One Piece: Sky Dragon

The sound of chains scraping against the ground was endless.

Dozens of slaves were lined up, awaiting their fate.

"Cassius, why don't we run away?" the slightly burly man next to him asked timidly.

Cassius appeared smaller in stature. Though he was a boy, his body had not developed properly due to chronic malnutrition.

Cassius shook his head and replied, "Forget it. If you want to die early, then run away. If we fall into the hands of the Celestial Dragons, we'll have a fate worse than death."

The Celestial Dragon guards, dressed in armor, stood to the side, spears in hand, waiting for the Lord Celestial Dragon to arrive.

Cassius let out a long breath. He couldn't understand why the world was like this.

He remembered that over ten years ago, he'd met a gangster on the street and had a conflict with him. As a result, he'd been shot. After dying, he'd opened his eyes to find himself in a new world.

Unlike some isekai stories, where the body is transported, in his case, it was his soul that traveled. It felt somewhat like reincarnation, but for some reason, the memories of his past life remained. Unfortunately, he hadn't studied much in his previous life.

As a result, he'd been doing menial labor for 14 years in this world. His parents had died young, so he'd followed the strong man beside him to work in the shipyard.

It was a pity that this life seemed so meaningless. Maybe they really should try to escape, be beaten to death while doing so, and then maybe be sent to another world again?

Who knows if reincarnation was a one-time thing?

Cassius knew very well what kind of world this was. Unfortunately, there was little news from the outside world, except for seagulls delivering newspapers to the island where he was. Merchant ships that passed by looked down on his figure.

He didn't have the strength to make money, and he didn't have money to take care of his body. It was a vicious cycle.

The echoing footsteps came from another corridor.

Here they come, the Celestial Dragons, the most powerful beings in the world.

Listening to their footsteps, everyone present became tense. Even the Celestial Dragon guards, who had been serving them, secretly swallowed nervously, fearing what might happen when the Celestial Dragons entered.

"Saint Rofield and Saint Bardros have arrived!" With these two shouts, two Celestial Dragons, wearing bubble masks and protective suits, walked into the room.

Both had blond hair and brown eyes. Their figures weren't particularly fat or thin, but the protective suits made them appear incredibly corpulent. The bubble masks were used to isolate the unclean air, and they wore sunglasses to avoid having their eyes dirtied by others.

The taller one was Saint Rofield. Today was the birthday of his son, Saint Bardros, who was turning 14.

The two Celestial Dragons themselves didn't possess any special aura, but in this environment, no one could breathe normally.

The strong man next to Cassius began to pant. He had been whipped several times by the slave owner on the way here.

"Ah! Saint Rofield! I have gathered all the people you need, hehe," said the man standing behind the slaves, the one who had planned to sell them, rubbing his palms together with a sinister smile on his face.

Cassius never expected that people like them, who had lived normal lives on the island, would end up facing such a fate. Sure enough, this world was truly cruel.

The world of One Piece seen in the manga is fascinating because the protagonist is strong, but now, experiencing it firsthand, it feels terrifying, a world where the weak have no place.

People who live in peaceful worlds can't fully understand the meaning of the saying, "The weak are meat, and the strong do eat." Only those who have experienced it firsthand can truly understand the importance of strength.

This is the reality now, but unfortunately, it's already too late to change anything.

"Oh, my son! Look! This is the group of workers I bought for you! You said you wanted to design a super battleship. There may only be a few people here now, but they can at least build a model for you. Next year, I'll buy that famous shipbuilding island and have them work for you."

Saint Rofield smiled.

"Ah? Why are there only a few dozen people?! I want to build the greatest super, super, super battleship in the world! How can there be so few workers?!"

Saint Badros was furious.

The Celestial Dragon Guards were used to it. Every year, Saint Bardros made unreasonable demands, and although he started out with great enthusiasm, he lost interest within a few days. So, Saint Rofield simply didn't take them seriously. If something could be bought with money, he'd just spend a little more.

This time, however, his son's request was too expensive, but since Saint Bardros always gave up halfway, Saint Rofield just played along. After all, the worst that could happen was killing a few more slaves to relieve his anger.

"Execute them all!"

"...Huh?"

Everyone remained silent.

"I said, execute them all! These damn people! They get upset just by looking at me! So just let them die!"

"Are you kidding me?!"

The burly man standing next to Cassius suddenly shouted.

But he quickly realized the situation and fell silent.

Saint Badros was taken aback. He fixed his gaze on the strong man and asked, "What did you just say?"

The burly man shouted instinctively, not expecting things to unfold like this.

He stopped talking, but Saint Badros' anger flared up instantly.

Saint Badros turned to the guard beside him and said, "Give me your gun."

The guard, not daring to disobey, quickly handed his gun to Saint Badros with the utmost respect.

"Go to hell!"

Bang! Squelch!

The man was shot through the heart and collapsed, dead on the spot.

Everyone present was from the same island, bound by friendship and familiarity. Seeing this scene, they were overwhelmed with a mixture of anger and panic.

Cassius was completely stunned. The man's blood splattered across his face. His friend… was dead.

The bond they had, like a family that supported and trusted one another, was shattered with his death.

"Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!!!"

Cassius, overwhelmed by emotions, screamed and cried out in despair, while Saint Badros shouted in anger, "It's so noisy!"

Immediately after, another shot rang out!

Bang!

Cassius's heart was pierced as well.

In that moment, a bolt of lightning struck from the sky, crashing through the ceiling and directly hitting Saint Badros, who was holding the gun.

"My son!" Saint Rofield cried out as he rushed to his side, with the surrounding guards quickly following behind him.

Saint Badros lay on the ground, his face slackened, and the blood pooling around him was Cassius's.

The sky calmed down once more. Whether it was divine punishment or a tragic disaster, no one could say for certain.