Bang—
When the last guard collapsed in a pool of blood, Luo truly panicked.
Watching the demon-like figure drawing closer, he stumbled backward in terror.
Step by step he retreated, until his foot suddenly caught on something, nearly tripping over a chain.
He turned his head with bitter resentment, then seemed to discover a lifeline as he abruptly crouched down and grabbed the chain on the ground.
At the other end of the chain was a woman with delicate features but hollow, gouged-out eye sockets.
Luo dragged her in front of himself, not daring to point his gun at Griffin but instead pressing it against the slave's forehead.
"Don't come any closer! If you take another step, I'll kill her!!"
Griffin's footsteps halted.
...
Luo's face twisted into a mad grin as he pointed at the first slave who had taken a bullet for him on the deck and screamed, "You didn't kill that slave earlier! Heh, kid, don't think I can't see through you!!"
"You can't bring yourself to do it, can you!"
"You lowly scum are all the same! Showing pity for your own kind while disrespecting the great Celestial Dragons, as if…"
"As if that makes you some kind of noble warrior!!"
"How ridiculous!!"
"How dare you! Blurring the lines between nobility and filth!!"
"We are descendants of the creators!"
"We are gods!!!!"
...
The female slave's frail body trembled. Though blind, she knew the situation was dangerous—that someone terrifying dared to assassinate Saint Luo.
Her trembling soon stilled.
In a hoarse voice, she spoke: "This… sir…"
"May… your blade bring you glory…"
Crack!!
With all her strength, she bit through her own tongue!
"Bastard!! Bastard!!! What are you doing!!!"
"You're my slave!! Who gave you permission to die!!! I'll slaughter your entire family!!!"
She didn't want to force Griffin to choose, so she made the choice herself.
Gurgle, gurgle…
Blood gushed out, flooding back into her throat.
Death by biting off one's tongue isn't caused by pain or blood loss, but by the massive flow of blood clogging the windpipe, leading to suffocation.
It's more agonizing, prolonged, and requires greater resolve than one might imagine.
Whoosh—
A glistening Ice Blade pierced through her forehead.
Instant, painless death.
...
Griffin slowly lowered his hand, his expression impassive as he spoke.
"One cannot gain anything without sacrifice."
"If you wish to obtain something, you must be prepared to pay an equivalent price."
"Do you think I'm naive enough to believe in victory without sacrifice?"
Step—
Step—
The sound of footsteps resumed, each step crushing Luo's heart.
"Luo, you'll never understand."
"For some, death is liberation."
"But for you… death is punishment."
The blade hung high, its terrifying shadow suffocating Luo, leaving him unable to even breathe.
...
"No… please, no…"
Luo's protective glass helmet had long since shattered, his hair plastered against his sweat-drenched face.
Crouching and retreating like a stray dog, he stretched his hands forward as if trying to block the gleaming butcher's blade.
"Don't kill me!!!"
"I'm a Celestial Dragon!! I can give you wealth, power, anything you want!!"
Tears and snot streamed down his contorted face. In the face of genuine death, the arrogance he once held high had completely vanished, leaving only raw fear.
"I'm a Celes—"
A flash of blade light split the air.
Before the blood could spray, Luo's head had already rolled to the ground, his eyes still frozen in extreme terror.
Luo was dead.
His final thought wasn't regret or anything similar, but...
'He actually did it.'
'How dare he...'
...
The blood of the Celestial Dragons, revered as gods by the world, was just as red as anyone else's.
Griffin lifted the severed head and retrieved a blood-stained white crystalline chip from the back of the neck.
This was... the proof of identity for a Celestial Dragon.
Applying pressure with two fingers, he crushed it.
Sensing the panel beginning to pulse...
So, destroying this was what truly completed the mission.
——
——
"Hunt Celestial Dragon – Shepherd Luo"
"Hunt Difficulty Rating – Hard"
"Mission completed. Now randomly selecting from the following options. Based on mission difficulty rating, three selections can be made this time—
Previously selected options can be obtained repeatedly. No particular order:
1.
Fire Release Ninjutsu Collection
2.
Shaped Magic Puppet
3.
Ninja World Illusion Collection
4.
Uchiha...
...
...
The selection was completed in an instant.
Griffin truly experienced what it meant to have knowledge forcibly poured into his mind.
Even with his mental fortitude, the massive influx of information made him stagger.
Soon, his eyes lit up with excitement.
This...
This luck is just too good!!
——
——
——
South Blue, unknown waters.
Within half a day, this area had transformed from calm seas into a living hell. The sky was darkened by explosions, and waves churned amid the roaring tumult.
Kuma's towering figure flickered through the smoke. Each time his bear paw slapped the air, it generated shockwaves capable of tearing warships apart.
The chrysanthemum-faced man in a white suit had his mask shattered, revealing the unremarkable face of a middle-aged man.
Facing Kuma's assault, he couldn't even think about counterattacking—merely preserving his own life required his full effort.
Using Moonwalk to dart rapidly between the waves, he alternated between dodging and retreating, trying to escape Kuma's attack range and return to Saint Luo's side.
This notion was utterly laughable when facing Kuma, who possessed near-instantaneous spatial movement abilities.
Boom!!!
The chrysanthemum-faced man was struck head-on by a shockwave, his body vanishing as a streak of white light between the sea and sky.
He had done it intentionally.
Suppressing the surging heat in his chest, he pulled out a black Den Den Mushi from his robe.
He couldn't wait any longer...
Even if he died, he had to send the message out!
...
"Still have a Den Den Mushi?"
A deep voice sounded beside his ear. Cold sweat poured down the chrysanthemum-faced man's face as his finger pressed the dial button—
Boom!!
A bear-paw-shaped shockwave instantly blasted forth, knocking the black Den Den Mushi into the deep sea!
"Bastard!!"
With his last hope destroyed, the chrysanthemum-faced man struck out in furious desperation with a Finger Pistol to Kuma's chest. Caught off-guard while defending, Kuma's chest dented inward.
This was the first time he had managed to hit Kuma so far.
Kuma remained largely unaffected, but the chrysanthemum-faced man, due to his previously suppressed injuries, violently coughed up a mouthful of dark blood.
It felt somewhat like a staged accident.
...
The gap in strength was too vast.
The CP agent who made Griffin feel no desire to resist, Luo, the chief guard, could only hold out for half a day at most against Kuma.
After a brief clash, he fell from mid-air, struggling to stand up amidst the waves.
He wasn't a Devil Fruit User, so contact with seawater wouldn't drain his strength, and he could still use high-speed kicking techniques to stand on the sea surface.
Looking up at Kuma flickering and closing in from above, he spoke for the first time since the battle began.
"Bartholomew Kuma!!"
"Have you forgotten me!! Wasn't it you who saved me at God Valley twenty-six years ago!!"
"And now you want to kill me!!"
In mid-air, Kuma, who had been poised to strike, suddenly froze.
Twenty-six years ago...
God Valley...
That painful memory assaulted Kuma once again.