Chapter 333: Angel

Contrary to Gao Wen's expectations, Lord Tai Zuo Luo subconsciously took a step back and shook his head:

"I am sorry, but I do not yet have the qualification for such a thing."

Lord Tai Zuo Luo looked at Gao Wen, who was bathed in golden light, with eyes containing indescribable longing, yet even more so, firm resolve.

Unwavering resolve!

"At least until I have completely erased the mark left on me by the Celestial Dragons, I do not have such qualifications."

Gao Wen glanced at the bloody flesh and skin in Lord Tai Zuo Luo's hand, where the distorted hoof of the Soaring Sky Dragon was faintly visible; he instantly understood what had happened and nodded slightly:

"There will be a place reserved for you on my ship."

"If you intend to invest in the Martial Arts Tournament, you can contact Alabasta afterward; I have people there."

"Good!"

Lord Tai Zuo Luo nodded heavily, then parted ways with Gao Wen and his group, taking Dai Si with him to begin the journey back to Gran Tesoro.

Beneath the sun.

Lord Tai Zuo Luo's spine straightened.

A sense of satisfaction unlike any before made his steps increasingly light, as if his entire being had come back to life.

"Boss, you..."

Dai Si followed behind Lord Tai Zuo Luo, his gaze fixed on him, feeling that everything about Lord Tai Zuo Luo had changed.

He knew it was not an illusion.

He was even clearer about exactly who had brought about all of this.

But regardless, from now on, standing behind Gran Tesoro was not just the World Government, not just a few Celestial Dragons, but also the man on the seas closest to becoming an Emperor!

No!

Recalling Gao Wen's feat of fighting two alone, defeating the combined forces of the Emperor Big Mom and Xia Mu Luo Ke of the God Knights.

Dai Si's breath nearly stopped.

Everything that had just happened seemed like a dream; only now did he realize what Gao Wen's achievement truly meant!

The ones who had retreated were Emperors!

Gao Wen was not merely close to an Emperor; he already possessed the formidable combat power to directly defeat a combined force of Emperor-level figures.

"Dai Si, keep up!"

A call brought Dai Si back to his senses; he raised his head to see Lord Tai Zuo Luo wearing a gentle smile.

It was a smile he had never seen before, yet for the first time, it made him feel that to Lord Tai Zuo Luo, he was no longer merely a tool or a subordinate.

Perhaps it should be called...

Comrade?!

This word, which he had once scoffed at, now made him feel that risking his life to save Lord Tai Zuo Luo might not have been a bad thing after all.

"Yes!"

Dai Si replied.

He quickened his pace to catch up.

The figures of the two soon disappeared into the coastline.

Their spare ship was hidden nearby; Gao Wen and his group still needed to venture deeper into Britannias, while Lord Tai Zuo Luo had his own revenge to fulfill.

Several hours later.

Gran Tesoro.

Baccarat sat in her office, boredly watching the surveillance feed showing a gambler who had lost everything, hysterically causing a scene in the casino before being shot dead by the casino guards.

Just as she was feeling utterly bored, the Den Den Mushi in her arms suddenly rang.

Buru Buru—!

"Boss?!"

"It's me, Baccarat; I have escaped from Britannias; from now on, we need not concern ourselves with matters here."

After briefly explaining his situation, Lord Tai Zuo Luo commanded:

"I accept your previous proposal."

"From now on, we will fully support Knight Gao Wen in ascending to the throne."

"That man possesses a will of gold; what he pursues has never been hegemony or the so-called One Piece, but rather to give more people a chance to live!"

Baccarat's brain short-circuited, and she blurted out:

"Boss, didn't you say earlier that everyone was acceptable except Gao Wen?!"

Baccarat's memory was still stuck on the recent past, when Lord Tai Zuo Luo sat in his office, furiously cursing Gao Wen for abandoning his beliefs.

As a result, after Lord Tai Zuo Luo went to Britannias, not only did he fail to bring back the trade routes, but now he had even thrown himself into the mix?!

Naturally, Baccarat was not opposed to cooperating with Gao Wen and his crew.

After all, this was originally her proposal to Lord Tai Zuo Luo, but if this cooperation was achieved through Lord Tai Zuo Luo being threatened, then it needed to be handled with caution.

"If the Boss has been threatened, I can contact Mary Geoise on your behalf, you..."

"The past is the past, and now is now!"

Lord Tai Zuo Luo's old face turned red; he glared fiercely at Dai Si, who was stifling laughter beside him, and spoke in a stiff tone:

"In short, from now on, I am a collaborator of Gao Wen's crew, and if possible, we will engage in even deeper cooperation in the future."

"This is an order!"

Baccarat sat up straight:

"Yes!"

