The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

........

The island of Lilicaya was scorching hot under the afternoon sun. Tezzolo clutched a crumpled stack of Berries he had just earned, a rare smile on his lips.

He came back early on purpose, wanting to tell Stella some good news.

The casino owner promised to pay him three days' wages in advance tomorrow.

But the moment he turned the corner, his smile froze.

A luxurious carriage bearing the emblem of the World Government stopped in front of the slave shop.

The Celestial Dragon wearing a glass hood is casually pointing at Stella in the iron cage with his finger adorned with a jeweled ring.

The slave shop owner bowed and scraped as he opened the cell door, handing the collar chain to the Celestial Dragon like a dog leash.

"No...no! Wait!" Tesoro roared, lunging forward and frantically grabbing at the Celestial Dragon's cloak.

"I've already paid the deposit! Three days... just three more days..."

The Celestial Dragons didn't even turn their heads.

"Bang!" A CP agent's leather shoe slammed into Tesoro's stomach.

In an instant, he was thrown out like a broken sack, the sound of his ribs breaking clearly audible.

Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, but he still struggled to crawl forward, his fingernails scraping the stone pavement with a harsh sound.

“Gild!” Stella suddenly called out.

Tesoro looked up and saw her smiling.

Sunlight streamed through her disheveled blonde hair, illuminating the menacing slave collar around her neck, yet her smile was brighter than ever.

“Don’t worry,” her voice was as gentle as the night breeze, “my heart will always belong to you.”

She subtly pointed to her chest, where the hair clip Tesoro had given her the night before was hidden.

"Thank you... I've felt truly happy during this time."

The Celestial Dragon yanked on the chains, the collar digging into her skin, but she continued to laugh until she was roughly dragged away.

The agent deliberately ran his foot over Tesoro's fingers, but he didn't feel any pain.

The world lost its color at that moment.

Tezzolo lay sprawled on the ground, his pupils dilated.

He heard the slave shop owner kicking and cursing him, "Idiot, that's a Celestial Dragon!"

"You didn't know you should have gotten enough money sooner, now I'm losing money! Damn it..."

Suddenly, the boss's voice and movements stopped abruptly.

A pair of jet-black military boots stepped over the pool of blood and stopped in front of Tesoro.

Gern looked down at Tesoro and placed a patterned, gourd-shaped Devil Fruit beside his bloodstained hand.

“Without power, you will only lose everything.” Gern’s voice was eerily calm. “Power is everything.”

Tesoro's fingertips trembled as he touched the fruit, tears mingling with blood dripping onto the twisted spiral patterns.

"Without it, even your cries won't reach her ears."

After saying that, Gern walked slowly forward, the hem of his black coat sweeping across the ground, each step like stepping on the drumbeat of death.

"You lowly commoner! Do you know who I am?!" The Celestial Dragon Charmaco Saint stared wide-eyed at this commoner who dared to disregard his authority.

"You see me and you don't even kneel down? You actually dare to stand in front of me!"

Seeing that Gern ignored him, and even enraged, he pulled out a golden pistol, pointed it at Gern's forehead, and pulled the trigger.

"Bang!" The bullet pierced the air, but passed straight through Gern's figure, as if he were just a phantom.

"Wh...what?!" Charmaco Saint's voice was distorted with shock. He fired several more shots before frantically taking two steps back and screaming.

"Where's the CP agent?! Kill him!! No, I want him as my slave!!"

Upon hearing Charmaco Saint's order, several CP agents instantly attacked from all directions, their blades and finger guns aimed directly at Gern's vitals.

However, the instant they stepped into the three-meter radius around Gern—

"Buzz!" An invisible shockwave swept through, and all the agents froze simultaneously, blood seeping from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths.

They all collapsed to the ground like rags as their internal organs were shattered in an instant.

Gern did not stop walking and went straight to Saint Charles.

The Celestial Dragon finally revealed a look of fear, his face contorted behind the glass visor: "You, do you know who I am?! I am a Celestial Dragon..."

"Snap!" Gern's fingers crushed the breathing mask like steel pincers, and he grabbed Charmaco Saint by the neck and lifted him up.

Charmaco Saint was also kicking his short legs frantically in distress, his gemstone ring reflecting a comical light in the sunlight.

“To be honest,” Gern tilted his head, a cold disgust flashing in his dark eyes.

"I really hate you, this kind of idiotic product that likes inbreeding."

As soon as he finished speaking, a slight tremor was transmitted, and Charmaco Saint suffered comminuted fractures all over his body, his pupils suddenly dilating.

Seeing this, Gern casually tossed the corpse in front of Tesoro as if it were a bag of trash.

"Eat this Devil Fruit, and then... kill him with your own hands."

"I killed a Celestial Dragon?!" Tesoro's expression changed drastically, and he looked around before realizing...

Everyone within a 10-mile radius has disappeared without anyone knowing when.

Now only he, Gern, and Stella remain conscious!

“That’s right…” Gern took off his hat, revealing his face, and smiled in Tesoro’s shocked and puzzled gaze.

"Kill the Celestial Dragons, then join the Navy."

