Behind them came the entire CP0 organization. Some wore masks, while others displayed cold, emotionless faces.
Their eyes constantly swept across the surroundings, as if guarding against potential assassins.
As soon as the king and queen of the nation saw Is step onto the red carpet, they hurried forward.
They bowed deeply before dropping to one knee.
"Great Saint Aurelius D. Virel Is, welcome to our kingdom."
As the king's words fell, the guards behind him immediately knelt as one, followed by all the gathered citizens watching nearby.
Among the crowd were even kings from other nations.
Yet before Is, they too had to kneel upon the cold ground.
The two noblewomen who had been fighting earlier were still disheveled, but they didn't even have time to straighten their clothes before hurriedly kneeling.
"Great Saint Aurelius D. Virel Is, welcome to our kingdom!" the crowd shouted in unison.
"If there is anything I can do for you, Saint Aurelius D. Virel Is, please give the order. I will do everything within my power to fulfill it," the king said respectfully while kneeling on one knee.
"No need. I'm only here for a stroll."
"I understand, Saint Aurelius D. Virel Is!"
Is did not reject the king's goodwill and enjoyed a lavish feast in the kingdom.
After finishing his meal, he slipped out of the palace at a speed that none of the CP0 agents could detect.
At the same time, he had Senju Hashirama and the others come up with excuses to keep CP0 occupied within the palace for a while.
After leaving, he confirmed the direction he needed to go.
Sheets of paper separated from his back and gathered together into a pair of wings. With a powerful flap, he shot into the sky at incredible speed.
Avoiding populated areas along the way, he finally reached his destination roughly ten minutes later.
Just like last time, the ground here was pitch black.
A shovel appeared out of thin air in Is's hand.
Just as he was about to start digging, he suddenly sensed someone nearby.
Looking up, he spotted a somewhat familiar figure not far away.
Their eyes met.
"Aurelius D. Virel Is!"
Upon seeing Is holding a shovel, Bundy World froze in shock.
"Bundy World?" Is called out as well, equally surprised.
Bundy World wore a battered old helmet. A long light-green beard hung from his chin. A tattoo covered his left arm, a gold necklace hung around his neck, and he wore ordinary trousers beneath a black coat.
No matter how much he thought about it, Is had never expected to encounter the future World Destroyer, Bundy World, in the Kingdom of Gadobriel.
"Damn it! Why are you here, Aurelius D. Virel Is?" Bundy World reacted and instinctively stepped backward.
For the past few days, he had been pursued relentlessly by the Marines, so he had temporarily hidden himself within this kingdom.
But he had never imagined that he would run into the Celestial Dragon Aurelius D. Virel Is here.
"I was about to ask you the same thing."
Holding the shovel, Is let out a cold laugh.
"You came to the North Blue for me too? To get your hands on the Pluton battleship blueprints?" Bundy World asked cautiously as he slowly retreated.
He had no intention of clashing with Is right now.
Leaving aside the fact that Is possessed enough strength to bring down Rocks—something Bundy World knew he couldn't match—there was another problem.
If they fought here, the battle could attract Marine attention.
And if the Marines arrived as well, things would become truly troublesome.
"What if I told you I just happened to run into you by accident? Would you believe me?" Is said calmly with a shrug.
"Heh..."
Bundy World sneered.
His mind raced as he searched for a topic that could keep Is occupied while allowing himself to retreat little by little.
"Aurelius D. Virel Is, you possess tremendous strength and reliable subordinates. Why continue living under someone else's authority?"
Step by step, he moved backward while attempting to sow discord.
"Trying to drive a wedge between people won't work, Bundy World. Since we've met today, you might as well leave the Pluton battleship blueprints behind."
Is spoke as casually as if discussing the weather.
He truly hadn't come looking for Bundy World.
Their encounter was completely accidental.
But now that they had met, there was no way he would let him go.
After all, Is was quite interested in the blueprints of Pluton, one of the Ancient Weapons.
It was, after all, a weapon capable of destroying the world.
"The blueprints aren't with me. Let me go, and I'll retrieve them for you," Bundy World replied.
"What do you take me for, a three-year-old child? Do you really think I'll let you leave after running into you today?"
Is laughed coldly.
"Aurelius D. Virel Is, how about we join forces? I know you can't possibly be content living beneath others. Once I build Pluton and conquer the world, we'll split it between us equally. What do you think?"
Bundy World extended an invitation.
"That actually sounds pretty tempting."
Resting his chin on one hand, Is appeared to seriously consider the proposal.
"You agree?"
Bundy World's eyes lit up with delight.
"How could I?"
A sneer suddenly spread across Is's face.
"Why shouldn't I just kill you, take the Pluton blueprints, and rule the world myself?"
At present, Is had little interest in ruling the world.
But if the opportunity presented itself, why not?
"You've exposed your ambition, Aurelius D. Virel Is. What do you think would happen if I told the Marines and the World Government about it?"
A meaningful smile appeared on Bundy World's face.
"You think they'd believe the words of a pirate?"
Is spread his hands and laughed dismissively.
Throughout their conversation, Bundy World had been steadily backing away.
By now, he had reached what he considered a safe distance from Is.
"Momo Fiftyfold!"
He suddenly pulled two bullets from his pocket.
As they flew toward Is, they instantly expanded to fifty times their original size.
Armament Haki coated the shovel in Is's hand.
Clang! Clang!
With a powerful swing, he knocked both incoming bullets away.
However, Bundy World had already turned and fled.
He had no intention of confronting Is head-on.
After all, Is had defeated Rocks himself.
Back when Rocks ruled the seas, Bundy World hadn't even dared to show his face.
He knew perfectly well that he wasn't Is's opponent.
"Trying to run?"
Sheets of paper separated from Is's body and gathered into wings behind him.
With a single flap, he shot after Bundy World at astonishing speed.
"Damn it!"
Bundy World glanced back and saw Is rapidly closing the distance.
Without hesitation, he activated his Devil Fruit ability.
"Momo Tenfold Speed!"
His movement speed increased tenfold instantly, making him over five times faster than Soru of the Six Powers.
Paper peeled away from Is's body and formed a crossbow along with several arrows in his hands.
Purple flames wrapped around the arrows.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Drawing the crossbow to its limit, Is fired several arrows engulfed in purple fire.
The arrows traveled at tremendous speed and streaked toward Bundy World.
Though he managed to dodge them with agile movements—
Boom!
The arrows that struck the ground exploded violently, creating small mushroom clouds and billowing smoke.
Purple flames ignited across Bundy World's body.
Yet after coating himself with Haki, he continued fleeing without slowing down.
He wasn't foolish enough to fight Is head-on.
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