Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1498.
That year, something momentous happened—
The Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, turned himself in to the Navy.
Under orders from the World Government, Roger was escorted to Loguetown to be executed publicly, a warning to all restless pirates who roamed the seas.
Of course, none of that had anything to do with Hilbert Blake.
Because he was one of the noble, exalted, and untouchable descendants of the gods—
In short, a Celestial Dragon.
Having lived in this world for sixteen years, Blake felt he was almost completely assimilated into the shameless lifestyle of the Celestial Dragons.
As he slowly awoke from his slumber, a pale-skinned, long-legged maid approached without needing his command, knelt, and bowed deeply.
"Lord Saint Blake, please allow me to cleanse your face."
Blake merely hummed faintly in response, still too groggy to speak.
The maid bowed again, then picked up a disposable silk cloth embroidered with golden threads and carefully wiped his face clean.
Her motions were gentle and measured, as if afraid to disturb his morning mood.
Though Blake wasn't one of those notoriously cruel Celestial Dragons, aside from his temper, he had all the same habits as the rest.
The maids of Mary Geoise had long learned to tread carefully—many had seen their colleagues executed for even the smallest mistakes.
After his face was washed, Blake felt considerably more awake. With the maid's help, he sat up from bed, and three more maids immediately appeared to dress him.
Even after more than ten years of this, Blake still felt like he was being pampered into uselessness.
"Whatever," he muttered to himself, "there are plenty of people out on the sea who'd kill for a life this cushy."
With that bit of self-justification, Blake peacefully accepted their service.
Once dressed, he stretched lazily and turned to the nearest maid.
"The weather's nice today. I'm heading down below. Call a few CP agents to come with me."
"Yes, Lord Saint Blake!"
The maid bowed and hurried off.
Although CP agents were technically the Celestial Dragons' security force, in truth, they didn't guard every noble personally while in Mary Geoise.
After all, the Holy Land was secure enough, and there simply weren't enough CP agents to assign one to every Dragon.
Usually, they only accompanied Celestial Dragons when they traveled down to the surface world—especially for sea voyages.
Sometimes, if it was just a trip to the Sabaody Archipelago, some Dragons didn't even bother bringing CP along.
Those idiots truly believed no one on the Grand Line would dare touch them.
Blake was also heading for Sabaody today—but unlike those fools, he wasn't planning to go with only a ship full of maids and slaves.
He wasn't stupid.
If idiots like Captain Kuro—with plans dumb enough to insult the word "strategy"—could be considered the second smartest man on the sea after Ben Beckman,
And if a man like Sengoku, whose idea of tactics was "surround and reinforce," could be hailed as a "military genius,"
Then in this world of prenatal prodigies, there were plenty of people even dumber than the Celestial Dragons.
Who knew when some hot-blooded fool like Luffy might pop up? Getting punched was one thing—but if he accidentally exposed his real strength and got chosen by the Holy Knights, that would be a disaster.
Ever since the God Valley Incident, the Celestial Dragons' "Hunting Games" hadn't been held for years.
Nowadays, the Holy Knights could only recruit from among the Celestial Dragons who seemed to have combat potential.
And Blake? Blake intended to become the final boss of this world—joining the Holy Knights would just put him on the frontlines. No thanks.
Breakfast consisted of a lavish spread of a hundred dishes. Blake tasted a little of each, let a maid wipe the sauce from his lips, and changed into a sleek space suit-like outfit, topped with a bubble helmet like a goldfish bowl.
Then he stepped outside.
Two masked CP agents were already waiting. Beside them knelt a small giant, nearly eight meters tall, bearing on his back a golden throne—Blake's personal mount.
"Let's go."
At his command, the slave began to crawl forward cautiously, heading toward the Red Port.
As a man who had once lived in the modern world, Blake had found it hard at first to adapt to the Celestial Dragons' way of life.
Even now, he couldn't bring himself to slaughter slaves casually.
But he understood something clearly—if he wanted to keep a low profile, the best way was to blend in completely.
Whether it was Doflamingo and Mjosgard from the original story, or other transmigrators before him, they all loved to stand out.
Those two lunatics from the Donquixote family betrayed their class for ideals.
And transmigrators were even more absurd—
Some trained obsessively, some picked fights with other Dragons for the sake of slaves, some risked their lives to join the Holy Knights, some refused to wear bubble helmets, and some were so sadistic even other Dragons couldn't stomach it…
Most of them were noticed by the Five Elders or even Imu before reaching adulthood—and their lives quickly went downhill from there.
Would it kill them to be low-key?
A few snide remarks and they lose their cool? Blake seriously doubted whether those people had actually been adults before transmigrating.
From the moment he arrived, Blake had been a practical man. If someone offended him, he'd just find a way to quietly eliminate them—this whole "face-slapping" nonsense was a waste of effort.
Mary Geoise was massive, and even riding on the slave's back, it took over an hour to reach Red Port.
Blake yawned. "No wonder those idiots always look for entertainment—I'm already bored out of my mind."
No one dared respond, of course, and Blake hadn't expected them to.
At the World Government's exclusive harbor, rows of armored guards knelt on both sides as Blake passed through aboard his living mount, entering the Bubble Cable Car.
From ten thousand meters above sea level, the car slowly descended to the ocean surface, where a massive luxury cruise ship awaited him.
Not Thanos's ship, of course—this was a custom-built vessel crafted for Blake's first voyage.
He planned to travel often, and how could a Celestial Dragon of his stature not have a personal ship to match his nobility?
A few hours later, the Sanctum docked at Sabaody Archipelago.
Area 16 – Slave Auction House.
"Two hundred million Berries."
The words weren't loud, but they silenced the entire auction hall.
The auctioneer immediately plastered on a fawning smile.
"Congratulations, Lord Celestial Dragon, for winning this mermaid slave!"
Blake ignored him, turning to leave.
There were no Devil Fruits or powerful pirate slaves on auction today, which dampened his interest.
"The auction world can't lose Doflamingo," he thought idly, "just like the West can't lose Jerusalem."
Still, buying a mermaid as a living decoration wasn't a complete waste.
Without paying attention to the maid settling the payment behind him, Blake left the auction house under CP escort to stroll the area.
Area 16 was entirely built around slavery. Behind the glass windows lining the streets stood slaves of all shapes and sizes—some beautiful, some brawny, all for sale.
To be honest, the first time he'd walked down this street, Blake's worldview had been completely shattered. Now, though, his face was calm, even mildly amused. The contrast was almost frightening.
Then suddenly—
A smiling blonde woman behind one of the display windows caught his eye.
"Huh? Why does she look… kind of familiar?"