She hung up the phone.

Lord Tai Zuo Luo turned to look at Dai Si, seeing only the latter's face flushed from holding back laughter, and said with some helplessness:

"If you want to laugh, just laugh..."

"Hahahahahaha!"

"You actually dared?"

A few hours earlier, at the moment the battle ended.

Mary Geoise, Panggu City.

Inside the main hall.

The Five Elders looked at the God Knights who had been teleported back alongside Im, as well as Xia Mu Luo Ke, who had lost an arm and was heavily injured and near death; for a moment, silence reigned.

Garling, standing to one side, looked ashen, yet some confusion still lingered in his heart.

In the battle situation before the projection cut off, Xia Mu Luo Ke and Big Mom had joined forces to blast Knight Gao Wen into the sea.

By rights, a Devil Fruit user contacting seawater had no chance of survival, so why did the battle end with Xia Mu Luo Ke heavily injured and near death?

As for Big Mom's fate, there was no need to ask further.

With good fortune, she might have escaped unscathed; with bad luck, she might have already perished in Britannias.

If it wasn't Knight Gao Wen, then who...

Saint Garling's heart sank; subconsciously raising his eyes, he looked toward Im on the Wang Zuo.

"Xia Mu Luo Ke has lost, defeated by Knight Gao Wen."

Im, as if able to pierce straight through people's hearts, directly spoke the answer to the doubt in everyone's minds.

"How is that possible!"

Saint Garling's lips parted slightly:

"The sea is the bane of Devil Fruit users; by rights, Knight Gao Wen should have absolutely no chance of survival!"

"No!"

Saint Saturn, standing to one side, narrowed his gaze, suddenly thought of something, and opened his mouth to say:

"We were all misled by the scene at that time; falling into the sea does not mean Gao Wen came into contact with seawater."

"By coating the body surface with a film, or through other means, to displace the seawater around the body, even a Devil Fruit user can move within seawater."

"Knight Gao Wen perhaps used precisely such a method to ensure his own safety!"

Garling's heart turned to ash; his complexion grew even paler, his entire face appearing much older in that instant.

Now that Xia Mu Luo Ke had been firmly controlled by Im, it was foreseeable that Xia Mu Luo Ke would inevitably become Im's puppet in the future.

For someone who yearns for freedom, enslavement with no end in sight is a punishment far more painful than death by countless degrees.

Shanks, another descendant of the Figarland family, had furthermore inherited Roger's will and detested the bloodline of the Celestial Dragons to the extreme.

In other words.

The future that Saint Garling had fantasized about had, from this moment onward, been shattered.

"Perhaps..."

On the Wang Zuo.

Im recalled Gao Wen, whose entire body had been soaked through by seawater; his eyes narrowed slightly, yet he still could not fathom exactly why Gao Wen had been able to ignore seawater's suppression of Devil Fruit users.

At present, the only explanation that made sense was Saint Saturn's speculation.

However, all of this mattered little to him. Im said indifferently:

"Even if he possesses some hidden secret, he will ultimately fall into my hands; it is merely a matter of time."

"His appearance in Britannias has already proven that what he seeks is immortality, and that thing—the so-called legend of immortality in Britannias—cannot give it to him."

"Only I can give it to him!"

As he spoke.

Im glanced at Garling, his tone carrying a hint of mockery:

"Flesh, blood, bone, heart, and soul—an eternally undying body."

"If it were truly so wonderful, how could I possibly allow it to exist forever?!"

"To be honest, I was originally even somewhat expecting that you would truly manage to gather those several fruits, just to see exactly what kind of thing could be created."

"However, now there is no chance..."

"That is not necessarily so!"

Im's eyes lit up:

"With Knight Gao Wen's strength, it is indeed possible for him to conquer Britannias; Big Mom is heavily injured, and escaping will not be easy for her."

"It is truly something to look forward to: if he can gather those several abilities, what exactly will he ultimately create!"

Garling's body trembled, yet he still remained prostrate beneath the Wang Zuo, not daring to overstep in the slightest.

The undying body bestowed by Im was both a blessing and a slave collar around his neck—a slave collar that could not be removed.

The Five Elders to one side were likewise silent as cicadas in winter.

Beneath the Wang Zuo, all was silent.

Im raised his head and gazed into the distance.

Within his line of sight.

Lay the direction of Britannias.

He possessed endless lifespan; even Joy Boy of those years had been defeated by his hand.

No powerful figure can withstand time.

Even if Gao Wen is currently high-spirited and arrogant, unwilling to submit, time will change everything.

When his flesh and blood decay and his life reaches its end, he will realize that compared to death, so-called freedom is not worth mentioning at all.

