Chapter 26: This Is... the Whitebeard Pirates?!

"We really don’t have any money left! We really don’t!"

A ragged old man knelt on the ground, his trembling hands holding an empty money pouch.

His voice was filled with despair and helplessness.

His eyes were vacant, as though he had already lost all hope for life.

"You’ve already taken every last coin in this country, along with all the stored food!"

Another villager shouted angrily, his voice filled with resentment and unwillingness.

Everything they had spent their lives building had been stripped away, leaving behind only poverty and hunger.

"Please... please let my daughter go. I’m begging you!"

A mother dropped to her knees, tears blurring her vision.

She clutched her daughter tightly, terrified that she might lose her at any moment.

Her trembling voice carried both a mother’s boundless love and utter desperation.

Bang! Bang!

"Please... please, I beg you—"

Before she could finish, a gunshot suddenly rang out.

BANG!

The deafening sound struck like thunder.

Immediately afterward, a sharp and arrogant voice echoed across the square.

"What a bunch of insolent Civilian s! How dare you defy the Celestial Dragons? You all deserve to die!"

A bloated Celestial Dragon wearing a glass bubble helmet sneered as he drew a golden pistol from his waist.

The weapon was encrusted with precious gems, glittering brilliantly and flaunting his wealth and status.

His eyes were filled with arrogance and cruelty.

To him, the trembling civilians huddled together on the ground were nothing more than insects.

The crowd’s faces were filled with fear.

Some desperately shielded their children with their own bodies.

Others clasped their hands together and prayed for a miracle.

Yet to the Celestial Dragon, these expressions were a source of amusement.

Their terror gave him a twisted sense of pleasure.

With a cold laugh, he raised his pistol and aimed it at the crowd.

The atmosphere became suffocating.

Everyone held their breath, awaiting the judgment of fate.

For a moment, time itself seemed frozen.

The world consisted only of the cold barrel of the gun and the lives about to be taken.

"Saint Degu, would you like us to kill them all?"

A man in a white suit standing nearby bowed respectfully as he asked.

His tone was completely emotionless, as if he had long since grown numb to such scenes.

"Not yet."

Saint Degu spoke calmly, his voice carrying a chilling cruelty.

"I want to savor their fear... their despair. Such wonderful emotions."

His gaze swept across the crowd before settling on a mother holding her crying child.

The helplessness in her eyes should have inspired sympathy.

Instead, it filled him with excitement.

Saint Degu casually twirled his golden pistol.

The dark muzzle alternated between frightened women and innocent children.

Each time the gun pointed at someone, terrified screams erupted.

To him, those screams were beautiful music.

He reveled in the feeling of controlling life and death.

A wicked smile spread across his face.

"Hahaha..."

After a while, however, he grew bored.

"How dull."

His expression turned cold.

"Kill all these Civilian s."

"As you command, honorable Saint Degu."

The attendant immediately accepted the order and turned to relay it to the others.

The smell of blood seemed to grow heavier in the air.

The scene was becoming increasingly horrific.

Yet to Saint Degu, this was nothing more than an ordinary day.

The man in the white suit stepped forward.

His pace was calm and merciless.

The attendants behind him followed closely, cruel smiles on their faces as they anticipated the slaughter to come.

A suffocating tension filled the air.

Everyone knew death was only moments away.

"Ignorant insects," the white-suited man said disdainfully.

"To die at the hands of a noble Celestial Dragon is the greatest honor of your miserable lives."

His words dripped with arrogance.

To him, the lives of these civilians were utterly worthless.

He raised his weapon.

Ready to pull the trigger.

And then—

"Fire Gun: Rapid Fire!"

A voice suddenly rang out from above.

The next moment, countless blazing bullets rained from the sky like a meteor shower.

Each shot struck with incredible precision.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The weapons in the executioners’ hands were blasted away and sent crashing to the ground.

The sudden turn of events stunned everyone present.

At the same time, countless innocent lives were spared.

"WHO’S THERE?!"

The man in the white suit spun around immediately.

His gaze landed on a gigantic pirate ship in the distance.

The familiar pirate flag.

The skull-and-crossbones insignia.

And at the center—

The unmistakable symbol of Whitebeard.

"The Whitebeard Pirates?!"

His eyes widened in disbelief.

Then he recognized the figures standing on deck.

Marco.

Portgas D. Ace.

Jozu.

Whitey Bay.

And many others.

They were all core members of the Whitebeard Pirates.

What confused him most was that Whitebeard himself wasn’t present.

Instead, standing among them was a young man he didn’t recognize.

Judging by his position within the group, however, he was clearly someone of considerable importance.

"CP0, what are you standing around for?"

Saint Degu frowned impatiently.

"Kill those insects already! Just looking at them annoys me."

He was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with his subordinates.

Once he returned to the Holy Land, he’d have to properly discipline them.

The white-suited man’s face stiffened.

"...S-Saint Degu."

His voice trembled slightly.

"T-They’re members of the Whitebeard Pirates."

"You need to leave immediately. Your safety comes first."

The CP0 agent had no desire to clash with Whitebeard’s crew.

This mission had taken place in the first half of the Grand Line—Paradise.

Because the region’s overall threat level was considered manageable, no Admiral had been assigned as an escort.

If a battle broke out now, the unarmed Celestial Dragon could easily be injured—or killed outright.

And either outcome would be a disaster far beyond what they could bear responsibility for.

◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇

◇ 1 bonus Chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!

◇ 1 bonus Chapter for every 100 Power Stones.

◇ Read 70 Chapters ahead on P@treon → /Sagamaster789