Chapter 117 Welcome to the Real World

In front of the slave shop, Tesoro's pupils contracted sharply, and a buzzing sound filled his ears, as if the whole world was distorting.

“Kill…kill the Celestial Dragons…and then join the Navy?” His throat was dry, and he could barely make a sound.

What kind of choice is this? Shouldn't he have killed the Celestial Dragons, become a fugitive, and been arrested by an admiral of the World Government?

But the Navy? Isn't the Navy part of the Celestial Dragons?! Does that make sense?

Stopping his thoughts, Tesoro abruptly looked up and finally saw the man's face clearly.

A black uniform, a cold and stern face, a black knife with a white cloth wrapped around his waist...

“Heavenly Tremor…Gern?!” Tesoro’s heart nearly stopped.

The Navy's monster! The one who single-handedly defeated the "Samurai" Kozuki Oden and unleashed a bloodbath in the New World, "Tenkuo" Gern!

He... he actually attacked a Celestial Dragon?!

Gern frowned as he looked at the stunned Tesoro, his tone still calm, yet carrying an undeniable sense of pressure:

"Of course, you have other options."

"What other options are there?!"

“It’s just…” Gern leaned forward slightly, a gentle smile playing on his lips, but his eyes were as cold as ice.

"I will kill you all."

Tesoro's breath hitched, and his blood seemed to freeze.

This man... uttered the cruelest words in the most nonchalant tone.

After hearing this, Tesoro silently turned his gaze to the Devil Fruit in his palm.

At his feet, Saint Charles lay helplessly sprawled on the ground, his glass hood shattered, his face smeared with snot and tears, hysterically cursing:

"You lowly wretch! You dare touch me?! The World Government will tear you to pieces!"

Your family, friends, everyone connected to you will die!!

Tezzolo's hands trembled uncontrollably.

Kill a Celestial Dragon?

This is no ordinary crime; it is a challenge to the supreme power in this world!

It is a taboo that is enough to enrage the entire sea!

Even if he becomes some kind of "Golden Emperor" in the future, he would never dare to raise his sword against a Celestial Dragon.

But now...

On the other side, Stella, watching from the sidelines, trembled as she looked at the man she loved, unable to make a decision from beginning to end.

Then his gaze fell on Guern's back. Every word this man spoke and every look he gave in front of the cage that morning was a carefully woven trap.

That wasn't a warning, but a knife handed to Tesoro.

“Tezzolo has to make a choice…he has no choice.” Stella, as an observer, saw it all very clearly.

So he fixed his gaze firmly on Tezzo.

“Gild…” Stella called softly, her voice trembling slightly.

Upon hearing Stella's voice, Tesoro turned his head sharply and saw her neck, reddened by the collar, and the barely suppressed fear and glimmer of hope in her eyes.

Thank you... I've felt truly happy during this time.

The call reminded him of the scene just now: his beloved woman being forcibly dragged away like a dog, while he could only roar helplessly...

In an instant, Tesoro's heart clenched painfully.

Especially since at this crucial moment, Saint Charmaco was still shouting, "I will turn both of you into slaves..."

"Aaaaaah!!!" Tesoro suddenly roared and bit down hard on the Devil Fruit!

The nauseating taste exploded in his mouth, but he couldn't care less.

"Stella...Stella..." All Tesoro could hear was the roar of blood rushing through his ears, and the lullaby Stella sang to him on that rainy night.

Even if the night is long... dawn will eventually break...

“You lowly wretch, I will make this woman mate with my other slaves, I will make you watch her with your own eyes…”

"Shut up!! What right do you have to insult her? I, Tesoro, am the one who rules your life now!"

In an instant, the golden ring on Charmaco Saint's finger suddenly liquefied and wrapped around Tesoro's wrist like a living thing.

The Celestial Dragons' insults abruptly ceased, replaced by incredulous, terrified screams.

"What are you doing?! You lowly commoner! Do you even know what this is...?"

The liquid gold instantly solidified into three-edged spikes, refracting a cold luster in the light.

"Why?!" Tesoro's roar shattered the silence of dawn.

In an instant, golden spikes shot out like venomous snakes.

The first thrust pierced through those thick lips, the third gouged out an eyeball.

"You...you high and mighty trash...what right do you have...what right do you have to take everything away from others!!!"

The fourth time, the fifth time, the sixth time...

Each muffled thud was accompanied by splattering blood and shattered bones.

Tesoro's movements became faster and more ruthless, the gold in his hands transforming into various deadly weapons.

Sharp cones, serrated edges, and hooks were tearing at that obese body with madness.

"I told you not to take her away! I told you not to drag her away with chains! I told you not to..."

Tezzolo's actions became increasingly frantic, as if he wanted to unleash all the humiliation, anger, and despair he had accumulated over the years.

Charmaco's voice had long since disappeared, leaving only the muffled sound of flesh being torn apart.

But Tesoro couldn't stop. He rode on the convulsing body, the gold transforming into a heavy hammer that pounded the deformed head again and again.

Brain matter mixed with gold dust splattered on his face, warm and sticky.

"Gilder! That's enough!" A pair of soft hands suddenly wrapped around him from behind.