However, the duty of these Holy Land guards and CP0 agents was to ensure the personal safety of the Celestial Dragons. No matter how terrified they were, they had to step forward when the time came.
Thus, these guards brandished their spears and charged toward Aoi Kujo, while the CP0 agents skillfully employed techniques from the Navy's Six Styles to launch attacks against her.
At the same time, the panicked Celestial Dragons also pulled out their firearms and frantically pulled the triggers, aiming at Aoi Kujo.
However, all these attacks were entirely devoured and annihilated by the faintly flickering lightning surrounding her before they could reach her.
Upon realizing that their attacks were utterly ineffective, the Holy Land guards and CP0 agents hesitated and ceased their assault in bewilderment.
Only the Celestial Dragons continued their relentless gunfire against Aoi Kujo.
Aoi Kujo, however, could not be bothered with them. From beginning to end, her only targets were Saint Rosward and Saint Shalia.
Several minutes later, Aoi Kujo finally withdrew her gaze from Saint Rosward and Saint Shalia. By this time, both of them had lost all signs of life, their bodies completely roasted by the lightning before disintegrating into ashes and vanishing without a trace.
After dealing with the two Celestial Dragons who had dared to insult Eriri, Aoi Kujo walked over to Hancock's side, nodded slightly, and said, "Miss Hancock, I leave the rest to you."
With that, Aoi Kujo swiftly returned to Eriri and the others.
"What should we do? We are no match for them at all. Should we just run?" A Holy Land guard turned to his fellow guards, his voice filled with fear.
Guards were human too. When confronted with an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, they too would feel fear.
"But if we abandon the Celestial Dragons, the World Government will never let us off."
"So what? Look at them—they are clearly here for the Celestial Dragons. Who knows if the Celestial Dragons will even exist after today?"
"But..."
For a moment, many of the Holy Land guards began wavering. However, the long-standing authority of the Celestial Dragons and the World Government made it difficult for them to make a decision right away.
After all, if the World Government managed to eliminate these invaders, the guards who abandoned the Celestial Dragons would undoubtedly face a miserable fate, with no place for them in the entire world.
Not only that, but their families and loved ones would also suffer the consequences.
This was the fundamental reason why most of the guards did not dare to act rashly.
"There's no 'but'—I have no intention of throwing my life away here for nothing."
In the end, a significant number of guards succumbed to their fear of death and chose to flee.
Since Eriri and the others were blocking the main entrance, they had no choice but to abandon the Red Port leading to the first half of the Grand Line and instead escape through the entrance from the New World.
"You fools! Get back here immediately!" Seeing the guards fleeing one after another, the Celestial Dragons flew into a rage, shouting in exasperation.
Many of the Celestial Dragons even turned their guns toward the fleeing guards and pulled the triggers without hesitation.
As gunfire rang out continuously, some of the escaping guards were fatally shot and collapsed on the ground, while others, wounded by bullets, fled in panic.
"Ahhh! How infuriating! A bunch of lowly people dare to rebel against us! Once we capture them, we must make their lives worse than death!"
"Where is the Navy? Why hasn't an admiral arrived at the Holy Land to protect us?"
These Celestial Dragons were truly oblivious to reality. Even at this stage, they were still thinking about punishing the fleeing guards in the future, completely unaware that their own lives were about to come to an end.
Before long, the number of Holy Land guards had decreased by a quarter. As for the CP0 agents, not a single one had fallen—compared to the guards, they were far more loyal to the World Government.
At that moment, Hancock, who had been observing ever since Aoi Kujo made her move, finally took action.
Although Hancock's strength was only at the advanced Level 3, significantly weaker than Aoi Kujo, who had already reached the Level 5, for the guards and CP0 agents, most of whom were only at the beginner to intermediate Level 2, Hancock was an insurmountable force.
Hancock's efficiency in combat was astonishing. In just a few minutes, she had turned all the remaining guards and CP0 members into stone.
