On the deck of the warship, which had crossed the Calm Belt and entered the first half of the Grand Line, Dragon, sitting in an iron cage, did not appear to be a disgraced prisoner. Even with his handcuffs and shackles, his kingly aura remained undiminished.
Outside the iron cage, because Shamrock, Kilingom, and Somaz, three esteemed Celestial Dragons, were present, Tina dared not sit and stood respectfully beside Garp, who was wrapped in bandages.
Garp, however, sat on the floor, his face grim as he looked at Dragon, who had become a prisoner.
If he hadn't considered that the three Celestial Dragons were nearby, he would have undoubtedly taken off his shoe and added another mark to Dragon's face.
The reason was simple: although everything started because of Ian, the most powerful Young Master of the Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land, if Dragon had not returned to Foosha Village, so many Foosha Village villagers would not have died.
"Stop staring, old man!"
Under Garp's gaze, Dragon shook his head with a bitter smile and said, "Things have developed to this point because I was careless. I thought I could save the Foosha Village villagers, but I didn't expect my appearance to bring disaster to Foosha Village!"
After a slight pause, Dragon shifted his gaze to Shamrock, who was standing to his right, "I know what you want to do. Don't waste your time; the Revolutionary Army won't risk rescuing me at this time!"
"If I'm not mistaken, not only is the Holy Land on high alert, but Marineford is also deploying troops."
At this point, Dragon suddenly looked up at the sky and said to himself, "Calculating the time, the Revolutionary Army Grand Line army commander has already led the Revolutionary Army soldiers to their destination. It won't be long before news comes from the Holy Land that a certain affiliated country in the Grand Line is under attack by the Revolutionary Army and urgently needs assistance from the Marine or other departments under the World Government!"
Hearing this, Shamrock turned to face Dragon in the iron cage and said in a deep voice, "So what? The God's Knights only exist to protect the safety and ruling status of the Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land. Even if a mere affiliated country is wiped out, the God's Knights won't bat an eye. As you said, the reason we haven't escorted you to Marineford yet is to lure out the main cadres of the Revolutionary Army through you and wipe them out!"
"Of course, it doesn't matter if they don't come to rescue you. Publicly executing you can also deter all enemies who want to oppose the World Government!"
"Is that so?" Dragon met Shamrock's gaze with a cold smile, "Since you are so fearless and absolutely confident in eliminating me, could you tell me Ian's true identity before the execution? There are nineteen Celestial Dragon families in the Holy Land. I've witnessed the privileges they enjoy, but I've never seen any Celestial Dragon receive such treatment as him, not only making the God's Knights his personal bodyguards but even the Gorosei, the highest authority of the World Government, are respectful to him!"
"Could it be that there is a hidden power holder above the Gorosei that the world doesn't know about?"
"The World Government has been ruled by the Celestial Dragons for eight hundred years anyway, so why not let this power holder surface?"
"Oh, I understand ~"
Speaking to this point in one breath, Dragon suddenly changed the subject, and he, who had always been serious, surprisingly showed a smile, "You are afraid! To be precise, the person behind Ian is afraid! They cannot come to the forefront, so they chose Ian!"
"Dragon, stop trying to trick us here!"
Kilingom, with his long neck, walked to the iron cage and grinned, "If you want to know the Young Master's identity, I'll tell you. You won't live much longer anyway!"
"Kilingom!"
Unexpectedly, Kilingom was so imprudent. Shamrock suddenly turned his head and said in a deep voice, "Don't talk nonsense!"
"What?" Dragon smiled coldly, "I am now a prisoner, not only wearing Sea Stone handcuffs and shackles, but also accompanied by several warships. Under such circumstances, do you, as God's Knights, still not have absolute confidence in killing me?"
"God's Knights?"
"Nothing more than that!"
Before he finished speaking, Dragon suddenly stood up. Even with the Sea Stone suppressing his abilities, his aura was unaffected, no weaker than Shamrock, a descendant of the Creator. "It doesn't matter if you don't tell me. From the moment the God's Knights became Ian's personal bodyguards, the power structure of the Holy Land has already changed! It's just that for some reason, the big shot hiding behind Ian can no longer hide!"
"The answer is infinitely close to the truth!"
"The person hiding behind Ian must be related to the twenty kings who founded the World Government eight hundred years ago! It might even be one of them!"
"Among the twenty kings who founded the World Government, there was one from the Nerona Family. If I remember correctly, that king eight hundred years ago was named Nerona Imu!"
As soon as the name Imu was uttered, Shamrock, Kilingom, and Somaz all looked sideways, their pupils contracting involuntarily.
"Did I guess correctly?"
Seeing their fleeting reactions, Dragon's eyes gleamed with captivating light, "Don't rush, this is not all of my analysis!"
"Even if Ian is a descendant of Nerona Imu, it's impossible for you to willingly become his personal bodyguards, and even more so for so many members to leave the Holy Land simultaneously at his command!"
"After all, there are many Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land with the bloodline of these kings!"
"Unless—"
"Nerona Imu, who founded the World Government eight hundred years ago with the other nineteen kings, did not die!"
As soon as his words fell, even Dragon himself broke out in a cold sweat.
If the conclusion he deduced was correct, it would mean that the Gorosei, who presided over the Chamber of the Five Elders, were likely just puppets pushed to the forefront, and Nerona Imu, who had lived from eight hundred years ago until now, might have broken the agreement of mutual equality made by the twenty kings at the founding of the World Government, becoming the secret dictator behind the World Government.
Only this reason could explain why the God's Knights became the personal bodyguards of Ian, the Young Master of the Nerona Family; only this could explain why the Gorosei were so respectful to Ian; and only this could explain why, at Ian's command, the God's Knights, who maintained the rule of the Celestial Dragons, would arrive at Foosha Village via a teleportation array at the first possible moment.
"As expected of the revolutionary army leader, to analyze this far based solely on the Young Master's identity!"
Just as Dragon was secretly shocked by his deduction of Ian's background, Kilingom did not become angry out of embarrassment. Instead, he grinned and said, "Although your analysis is neither entirely correct nor entirely wrong, none of that matters."
"The most important thing is, you... are dead, ah ha ha ha ha ~"
Saying that, Kilingom did not hesitate, raising his trident and fiercely stabbing at Dragon.
At the critical moment, several figures suddenly appeared in the sky, then swooped down towards the warship escorting Dragon at an astonishing speed.
Before they arrived, their voices came from afar: "Leader, we've come to rescue you!"
As the voices rang out, two beams of light descended from the sky, swiftly cutting through the Sea Stone handcuffs and shackles that bound Dragon.
At the same time—
Boom, boom, boom.
Accompanied by a series of explosions, the sea around the warships erupted, and then one after another, coated battleships broke through the waves.
—