The butler beside him was completely dumbfounded.
He knew the Celestial Dragons were often foolish, but he didn't expect one to be this idiotic.
Did he even realize who was standing before them?
That man was the Sword Demon, a name that struck fear across the entire sea!
A person like that—if he ever chose to join the World Government or the Navy—would be guaranteed a position of immense authority. And yet, this fool dared to say he wanted to make him a slave?
The butler subtly gestured to someone behind him. The man gave a slight nod and quietly retreated to take out a Den Den Mushi.
As for the people kneeling all around, they were already thinking of escaping. Who knew what chaos was about to erupt here?
Make the Sword Demon a slave? Was this something a sane person could even imagine?
This Celestial Dragon was clearly a moron!
When a fight breaks out, who knows whether the Celestial Dragon and Viss will survive—but they were certain they wouldn't.
"Saint Jolarude," the butler tried to reason earnestly, "that man over there is extremely famous on the seas. His combat power is on par with Admiral Kizaru. He's fought the Yonko Kaido to a standstill, recently battled Mihawk to a draw, and even defeated the Heavenly Yaksha!"
"Really? That powerful?" Jolarude said, suddenly excited. "Then I definitely want him as my slave!"
…
The butler nearly collapsed on the spot.
He had deliberately exaggerated Weiss' achievements to scare the Celestial Dragon into backing off. He wanted to make it clear: this man is not someone you can afford to provoke.
But instead of being scared, this fool got even more interested?
Is it even possible for someone to be this stupid!?
How could a man like this dare claim to be a descendant of the gods!?
"A slave with power like that? I bet even Charlos doesn't have someone like him. He's practically at admiral level!" Jolarude continued, fantasizing aloud. "With him in the arena, I'll be unbeatable! The other Celestial Dragons will praise me endlessly!"
He was getting more and more excited, already imagining Weiss winning battle after battle in his name.
"Go capture him for me—now!" Jolarude suddenly commanded.
"Wait! Please wait, Saint Jolarude!" the butler cried. "We don't have the strength for this! Everyone here will be dead before we lay a hand on him, and if your noble body is injured, we'll all be doomed!"
The butler wiped sweat from his forehead with a silk handkerchief. Arguing with a Celestial Dragon was suicide, but dying now and dying later were two very different things.
"How dare these people defy us, the noble descendants of the gods?" the Celestial Dragon woman, Philia, sneered from the side.
"Of course commoners don't usually dare," the butler said with a forced smile. "Your Grace, Lady Philia, as you know, all the slaves in the Holy Land are fully tamed—but before that, many of them were extremely violent. And this man in front of us? He's the infamous Sword Demon, famed throughout the seas. He's incredibly powerful. We must tread carefully!"
He was stalling for time, hoping someone—anyone—would come to deescalate this disaster.
Meanwhile, he cursed the dead CP agent who'd picked a fight with the Sword Demon. If not for that idiot, he wouldn't be stuck here—sandwiched between a walking apocalypse and a suicidal Celestial Dragon.
"Brother, Sister," another Celestial Dragon suddenly spoke up, snot dribbling from his nose. "That lowly commoner is right. I've watched untamed slaves before—they resist a lot. I even got to try subduing one myself. It was delightful! Let me tame this one if we catch him!"
"Well then," Jolarude said, nodding thoughtfully. "Why don't you go talk to him first? After all, it's a great honor to receive such attention from a Celestial Dragon!"
He ordered the butler to go negotiate with Weiss.
At that moment, everyone kneeling around them and the butler himself felt as if a stampede of ten thousand wild horses had trampled through their hearts. Thunder seemed to roll in their minds.
Make someone your slave—and you call that an honor?
But unable to defy the order, the sweating butler slowly made his way toward Weiss, who stood with a cold, dangerous expression.
He saw the two women standing behind Weiss and suddenly remembered a report: someone had once tried to capture those women and sell them as slaves to the Celestial Dragons—only to end up dead.
The butler had originally considered reporting this to gain favor, but upon learning the women were part of the Sword Demon's crew, he gave up that idea immediately.
He wasn't an idiot—he knew what would happen if he crossed this man.
He just never expected to run into Weiss anyway.
Now he hated that dead CP agent even more.
Standing before Weiss, the butler trembled and stammered, sweat pouring down his face. "S-Sword Demon-sama, please forgive me. You know how… special the minds of the Celestial Dragons are…"
There was no one nearby, so he dared to speak a little more boldly.
"So," Weiss said coolly, "you're here to convince me to accept that so-called 'glorious honor'?"
This butler was surprisingly bold—he actually dared to say that?
Weiss had heard everything just moments ago.
He wasn't planning to start a war with the World Government just yet—but if they kept pushing…
Well, the world might soon find itself with three fewer Celestial Dragons.
This had to be settled properly.
Let others fear the Admirals if they wanted.
But he, Weiss, was not afraid.
Now that Kadun had eaten the Cloud Control Fruit, even if the Admirals came in force, they could just fly away.
What else could they do? Run, if needed. Simple as that.
"N-no, no! Of course not!" the butler said hastily. "I only came to negotiate, Sir Weiss. I've already ordered someone to make a call. They'll contact the World Government directly. Soon, a command will come down from above, ordering Saint Jolarude to drop this."
"Does that sound acceptable to you?"
The butler was terrified Weiss might slice him down at any moment. But this was the best solution he could think of.
Weiss gave a slight nod. "That's better. But what about my mental damages and the loss to my reputation? Who's paying for that?"
Weiss was not someone who let offenses slide.
He didn't care who you were—if you messed with him, you'd better be ready to pay.
If there were no consequences, wouldn't that make the cost of crime far too cheap?
"Of course! Absolutely! No problem!" the butler said hurriedly. "Once the World Government issues the order, we'll patch you through. Someone from the top will personally negotiate compensation with you. Would that be acceptable?"
The butler was now cursing the man who was supposed to be making the call.
"Damn it, what's taking so long to make a simple phone call!?"
…
Marine Headquarters – Sengoku's Office
Inside the Admiral's office, Sengoku was sipping coffee while Garp and Kizaru munched on donuts without a care in the world.
Brrr brrr!
The Den Den Mushi rang.
Sengoku frowned when he saw it. It was a CP line—he really didn't want to answer.
"Moshi moshi, Sengoku here."
"Hello, is this Fleet Admiral Sengoku?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"We encountered the Sword Demon with Saint Jolarude in Sabaody."
"What? Did a fight break out? Was the Celestial Dragon injured?" Sengoku asked urgently. If there was a battle, only Kizaru could arrive in time.
"No, no! No fighting!"
"Then what's going on?" Sengoku frowned. He didn't like where this was going.
"Well… um…"
"Hurry up and spit it out! Since when were CP agents so wishy-washy!?" Sengoku snapped.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, you may not believe this, but… Saint Jolarude wants to make the Sword Demon his slave."
PFT!!
Cough! Cough!