One Piece: Sky Dragon

"What..."

Cassius slowly opened his eyes, and an inexplicable pain surged through his entire body.

His brain felt like it was simmering in a pot filled with junk.

"Ah, this is so hard."

Cassius slowly sat up.

The surrounding walls were stark white, and the blanket covering him looked fresh and pristine.

"What the hell, am I in Heaven now?"

Cassius thought he would be reincarnated as a baby in some world after being killed, just like last time. But unexpectedly, he found himself in the white paradise of a world.

"Oh! Saint Bardros! You're awake!" A guard in silver armor almost blended into the background, and Cassius didn't recognize him until he spoke.

"Ahhh!" Cassius was startled and stepped back when he saw the man—one of the Celestial Dragons' subordinates!

That gun!

The angry face of the Celestial Dragon flashed into Cassius's mind in an instant.

"Saint Bardros, what's wrong with you?" The guard stepped closer, looking nervous.

Cassius was stunned, repeating what he had said over and over in his mind.

"Saint Bardros?" Cassius muttered. His past experience with reincarnation gave him some patience for situations like this.

Cassius looked left and right before timidly ordering, "Go! Bring me a mirror!"

"Yes!" The guard immediately obeyed and retrieved a small mirror from the cabinet in the corner of the room.

When Cassius saw his reflection, he was so frightened he almost dropped the mirror.

This face! It's really Saint Bardros!

Cassius snapped out of the shock and had to confirm once more.

"Where are the boatmen from before?"

"Oh! Back to you, sir! Since we weren't sure what happened to you, Saint Rofield ordered us to lock all these people in the torture room and question them one by one to find out who was responsible."

Cassius appeared anxious, but he quickly reminded himself that his true identity must not be exposed. His words shifted immediately: "Idiot! If they were so capable, could they still be caught by you? Let's go! Take me there. I want to see!"

"Yes! Well, um, do you want me to inform Saint Rofield first? After all..."

"Let's inform him later. I want to take a look at them first before we discuss anything. Anyway, I'm fine."

Cassius was afraid that Saint Rofield would expose him if he wasn't prepared, so he quickly rejected the guard's suggestion.

Cassius was led by the Celestial Dragon guards to the torture room. Simply put, it was a place meant for tormenting others. There were quite a few sadists among the Celestial Dragons who took pleasure in inflicting pain.

When Cassius entered the torture room, he nearly fainted from the horror of the scene.

Although his body was trembling, Cassius gathered his courage, took a deep breath, and ordered, "Let them all go."

"Ah? What?" The guard wondered if he had heard wrong.

"Let them go back to where they came from! I don't want to see these people in the Holy Land!"

Cassius was boiling with anger inside, but he couldn't easily abandon his current identity. Slowly, reason returned to him. His identity as Saint Bardros and a Celestial Dragon granted him nearly everything he desired.

As long as he continued to live with this identity, everything and everyone would belong to him!

This was the perfect life he had always envisioned, and nothing was more desirable to someone like him. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to kill others so casually, like a real Celestial Dragon.

"Yes..." Though the guard could hardly believe his ears, this was the order of Saint Bardros, after all.

To confirm once more, the guard asked Cassius if this order had any other meaning.

"Um, sir, do you mean for them to disappear forever?"

Cassius said anxiously, "Of course not! Well, ahem, that's it. I'll visit their island in a few years. By then, they should know how to kneel and worship. This is my Saint Bardros's only mercy! There won't be a second chance in the future!"

Although this lie was flimsy, who could know what was going on in the minds of the Celestial Dragons? The guards found it strange, but they had no choice but to obey the orders of their superiors.

It wasn't difficult to order a group of slaves to leave, but it was impossible for the guards of the Holy Land Marie Geois to arrange a ship for them to return. Instead, they simply allowed them to board a random cargo ship and leave the Holy Land.

Cassius didn't know either, but he couldn't afford to be too kind, as it might lead to trouble.

With his previous life memories of watching One Piece and the privilege of being a Celestial Dragon, Cassius quickly realized what era he was in now.

Before, he only knew that Roger was dead and that he was living in the Great Pirate Era. But now, he realized it was the year 1505 of the Sea Circle Calendar, and Roger had been dead for seven years.

Cassius had forgotten the exact timeline of One Piece, but he could still make rough judgments based on some major events in the world.

Seven years ago, after Roger's death, everyone connected to him was identified, and preparations were made to settle the scores.

Ohara Island in the West Blue was directly destroyed by a Buster Call, and Tom, the shipwright who built Roger's ship, was sentenced to death. However, he earned the right to a pardon due to his invention of the Sea Train, but he chose to accept his original sentence.

Even so, Cassius knew a bit about what might happen in the future of One Piece, but he had no idea what he should do now.

Although he became a Celestial Dragon by mistake, Cassius thought he might be able to live like this until Luffy causes something huge to happen and turns the entire world upside down.

Or...

An idea suddenly flashed in Cassius's mind.

With the memories in his mind and his current identity, he knew he could definitely achieve something even greater!

Conquer the world!

Not to mention his past, even in his previous life, he had never even thought about it.

But looking at it now, maybe, with the resources he had, he might really be able to change things himself before Luffy changes the world!

Cassius held his head in his hands, feeling that all of this was too unreal.

Conquer!

Kill!

Cassius could clearly feel the consciousness of the previous Saint Bardros, but it wasn't fully intact. After asking the guard what had happened, Cassius learned that a thunder strike had merged his body with Saint Bardros's. It was truly inexplicable.

In any case, although Cassius was now using the body of Saint Bardros, his memories were entirely his own. In other words, he lacked the common sense a Celestial Dragon should have in this world. While he could ask others, that would be too dangerous. It was better to find a way to explore Saint Bardros's behavior and habits on his own.

But for Cassius, who had never hurt anyone, learning the habits of Saint Bardros might prove to be incredibly difficult.