"Your Majesty? Your Majesty?"
Hathaway seized a gap in the fawning praises, lowering her voice to call into Nero's ear.
"Hmm, what is it, Hathaway? Do you also wish to praise Me? No matter! Sing loudly! I am not shy!"
Nero turned around, thinking Hathaway also wanted to compliment Her, Her eyes sparkling.
Looking at Nero's eyes, Hathaway fell silent. She now highly suspected that Nero had completely forgotten the purpose of today.
And even if you want me to praise you, have you forgotten that I personally styled this outfit?
"Ah~ Your Majesty is truly beautiful! Oh, the world's number one!"
Finally, Hathaway spoke. Although her tone was very perfunctory, His Majesty Nero still caught the main point: the world's number one beautiful!
"Hmm, indeed, that is the most fitting title for My beauty, I..."
Nero covered Her chest with one hand and raised the other high, preparing for a long speech, but Hathaway stopped Her in time.
"Your Majesty, is it not time yet?"
"Time? What time? Listening to the voices of My subjects is an important part of an emperor's work!"
"But your Celestial Dragons ceremony cannot be delayed any longer."
"Celestial Dragons ceremony? Hmm..."
Seeing Nero's sudden realization, Hathaway knew her guess was correct; this person had truly forgotten everything.
"Did you really forget?"
"Hmm... How could I possibly!"
Any emperor knows that an emperor never makes mistakes. What you perceive as errors are merely part of a longer-term consideration.
Nero was naturally the same; the thought process of an all-talented emperor was simply beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals.
Nero reined in Her smile, only to find Her face somewhat stiff from smiling.
"Between the Celestial Dragons ceremony and My charm, which one holds more sway? Clearly, time is a powerful judge."
Meeting Hathaway's half-moon eyes, drooped in exasperation, Nero turned Her head away.
"However, the time is almost right now, and the ceremony is about to officially begin. Hmm, let me finish listening to this first."
Only after the nobleman below had finished his praises did Nero reluctantly stop the praise session.
And decided that this outfit should be worn out occasionally from now on.
Hathaway stepped forward by half a pace, only half a body behind Nero: "The Celestial Dragons ceremony now officially begins. Please welcome Jaygarcia Satan Saint to the stage!"
Satan Saint remained seated, his face dark and displeased. As a god descending to the defiled earth, he had already given Nero enough face.
But the other party truly gave him no face at all. First, he was made to wait bitterly outside the door, then forced to listen to this boring flattery session, and in the end, a mere maid was sent to dismiss him!
His eyes were fixed on Nero. In such an occasion, at least Nero-kin should speak personally, right?
Satan Saint remained motionless, and Hathaway called out again: "Please welcome Jaygarcia Satan Saint to the stage!"
There was no other sound in the spacious hall; it was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Hathaway's voice seemed to echo, reverberating continuously in the empty space.
A strange atmosphere began to spread. The air grew heavy, and Spandine and others found it difficult to breathe.
Seeing that Satan Saint still did not react, Hathaway did not call out a third time but lowered her head and retreated to her original position.
Satan Saint's eyes were only on Nero, not glancing at anyone around him. His scorching gaze was like black flames, cold yet possessing the quality of a raging fire.
Annoyed by this gaze, Nero finally looked up, violent red climbing in Her emerald eyes.
She followed the gaze to Satan Saint: "Hmm, are you deaf? How did you become a Gorosei? Can you not hear what Hathaway said?"
'...Eh????' xN
The World Government personnel watched this scene in disbelief. Nero actually spoke such rebellious words to the supreme Gorosei, Satan Saint?
It's over... When they return later, will they be silenced?
However, Satan Saint's reaction was precisely the opposite of what they anticipated. Not only was he not angry, but he felt a wave of fear.
The Ushi-Oni within him was afraid, wildly clamoring to escape. The experts present all noticed Satan Saint's body subtly tilting by an arc.
Not much, only about 10 degrees, which was an instinctive urge to flee, suppressed by the body's strong rationality.
If one looked closely, one could even see Satan Saint's body still trembling slightly.
He finally saw the tip of the iceberg of Nero's unique qualities that Imu had spoken of.
A profound, bottomless malevolence and demonic nature, a tyranny that seemed to want to destroy everything, transformed into a ferocious demonic dragon looking at him through Nero's eyes, like... an enemy of civilization.
This so-called Celestial Dragons coronation ceremony was entirely a bargaining chip to win over Nero. He now understood Imu's foresight; no one who had met such a monster once would ever wish to be its enemy.
"My apologies! I'm getting old, and my ears aren't as good as they used to be. I will now perform the Celestial Dragons ceremony for His Majesty Nero."
Without using the word 'coronation,' Satan Saint's attitude instantly became much more humble.
Having understood Nero's importance, he deeply realized that if Nero did not become a Celestial Dragons, he might even be executed by Imu.
Because Nero's importance far exceeded theirs, even completely on par with Joy Boy.
Everyone else was stunned by Satan Saint's humble demeanor. The god residing in the Holy Land, the world's highest authority, actually showed this attitude towards Nero?
Incredible!
Like a dream!
Except for the locals of Nicuss, everyone else was shocked into a daze, staring blankly at this scene.
"Hmm, then hurry up! Don't delay My lunch time." Nero was not surprised by his attitude, urging him on with even more impatience.
"Alright, coming right away! It won't delay your meal time, Nero." Satan Saint completely shed his previous sinister demeanor, smiling amiably like a kind old man next door.
Even his address became more intimate, not adding 'Your Majesty' but directly calling her Nero. The shift in attitude before and after had a strange sense of fawning.
With that, he nimbly walked onto the high platform amidst everyone's astonished gazes.
"Then the ceremony officially begins, bestowing the identity of a High-ranking Celestial Dragons upon Nero Claudius Palace."
Behind him, a CP0 knelt on the ground, holding up a tray with both hands, on which lay a magnificent white-gold medal.
Nero looked at the uniquely styled medal, very satisfied... And on this very day, a child in Foosha Village in East Blue ate a legendary Devil Fruit.
The pointer of time, unknowingly, had secretly advanced a large step...
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