"They really are kind of heavy."
Even though she did not know much about swords, Nami obviously understood just how precious Supreme Grade Meito were.
She tightened her arms around the three famous blades, her eyes glittering with greedy golden light.
"If we sold these at an auction house, how many billions of Beli would they fetch!?"
Of course, she also knew that the value of Supreme Grade Meito could not be measured in money. They were true priceless treasures.
Converting them into Beli was far less worthwhile than keeping them within the Straw Hat Pirates and using them to strengthen their companions or subordinates.
"Alright, alright~"
Seeing Nami's expression, how could Red not realize that she had once again fallen into a fantasy of being surrounded by mountains of wealth?
He lightly waved his hand and said with a smile:
"Though Supreme Grade Meito are indeed unbelievably valuable, the other famous blades here are treasures worth entire fortunes too!"
"Laboon, I'll leave it to you!"
As he spoke, Red turned around and called out.
"Woo~"
A light cry suddenly came from above Luffy's head.
Then, from within Luffy's messy black hair, an adorable little figure popped out.
It was Laboon, who had used the power of the Mini-Mini Fruit to shrink himself to the size of an insect and hide on top of Luffy's head.
The little guy twisted his body and leaped into the air from Luffy's head, then landed steadily on the ground.
Immediately after, his body rapidly expanded, quickly growing to the size of a house as he opened his enormous mouth.
Although Laboon's current size was not even one-thousandth of his normal form, for Red and the others, he was already more than big enough.
At the very least, using him as a storage room posed absolutely no problem!
It could not be helped. Given how kind-hearted Luffy and the others were, this operation was certainly focused on freeing slaves, so sending out the two Storage-Storage Fruit users was the safest choice.
Fortunately, they were no longer lacking in methods.
The Mini-Mini Fruit's effect could not shrink living creatures, and before awakening, it also could not affect anything other than the user's own body.
But inorganic objects swallowed into Laboon's body were still within the effective range of the Fruit's ability.
After being modified, Laboon's body could no longer carry several small islands like before, but storing some simple treasures was still no issue at all.
Very soon, with the Straw Hats working busily, this treasure vault that belonged exclusively to the bald Five Elders member was completely emptied out.
Even the ordinary treasures piled up in the corners were not spared. Red and the others did not leave him even a single scrap of silver.
After emptying this place, they swiftly headed to the neighboring area.
This room also belonged to the bald Five Elders member, though it was not purely a treasure vault. Still, it contained plenty of antiques, paintings, calligraphy, and other items that would be considered priceless treasures in the outside world.
This time, Red and the others were fully committed to the principle of leaving no loot behind.
The pirates had come, and they would not leave until they had emptied the place.
In any case, the World Government's mid- and high-level departments had been slaughtered by them to the point that, for the time being, no one could get in touch with the Five Elders.
So long as they did not run into a bug-level existence like Imu, no one in Pangaea Castle could pose any threat to them.
And so, under the Straw Hat Pirates' all-out plundering, one Five Elders room after another fell victim to their hands.
Aside from the Supreme Grade Meito collected by the bald Five Elders member, they also found a heap of bizarre plants in the room of Saint Peter, the Warrior God of Agriculture; a group of species that had already been officially registered as extinct in the room of Saint Mars, the Warrior God of the Environment; and a stack of ownership certificates for shares in companies, enterprises, and even banks under the World Government in the room of Saint Warcury, the Warrior God of Justice.
"This old bastard's possessiveness is really that strong!?"
Looking at the pile of black-and-white contracts in front of them, every Straw Hat wore a dissatisfied expression.
It could not be helped. These contracts could neither be directly exchanged for resources or money, nor could they allow the Straw Hat Pirates to take control of those companies. In other words, they were the most useless things possible to the crew.
"Still..."
Red flipped through the company names on the contracts, a contemplative gleam flashing through his eyes.
Some of those businesses were not completely dependent on the World Government.
If they could bring those contracts to the companies themselves, perhaps they could exchange them for some benefits.
At best, it was better than nothing.
At this point, Red and the others had thoroughly looted every single room belonging to the Five Elders.
And next...
"Are you ready, Luffy?!"
A sharp light flashed in Red's eyes as he asked Luffy in all seriousness.
Now that they had stripped away all the Five Elders' resources, what remained was the true adventure!