Eventually, he will kneel before me and kiss the tips of my toes.

……

……

……

In the outer seas of Britannias.

Big Mom, riding atop thunderclouds, sped across the sea surface, intending to put as much distance as possible between herself and Britannias with all haste.

To get far away from that formidable monster!

Big Mom felt lingering fear, yet even more dominant in her eyes was an almost endless greed!

"This time I lost much, but my gains are equally enormous!"

"In truth, Gao Wen possesses a method for ability users to overcome the seawater weakness; if I can obtain this method, even losing an arm would be worth it."

"Perfect!"

"After all these years, it is time for that brat Kaido to repay the favor he owes me."

The battle at Britannias thoroughly woke Big Mom up; she now regarded Gao Wen as an opponent on par with Whitebeard.

And against such an enemy, relying solely on her own power was absolutely insufficient, but adding Kaido to the equation changed everything!

"Even Knight Gao Wen would never be stronger than Kaido and I combined; by then, I will kill all your companions right before your eyes!"

Accompanying these words, such a scene unconsciously formed in Big Mom's mind.

"Mama~ Mama~"

Big Mom could not help but let out a triumphant laugh, yet the expression on her face froze in the next instant.

On the distant sea surface.

A pillar of light dozens of meters in diameter fell from the sky.

A tall man with six wings sprouting from his back and a halo atop his head emerged from the pillar of light, like a god stepping out of a scripture!

"You are..."

Looking down from above, Wales gazed at the emperor upon the sea and spoke in an unquestionable tone:

"Lend me your ability for a moment!"

Big Mom froze for a moment, feeling as though she had heard these words before, then was immediately overcome with rage:

"You dare!"

"You actually dare to speak such words to me!"

"I want you dead!"

Recalling her previous ordeal, Big Mom felt as though her lungs were about to explode from rage.

She raised her hand and made a grasping motion; Napoleon flew down from above accordingly, docking onto her severed arm to form a blade-bearing limb, and slashed toward the distant Wales!

These people time and again treated her as nothing, something to be commanded at will, pushing her nearly to complete loss of control.

Dominated by wrath, she only wished to obliterate the enemy before her with the utmost speed.

"Who do you think I am!"

"I truly do not wish to fight..."

Wales' expression showed slight difficulty, yet his gaze remained indifferent:

"Do you know?!"

"This is an unfair battle; what you must confront is not merely me, but the tens of millions of believers standing behind a god!"

Hiss—!

Wales took a deep breath, his body beginning to swell at a speed visible to the naked eye, transforming in an instant into a giant man over ten meters tall.

His full head of white hair turned black, making him appear considerably younger; his entire body was knotted with muscle, veins bulging, filled with a primal and savage sense of power!

Only the pair of wings behind him remained their original size, appearing absurdly comical against his massive form!

Yet at this moment, the attacking Big Mom could not laugh in the slightest!

She had seen this ability before!

"This is one of those six fruits from Hachinosu Island back then, the Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Model: Angel Form?!"

Big Mom's sword-swinging motion halted abruptly; without a shred of hesitation, she withdrew violently and fled at maximum speed, yet she was ultimately one step too slow.

Wales' fist had already stamped onto her chest!

Puu—!

A cloud of blood mist erupted behind Big Mom; she felt her body suddenly drain of strength, her consciousness blurring, with only unwillingness remaining in her heart:

"If my body were not heavily injured, I would not lose to you!"

Having spoken, Big Mom could no longer control her body.

She plummeted into the sea.

Before closing her eyes, she seemed to see within the Jin Guang behind Wales, layer upon layer of countless faces.

Wales grabbed Big Mom's body in one hand and looked at her obese form with disgust.

"The soul ability is now secured."

"Next, what is needed are the abilities of bone, blood, and flesh; the bone ability is in Knight Gao Wen's hands, while the blood and flesh abilities were originally obtained by the God's Knights, but should now also be in the hands of Gao Wen's group."

"What needs to be done next..."

Wales turned his head to look in the direction of Britannias, the corners of his mouth gradually splitting wide:

"We can only wait!"

"Hahahahaha—"!

Arrogant, ferocious laughter echoed across the entire sea, yet vanished completely in an instant.

The expression on Wels's face vanished; looking at the severely injured old woman, then toward the defensive line where Gao Wen had disappeared, a trace of dread flashed in his eyes:

"Defeating the combined forces of the Four Emperors and the Divine Knight Order simultaneously—that fellow will likely be difficult to deal with..."

"However."

"It is not without a solution!"

At the same time.

The Eagle Knight Beville descended in a village near Britannias.

Yet as far as the eye could see, all the villagers had already lost consciousness.

(End of Chapter)