Chapter 442: Stepping on a Celestial Dragon Is Better Than

As one of the internal welfare benefits of the United Kingdom, the upcoming matchmaking event at the Holy City Sky City will have all expenses fully sponsored by Saint Seven.

How could Morgans possibly miss such a grand event?

The news paper publishing this event went all-out in printing, with Morgans aiming to break the second-highest sales record in newspaper history.

The number one event, of course, is Saint Seven’s wedding.

As Saint Seven’s number one fan on the Grand Line, Morgans always finds a suitable excuse for his flattery.

He wants more people to know of Saint Seven’s benevolence, to make everyone understand the benefits of serving the United Kingdom: free food, free lodging, free marriage, full status and prestige.

What are you waiting for?

Come take the civil service exam!

Morgans will personally usher in the Great Civil Service Exam Era.

The news of the upcoming matchmaking event at the Holy City Sky City, after thousands of news years, spread rapidly to every corner of the four seas.

South Blue, Kutzsk Island.

Inside the Blackbeard Club, Lafitte tossed the newspaper onto the table again, hurling endless curses and insults.

“Morgans, you brown-noser—this tiny thing is worth front-page headlines?”

Lafitte’s drool nearly dripped out from envy.

If he could choose, he too could, like Morgans, invent new ways every day to praise the captain’s benevolence and glorify the captain’s mighty deeds.

Besides, it’s all true!

No matter how time flows or how the era changes, no one can erase the captain’s achievement in freeing all slaves and founding the United Kingdom.

Nor his contributions to this sea.

Even within the Blackbeard Club, many members quietly revere the captain’s name and grace, spontaneously building shrines to honor him and offering daily worship.

Yet, the mission to infiltrate the Whitebeard Crew remains unfinished.

Over these years, Lafitte has only sat helplessly, watching Morgans, that birdman, invent ever-new ways to flatter the captain, watching Morgans rise steadily.

Watching one pit after another inside the United Kingdom get filled with radishes.

After letting Lafitte vent fully, Blackbeard, while stepping on Kobi’s head, smiled to comfort his brother.

“Cheer up, Lafitte.”

“Back when we were still in the Whitebeard Crew, I knew Morgans was a brown-noser—who knew he’d win the bet? That birdman is now Minister of News of the United Kingdom.”

With that, Blackbeard stomped hard on Kobi.

“Hehehehe~”

“So satisfying.”

Stepping on a Celestial Dragon was the most exhilarating thing Blackbeard had ever done in his years ruling the seas.

“When I first heard Whitehair slaughtered all the Celestial Dragons, I was heartbroken for a long time—turns out heaven took pity on me and let me capture a live one.”

After leaving the Whitebeard Crew and sailing for years, Blackbeard endured countless setbacks and tasted the sweetness of ambition fulfilled.

But nothing—

Nothing compares to stepping on a Celestial Dragon, stirring his soul, filling him with utter euphoria, every pore of his body radiating indescribable bliss.

Though his identity as a Celestial Dragon remains unconfirmed—

From Kobi’s utter incompetence, he’s undoubtedly a Celestial Dragon.

Commoners, slaves, even nobles—all possess at least one skill—but Kobi knows nothing.

He even knocks over the sewage bucket while cleaning the deck.

Precisely because of this, Blackbeard unconsciously chose to believe: this pink-haired brat is indeed one of the lost Celestial Dragons.

So what’s left to hesitate about?

The blood feud of the Davis clan, Blackbeard’s own persecution, torture, and transformation by the World Government—all old and new grudges were dumped onto Kobi.

Beaten ten times a day, each time black and blue.

Blackbeard wishes he could torture Kobi for twenty-five hours a day, then feed him scraps and make him sleep in a doghouse.

In short, every cruel method Blackbeard could imagine has been tried on Kobi.

And Kobi, of course, lives in utter misery.

Originally, Kobi scraped by doing odd jobs in the Donghai Satsurso Province; though hard, he survived on the United Kingdom’s welfare policies.

But after being captured by Blackbeard—

Kobi plunged into a dark, hellish torment. At first, he still protested: “I’m really not a Celestial Dragon!”

Yet the more he denied it, the harsher Blackbeard’s torture became.

Eventually, he was forced to submit to Blackbeard’s tyranny and admit he was indeed a lost Celestial Dragon.

Since then, Blackbeard has grown even more cruel.

Beaten ten times daily, then treated by the club’s doctor, healed, and beaten again the next day.

Sometimes, Blackbeard found one person insufficient—he’d summon Lu Bianyi, A Long, and Kid; the whole crew of villains joined in.

Even Lafitte couldn’t bear to watch—imagine how wretched Kobi’s life had become.

“Lafitte, want to try?”

“This pink-haired brat is incredibly tough.”

Hearing this, Lafitte slowly shook his head, gazing at Blackbeard with deep sorrow.

“Captain, torturing Celestial Dragons is important, but don’t forget our original goal. With our current manpower, we can’t even break into Marine Headquarters, let alone the Holy City Sky City.”

“How can we overthrow the United Kingdom and make you King of the World?”

Blackbeard knew this well.

But recruiting men is just too hard.

He doesn’t have Whitehair’s insane luck—his first encounter at sea was Mihawk, the world’s greatest swordsman.

His second, Tenghu, is not only as strong as a Marine Admiral, but also a genius in governance...

His third, Big Mom... better not mention him.

And the soil that breeds pirates no longer exists; now, everyone on the sea idolizes taking the civil service exam.

After all, United Kingdom civil servants have welfare, benefits, status, prestige...

If not for his feud with Whitehair,

Blackbeard himself would have gone to take the exam, joined the United Kingdom, climbed the ranks step by step—his strength rivals a Marine Admiral; someday he’d reach the top.

Then, with the power he held, finding the Gura Gura no Mi would be far easier.

“By the way, have you found Charlotte Linlin?”

Lafitte immediately slapped his forehead: “Damn it, I was so focused on recruiting that I nearly forgot the main mission!”

“Linlin is in the North Blue, Deier Province.”

“But according to Stussy, Linlin didn’t attend Kaido’s daughter’s wedding—chances of cooperation are low.”

Blackbeard stepped on Kobi’s head, one step after another, as if casually playing with a toy, creating a mocking rhythm.

“Lafitte, prepare the ship immediately.”

“Whether we can cooperate—we’ll know once we go.”

Even if Linlin refuses, it’s just failure—can it be worse than now?

Besides, Blackbeard wants to know: can his strength, nearly matching a Marine Admiral, overpower Linlin by force?

If he can, the Blackbeard Crew gains a top-tier Four Emperor-level fighter.

In eight years, he’ll have the leverage to ally with the former King of the World, Yimu.

Therefore, Blackbeard must go.