The palace gates opened again, and Ross strolled out slowly.
As they walked out, two CP0 guards returned with the nearly dead Guernika. Upon seeing Ross, they both bowed respectfully.
Ross ignored them, simply passing by the three before heading towards his palace.
People have different fates, and even with considerable ability, one cannot change them.
Guernika had greeted him at the door simply because Saint Saturn wanted to test his character and magnanimity.
Since Saint Saturn wanted to see it, then let him see it.
He would protect the people he cared about with his own strength.
Those who didn't matter were nothing more than pawns.
Ross leisurely returned to his palace, where the others were already waiting as he entered the front hall.
As he faced the concerned gazes of various people, Ross felt somewhat dazed.
After being here for so long, he was no longer alone.
His small group had begun to take shape.
"Master, the rooms have been assigned. Would you like to take a bath now, or..."
Stella changed into a maid's outfit and walked gracefully and appropriately to Ross.
She didn't feel there was anything wrong with her current life.
She had anticipated her current life from the moment she was sent to the slave shop.
As for her current life, it was much better than some of the rumors circulating online.
Compared to them, the slaves of the other Celestial Dragons lived a truly miserable life.
Being able to be Ross's slave was her good fortune.
"For now, please help Rouge settle Ace in."
Ross glanced at Ace, who was already asleep, and a smile appeared on his lips.
Neither of them mentioned Ace during their conversation with Saint Saturn.
While Saint Saturn likely didn't know the full picture, it was a fact that Zane had eliminated one of the family's CP0 members. Saint Saturn could definitely guess something from that.
However, the two tacitly avoided mentioning it.
The main reason was that Roger, now dead, had lost his value.
Even if Saint Saturn knew that Roger's bloodline was in Ross's hands, he wouldn't say anything more.
After Roger died, none of that mattered anymore.
Even while he was alive, as long as he didn't violate any taboos of the World Government, Saint Saturn and others wouldn't deliberately target him.
The Great Pirate Era was something the Marines had to worry about; they didn't care about the lower world at all.
A more chaotic environment made it easier for them to collect the Heavenly Tribute.
After Stella left with Rouge and Ace, Ross gave a brief explanation of the subsequent arrangements:
"The Five Elders in charge of this Celestial Hunt is the Environmental War God Marcus Saint Mars. Zephyr will most likely be assigned to the guard team and will not participate in this Celestial Hunt."
"Is this a disguised way of weakening our strength?" Gion frowned slightly.
While Ross went to find Saint Saturn, they weren't idle either. Zephyr obtained information about Baterilla Island in the North Sea through CP channels.
Baterilla Island was located on the edge of the doldrums and was not on the main shipping lanes. Its economy, technology, and even level of civilization were not high.
The only unique feature of this island was that it had a small amount of Seastone.
Initially, the World Government adopted a conciliatory policy, allowing Baterilla Island to join the member state system by paying the Heavenly Tribute in lieu of exploiting the Seastone mine.
Unfortunately, they were rejected by the island's natives.
Those natives had no idea what a World Government was, let alone pay any Heavenly Tribute.
After being rejected, the World Government originally intended to keep the land but not the people, but considering that there wasn't much Seastone on the island, it would not be worthwhile to spend energy exploiting it, so in the end they adopted the form of trade.
Baterilla Island was originally located in a remote area and its level of civilization was not high.
In the beginning, the World Government used a small amount of agricultural products to encourage the natives to mine.
The natives harvested food, and the World Government obtained Seastone.
In the original deal, both sides were quite happy.
The situation changed again when the Great Pirate Era began.
After the Great Pirate Era began, countless people flocked to the sea in search of the treasure Roger spoke of. Even islands like Baterilla Island, which were not on the main shipping lanes, were frequently visited by large numbers of pirates.
This exchange of information, unsurprisingly, went awry.
Feeling cheated, Baterilla Island immediately broke its contract with the World Government and sold the Seastone to pirates.
This wasn't a big deal. Normally, the World Government could easily resolve it by sending a few CP9 members.
However, this incident happened to coincide with the Celestial Hunt, and it was singled out as a target of the Celestial Hunt, used as the first typical example after the start of the Great Pirate Era.
Neither Zephyr nor Gion had much affection for the natives of Baterilla Island.
Therefore, Gion's top priority was how to help Ross defeat Saint Shamrock.
"It's not really about weakening our strength. Admiral-level experts wouldn't participate in the Celestial Hunt anyway; they'd only serve as outer defenses. If we let experts of that level participate, then there'd be no point in having anyone else involved," Ross shook his head.
"Then this time, I'll go with you."
Gion offered her own idea: Ross was very strong with his Devil Fruit powers, but only in specific battles.
If Ross were to encounter a martial arts expert of the same level, his strength would be greatly diminished.
This time the battlefield was on an island, where it was difficult to obtain the seawater amplification from the Model: Watatsumi, so Ross would still face some danger.
"We'll act together then."
Ross nodded slightly; this was something he had already been considering.
Gion's strength was not weak now. After thoroughly familiarizing herself with the Devil Fruit in the past six months, her overall rating had not changed, but her combat power was much stronger than before.
"By the way, the great sword I promised you will be delivered soon. Its name is Konpira."
Since Gion's previous sword was Konpira, Ross wouldn't go looking for other famous swords.
Given the forging standards of this world, even famous swords were just so-so.
The difference between a Great Grade Sword and a Supreme Grade Sword lay only in the person wielding the sword, not in the sword itself.
Great swordsmen typically wielded black swords, while those that were not black swords were often large, high-grade swords nurtured by the swordsman using Armament Haki.
The so-called Supreme Grade Swords Twelve were twelve black swords that had been nurtured to the extreme by Armament Haki.
Once you picked up a knife, it was not necessarily the person who controlled the knife; rather, it was more likely that the domineering aura contained within the knife controlled the person.
"Konpira? Is that the one in the Marine's treasury?"
Gion looked at Ross with surprise, truly not expecting to obtain this sword.
Life was unpredictable. She had never expected that even though she chose to leave the Marines, she would eventually get her hands on the sword she had always longed for.
"Saint Ross asked me about this knife before, so he must have specifically inquired about your experience in the training camp," Zephyr added from the side.
As people got older, they tended to enjoy seeing things that were heartwarming and loving.
Seeing that the student had found a good place to live still made him feel quite emotional.
But this wasn't something he made up; Saint Ross had actually confirmed it with him and even asked him to get the knife from the Marines for 1.5 billion Berries.
These past few days had given Zephyr a more comprehensive understanding of Ross.
Ross might have some personality issues, but he was definitely a good boss.
...
Smash that @Powerstone!
Drop a quick @Review!
Every vote = 5 Chapters/Day