Because Dinisha had pulled back at the last second, the Celestial Dragon wasn't seriously hurt.
Still, after being sent flying, he crawled out of the rubble in a miserable heap. His face had slammed into the wall, and blood was now pouring from his nose.
The moment he saw the red on his fingers, he completely lost it.
"Blood! I'm bleeding! I'm bleeding! Somebody get over here! I'm bleeding!"
He shrieked like a pig being slaughtered, voice sharp enough to pierce the air.
But no one came.
His guards were dead.
Everyone else had already run.
The moment he realized that, panic twisted into rage. He spotted Dinisha nearby, her sword still stained with blood, and his expression turned feral.
"You... you filthy commoner! How dare you lay a hand on me?! I am a descendant of the Creator!"
His voice rose into a hysterical scream.
"I'll have all of you captured! I'll torture you slowly, piece by piece! I'll make slaves humiliate you until you beg to die! Then you'll understand exactly who I am!"
The more he spoke, the fouler it became.
Even Dinisha, who normally didn't waste energy on trash, was starting to look annoyed.
Beside her, Esdeath raised a hand.
A sharp spear of ice formed in the air, its tip aimed straight at the Celestial Dragon's chest.
But before she could launch it, Kurogane Ren lifted an arm and stopped her.
Dinisha stepped forward, grabbed the Celestial Dragon by the collar, and pressed her blade against his throat.
"Captain," she said coldly, "why keep garbage like this alive? Let me cut him down."
Only then did real fear appear in the Celestial Dragon's eyes.
His whole body started shaking.
"I-I'm a World Noble... If you touch me... an Admiral will come..."
Ren walked up to him, calm as ever, then smiled.
"That's exactly what we're waiting for."
He turned toward the others.
"We're going to Area 60."
At first, Ren had still been wondering who would become the first sacrificial lamb for the Myriad Realms Pirates' grand return to the world stage.
Then a Celestial Dragon had delivered himself straight to Ren's doorstep.
Perfect.
Ren's plan was simple.
Take the Celestial Dragon hostage.
Draw out a Marine Admiral.
Then beat that Admiral senseless in front of the entire world.
That would be his declaration.
That would be his warning.
That would tell the sea exactly how terrifying the Myriad Realms Pirates had become.
As for whether they could actually pull it off...
Ren had more than enough confidence.
One-on-one, an Admiral might be a nightmare.
But with him, Esdeath, and Dinisha working together?
No Admiral was putting them down quickly.
And as for the rest of the Marines...
With a Celestial Dragon in hand, Ren had absolutely nothing to fear.
Then he pulled out Morgans' Den Den Mushi.
Pururururu...
The line connected almost instantly.
"Ren? What is it?" Morgans asked.
Ren's lips curled upward.
"I've got a huge story for you. Interested?"
Morgans laughed immediately.
"Interested? Of course I'm interested! What is it?"
Ren answered in the calmest tone imaginable, as if he were commenting on the weather.
"I kidnapped a Celestial Dragon."
Silence.
Then—
"What?!"
Morgans' voice jumped so high it almost cracked.
"Ren, what did you just say?!"
"I kidnapped a Celestial Dragon."
On the other end, Morgans sucked in a sharp breath.
He had expected a major story.
He had not expected this.
No one had dared attack a Celestial Dragon in years. It had been so long that even he could barely remember the last time it happened.
This wasn't just big news.
This was a bomb.
Morgans' tone changed at once.
"What do you need from me?"
Ren didn't hesitate.
"Get every reporter your paper has on Sabaody. Cameras. Visual Den Den Mushi. Everything. Send them all to Area 60."
Morgans froze for half a second.
Area 60 was where the Marine base and World Government personnel were stationed.
Which meant Ren wasn't just slapping a Celestial Dragon.
He was preparing to slap the World Government across the face in public.
Morgans' blood started boiling.
"No problem."
The moment the call ended, he roared at his people.
"All reporters on Sabaody, move to Area 60 immediately! There's a world-shaking story there! Whoever gives me the best coverage gets promoted three levels, and their annual bonus doubles!"
Under the temptation of money and promotion, reporters flooded toward Area 60 like a swarm.
By the time Ren and the others arrived, the Marines stationed there had already gotten the news.
So had the journalists.
The entire area was in chaos.
"Esdeath," Ren said, "make us a stage. Put the Celestial Dragon on top. Xu Nian, keep an eye on him. We'll wait for the Admiral here."
