Every time Charlia thought about it, the angrier she became. She turned around to look at Dolores, who was behind her, writhing on the ground like a worm in panic, then walked over with bloodshot eyes from sheer rage and kicked her viciously.
"You idiot! All height and no brains! This is all your fault! You're the one who got this noble lady captured by mere trash!
When we return to the Holy Land, I'll become everyone's laughingstock, and Father will scold me, too!
No wonder everyone in the Holy Land despises the Don Quixote family. All of your family members are born idiots!
Homing Saint, who left the Holy Land long ago, and his family were like that, your brother Mjosgard Saint is the same, and you're no different from them!"
Although Dolores had displayed considerable strength during her fight with Peter, she was now like a fish out of water, able to do nothing but lie on the ground while receiving Charlia's kicks, screaming in pain as tears and snot covered her face.
"Ah...! Stop hitting me, Sister Charlia! I was wrong! Please forgive me! Save me... I can't breathe!"
Dolores cried out pleadingly, yet she didn't even notice that despite claiming she couldn't breathe, she was still able to scream and speak loudly.
But Charlia had no intention of stopping. Instead, she sat on top of her and began raining punches down on her head violently.
"Shut up, you useless thing! You have no right to call me sister!
Not only will I beat you to death, but when we return to the Holy Land, I'll ask Father and the other families to strike the Donquixote Family from among the Celestial Dragon Families!"
"Waaah... No! I was wrong! I won't do it again! Don't expel me from the family! I would rather not become one of the commoners!"
Dolores continued crying and begging, but that did nothing to stop Charlia from continuing her assault.
In the cell opposite them, Bonney watched the entire scene.
"Is that green-haired woman an idiot? She believes everything she's told! Since when can the Celestial Dragon Families erase each other?"
Bonney mocked inwardly, completely defeated by this woman's level of stupidity.
But when she listened to Dolores's continuous screams, she furrowed her brows confused.
She had seen with her own eyes that tall green-haired Celestial Dragon display astonishing strength during the fight.
She simply couldn't understand why she had surrendered herself to Charlia, who was a whole head shorter than her, whose punches and kicks carried hardly any force.
Unable to figure it out, she couldn't bear watching any longer and called out,
"Hey, green-haired one, what are you doing? Get up and hit her back!"
Charlia stopped punching, and Dolores stopped crying as well, the two of them turning together toward the source of the voice.
When they discovered there was someone else in the cells, Charlia ignored the idiot beneath her, hurried to her feet, grabbed the cell bars, and ordered Bonney,
"Excellent! Trash! I command you to release me immediately!"
As for Dolores, despite her face having already turned into a bloody mess, she got up as though nothing had happened and said excitedly,
"Trash, do you know who I am? I am descended from the gods, Dolores Gong of the Donquixote Family!
Hurry and let me out, and afterward I'll guarantee you'll become my favorite slave!"
"Shut up, you idiot!"
Charlia glared at her fiercely, unable to believe she had been burdened with a companion this stupid.
Then she turned to Bonney and said,
"Don't listen to that idiot. If you release me, I'll make you the chief servant of my slaves.
It's the highest position among all my slaves."
Bonney placed a hand over her face in despair.
"There's really no hope for you."
She was already beginning to regret interfering in the first place.
Even in this situation, they were still repeating words like "trash" and "slave" without realizing the most basic facts.
"Hey! Do you hear me, trash? The Creator's granddaughter is speaking to you!"
"You there! Hurry and let us out!"
Bonney had had enough of their shouting. She lay back on her bed, pulled the blanket over her head, then replied irritably,
"Shut up, you two idiots. If I could get out, I would've left long ago. Who would stay here of their own free will?"
"What?! You dare call me an idiot?! Do you have a death wish?!"
Charlia gasped in shock, then her chest rose and fell violently with rage.
What in the world was wrong with today? How had everyone suddenly become bold enough to oppose the Celestial Dragons? We are the Creator's descendants. Don't these pieces of trash know the meaning of gratitude?
While Charlia was drowning in anger, Dolores suddenly pointed toward Bonney's cell and said,
"Sister Charlia! Look, she's locked up just like us in the slave room!"
"Shut up! This isn't a slave room!
Any place where a Celestial Dragon resides is a palace, no matter how shabby it is!"
Dolores's words seemed to ignite Charlia's anger all over again, or perhaps it was because the last glimmer of hope she had shattered when she realized Bonney couldn't help her.
She shoved Dolores to the ground once more, sat on top of her, and resumed beating and insulting her.
Dolores, who had lived a pampered life since childhood, had never been treated like this before.
With every blow, the pain from her wounds intensified, causing her to let out heart-rending screams.
But because of her stupidity, she kept remembering the Celestial Dragons' rule forbidding them from fighting one another, and therefore never struck back.
This only made Charlia go even further, venting all the humiliation, fear, and anger she felt onto her.
As for Bonney, lying on her bed, she was on the verge of a mental breakdown as she listened to the curses, blows, and screams coming from the opposite cell.
"Can somebody separate those two idiots?!
Admirals! Where are you two?!
