voice ignored his anger.
"If you are truly a god, then stop it."
"Stop what is about to happen."
Boom!
A violent explosion shook Mary Geoise.
The deafening sound penetrated the conference hall's thick walls and reached everyone inside.
Those walls had been constructed from special steel more than ten centimeters thick and offered excellent soundproofing.
For the explosion to be heard so clearly from within the chamber, the blast outside had to be enormous.
The Celestial Dragon immediately began issuing orders.
"Search the entire surrounding area!"
"Move everyone attending this conference to the Sacred Palace!"
He turned toward Sengoku.
"Organize the Marines outside this district and investigate what happened!"
Sengoku nodded and moved at once.
However, he did not follow the order exactly.
He brought Vice Admiral Momonga with him, choosing an officer with extensive command experience.
The Celestial Dragon silently permitted it.
Once they had left the conference hall, Momonga spoke quietly.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, did he issue that order because he suspects us?"
Sengoku glanced at him.
"That's right."
"The voice responded directly to his questions."
"From his perspective, that means the speaker may have been inside the conference room."
"Therefore, everyone present became a suspect."
"Including the Marines."
Momonga had already guessed as much, but hearing it confirmed still left him uncomfortable.
Sengoku noticed his expression.
"Don't dwell on it."
"Our priority is identifying the source of that explosion."
He began giving orders.
"Momonga, gather the Marines at the blast site immediately."
"Notify Borsalino as well. With his speed, the enemy will have little chance of escaping once located."
"Have Kuzan and Sakazuki remain on standby."
"We cannot allow the attacker to exploit a gap in our defenses."
Momonga nodded and left to carry out the instructions.
Meanwhile, the conference hall had been emptied.
The kings, envoys, and Marine representatives had all been transferred to a distant location.
Only the presiding Celestial Dragon and his personal guards remained behind, waiting for further news.
Then the Celestial Dragon frowned.
"Who are you?"
A child stood directly in front of him.
Axel.
Yet none of the bodyguards reacted.
They remained motionless at their posts, their eyes blankly scanning the room as though no one else were present.
The Celestial Dragon immediately realized how foolish his question sounded.
"Are you the killer?"
"Yes," Axel answered.
His voice was flat.
The Celestial Dragon showed no fear, even though he had discovered that his body could no longer move.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Do you truly believe that killing a few Celestial Dragons will overthrow our rule?"
"Are you with the Revolutionary Army?"
That was the only motive he could imagine for such assassinations.
"I am not."
Axel's expression remained unchanged.
"I have no interest in them."
The Celestial Dragon raised his voice.
"Then why are you doing this?"
"I am searching for myself."
The Celestial Dragon stared at him.
Searching for himself?
What an absurd reason.
Yet that absurd reason had driven this child to challenge the Celestial Dragons inside Mary Geoise itself.
For a moment, he did not know how to respond.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Axel asked.
The Celestial Dragon studied him.
"How did you do it?"
Axel tilted his head slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"You were never inside the conference hall, were you?"
Before the meeting, the Celestial Dragon had ordered the surrounding area searched.
No one suspicious had been found.
The surveillance systems had revealed nothing either.
That was why he had focused his suspicions on those attending the conference.
To protect himself, he had ordered everyone moved to another location where they could be closely monitored.
Axel nodded.
So that was what he wanted to know.
"No wonder."
The Celestial Dragon's voice carried a trace of realization.
"Then tell me."
"How did you answer my questions if you weren't here?"
"Human thought patterns are relatively simple," Axel replied.
"I predicted what you would ask and how you would respond."
The Celestial Dragon fell silent.
Then he smiled bitterly.
"I see."
"Thinking back, your answers were vague."
"They never addressed anything specific."
"They were only meant to mislead me."
His expression gradually darkened as he understood more.
"And the explosion was intended to prevent me from considering that possibility."
"No... it did more than that."
"Without the explosion, I would never have suspected the Marines."
"Only they possess enough power to cause such destruction in the middle of Mary Geoise."
"I accepted that assumption without question."
"Then I became suspicious of the Marines and ordered them away."
The bitter smile deepened.
"My own decisions isolated me from them."
Step by step, his own orders had brought him into this situation.
"You are terrifying."
The Celestial Dragon's voice became solemn.
"However, the Celestial Dragons are far more complicated than you understand."
"Our continued existence is not supported by bloodline alone."
"There are things protecting us that you know nothing about."
"If you continue down this path, you will eventually destroy yourself."
"Perhaps destruction would be an acceptable ending."
Axel looked at him calmly.
"Now die."
The room fell silent.
The Celestial Dragon's hand began to tremble.
Slowly, it moved toward the gold and bronze pistol secured at his waist.
His fingers wrapped around the weapon and drew it.
The nearby bodyguards still showed no reaction.
They remained beside him, maintaining their protective formation while failing to see what was happening before their eyes.
The Celestial Dragon's arm rose against his will.
The barrel turned toward his own forehead.
His trembling finger settled over the trigger.
Just as he had done countless times while executing prisoners, he pulled it.
Bang!
The gunshot echoed across the empty hall.
Only then did the bodyguards react.
Panicked cries erupted around the fallen Celestial Dragon.
But by the time they understood what had happened, Axel had already vanished like a passing breeze.
....
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