After the chaos erupted, the navy stationed at the Sabaody Archipelago almost immediately sprang into action, surrounding the entire auction house so tightly that not even a drop of water could escape.
“Listen up, criminals in the auction! Release the Rozwald family at once!”
“The Admiral from the Navy Headquarters is on his way; if you don’t want to lose your lives, I advise you to surrender obediently, or the consequences will be unimaginable!”
The leading navy officer shouted into a megaphone towards the building.
Behind him, a large number of navy soldiers took their positions, guns aimed at the exit of the auction house—any suspicious person who dared to show their face would be shot at the first opportunity.
“The door... the door is opening!”
“Someone is coming out! Prepare to fire—!”
“Wait, wait!”
“That’s a Celestial Dragon! Lower your weapons!”
Seeing the shadowy figures emerging from the blasted-open doors of the auction house, the navy officer who was about to give the order to fire couldn’t help but shudder, hurriedly instructing his subordinates to halt their actions.
Three Celestial Dragons were chained up, crawling on the ground like the slaves they usually kept, trembling in fear.
It was a comical sight.
Yet none of the navy soldiers could help but laugh out loud...
“The Celestial Dragons... have been put in slave collars!”
“...How dare those pirates!”
“The main culprit is behind them!!”
Upon catching sight of the small figure leisurely walking out behind the Celestial Dragons, the navy soldiers fell into a stupor once again.
A child?
Fang Mingjing held the chain connected to the collars and slowly walked to the center of the navy's encirclement, flashing them a delicate smile.
“Excuse me, could you please let us through?”
“You...”
The navy officer seemed taken aback by his nonchalant demeanor, and once he regained his composure, he immediately gritted his teeth and shouted, “How dare you! Hurry up and release the Celestial Dragons?! Otherwise, when the Admiral arrives—”
“Not letting us through?”
Fang Mingjing ignored the navy's warning, mumbling as he looked at the chained Celestial Dragons.
As his gaze fell upon them, the Celestial Dragons suddenly shivered and began to yell angrily at the navy:
“You fools! Do you want us to die!? Hurry up and get out of the way!!”
“Damn navy!”
“You lowly peasants! If anything happens to us, your families will all be reduced to slaves! Get back now!!”
Even with the slave collars on, these Celestial Dragons still regarded the navy soldiers who came to protect them as mere livestock, hurling insults that made the faces of the navy soldiers grow increasingly grim.
The navy officer's expression was as dark as it could get.
But he didn’t dare to give the order to retreat, and on the other hand, with the Celestial Dragons as hostages, he didn’t dare to let his soldiers attack.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place...
The Celestial Dragons continued to scream at the top of their lungs.
Especially when their lives were threatened as masters, the dogs they raised dared to ignore their commands, which only fueled their rage, causing them to spew all sorts of ugly words.
“The navy is stalling for time.”
“Where did that kid come from? Has he gone mad?!”
“Damn it, if we’re stuck here like this, we won’t be able to escape when the Admiral arrives!”
Several pirate crews were also observing the situation from behind the doors of the auction house.
Most of them looked grim.
If before, the Straw Hat kid just knocking out a Celestial Dragon would only attract an Admiral, now that the Celestial Dragons were taken hostage, the World Government would definitely go insane!
Fang Mingjing was aware that the other side was stalling for time, but he didn’t care much; he just kept nodding happily at the grotesque and swollen appearances of the Celestial Dragons.
When he finally felt a bit bored,
he took out a small remote control, just about to press the button on it—
Buzz!
A blinding golden beam suddenly shot in from a distance, instantly piercing through the remote control in Fang Mingjing's hand.
“Wow... that was close, I almost pressed it.”
The golden light suddenly gathered in the air, then coalesced into the figure of a tall, slender man dressed in a yellow and white striped suit.
Admiral Kizaru stroked his chin, tilting his mouth into a strange shape, a sight that was infuriating just to look at.
However, upon seeing him, the navy soldiers perked up.
“The... Admiral!!”
“Admiral Kizaru is here!”
“How strange... you don’t seem nervous at all? Also, you don’t look like a pirate, so why are you holding the Celestial Dragons hostage?”
Kizaru asked Fang Mingjing in a slow, drawn-out voice.
“Because I find it interesting.”
“Interesting?”
“Yeah, I want to catch a Celestial Dragon and keep it for a while.”
On the young boy's face was a pure and adorable smile as he pointed at the three terrified and angry Celestial Dragons, “But three is a bit too many; I was thinking of just blowing one up.”
“...So, you still have two detonators on you?”
“Yep.”
“That’s a problem.”
Kizaru scratched his head with a languid expression, then spoke in his usual slow manner, “Well... how should I put this? Kid, you should know that doing something like this is unforgivable, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“How about making a deal? I’ll let you leave this island... and then you can release these Celestial Dragons halfway, okay?”
Kizaru seemed to be negotiating in a very agreeable manner.
“After all, think about it, the navy can’t just let you go now... especially if something happens to the Celestial Dragons, the World Government will definitely not let you off the hook, right?”
He spoke slowly, and suddenly pointed his right hand at Fang Mingjing, a blinding laser instantly shooting towards Fang Mingjing's chest.