Chapter 631: Another One Cut Down
After Tesoro also left, the vault became empty, leaving only a mess behind.
On the floor, a dirty, crumpled little bear toy lay motionless.
Following a massive tremor, a piece of rubble fell from the ceiling, landing right on top of it, burying it completely...
Outside the golden tower at the base, a group of Tesoro's remaining subordinates were fighting a band of pirates.
This group of pirates belonged to a crew called the Twin Blades Pirates, with about a hundred members. This pirate crew had originally come to the Golden City for entertainment, but unexpectedly, they happened to encounter the great chaos in the Golden City. The pirates of the Twin Blades Pirates immediately realized this was a golden opportunity to loot the city.
They quickly gathered their men and started working, and the iconic tower of this Golden City naturally became their target.
But when they rushed over, they found the tower still had quite a few guards.
Since they were already there, there was no way they would leave. Moreover, they believed that any place guarded would definitely have big gains, so they fearlessly charged at the guards.
As a result, the guards, already unsettled by everything happening on the tower, had extremely low combat effectiveness. Despite being armed with numerous guns, they were overwhelmed by pirates wielding cold weapons.
The pirates of the Twin Blades Pirates all favored dual-wielding weapons. After defeating the guards, the excited pirates clashed their blades together with a clang. The captain of the Twin Blades Pirates, full of high spirits, waved his hand and shouted, "Charge in! Take everything that can be carried away!"
"Whoo!" The pirates cheered and then rushed desperately toward the gate.
However, at that moment, a loud bang was heard, and the closed gate was kicked open from the inside by someone!
The pirates of the Twin Blades Pirates were startled, and then they saw many people inside carrying large boxes and filing out.
"Damn it, someone beat us to it!?" The captain of the Twin Blades Pirates quickly realized what was happening. Without even getting a clear look at who these box-carrying people were, he jumped up and down in anger, shouting, "Put down what you're holding! That's ours!"
"Yeah, put down those gold boxes! They're ours now!" The pirates of the Twin Blades Pirates surrounded the entrance, echoing their captain's threats.
But before they could finish, a voice suddenly rang out, "Oh!? And if we don't put them down, what are you going to do about it!?"
From among the crowd emerging from the tower, a figure stepped forward, looking annoyed as he asked.
The captain of the Twin Blades Pirates put his hands on his hips and said, "Hmph, if you don't put them down, we'll... we'll... we'll... we'll..."
He started off fine, but then suddenly began stuttering, repeating "we'll" for ages without finishing. The pirates of the Twin Blades Pirates were wondering why their captain had suddenly developed a stutter when they looked and saw his face had turned deathly pale. He was trembling all over, with large beads of cold sweat streaming down.
When the pirates curiously turned their gaze to the figure who had stepped out of the crowd, and soon recognized who he was, they too began shaking like leaves, just like their captain.
"I... I'll be damned!! It's... it's the Dragon Hunter Pirates!?"
The pirates roared in their hearts, filled with grief and fury! What the hell were they thinking? How could these ruthless people be here!?
The pirates wished they could tear their own mouths apart. What had they just said!? They actually dared to tell the Dragon Hunter Pirates to put things down!? They were in big trouble now!
Just as the pirates thought they were about to die, their captain suddenly snapped out of it. He immediately rubbed his hands together, his face shifting like a mask into a fawning smile at Ian, and said, "Boss Ian, what I meant was, we'll just clear the way so you can pass!"
Holy crap! There's such a move! Captain, you're way too clever!
The pirates of the Twin Blades Pirates mentally gave their captain a thumbs-up, then also grinned obsequiously, nodding frantically in agreement, looking like a bunch of bootlickers.
Ian glanced at the pirate crew, found he didn't recognize them at all, and figured they were some small fry crew. Too lazy to bother with them, he snorted and led the way out.
The members of the Dragon Hunter Pirates followed suit, and the pirates of the Twin Blades Pirates immediately lined up on both sides to see them off.
However, when they saw Marine Admiral Aokiji, as well as Perospero and Katakuri of the Big Mom Pirates, also coming out behind them, they nearly scared their souls out of their bodies.
They stood there dumbfounded, watching the big shots leave, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
Only after Ian and the others had gone far did they look at their captain.
Luckily, their captain had been quick-witted enough to pull off that amazing turnaround, or else they wouldn't have known how they died. The pirates now admired their captain even more...
The appearance of these pirates was no coincidence. After coming out, Ian realized the entire Golden City was already in chaos. Large numbers of impeccably dressed wealthy people, whether gentlemen, noble ladies, or misses, were all fleeing in panic, their usual elegance long gone. They scrambled desperately toward the ships at the port, with people constantly falling and immediately being trampled by dozens of feet...
The lower-level service staff of the Golden City, on the other hand, rushed desperately toward places where seawater was gushing out, drenching themselves in the sea and crying tears of joy as they celebrated their newfound freedom.
As for the rampaging pirates, they laughed heartily, hauling out everything they could carry from the dazzling shops. If they encountered Marines who still had a sense of justice, they would fight them briefly before quickly escaping.
All the hidden contradictions of the Golden City had been completely triggered by this incident, revealing every aspect of human nature in that moment.
Seeing this, Ian and Fujitora could only shake their heads, unsure of what to do. In the end, they led their group toward the port.
