Clang!
A finely textured, exquisitely crafted teacup shattered into pieces on the floor made of Treasure Tree Adam.
Scalding hot tea splashed onto the attendant's body. The maid trembled all over from the burn but bit her lip hard, not daring to make a sound.
Because in the face of a Celestial Dragon's wrath, any small movement could result in her being subjected to arbitrary punishment.
Her slender fingers clutched the tray tightly, trying to suppress the pain. Compared to being dragged away for execution or demoted to slavery, getting burned was truly a minor issue for this young girl.
"Mermaids are out of stock? Those useless trash can't even catch pets properly? Which side is that idiot Marine even standing on?" The younger Celestial Dragon, Musgarud Saint, erupted in fury.
"Musgarud Saint, calm yourself. Such behavior is far too crude. You must always remember the nobility of a Celestial Dragon." A slightly older Celestial Dragon expressed his dissatisfaction with his companion's outburst.
"Mermaids might not be available ever again! Tell me, how am I supposed to stay calm, Rozwald Saint?" The younger man, known as Musgarud Saint, complained loudly to the other.
He had originally thought that those incompetent human traffickers were merely late in their delivery. He had even been thinking about how to properly punish the fools who dared to make the supreme Celestial Dragons wait.
But who would have thought that the news brought by Rozwald Saint indicated that all those human traffickers had been executed on Fish-Man Island by a Marine Vice Admiral?
Without Fish-Men and Mermaids, the finest of playthings, wouldn't he lose a great opportunity to show off to others?
"Was this arranged by the Five Elders?" Since it involved Marine operations, Musgarud Saint naturally assumed that it was the work of the supreme rulers. "How exactly are they maintaining the authority of the Celestial Dragons?"
Rozwald Saint shook his head. "I've already checked with the Five Elders. That Marine acted entirely on his own. They, as well as Marine Headquarters, received no reports whatsoever."
He then chuckled, as if amused. "As for maintaining the authority of the Celestial Dragons, that Marine is indeed on our side. After all, it was he who carried out the Buster Call."
"I have already negotiated with the ruling Five Elders. In my name, Rozwald Saint, I have ordered him to be recalled to Marine Headquarters. Rest assured, mermaids will still be ours in the future." The older Celestial Dragon spoke with confidence.
When he first received reports from his subordinates about Marines entering Fish-Man Island, the Celestial Dragon, who was passionate about collecting living "figurines," was confused. He initially thought it was an operation commanded by the Five Elders.
He and several other prestigious Celestial Dragons immediately went to demand an explanation from the true elites of their kind—the Five Elders. But to their surprise, the Five Elders looked even more baffled and innocent than they did.
Not only did they fully cooperate with an investigation on the spot, but they also immediately made calls to Marine Headquarters, the CP intelligence divisions, and the Marine garrison at Sabaody Archipelago—right in front of the honored Celestial Dragons.
Marine Headquarters had no record of this officer's deployment. Furthermore, they were currently overwhelmed by the Seven Warlords of the Sea system and had not even noticed this general's movements.
And the Five Elders, the highest-ranking leaders of the World Government, even laid out all administrative orders from the past six months for the esteemed Celestial Dragons to review at their leisure.
In the end, only the port records at the Marine garrison confirmed that a coated warship had been rented out by Marine Headquarters—and its whereabouts were now unknown.
It must be said, the Five Elders were extremely skilled at shirking responsibility. The Celestial Dragons, who had stormed in to demand answers, went through all that trouble only to discover that this entire situation was nothing more than a personal action taken by that unruly Marine.
Neither the Five Elders nor Marine Headquarters had any involvement with him whatsoever.
The Fleet Admiral of Marine Headquarters had already deduced the reasoning behind this renegade general's actions—some bloodthirsty lunatic dissatisfied with the Seven Warlords system had taken his frustration out by slaughtering pirates on Fish-Man Island.
And those human traffickers, who had been supplying tribute to the Celestial Dragons, were clearly mistaken by Sakazuki for pirates—and thus massacred along with them.
Although those human traffickers were just trash that could be picked up at will, and whether they lived or died would not concern the Celestial Dragons, what about that Marine's attitude towards the Celestial Dragons?
"I should have sent a commendation letter to a little guy. As long as he wasn't blind, that idiot Sakazuki shouldn't have mistakenly killed him, right?" Saint Rozward, though he had already completely believed that this matter had nothing to do with the Five Elders, couldn't help but voice his complaint.
Who would have thought that before his words even fell, a government official walked in holding a visual Den Den Mushi.
On the screen, Sakazuki was seen beheading the merchant who supposedly had the commendation letter with a single slash and throwing a Fish-Man into a near-berserk crowd.
"..." Saint Rozward felt his entire face twitch, especially as the Fish-Man who fell into the square was immediately chewed to pieces—flesh and bones—by several shark-type Fish-Men.
"Those... crude! Barbaric fish species! And is that Sakazuki a reckless fool? In this kind of situation, is he not afraid of a riot breaking out?"
The Five Elders exchanged glances, a hint of schadenfreude flashing in their eyes.
The long-haired elder, whose hair reached his waist, coughed lightly and said, "Esteemed Saint Rozward, may I ask if the merchant who was just executed is the one you mentioned who had the commendation letter?"
Saint Rozward was so furious that smoke practically came out of his seven orifices. "That's right! Even though they're all ants, I at least remember the bigger ones!"
The blond elder unbuttoned the top button of his collar and pointed at the blood-soaked massacre being broadcast. On the screen, Onigumo, using his free hands, was stripping the executed merchant of his clothes and jewelry piece by piece before kicking the corpse down. A large pile of Beli and jewelry rings were placed on a high platform, but the so-called commendation document mentioned by Saint Rozward was nowhere to be seen.
"If he truly had proof of his identity, he should have presented it immediately. But it seems he never had it on him at all. I believe that is the greatest disrespect to the authority of the Celestial Dragons," the blond elder said with a regretful tone.
The bald elder nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Though Sakazuki is a butcher, he would never ignore a direct order from the Celestial Dragons. After all, he was the one who carried out the Buster Call to uphold the Celestial Dragons' authority. If you say he is an imbecile, we will believe it, but accusing him of defying our Celestial Dragon authority seems a bit far-fetched."
"Guns, drugs, harboring pirates... No wonder that blockhead mistook him for an accomplice of the pirates," the elder wearing a flat hat tapped his cane.
The elder with a birthmark on his forehead, after listing the crimes Sakazuki had just declared, decided to state the truth. "That Sakazuki is a stubborn man, always acting with absolute hatred toward evil."
It was reasonable and backed by solid evidence, leaving the Celestial Dragons speechless.
Witnessing such a barbaric spectacle, they now truly believed that the Marine had acted on his own accord.
After all, only a fool would willingly go to such a savage place. Even if the World Government issued an order, it would be meaningless.
Saint Rozward turned to look at his companions. That ant-like waste hadn't brought any proof of identity—who was to blame for that?
That stubborn and probably brainless Marine had no way of knowing that he was acting on behalf of the supreme Celestial Dragons, so there was no question of him showing any disrespect to their authority.
The five highest-ranking Celestial Dragon governors adopted a sincere attitude and immediately conducted self-criticism, admitting that they should not have drafted policies so aggressively, as it had led to a small faction of Marines developing a divided stance on the issue. They then sternly declared that strict measures would be taken to deal with such undisciplined, iron-headed Marines.