As for the Celestial Dragons, Hancock did not attack them directly—she had already decided how to deal with them.
Under the terrified gazes of the Celestial Dragons, Hancock retrieved ten massive chains, each over a hundred meters long, from the storage ring that Eriri had gifted her.
Every meter along these chains, there was a collar extending outward. In total, these ten chains were connected to thousands of collars, densely packed together, creating an eerie and chilling sight.
These chains had been specially prepared for the Celestial Dragons over the past few days. Hancock wanted them to experience what it felt like to have collars around their necks and be dragged along like slaves—to taste the humiliation of slavery firsthand.
However, before that, she had to render them incapable of resisting.
So, after delivering a thorough beating to the Celestial Dragons, Hancock placed a collar around the neck of each of the battered and bruised individuals.
There were several hundred Celestial Dragons gathered here—all those who resided near the entrance. Those living farther away did not have enough time to make it here.
"How dare you! You actually dare to treat someone as great as me like a slave! Unforgivable! I will have you killed!"
"Curse the Navy! Why aren't they here yet?"
"No! Don't do this to me! I know I was wrong! If you let me go, I can give you a fortune!"
"..."
A chorus of furious shouts, wails, and pleas for mercy erupted from the mouths of the Celestial Dragons, but Hancock remained completely indifferent.
At this moment, all several hundred Celestial Dragons were bound by the chains, with each chain restraining dozens of them. Coupled with their wretched appearance, they looked just like a massive group of prisoners being escorted.
Hancock then gave a forceful tug on the ten chains in her hands, causing all the Celestial Dragons to stumble as they failed to keep up with the movement of the chains. Some even fell outright, collapsing onto their fellow Celestial Dragons.
This scene delivered an immense shock to everyone watching the live broadcast.
These were the Celestial Dragons—everyone in the world knew that they were untouchable. Yet now, these figures who stood at the pinnacle of status and power were being treated as slaves by the Pirate Empress.
It felt so surreal that they could hardly believe their own eyes, as if they were dreaming.
Meanwhile, at the very center of Mary Geoise, inside a grand and imposing palace, Imu sat on the Empty Throne—the seat of the world's highest authority—while the Five Elders knelt in reverence at the base of the throne.
At that moment, all six of them were also watching the images projected in midair within the palace, and the Five Elders were filled with fury at the sight of the Celestial Dragons' predicament.
In contrast, Imu's expression remained utterly indifferent, as if the fate of the Celestial Dragons was of no concern at all.
Though Imu appeared to be a young woman in her early twenties, her true age was vastly greater.
As the recipient of the Perennial Youth Operation granted by the Op-Op Fruit, Imu had attained eternal life and unaging youth, allowing her to live from the founding of the World Government to the present day.
Yet, after eight hundred years, the passage of time had eroded all sentiment, leaving her personality cold and detached. Apart from preserving the authority of the World Government and preventing the world from plunging into chaos once more, she held little interest in anything else.
This was also why she had never appeared before the outside world.
Apart from each generation of the Five Elders, almost no Celestial Dragon even knew of Imu's existence.
At that moment, Imu's dispassionate voice echoed from the Empty Throne: "Has Mary Geoise's defensive strength truly deteriorated to this extent? That a mere woman can do as she pleases here?"
It was evident that Imu was deeply dissatisfied with the performance of the Holy Land's guards and CP0 agents.
"Our deepest apologies, Lord Imu. This was our failure," the elderly man with the long beard, kneeling in the center, pressed his forehead to the ground and spoke with terror.
The other four elders likewise trembled as they prostrated themselves, not daring to meet Imu's gaze.
"Do you know the identities of these intruders?"
"Reporting to Lord Imu, the woman holding the chains is none other than the former Warlord of the Sea, the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock. However, the strength she displayed just now is completely different from what she was known for—she has grown far more powerful than she was not long ago."
"As for the others, we do not yet know their identities. In an effort to uncover their background, the CP organization has lost many senior agents, yet we have failed to obtain even a single useful piece of information."