With Katakuri and Perospero around, Ian couldn't just fly back to Skypiea directly. He had no intention of taking these two to his hideout, so he had to first find Aokiji's ship and plan to leave the Golden City.
When they arrived at the port, they found the situation there was even worse.
Ships were jammed together. Whether pirates, Marines, or wealthy individuals, everyone was scrambling to leave, resulting in a deadlock. A mess of large and small ships crowded around the port's tunnel entrance, packed tightly together.
And to make matters worse, among these ships was a Celestial Dragon's vessel!
Celestial Dragons, the World Nobles, often visited the Golden City, so their presence here was not unusual. But after the chaos broke out in the Golden City, the Celestial Dragon also had to leave. Unfortunately, they too were stuck here.
On the ornate large ship flying the World Government flag and the World Noble flag, an irritable Celestial Dragon stood by the railing, holding a pistol and continuously firing at people on nearby ships!
"Move aside, move aside! You lowlifes, how dare you block my path! You all deserve to die!"
He fired bullets with a bang, hitting several people on a nearby ship, causing blood to spurt as they fell. That ship belonged to some wealthy individual, but those hit were just hired commoner sailors. The wealthy man had long since hidden in the cabin, not daring to come out.
When the sailors controlling the ship were killed by the Celestial Dragon, that vessel was even less able to move.
However, the shooting Celestial Dragon didn't realize anything was wrong with his actions. He turned to the other side of the railing and opened fire on people on another ship.
No one dared to advise him, including the black-suited bodyguards behind him. No one wanted to court trouble when a World Noble was in a rage, so they simply stood behind him with their hands behind their backs, expressionless, turning a blind eye to his wanton killing.
The people on the nearby ships who witnessed this scene also dared not speak out in anger.
"These Celestial Dragons are steeped in malice..." Fujitora sensed this scene and shook his head with a sigh.
Kuina also frowned deeply and couldn't help but look at Aokiji. Aokiji, wearing his sunglasses, stared straight in the direction of the Celestial Dragon's ship, frowning as if lost in thought.
"Hey, these guys are like cockroaches, showing up everywhere you go..." Ian said with a cold smile, then leaped toward the Celestial Dragon's ship.
Thud. Ian landed on the deck of the Celestial Dragon's ship, causing the entire vessel to shake.
The Celestial Dragon lost his balance and fell to the deck. After scrambling up awkwardly, he straightened the glass dome on his head and glared angrily at Ian, this sudden intruder. Raising his gun, he pointed it at Ian and shouted, "Damn it, you lowlife! Who allowed you to board my ship!?"
This Celestial Dragon looked quite young, probably from some family. His face was covered in pimples, and he had an oily, stupid expression.
He didn't recognize Ian at first, but his bodyguards' faces changed dramatically the moment they saw Ian.
"Oh no, sir! He's Black Dragon Ian of the Dragon Hunter Pirates!" The bodyguards drew their swords in panic and shielded the Celestial Dragon behind them.
Upon hearing Ian's name, the Celestial Dragon seemed momentarily stunned and instinctively pulled the trigger.
Bang! A bullet shot toward Ian. Ian didn't even dodge; he simply raised his left palm, and the bullet struck his Armament Haki-hardened hand, flattening into a lump of metal.
As he caught the bullet, Ian's right thumb pushed up the scabbard of his sword!
Whoosh! The bodyguards couldn't even see Ian's figure. They only saw a flash of blade light sweep horizontally, and then a sharp pain shot through their necks as blood gushed out with a spurt.
Ian took out all six of the Celestial Dragon's bodyguards with a single slash, leaving the Celestial Dragon face-to-face with him.
"You... you..." The Celestial Dragon fell to the ground in terror, his pants wet. He scrambled backward in panic, stammering, "I... I know you! Don't come near me!"
But Ian just snorted disdainfully. He drew his sword with his right hand and lightly swung it at the Celestial Dragon.
With a crisp sound like paper being cut, the Celestial Dragon froze.
A red line of blood appeared from his head down to his crotch, and then suddenly, a massive amount of blood burst forth!
With a soft crack, the glass dome on his head split in half, the cut perfectly smooth.
Like killing a chicken, Ian effortlessly sliced this guy in two. He stepped back in disgust to avoid getting blood on himself.
Everyone who saw this was stunned. A World Noble, a Celestial Dragon, had been so easily killed in broad daylight!?
Rumors had long said that Black Dragon Ian of the Dragon Hunter Pirates had killed a Celestial Dragon before, but now it turned out the rumors were true! Judging by how casually he killed a World Noble, this clearly wasn't his first time...
Tesoro had always tried to prevent any Celestial Dragons in his city from encountering Ian, but despite all his calculations, he hadn't foreseen that they would still cross paths...
Leaping into the air, Ian hurled a ball of black flame at the Celestial Dragon's ship, quickly burning it to ashes. Then, hovering in midair, he shouted to the ships below, "One by one, get out! Anyone who tries to cut in line, don't blame me for being rude!"
Pointing at the ship at the very front, he said, "You! Go first! The rest, follow!"
Killing a Celestial Dragon didn't bother Ian in the least. He was more concerned about getting his own ship out of the port, so he temporarily took on the role of a traffic cop...