Kid originally wanted to chase after Ace, but Kira grabbed him from the side and stopped him.
"Kid, we should go."
Kid frowned in annoyance. After a brief silence, he snorted coldly, turned around, and left quickly with his crew. The other pirate groups that had gathered nearby also came back to their senses at that moment and began to scatter in panic.
Only the civilians remained where they were.
The people who lived in Sabaody understood better than anyone what it meant to provoke the Celestial Dragons. None of them could imagine that someone would actually dare to attack one, and even kill one in broad daylight. To them, it felt as if the sky itself had collapsed.
In the middle of the street, Saint Shalria was crying uncontrollably.
Having grown up in absolute luxury, she had never witnessed such a scene before. Several slaves knelt beside her, trembling violently. They knew her personality very well, and what frightened them most was not the chaos around them, but the possibility that Saint Shalria might suddenly lose her temper and shoot them to vent her anger.
Just when everyone was frozen in fear and confusion, a dark figure descended slowly from the sky and landed in front of Saint Shalria.
Black feathers drifted down around him.
The slaves widened their eyes in shock as they stared at the tall man who had appeared out of nowhere. The enormous black wings behind him slowly dissolved into two masses of dark mist and merged back into his body.
Only then did everyone clearly see the word "Justice" written on his back.
The black coat, the golden epaulets, everything reflected brilliantly under the sunlight.
One of the Navy officers lying on the ground struggled to support himself with his arms. When he finally saw the newcomer's face clearly, his expression immediately turned ecstatic as he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Admiral Black Dragon!!!"
The moment those words were spoken, the entire street fell silent.
Even Saint Shalria stopped crying. She raised her head slowly, staring blankly at Lloyd, then murmured in disbelief,
"Is… is it Saint Lloyd?"
Lloyd's reputation within the Holy Land was far greater than the one he had outside. Almost every Celestial Dragon knew him. When Saint Shalria was still a child, she had once followed Saint Rosward to attend Lloyd's celebration party. At that time, Lloyd had been the center of attention, surrounded by countless powerful figures, and that image had left a deep impression on her.
Now, seeing him again, Lloyd looked almost exactly the same as before. Apart from his silver hair and golden eyes, time had not left a single mark on his face. That was why Saint Shalria recognized him instantly.
Lloyd simply raised a finger and made a quiet gesture.
What happened next stunned the slaves.
Saint Shalria, who normally never cared about anyone, immediately covered her mouth with both hands after seeing Lloyd's gesture. Her expression became even more obedient than when she stood in front of Saint Rosward.
Lloyd did not look at them again. Instead, his gaze shifted toward the Navy officer who had just spoken.
He paused slightly, then spoke in a calm tone.
"You are Rear Admiral Babus?"
Babus had not expected Lloyd to recognize him after so many years. His face lit up with excitement as he nodded quickly.
"Yes, Admiral Black Dragon! I am Babus!"
Lloyd naturally remembered him. Back then, Babus had been the one who brought him into the Navy. However, the current Babus looked extremely miserable. His body was covered in dust and blood, and a deep knife wound on his chest was still bleeding.
Lloyd frowned faintly.
He glanced around at the injured Navy soldiers lying everywhere. Most of them were unconscious, and the few who were awake could barely move. A golden light flashed briefly in Lloyd's eyes.
In the next instant, the wounds on all the soldiers' bodies began to close at a visible speed. Blood stopped flowing, the injuries formed scabs instantly, and within seconds the scabs fell away completely.
The soldiers groaned softly. Many of them slowly stood up, staring at their healed bodies in disbelief.
Babus felt strength returning to him as well. The pale look on his face disappeared almost immediately. After standing up, he hurried back in front of Lloyd and gave a perfect military salute.
Some of the soldiers had joined the Navy only recently and had never seen Lloyd before, but the Admiral rank on his shoulder was impossible to mistake. Without needing any command, they supported their weakened bodies and gathered behind Babus one after another, saluting Lloyd with excited expressions.
Lloyd nodded slightly. His gaze shifted toward the body lying not far away.
Saint Charlos was lying in a pool of blood.
Lloyd could already sense that the blood had stopped flowing completely. The diagonal slash across the abdomen had already reached the heart. There was no possibility of saving him.
On the way here, Lloyd had already guessed what had happened. Now, seeing the wound clearly only confirmed his suspicion.
The one who caused all this chaos and killed Saint Charlos had to be Zoro.
In the original timeline, Zoro had almost cut down Saint Charlos, but he was stopped at the last moment. Now that situation had changed completely, and the result was very different.
Just as Babus was about to report everything, a Navy soldier suddenly ran over from another street, his face filled with panic.
"This is bad, Rear Admiral Babus! The Rookie Pirates are here! The Rookie Pirates!"
During their retreat, Kid and his crew had run straight into the arriving Navy reinforcements. The two sides had already started fighting.
The eleven Rookie Pirates who had recently shaken the entire sea had actually appeared at the same time on Sabaody Archipelago.
Babus was stunned when he heard the news.
Just one Supernova, Zoro, had nearly wiped out his entire unit. Now there were ten more.
However, when he looked at the calm Lloyd standing beside him, his heart settled immediately. With this man here, even if the Four Emperors appeared, there would be nothing to fear.
After all, this was the man who had once killed the Pirate King.
An invisible wave spread out from Lloyd's body, instantly covering the entire Sabaody. A moment later, the wave disappeared as if it had never existed.
Lloyd spoke calmly.
"Rear Admiral Babus, stay here and protect Saint Shalria and Saint Rosward."
"I will deal with these so called Supernovas."
As soon as the words fell, Lloyd's body slowly turned into a dark vortex before everyone's eyes, then vanished completely into the air.
Civilian Street No. 34.
Kid laughed loudly as he waved both arms. Under his control, a large number of guns floated in the air and fired wildly at the unarmed Navy below.
Kira held his twin sickles tightly and charged forward with the rest of the crew. One group of Navy soldiers after another fell under the pirates' attack.