If you don't get here quickly, one of your masters is going to kill the other!"
Island No. 13 Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
Inside the bar, Admiral Aokiji Kuzan and Admiral Kizaru Borsalino were drinking together, each with an arm draped over the other's shoulder.
Suddenly...
"Achoo! Achoo!"
Kuzan wiped his nose and looked around, confused.
"Ara ra... What's going on? I'm not even at the point of getting drunk in the streets yet, so how did I catch a cold?"
Meanwhile, Borsalino rubbed his nose with a teasing expression and said,
"It makes sense for me to catch a cold, but you... An Ice Man, can you get sick too? How strange."
Kuzan slammed the table with his bottle and said unhappily,
"What nonsense is that? An Ice Man is still a human being, and it's perfectly normal to catch a cold!"
Borsalino nodded as though he had finally understood the truth.
"I see... Then drink up. One more bottle, and the cold will disappear."
Kuzan burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha! You're right, Borsalino."
Shakky, the owner of the bar, watched the two with a gloomy expression, tapping her cigarette against the table before lighting it.
She exhaled a puff of smoke and said mockingly,
"I think someone is cursing you two for slacking off here.
Is this really appropriate?
Two Marine Admirals refusing to hunt down the criminal who attacked the Celestial Dragons, hiding in my little bar, drinking until all my customers have run away."
Kuzan burped and said indifferently,
"It's fine. At times like these, an Admiral can't be dispatched so easily.
As for the two Celestial Dragon ladies we're supposed to rescue... I've seen their pictures, and they're both beautiful.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they stayed with that man for another couple of days.
Who knows? Perhaps one of them will carry his child, and then we'll bring both of them and the child back to the Holy Land. That way, we won't have to think about how to deal with him."
After finishing, he waved his empty bottle, asking Shakky for more liquor.
Shakky shook her head and said,
"What rotten luck for those two Celestial Dragon women to have Admirals like you."
She brought them two new bottles.
Meanwhile, Kizaru said calmly,
"Kuzan... Save those words until after we leave. After all, this is a bar run by pirates. If what you said gets out, it won't be good."
He glanced toward Shakky.
Before Kuzan could reply, Shakky slammed the table and said coldly,
"Don't get the wrong idea, flashy boy. I didn't invite you into my bar. Besides, I left the pirate life behind a long time ago."
Kizaru sighed and said,
"Calling me a boy is rather harsh. But even if you've retired, it doesn't change the fact that you're a pirate. Especially since you're the former former Empress of Amazon Lily."
Shakky exhaled cigarette smoke indifferently.
"Say whatever you want. I retired years ago. Or are the two great Marine Admirals too afraid to go after the man who attacked the Celestial Dragons, so you'd rather arrest an old retired woman like me and pass it off as an achievement?"
Silence fell for several moments, and the tension between the two sides became so intense that it seemed a fight could break out at any moment.
But after more than half a minute, Kizaru was the first to back down.
He raised both hands in surrender and said,
"My apologies... I only came to have a drink. I would rather not complicate things any more than they already are."
Kuzan smiled and said,
"Exactly, Miss Shakky. We're old acquaintances. Let's talk about something more enjoyable instead of these topics."
Then he looked around the bar and asked,
"By the way... I was hoping to have a drink with another old friend, but it seems he isn't here."
Shakky sighed, exhausted by their carefree attitude, then handed each of them another bottle on the house and changed the subject.
"You mean Rayleigh? At this hour, he's either drinking and gambling in one of the casinos, or selling himself at an auction house to make some money."
The two Admirals sighed in unison.
"What a free and comfortable life..."
Their bottles clinked together once again, their voices filled with longing for retirement.
Anyone seeing them now would never believe they represented the World Government's highest military power.
While the two spent a full two hours enthusiastically discussing their dreams of retirement, Shakky finally couldn't take it anymore and asked once again,
"Do you really intend to spend the entire day here? That man is the first person since Rocks to dare attack the Celestial Dragons. Aren't you going to do anything? Aren't you afraid the World Government will hold you accountable afterward?"
Kuzan complained, already showing signs of drunkenness,
"Didn't we agree not to talk about depressing topics?"
Then he continued seriously,
"It's not that we don't want to go. That kid… is a monster among monsters. The Marines thoroughly investigated his battle with Mihawk. The world's greatest swordsman was defeated with overwhelming ease and couldn't even put up any resistance. Not even Whitebeard or Shanks could accomplish something like that, so what can the two of us possibly do?"
Kizaru nodded in agreement.
"Fighting him is impossible. At most, before leaving, I'll fire off a few laser beams while Kuzan makes some ice. Then we'll return to Headquarters and submit a report to Fleet Admiral Sengoku."
The two exchanged glances, then their bottles clinked together once again, as though everything that needed to be said had already been conveyed without words.
Even Shakky was stunned by what they had said, and she muttered,
"Is he really that powerful? Doesn't that mean he'll become the next Rocks?"
Kuzan and Kizaru shook their heads at the same time and said in solemn voices,
"No... he's someone even more dangerous than Rocks himself."