To uncover what the so-called national treasure of the Celestial Dragons really represented.
And on the road ahead, it was very likely that before they could uncover the truth, they would be discovered by Imu.
At that point, they would have no choice but to face the final boss of this world, the ruler of the World Government, the supreme pinnacle of authority—Imu!
"Heh!"
Luffy gave a careless chuckle.
"At a time like this, why bother thinking so much!?"
"To use your words, Red—if we stop while we're ahead right now, nobody's gonna be able to sleep tonight, right?!"
"That's true." Red lifted the corner of his mouth. "In that case, everyone, get ready!"
Swish—
A pale pink curtain of light suddenly enveloped all of the Straw Hats.
In the next instant, their figures vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a chaotic scene that had been turned upside down.
…
…
At the same time, inside Pangaea Castle, in an enormous chamber whose rank was second only to that of the Five Elders—
After layers of searching by World Government staff, a blood-soaked employee finally made his way here...
To the force that nominally stood shoulder to shoulder with the World Government in authority—
The God's Knights!
However, due to the Straw Hat Pirates' consecutive massacres earlier, the God's Knights had already entered a state of severe decline.
Their Commander and one Vice Commander had both died at the hands of the Straw Hat Pirates.
One Vice Commander had only just been promoted to the Five Elders, only to be captured by the Straw Hat Pirates and turned into a positioning beacon for the reversed world.
Quite a number of elite members had also been captured by the Straw Hats during the earlier battle on Elegia Island.
Now, Vegapunk and the others had used drugs to turn them into fools, reducing them to experimental materials used solely for extracting Lineage Factor.
It could be said that the God's Knights, once so terrifying that even the Celestial Dragons trembled at the mere mention of them, had now completely fallen into decline.
In the end, the God's Knights had no choice but to pick the tallest among dwarfs and promote a Vice Commander to Commander, while selecting another new Vice Commander.
Of course, that did not mean the World Government was willing to swallow its anger and let the Straw Hat Pirates trample all over them without responding.
In fact, though they had seemed quiet for some time now, they had been secretly plotting a counterattack all along.
Gathering Devil Fruits and ability users from across the world was one part of that plan!
"Who goes there!? To dare come to this floor—I'd say you've got a death wish!"
The moment the employee reporting the matter stepped onto the stairs of this level, a long blade was suddenly placed against his neck.
It was one of the God's Knights members stationed to guard this floor.
After suffering massive casualties, the God's Knights had immediately issued a new recruitment order to the great Celestial Dragon families.
Not all Celestial Dragons were idiots like Saint Roswald.
On the contrary, whether because they truly possessed bloodlines far superior to ordinary people, or because they had access to vast quantities of resources, the proportion of talented individuals among the Celestial Dragons far exceeded that of normal noble families.
And the God's Knights, being a militant organization capable of punishing ordinary Celestial Dragons, had long since earned the awe of all Celestial Dragons.
Under normal circumstances, Celestial Dragons did not fear the Five Elders. They even dared to insult them to their faces.
But not a single Celestial Dragon dared defy the will of the God's Knights.
So when the God's Knights issued another recruitment order, huge numbers of Celestial Dragons rushed in.
They possessed a certain degree of combat ability, but their strength and talent were far inferior to the God's Knights members from before.
Yet this time, the God's Knights seemed to have gone mad, accepting anyone who came.
As long as they were not complete morons on the level of Saint Roswald, they were all taken in.
Some became formal members directly, while others were treated as reserves and entered training.
Clearly, the God's Knights member standing before the employee right now was one of those reserves assigned to gatekeeping duty.
But having a brain did not mean they would think highly of other people.
So when facing a non-Celestial Dragon, his eyes were still filled with cold disdain, as though all it would take was a single thought for him to have the man executed on the spot.
Fortunately, ordinary people who worked inside Pangaea Castle had long since mastered a unique way of speaking to Celestial Dragons.
The employee dropped to his knees without another word, burying his head so low it was almost in the ground.
"This is bad, Celestial Dragon-sama!!!"
"Pangaea Castle!... Something terrible has happened!?"
"What did you say!?"
The God's Knights reserve sharpened his gaze, abruptly lowering his head to grab the employee by the hair and yank him upward as he demanded:
"What could possibly have happened in Pangaea Castle!?"
