The next day, the Sanctum docked at the private pier outside Red Port.
Hiruto Blake walked at the front. One step behind him were Stella and two expressionless CP agents, followed by dozens of slaves, maids, and guards.
Yesterday, after defeating child Charlotte Linlin and obtaining the Iron Balloon talent, Blake's sense of security had shot up. He finally felt confident enough to head out into the sea to seek opportunities.
He had no intention of returning to the Holy Land anytime soon on this voyage. His plan was to roam all four seas, see if he could find suitable powerhouses and Devil Fruits that had not yet entered the world stage.
"Lord Saint Blake, I am Vice Admiral Comil, assigned to oversee your current expedition. This is my aide, Bastille. For the duration of your journey, our warship will escort the Sanctum."
No sooner had Blake arrived at Red Port than a Marine vice admiral with a lion-like face stepped up, bowed slightly, and introduced himself.
Ordinary citizens were required to kneel in the presence of a Celestial Dragon. Marines only had to maintain proper respect.
Since this voyage would be long and far, the Marines had sent a warship specifically to escort him.
Blake gave Comil a small nod.
"Then I will be in your care."
Vice Admiral Comil froze for a moment. This was the first time he had met such a polite Celestial Dragon.
Once Blake had boarded, Bastille muttered under his breath.
"He does not seem as unreasonable as the rumors say…"
Comil shot him a glare.
"Why are you talking so much? Move."
Blake was not actually a particularly polite person. He simply believed that true arrogance was something you carried in your heart.
The Marines were, in a sense, subordinates of the Celestial Dragons. As long as there was no direct conflict of interest, he did not see the point of offending them with his mouth.
"Comil and Bastille, huh?"
A faint smile crossed Blake's lips.
He remembered them.
Comil was the commander of G–2 and had crossed paths with Ace.
Bastille's long reddish-brown hair and bull-headed mask left a strong first impression, the sort that made you instinctively think "dangerous man."
In reality, Bastille's most notable feat was getting one-shot by Sabo at Dressrosa and still being unconscious by the time Blake's previous life ended.
Not that it mattered. Blake had never expected these Marines to be of any real use.
The presence of a warship at least served as a deterrent to pirates, so random idiots who did not recognize the World Government's flag would think twice before disturbing him.
Two months later, in the South Blue.
"Lord Saint Blake, we will be arriving at the Taya Kingdom shortly."
At the maid's voice, Blake pushed himself up from his deck chair, took off his sunglasses, and looked toward the distant shore.
"So we have finally arrived."
He murmured the words under his breath.
Two months had passed since he left Mary Geoise.
Over that time, Blake had frequently used the card space to sharpen his combat ability.
Once his strength had reached a certain level, his growth snowballed.
Now, whether in physique or Haki, he was far stronger than he had been two months ago.
Especially his Observation Haki.
After defeating a random New World fighter last month, Blake occasionally caught fleeting glimpses of the future. That meant he was not far from the advanced application of Observation Haki, the one known as "Future Sight."
The way Blake's Haki grew was a little different from other people's.
For most, Haki technique and Haki strength did not necessarily develop in sync.
Take Yamato, who could coat her attacks with Conqueror's Haki, yet her offensive power clearly did not measure up to other Conqueror's users.
Or Douglas Bullet, whose Armament Haki, when fully unleashed, rolled out like a tsunami, but the hardness and internal damage did not quite reach the level such force should have enabled.
That mismatch between Haki strength and Haki technique was very common.
The Haki that Blake augmented through ability cards was more like a quantitative change triggering a qualitative change.
Once his Haki exceeded a certain threshold, he would naturally grasp the use of advanced techniques.
Pulling his thoughts back, Blake turned his gaze to the harbor that lay just ahead. He stepped onto a slave's back and settled into his chair.
The port of the Taya Kingdom was packed with tens of thousands of people, yet it was as silent as if someone had closed a hand around its throat.
The ground trembled with a dull rumble, the sound of tens of thousands of knees pressing into the earth at once.
Guards who had jumped down from the ship ahead of time had already drawn a crimson line across the stone, precisely marking out the "look and die" forbidden zone.
Dozens of children crawled on their knees, scrubbing the stone clean with sea-shell brushes and dried grass. It was a tradition the World Government had maintained for eight hundred years: the ground upon which the gods walked must be spotless.
As Blake rode his slave down from the Sanctum and saw this, he felt a tangle of emotions.
From a conscience standpoint, he thought it was over the top.
But in the depths of his heart, something hot and indescribable stirred.
He wanted the entire world to be like the Taya Kingdom before his eyes.
Kneel. At. His. Feet.
A wave of dark red energy rippled out from inside his body.
Just as it was about to sweep across the Taya Kingdom, it vanished.
Blake let out a quiet breath.
"That was close. Almost got found out. I need to stay low-key. Low-key."
Behind him, Vice Admiral Comil, who had just disembarked from the warship, glanced around with a puzzled frown.
"Was that my imagination?"
In the crowd, a shirtless boy around Blake's age slowly raised his head. His gaze met Blake's as the Celestial Dragon scanned the area, and his expression changed sharply.
A harsh shout split the air. One of the guards rushed toward the boy, raised his sword, and thrust it down.
To look directly at a Celestial Dragon was a capital crime.
Blake made a small gesture to the CP agents behind him. One of them lifted his hand ever so slightly.
There was a crisp ring. The guard's sword snapped clean in two.
Ignoring the king and nobles kneeling at his feet, Blake gave the rope in his hand a lazy shake. The slave understood at once and crawled toward the boy.
Reaching him, Blake stayed seated on his towering slave, looking down at the youth.
High, arched brows, heavy lower eyelids, slightly thick lips.
A head of slightly messy, deep green curls, bare upper body.
Seeing his face, Blake raised an eyebrow.
"You offended me."
The boy's body went rigid.
"I am sorry, noble Celestial Dragon-sama."
His voice trembled, yet his words were clear.
Blake's tone shifted.
"After drifting at sea for two months, it feels good to stand on solid ground again. I am in a good mood today, so I will forgive your offense. From this moment on, you are a retainer of Hiruto Blake."
The boy froze, then burst into joy, pressing his forehead to the ground.
"Most exalted Lord Saint Blake, it is my greatest honor to serve you."
Blake nodded, tugged on the rope once more, and the slave beneath him crawled straight toward the palace.
His voice drifted back on the wind.
"Stop kneeling there like an idiot. Keep up."
The boy scrambled to his feet and hurried after Blake, half-running to stay directly behind him.
Seeing this, a few people in the crowd exchanged looks, then shifted their eyes toward Blake.
One of the guards flicked a glance at Blake first. When he saw no reaction, he dashed into the crowd, dragged those self-styled clever ones out by the collars, and drove his sword straight into their chests without a second thought.
Blake found himself a little amused.
What a bunch of so-called hidden dragons and young phoenixes.