Esdeath smiled faintly.
Then she waved a hand.
Ice burst from the ground.
In an instant, a colossal pillar of ice rose into the sky, over a hundred meters high, lifting Ren and the others above the entire battlefield.
Below them, the Marines' expressions turned ugly.
The moment they had learned what happened, they'd tried to move in.
But the Myriad Realms Pirates were holding the Celestial Dragon hostage.
The instant the Marines made so much as the slightest move, a blade went straight to his throat.
Now they could only surround the area, call for reinforcements, and pray no idiot made the situation worse.
…
"What? A Celestial Dragon was kidnapped on Sabaody?"
At Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sengoku's face darkened.
"Yes, Fleet Admiral. The culprits have been confirmed. It's the captain of the Myriad Realms Pirates and his crew."
Sengoku hung up and pressed a hand to his forehead.
"Of all times..."
The Marines were already in terrible shape.
The New World was a complete powder keg.
The battle for the title of Fourth Emperor had thrown the sea into chaos.
The Red-Hair Pirates had already won acknowledgment from both the Whitebeard Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates. If they gained the recognition of the Beasts Pirates as well, then Red-Hair Shanks would officially become the fourth ruler of the sea.
And with the New World on the verge of another storm, Marine manpower was stretched to the limit.
Though both Akainu and Kizaru were still at Headquarters, there were barely any Vice Admirals left on standby.
Even Garp—that old bastard who never acted serious—had been forced out on assignment.
Sengoku considered it for a moment, then made his choice.
"Kizaru. Send Kizaru."
There was no way he was sending Akainu.
If Akainu handled this badly, Sengoku seriously suspected the man might "solve" the problem by killing the Celestial Dragon too.
When Kizaru received the order, he let out a long, tired sigh.
"How troublesome..."
Still, he boarded a ship and set out for Sabaody.
…
"Good Fortune Ren! Release the Celestial Dragon at once, or we'll open fire!"
The Marines below the pillar kept shouting.
But the threat meant nothing.
They didn't dare fire.
If even one shell hit the Celestial Dragon, they'd all be finished.
And as the story spread, more and more reporters kept arriving.
Some had already set up Visual Den Den Mushi and started broadcasting live.
The Marines wanted to stop them.
But the moment they moved, Ren's group put a blade to the Celestial Dragon's neck and warned them to back off.
The Marines were trapped.
Then, suddenly—
A streak of yellow light cut across the sky.
It descended, condensed, and slowly took human form.
The Admiral had arrived.
Kizaru.
The Marines below lit up at once.
"Admiral Kizaru!"
The reporters all swung their cameras toward him.
Under countless lenses, Kizaru stood in the center of the square and carried himself with all the dignity expected of a Marine Admiral.
He looked up at the towering ice pillar.
"Release the Celestial Dragon immediately," he said in a grave voice. "If you do, I guarantee you'll only be sent to Impel Down."
Not a single person on the pillar reacted.
Then Esdeath stepped forward and looked down at him with obvious interest.
"So you're the Marines' strongest combat force?"
Kizaru glanced at her.
"Yes."
Esdeath's smile widened.
"Good."
Then she laughed.
"Then let me see what an Admiral can do."
The next second, she raised her hand.
A massive ice meteor formed high above the battlefield.
Against a Marine Admiral, opening with a meteor felt like the proper level of respect.
Then Esdeath leaped from the pillar.
As she fell, slabs of ice formed one after another beneath her feet, building a frozen staircase through the air as she charged straight toward Kizaru.
Kizaru looked up at the giant frozen mass descending from the heavens.
"Yasakani no Magatama."
Countless points of golden light exploded from his hands like a storm of bullets.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each blast tore into the meteor's surface.
Bit by bit, it shattered apart in midair.
Broken ice rained down like a storm of white hail.
The people below were stunned.
Only when the shattered chunks began smashing into the streets around them did the crowd finally wake up and start screaming.
They scattered in every direction, desperate to escape the combat zone.
But plenty of reporters stayed.
None of them wanted to miss this.
Esdeath watched Kizaru tear her ice meteor apart and grinned wider.
"Not bad."
Then she raised her hand again.
"Then take another one."
A second ice meteor began to form.
Kizaru looked up, sighed, and said in the same lazy voice as before—
"How terrifying."
[Author Note]
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