"However, the blonde woman leading them possesses a bizarre ability that allows her to pause everything. Even Whitebeard, Rayleigh, and Sengoku were unable to resist her control, and we had no means of defense against it."
"An unknown identity, immense strength, and a method to rapidly grow more powerful… It seems these individuals harbor an earth-shattering secret," Imu remarked thoughtfully, her tone no longer as indifferent as before.
Despite her general lack of interest in most matters, even Imu couldn't help but grow curious about Eriri and her companions.
"Lord Imu, the actions of these intruders are utterly outrageous. They have shown complete disregard for both the Celestial Dragons and the World Government. We humbly request that you demonstrate your divine power."
As they spoke, the Five Elders once again prostrated themselves before Imu, their eyes filled with desperate hope.
"You need not worry about this. When the time comes, I will act."
With hundreds of Celestial Dragons chained together, Hancock strutted confidently down the streets of Mary Geoise, leading them as though they were her captives—mirroring how the Celestial Dragons once led their own slaves.
Beyond these hundreds of captured Celestial Dragons, many more were still hiding inside nearby buildings.
Naturally, Hancock had no intention of letting those who had hidden escape. The chains in her hands still had plenty of empty collars reserved just for them.
To put it bluntly, over ninety-nine percent of the Celestial Dragons in this world were irredeemable scum, having committed countless atrocities and holding no intrinsic worth.
Only a rare few among them still retained a sense of conscience. However, these exceptionally rare individuals typically distanced themselves from their corrupt peers, which in turn made them targets of exclusion and ostracization by the majority of Celestial Dragons.
Even so, almost no Celestial Dragon had ever willingly abandoned their noble status to descend from the Holy Land of Mary Geoise and live among the common people.
The last known case of this happening was Donquixote Homing and his wife, the parents of Doflamingo—but that was thirty-one years ago.
Since then, not a single Celestial Dragon had voluntarily relinquished their status.
For this small minority of benevolent Celestial Dragons, Eriri and her companions had decided to spare them, and Hancock had no objections to this.
Though she harbored an intense hatred for the Celestial Dragons, she would not direct her wrath toward those who were completely innocent.
As time passed, the number of Celestial Dragons hanging from Hancock's chains steadily increased, encompassing men, women, and children alike.
Perhaps due to their upbringing, even the youngest Celestial Dragons—barely a few years old—exhibited the same arrogant, condescending demeanor as their adult counterparts, indistinguishable in their superiority complex.
Along the way, there were still some CP0 agents loyal to their so-called masters who attempted to rescue them. However, before they could even lay a hand on the chains binding the Celestial Dragons, Hancock had already dispatched them.
Even the CP0 operatives whose strength rivaled that of an admiral were utterly powerless to change the situation.
The Celestial Dragons' miserable state was broadcasted live to every corner of the world. Even the blind were able to perceive the imagery directly in their minds, bypassing the need for sight.
As a result, the absolute authority that the Celestial Dragons had accumulated over centuries crumbled in an instant. In that moment, people finally realized that these once-feared figures were, in reality, nothing extraordinary.
Perhaps the losses from the Summit War had been too great, or perhaps Sengoku saw no hope of the World Government triumphing over Eriri and her group. Whatever the reason, the Navy had yet to appear.
By now, more than half an hour had passed since Eriri and her companions had arrived in Mary Geoise. If Marine Headquarters had intended to dispatch an admiral for reinforcements, this timeframe would have been more than sufficient for them to arrive.
Eriri was quite satisfied with the Navy's decision—not because she sympathized with them, but because she did not wish to exterminate them for the sake of the Celestial Dragons.
If she wiped out the Navy, the world's pirates would inevitably become even more rampant, and it would be the common people who would suffer the most.
In such a scenario, Eriri might end up having to exterminate all pirates herself in order to restore balance to the world.
Thus, to prevent such an outcome, the Navy staying away from Mary Geoise was the best possible decision.
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