"You... you filthy commoner! How dare you threaten someone as noble as me?!"
Terrified, Saint Charloss shakily raised his pistol and aimed it at Law.
Slash!
Law casually swung his blade.
For a brief moment, everything went silent.
Then...
Saint Charloss's head flew into the air.
The severed head spun several times before dropping neatly into Law's hand.
Blood never sprayed.
Law glanced at the head inside the cracked bubble helmet, the eyes still wide open in shock, then sighed softly.
"I warned you not to move. You Celestial Dragons really don't know how to listen."
"AAAAAHHHH!"
"A pirate actually killed Lord Saint Charloss?!"
"We're finished! We're all finished!"
The Celestial Dragon guards trembled violently, their faces pale with despair.
They had failed.
A Celestial Dragon had been killed right in front of them.
Every single one of them understood what that meant.
Death.
None of them would survive the consequences.
Yet before their panic could fully sink in, an even more horrifying scene unfolded.
"You bastard!"
The severed head in Law's hand suddenly moved.
Saint Charloss glared furiously at him.
"You filthy pirate! Put me down immediately!"
The guards froze in disbelief as Saint Charloss's detached head continued shouting angrily.
"How dare you touch me with your dirty hands?! The World Government will tear you apart! I'll personally have you executed!"
Clearly, Saint Charloss still hadn't realized what had happened to him.
"Heavens..."
One of the guards suddenly pointed forward with trembling fingers.
"L-Look! Lord Saint Charloss's body is moving!"
The headless body beside Law stomped furiously on the ground while wildly pointing toward the guards.
"You idiots! Are you just going to stand there while this trash holds my head?!"
The bizarre sight was horrifying and ridiculous at the same time.
A guard swallowed hard, hope appearing in his eyes.
"Saint Charloss... are you still alive?"
"What stupid nonsense are you asking?! Of course I'm alive!"
Even now, Saint Charloss remained oblivious.
"Hurry up and kill this low-life pirate already!"
The guards looked utterly terrified.
"B-But your head has been separated from your body..."
Saint Charloss scoffed arrogantly.
"What kind of idiotic joke is that? How could my head possibly be..."
His voice stopped abruptly.
Slowly, Saint Charloss looked downward.
Then came a scream filled with absolute terror.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
Boom!!!
Thunder rumbled across the distant sky.
Law frowned slightly.
"You're too loud."
With another casual motion, he swung Kikoku again.
"ROOM... Cut: Vocal Cord Separation."
Slash!
Saint Charloss's head split cleanly down the middle from forehead to chin.
The two halves floated apart, revealing flesh and internal organs, yet not a single drop of blood spilled out.
A strange flesh-colored organ floated into Law's hand.
Instantly, Saint Charloss lost the ability to scream.
The mouths on both halves of his head opened frantically, but no sound came out.
"The world is much quieter now."
Law calmly reassembled the split head before tossing the extracted vocal cords toward one of the guards.
"Be careful with that. If it breaks, your master will never speak again."
"A-Ah..."
The guard caught the organ with trembling hands, holding it as carefully as if his own life depended on it.
"To think this is the power of the Ope Ope no Mi..."
Another guard stared at Law in horror.
"A Devil Fruit worth five billion Berries, capable of cutting apart a human body without killing them..."
"Trafalgar Law!"
The guard gritted his teeth nervously.
"We can overlook your offense against Lord Saint Charloss for now, but restore him immediately! An Admiral is already on the way here! If you run now, you still have a chance to survive!"
"An Admiral..."
Law lightly tossed Saint Charloss's head up and down in his hand, his expression carrying obvious mockery.
"One of the world's strongest military forces mobilized just because a Celestial Dragon got hurt."
His eyes darkened slightly.
"But when ordinary civilians beg for justice and protection, nobody comes to save them."
The memory of Rosinante surfaced in his mind.
There were Marines who truly embodied justice.
Men willing to sacrifice themselves for others.
But there were far more who simply served as obedient weapons for the Celestial Dragons under the excuse of justice.
"Marine justice really is selective."
Law shook his head with a faint laugh.
"Funny, isn't it? The justice the Marines refuse to deliver, a pirate might end up giving instead."
He casually tossed Saint Charloss's head into the air.
"This world keeps getting more entertaining."
Law reached up to catch it.
But...
His hand grabbed empty air.
His expression immediately changed.
"Oh? A pirate talking about justice?"
A man's voice suddenly echoed from above.
"That's an interesting thing to hear from someone like you."
Law instantly turned toward the source of the voice.
Atop a nearby three-story building, a man sat lazily on the edge of the roof, looking down at him.
Law's eyes narrowed.
A dangerous presence.
The man had appeared without triggering even his Observation Haki, and had casually stolen Saint Charloss's head right in front of him.
"He's here! Finally!"
One of the guards nearly burst into tears after recognizing the newcomer.
"Admiral Cero! Please kill this pirate! He attacked Lord Saint Charloss! He cannot be allowed to live!"
The Marine Admiral known as Cero had arrived.
Bad news, an Admiral was here.
Good news, it was Cero.