Chapter 484: Publicly Executing a Celestial Dragon
"Publicly executing a Celestial Dragon?!"
Ace's pupils contracted sharply, so shocked he sprang up from his chair: "Are they insane?!"
Shirahoshi stood frozen like a wooden statue, covering her mouth with both hands, her voice trembling slightly: "Could it be... simply because he helped us?"
These words were like a sharp needle, instantly piercing everyone's emotional defenses.
Garp remained silent, his face as gloomy as the sea before a torrential storm. His gaze seemed able to pierce through the night, looking toward that Holy Land shrouded in conspiracy and arrogance.
After a long while, he slowly exhaled, his tone low and hoarse: "Heh... It seems this 'calm' was the true storm all along."
Luffy's fists cracked loudly, his fury practically bursting from his eyes.
"Just because he helped others, he's treated as a heretic?! He has to be executed?! What kind of crap is that!!!"
His voice shook the air, his anger laced with an irrepressible sense of justice.
"Do they not even value the lives of their own people anymore? Then I'll go save him!"
"Luffy, no!!!"
Neptune's expression drastically changed. He hurriedly stood up to block him, his voice filled with anxiety and panic.
"This is the Holy Land of Mary Geoise! If you strike here, it won't just be you—the entire Marine force, and even Fish-Man Island will be dragged into this!"
Ace and Luffy froze slightly, the air in the room solidifying in an instant.
They naturally understood that Neptune was right. This was not a battle where they could recklessly swing their fists.
This was the heart of the World Government, the altar of absolute power.
To take action on this land meant publicly declaring war against the "Gods."
—That was a boundary no one dared to cross.
Yet, even so, their fists remained tightly clenched.
That suppressed fury and burning resolve made the air itself turn scorching hot.
The two brothers looked at each other.
In that moment, Ace and Luffy's eyes were practically identical—devoid of impulse, devoid of fear, holding only a blazing conviction.
They simultaneously looked toward Garp.
Garp's weather-beaten eyes had witnessed countless eras and flames of war, yet right now, within his grandsons' gazes, he saw that long-lost "will."
The room was dead silent. The wind swept in through the window, fluttering the documents on the desk and the candle flames.
Light and shadow flickered across Garp's face, highlighting his deep wrinkles and a faint trace of a smile.
Finally, he let out a long, deep sigh.
And then—he laughed.
The laugh was low and heavy, yet it resonated like thunder in the bottom of everyone's hearts.
"Bwahahahaha—"
"I didn't have you two become Marines just so you could act like cowardly turtles hiding in your shells—!!!"
Neptune's eyes widened in sheer shock as he cried out: "Vice Admiral Garp! Do... do you realize what you're saying?! Those are the God's Knights!!!"
Garp merely grinned, the familiar unruliness and rebelliousness resurfacing on his face.
"Heh! Living to this age, I stopped giving a damn about their rules a long time ago!"
Luffy and Ace exchanged a smile, their blood completely boiling in this moment.
"Grandpa..." Luffy grinned, the pre-battle radiance reappearing on his young face. "I knew you wouldn't let us down!"
Although Shirahoshi was nervous, she couldn't help but whisper softly: "Saint Mjosgard... he saved us..."
Then, looking at King Neptune, she said softly: "If we do nothing, I'm afraid even the sunlight at the bottom of the sea will be covered in dust..."
Neptune froze for a moment, then slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, there was no longer any hesitation in his eyes, only a tranquil resolve.
"Sigh... It seems the tides of the era are ultimately not something us old men can hold back."
Garp smiled faintly, his tone calm yet brimming with power.
"Since they want the whole world to witness an 'execution'—then we'll let the whole world see what a 'rescue' looks like."
Early the next morning—
The sky above the Holy Land of Mary Geoise remained shrouded in heavy dark clouds. The sunlight was firmly suppressed, making the entire world seem covered in a dull, iron-gray veil.
On the long avenue leading to the central plaza of the Holy Land, the national representatives of the Reverie were arriving one after another.
Every single person's face carried an unconcealable unease. They exchanged glances, but no one dared to speak first.
A bizarre, chilling aura of death permeated the air.
In the center of the plaza, a massive World Government symbol stood atop a high platform, like the cold blade of judgment.
Directly above the symbol, a figure bound by iron chains hung high in the air.
It was a green-haired man.
Blood snaked down his forehead, dripping along his cheeks to hit the stone platform below, splashing into tiny red droplets.
—It was none other than Saint Donquixote Mjosgard.
He hung there quietly, covered in blood, his clothes torn. Blood slid from his forehead, dyeing his chest red.
Even so, his expression remained peaceful, though those once gentle eyes were now bloodshot.
In the plaza, dozens of representatives from nations around the world looked uneasy. They whispered among themselves, their gazes shifting between the hanging figure and the World Government symbol.
"Isn't... isn't he the Celestial Dragon who helped the Ryugu Kingdom the other day?"
"To actually be executed... over such a trivial matter?!"
"This is too... too cruel..."
Their voices were faint, yet enough to send ripples through the silence.
On the opposite side from them, a group of Celestial Dragons had gathered in formation.
Draped in pristine white robes and wearing bubble helmets, their faces were hideous, their expressions vicious.
"That's him! The heretic!"
"To actually strike a fellow bloodline for the sake of mere Fish-Men!!"
"Execute him!! Let him know the price of rebelling against the Gods!!!"
Their hysterical shrieks rose and fell one after another, like a pack of rabid dogs tearing at their own kind.
Right at the peak of this clamor, a commotion suddenly broke out in the Celestial Dragon camp.
The crowd parted on their own accord, creating a pathway. Steady, cold footsteps echoed across the stone slabs.
A tall man slowly made his appearance.
Sporting crescent-moon-shaped white hair and wearing a black-and-gold robe, his strides were steady and inviolable.
The moment that invisible, oppressive pressure appeared, even the clamor of the Celestial Dragons instantly ceased.
—It was none other than one of the Five Elders, Saint Figarland Garling.
He walked to the center of the plaza, his hands behind his back. His freezing gaze rose, landing on the bound figure.
"The one to be executed," his voice was deep and hoarse, yet every word was as clear as an iron hammer,
"Is none other than the traitor who shielded the Fish-Men and assaulted his own kin—Saint Donquixote Mjosgard."
In the plaza, whispers and gasps echoed one after another.
Saint Garling surveyed the national representatives present. There was not a single trace of emotion in those eyes, only the indifferent contempt of looking down upon all creation.
"Those who shield trash are even lowlier than trash."
As his words fell, it felt as if the entire world solidified in that moment.
The wind stopped, the clouds pressed lower, and even breathing seemed to be imprisoned.
Everyone stood frozen in place, not daring to speak, not daring to move.
—Until.
"That's absolute fucking bullshit—!!!"
A furious roar, like thunder, tore through the dead air!
That voice erupted from behind the seats of the national representatives, shocking countless people into instinctively turning their heads.
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