The woman wore a pale-blue, off-shoulder dress. Her long golden hair flowed gently down her back, and she smiled faintly, as if unaware of the situation she was in.
"Bring her out. I want a closer look."
At Blake's gesture, the shopkeeper—who had already been kneeling at the door—scrambled to his feet and rushed inside. Moments later, he emerged with the blonde woman in tow. Both knelt before Blake.
"What's your name?"
The woman kept her head low, not daring to meet his eyes.
"L-Lord Celestial Dragon… my name is Stella."
"Stella, huh…"
Blake softly repeated the name, and in that instant, recognition dawned on him.
Though Stella only appeared in one of the One Piece movies—and even then only in a flashback—Blake remembered her vividly. No wonder she'd looked familiar even after stepping out of two dimensions into three.
In her youth, Gild Tesoro had met Stella through music. To buy her freedom from a slave trader, Tesoro worked himself to the bone, saving every last Berry—until the day a Celestial Dragon appeared, wanting to buy her as well.
The Celestial Dragon won.
Stella became his property, subjected to years of inhuman torment, and died within three years.
Before her death, she had smiled at Tesoro and said, "Because of you, I was happy."
That single moment shattered Tesoro's world, setting him on the dark path that would one day make him the Golden Emperor, who controlled twenty percent of the world's wealth.
Of course, that wasn't the only reason Blake remembered her so clearly.
It was because of that painting.
The painting left behind after Stella was taken—a masterpiece that had once shaken the world.
In it, Stella wore a soft blue gown that rippled like ocean waves, cold and melancholic. Her pale face stood in stark contrast to the color of her dress.
Her golden hair was lifted gently by the sea breeze, its tips touched by a faint golden glow, as if the sunset had brushed them with amber.
Around her neck was a metal collar, the chain gripped tightly in the hand of a Celestial Dragon. The collar cut into her throat, but her lips still curved upward.
It was a smile bordering on reverence—her eyes closed as though in silent prayer, or perhaps as if she were feeling the whisper of wind against her ear.
There was no hatred on her face. Only a gentle, almost holy serenity.
As though pain, humiliation, and chains… were all beneath notice.
When Blake first saw that image, the sense of fragility and despair it carried hit him like a hammer. Even after so many years, the memory remained vivid.
Now, the real Stella stood before him, her head still bowed, her expression hidden.
Blake spoke calmly:
"This slave isn't bad. I'll take her."
At his signal, one of the maids stepped forward to negotiate with the ecstatic shopkeeper.
To the merchant, even the faintest association with a Celestial Dragon was enough to change his fortune.
"Remove her collar," Blake ordered.
One of the CP agents stepped up and made a small motion—shink! The collar fell away.
Despite their unimpressive portrayals in the original story, all CP agents were handpicked elites, trained to perfection. A pirate worth over a hundred million Berries might not even beat one in single combat.
It was just that the enemies they faced were monsters, which made CP seem like background fodder by comparison.
To walk away with Stella today—Blake considered that a good day's harvest. He was ready to return to Mary Geoise before nightfall.
He understood perfectly how the world viewed the Celestial Dragons. Until his strength reached the level of a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, he had no plans to wander the seas. It simply wasn't safe.
Once he reached that level, only the Four Emperors or the Seven Warlords of the Sea would pose any real threat—and those kinds of people were smart enough to know better than to mess with a Celestial Dragon.
Not long after the Sanctum departed from Sabaody Archipelago—
In Area 16, Tesoro stood frozen before the display window where Stella once was. In her place now stood another, unfamiliar slave.
"Congratulations, Ralph! I didn't expect your merchandise to be so exceptional it caught the eye of a Celestial Dragon himself!"
"Ahh, you flatter me… I'm simply fortunate, that's all…"
As Ralph laughed in mock modesty, Tesoro's heart plummeted.
He lunged forward, grabbed Ralph by the collar, and roared,
"What did you just say? Where's Stella?!"
Ralph recoiled at first—then, seeing Tesoro's bloodshot eyes, his fear twisted into anger.
How dare a lowly wretch shout at him—and in front of other traders, no less!
"Guards! Seize him!"
Slave traders were vicious men, all of them keeping hired muscle on standby.
The moment Ralph spoke, a group of burly thugs surged forward, pinning Tesoro to the ground.
Ralph stepped on Tesoro's head.
"You want to know where that girl went? Fine—I'll tell you. She was bought by a noble Celestial Dragon! You filthy mongrel could never comprehend the greatness of the gods' descendants… but don't worry, you'll soon experience what it means to be a slave! Take him away!"
Even without directly crossing paths with the Celestial Dragon, Tesoro had fallen right back into his destined tragedy.
Fate… truly had a twisted sense of humor.
Back in Mary Geoise, Blake knew nothing of what had happened—and even if he did, he wouldn't have cared.
His past life had left him with an almost obsessive belief in minding one's own business: "Sweep the snow from your own doorstep, and don't worry about the frost on another's roof."
He was well aware that his empathy was… shall we say, underdeveloped. That, in fact, was part of why he'd adapted so easily to life as a Celestial Dragon.
Two lives lived, and his core personality had changed little.
Likewise, he'd never dreamed of "changing the world." He only planned to sit back, wait for Nika and Imu to tear each other apart, and swoop in afterward.
"This world doesn't need changing," he thought lazily. "It'll be perfect once I'm the one sitting on the throne."
Back at his estate, the maid led Stella away to be branded with the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon, the mark of slavery. Blake enjoyed his extravagant dinner of a hundred dishes while watching singers and dancers perform.
Stella intrigued him, though.
To him, everyone around was an unnamed NPC from the original story—so a canon character appearing in the flesh naturally caught his attention.
Still, there was no rush. Despite her smile, she was surely terrified inside. Best to give her time to calm down.
Blake, after all, wasn't like those cruel Celestial Dragons—at least, not entirely. Torturing slaves wasn't his idea of fun.
After dinner, he stretched in the courtyard, instructed the guards to let the mermaid he'd bought stay in the pool for now, and told the craftsmen to begin building a giant aquarium.
He had a feeling mermaids would become a recurring decoration in his mansion.
Once everything was arranged, Blake returned to his room, lay down on his bed, and took a deep breath.
"System—activate!"