"Dead... people!!!"
Even with his hair being yanked painfully, the employee ignored the pain and humiliation and replied with unwavering loyalty:
"There are dead people everywhere!!!"
"All of the functional departments on the third through sixth floors have been massacred!"
"Even CP0 headquarters has been slaughtered clean!!!"
"By the time we found out, there were corpses and blood everywhere."
"Damn it!!!"
The Celestial Dragon angrily flung the employee aside, authority-filled rage surging in his eyes.
Though he was no great figure within the God's Knights, before ordinary civilians he was still an exalted god.
After thinking for a moment, he suddenly barked at the employee:
"Come! Take me to see the Commander at once!!!"
…
…
"No matter how many times I see it, it still feels incredible!"
"To think they can create such an enormous forest garden indoors!"
"Well, the World Government has had eight hundred years to accumulate its methods. It's just an indoor garden—nothing that special."
Relying on the spiritual imprint they had left behind last time, the Straw Hat Pirates revisited the place with ease, arriving directly at the Chamber of Flowers where Imu resided.
And fortunately...
When they arrived this time, they still did not sense Imu's presence.
Perhaps the Straw Hat Pirates had been causing more and more trouble lately, and the pressure on this already emotionally unstable big boss had grown so intense that he no longer had the mood to come here and enjoy the fragrance of the flowers.
Which also meant that Red and the others now had quite a long stretch of time to freely investigate this place.
Perfectly enough, some of the Poneglyphs from last time had not yet been fully translated and broadcast aloud. They could use this chance to better understand the history of the past.
"Alright, the Chamber of Flowers is far too huge, so let's split up."
"If anything happens, just shout in the spirit world!"
"Got it!"
As soon as Red finished speaking, the Straw Hats immediately broke into pairs and began exploring the vast Chamber of Flowers.
At the same time...
The newly appointed Commander of the God's Knights, led by the employee, had also arrived at the assassination scenes within the World Government.
"You damned bastards!!!"
Bang!!!
Inside a room covered in corpses and blood, a horrifying burst of Conqueror's Haki suddenly erupted, sweeping in all directions with a force even more violent than the bloody aura of the scene itself.
However...
In the end, this was nothing more than impotent rage.
After all, how could he not be furious when something so horrifying had taken place right under his nose?
More importantly...
He had also received another piece of intelligence transmitted from within Pangaea Castle through a certain Fruit ability.
It stated that a group of pirates was currently wreaking slaughter throughout Mary Geoise!
And based on their observations, that group was very likely the thorn in the World Government's side, repeat invaders with prior records—
The Straw Hat Pirates!
"This must have been the Straw Hat Pirates!"
The new Commander's eyes blazed with fury as he ground his teeth and shouted to the people at his side:
"Hurry! Since the Straw Hat Pirates have made such a huge move, their objective definitely isn't just killing a few departments!"
"They're very likely the same as last time—they've broken into the area where Lord Imu resides!"
"Mobilize every single member of the God's Knights immediately, including the reserves. Everyone—move at once and follow me upward to protect Lord Imu!!!"
"Yes, sir!!!"
The Celestial Dragon who had just been promoted to Vice Commander answered at once.
But right after that, he raised his head in confusion and asked:
"But Commander, what about the intruders outside Pangaea Castle!?"
"There's no time to worry about that!"
Knowing full well how powerful the Straw Hat Pirates were, the Commander's eyes flashed with a frigid light.
"Let them fend for themselves!"
"Our mission is to ensure that Lord Imu's rest is not disturbed by these lower life-forms!"
"In any case, the God's Knights carry all the bloodlines of the nineteen Celestial Dragon families. Even if all those people outside die, it won't affect the continuation of the Celestial Dragons."
"Still... just in case, go contact the Five Elders afterward and inform them of what happened here."
"Tell those useless fools to get back here and clean up this mess already!"
The Commander suddenly lifted his head and issued the order to his aide.
Perhaps because he had used too much force, the hood of the cloak draped over him suddenly slipped down, revealing a head of wine-red hair.
And if Luffy and Uta were standing here right now, they would definitely cry out in shock.
Because this brand-new Commander of the God's Knights had a face that was exactly the same as the one belonging to the man who had profoundly shaped both their lives—
One of the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks!!!