Leno grinned, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
Whether they were one hundred percent loyal yet was uncertain—but he liked obedient subordinates.
That was enough!
Besides, once they pulled off the Heavenly Tribute job,
even if they wanted to deny it afterward, the World Government would never believe they were innocent!
Without a second thought,
Leno steered the small boat straight toward the extravagantly luxurious ship.
————
————
On the Heavenly Tribute's great vessel—
a Celestial Dragon wearing a transparent bubble helmet and bulky clothes sat arrogantly atop the back of a burly slave, using him as a human mount.
In his hand was a gemstone-inlaid whip.
From time to time, it lashed down onto the slave's already bloodied back.
A sharp crack rang out, followed by the slave's suppressed groan.
"Hahaha! Trash! Crawl steadily!" the Celestial Dragon shrieked with piercing laughter.
In front of him,
a group of lightly dressed, vacant-eyed, pretty young women were being forced to perform an awkward dance.
Whip marks could be seen on their bodies.
They even had to force smiles onto their faces.
"Smile! All of you, smile for me! Dance better! Or I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish!"
The Celestial Dragon waved his whip and shouted arrogantly.
Reveling in the twisted pleasure brought by absolute power.
"Hahahahaha! A little amusement in this boring life!"
Standing in a circle around him were cold, silent figures wearing white masks—
agents of CP0.
As the Celestial Dragons' dogs, how could they not guard their masters?
When Leno's small boat drew near the massive vessel—
and they witnessed the scene unfolding on deck—
the fury in the three women's hearts, Kalifa included, ignited to its peak.
Even Kalifa, who had once been part of CP9,
had only ever heard rumors of the Celestial Dragons' cruelty.
She had never witnessed such appalling brutality up close.
"Beasts!"
"Scum!"
"The Celestial Dragons all deserve to die!"
Without hesitation, the three women followed right behind Leno—
leaping from the small boat onto the deck of the Heavenly Tribute ship, blazing with murderous rage!
Their sudden appearance immediately caused chaos.
The CP0 agents reacted with lightning speed, instantly tightening their formation.
They sealed off the bloated pig-like Celestial Dragon in layers of protection.
Their primary mission was to protect him.
Meanwhile, the slaves who had been forced to dance scattered in panic, screaming.
"Shut up! You filthy commoners!"
The shrill noise irritated the Celestial Dragon immensely.
He pulled out a golden pistol and, without even looking, casually fired several shots toward the screaming slaves!
Bang! Bang!
Several innocent slaves fell on the spot.
Blood stained the deck red.
"Bastard!"
"Unforgivable!"
The three women cursed in fury at the sight of such disregard for human life.
Indeed, Celestial Dragons were hated by everyone.
CP0—and their fellow dogs—excluded.
"Oh?"
Only now did the Celestial Dragon notice the four newcomers.
Especially the three beautiful women.
Behind the transparent bubble helmet, a lewd grin spread across his pudgy face.
"Where did these beauties come from? Not bad, not bad! They'll do nicely as my twenty-sixth concubines!"
He wasn't the least bit worried that anyone would dare kill him.
No matter how ugly he was, his confidence was boundless.
After all, the entire world belonged to them—the World Nobles, the Celestial Dragons.
"Leno!"
A CP0 member who appeared to be the leader barked coldly,
"As a former Marine, you should know the consequences of offending Saint Charlos!"
"Leave now, and perhaps we'll let you keep an intact corpse!"
"Oh? Outdated intel?" Leno's face twisted into a feral, greedy grin.
"I'm a pirate wanted by the Navy now. What nonsense are you spouting?"
He might feel a slight psychological burden against others.
But against Celestial Dragons? Sorry—none whatsoever.
It wasn't that CP0's information was outdated.
They simply hadn't expected a former Marine Vice Admiral to actually dare attack a Celestial Dragon.
Still, they weren't worried.
In their eyes, a mere Vice Admiral couldn't stir much trouble.
"Hehehehe, a former Marine Vice Admiral?"
Saint Charlos sounded even more excited.
"Don't kill him! I want him to watch as I play with his women!"
"A Vice Admiral's women… I've never tried that before!"
The cold light in Leno's eyes sent a chill through the CP0 agents.
"Calling you Celestial Dragons trash is practically a compliment."
He stopped wasting words and spat out three icy syllables:
"Kill them."
The CP0 leader immediately responded to the Celestial Dragon's demand.
"As you wish, Saint Charlos."
"Leno, your name will indeed go down in history—"
"in the most humiliating way possible!"
Before his words even finished—
he vanished with a Soru, instantly closing in on Leno!
The other CP0 agents moved simultaneously,
lunging at Domino, Robin, and Kalifa.
However—
what happened next left every CP0 agent in disbelief!
Facing the leader's Finger Pistol coated in advanced Armament Haki,
Leno didn't even dodge.
He simply looked at him with contempt.
Buzz——!
A heavy, tyrannical surge of dark-red Conqueror's Haki erupted violently!
It instantly enveloped the entire ship.
The CP0 leader's movements froze mid-strike.
Behind his mask, his eyes bulged wide.
"Con—Conqueror's Haki?! How is that possible?!"
As CP0, they knew Leno's profile thoroughly.
He didn't possess Conqueror's Haki!
"Surprised? I told you—update your intel."
Leno's voice sounded beside his ear.
Boom!
Without even using his Devil Fruit ability,
he threw a simple, brutal punch coated in jet-black Armament Haki—
striking first despite moving second!
"Pff—!"
A sickening crack echoed as the CP0 leader's sternum shattered.
He spewed blood and was blasted backward, slamming heavily into the ship's railing, his fate unknown.
Though he was probably at least a little dead.
Meanwhile—
the CP0 agents attacking the three women found themselves suppressed by Leno's Conqueror's Haki.
They were no match at all.
They had thought the women were easy prey.
Instead, they were the soft targets.
Domino was slightly weaker, but she wielded Armament Haki and managed to hold off two opponents.
Robin's Flower-Flower Fruit couldn't unleash its full potential—
without Armament Haki, her damage output was limited.
So she resorted to grappling, interference, and targeting vital points, throwing several CP0 agents into disarray and preventing them from closing in.
Kalifa was even more ruthless.
She knew CP0's combat style inside out.
Stalling them was easy.
They didn't need to kill—
just delay.
Leno would send them to their graves.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
The Celestial Dragon Saint Charlos, who had just been arrogant and domineering—
When he saw the CP0 guards he relied on being smashed apart in a single exchange—
especially their strongest leader being one-shot by Leno's punch—
the smile on Saint Charlos's face froze.
It was replaced by absolute terror.
"N-No way! You useless trash! Get up and protect me!!"
He collapsed limply atop the slave's back,
snot and tears smearing across the inside of his bubble helmet.
He shrieked hysterically, utterly disgraceful.
"I'm a Celestial Dragon! A descendant of the Creator!"
"If you dare lay a finger on me, a Navy Admiral will arrive immediately and slaughter every last one of you!!"
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