Chapter 88: Luo Jie, You Are a Ruthless Man

Sabaody Archipelago, Coating Drydock.

On the deck of the Donghai Dihuang, Master Tenghu sat silently beside Saint Saint Saiwen and spoke in a lowered voice.

"Captain Saint Saint Saiwen, two strangers came not long ago. I heard them threatening the coating craftsmen to tamper with the Donghai Dihuang during the coating process."

"No need to worry." Saint Saint Saiwen was not panicked.

If he were one of the Five Elders, he would certainly want to eliminate a pirate who had kidnapped Celestial Dragons twice in a row and demanded ransom from the World Government.

But as long as Saint Elaine is in their hands, they are safe.

Besides, isn't there still the Golden Lion?

At worst, make a deal with the Golden Lion: trade freedom for assistance in having the Donghai Dihuang and the Giant Yacht fly over the Red Line to Head to the New World.

Once a method to obtain the Float-Float Fruit is found later, capture the Golden Lion again and squeeze out every last bit of remaining value.

What Saint Saint Saiwen is thinking now is what kind of Devil Fruits his older brother Kizaru will bring back.

The reason he didn't open his mouth wide like last time to demand five Devil Fruits is that Saint Saint Saiwen was worried the Five Elders would use the Mole form to deliberately disgust people again.

These Zoan-type Devil Fruits are risky to awaken, not to mention they are incredibly abstract.

What use is a mole on the sea?

However, since the World Government has already coerced the coating craftsmen to tamper with things, the plan to dive to Fish-Man Island must be terminated.

Saint Saint Saiwen cannot gamble the lives of the entire crew on whether the ship's coating is truly reliable.

What if it was tampered with?

He decided to go talk to the Golden Lion.

When Saint Saint Saiwen brought two prosthetic limbs forged from lightning to the ship's prison cell and stated his purpose, the Golden Lion grinned and laughed uncontrollably.

"Jehahahaha~"

"Barzab! Do you really think two legs are enough to finish me off?"

"The humiliation you brought me, I wish I could skin you, pull out your tendons, carve your flesh, and pick your bones..."

The Golden Lion slumped to the ground, pointed a finger at Saint Saint Saiwen, and poured out all the filthy language he had ever learned, sentence after sentence, raining down on him from head to toe.

Obviously, before being captured alive by Saint Saint Saiwen, no one had ever made the Golden Lion lose his composure so badly.

As a great pirate who had made a name for himself since the Rocks era, the Golden Lion was a powerhouse once ranked alongside Pirate King Luo Jie and the Emperor of the Sea Whitebeard, and the first in history to escape Impel Down.

Yet when encountering Barzab, he was repeatedly humiliated and even had indecent photos taken to blackmail him; the Golden Lion had never hated a person this much.

"Want me to help? Forget it."

"Stop dreaming!"

Saint Saint Saiwen picked his ear.

"Sigh, I originally wanted to... help you take the ship's wheel off your head. Since the senior doesn't need it, then let's bury our bones in the deep sea together."

Having said that, Saint Saint Saiwen left without looking back.

The Golden Lion's pupils constricted. He watched Saint Saint Saiwen's retreating back, hesitated for a second, then used both hands and arched his body to crawl to the bars of the cell.

"Don't go, come back quickly."

"Come back quickly, I agree to your terms."

If the Great Ship's Wheel could be safely removed from his head, the Golden Lion believed that after recovering, he would absolutely return to his peak strength.

What does it matter if he has already lost his legs?

As a user of the Float-Float Fruit, he already possesses the freedom of flight; having legs or not actually makes little difference, it's just that it looks less aesthetic.

As for why he was so certain Barzab would do as he said and not deliberately deceive him.

The Golden Lion was gambling, betting that Barzab really needed help, and even if it turned out to be a false hope, what then? Could it be worse than his current situation?

Already captured alive by the other party, he was more likely to be executed next; now not only did he have hope for life, but he could also regain freedom and return to his peak.

Forget about helping fly over the Red Line; even if Barzab asked him to join the Morning Star Pirates right now, the Golden Lion wouldn't hesitate for a second.

What's the big deal?

At worst, just quit afterwards.

Once he returns to his peak and gains freedom, then he, the Golden Lion, can go wherever he wants; no one will be able to stop him, and he might even be able to defeat Barzab and then annex the Morning Star Pirates...

Tsk tsk tsk tsk.

In a brief instant, the Golden Lion thought of many things, and his face was even glowing with a rosy luster.

"Speak, what other conditions are there?"

Saint Saint Saiwen gave a thumbs up.

"Senior Shi Ji, you are a man of principle."

"After the contract is concluded, we will head to the New World to seize a base; at that time, you and I will fight again, and regardless of win or loss, you may leave."

"Of course, if you do not want those photos published in the newspapers and known to the world, I hope you can do the following two things."

"First, for twenty years, do not cause destruction to any sea area in the East Blue."

"Second, everything that happens when I remove the ship's wheel next must be kept secret."

"If you cannot do this, no matter where you hide in the future, whether at the ends of the earth or in the Holy Land Mary Geoise, I will surely capture you alive again..."

The Golden Lion thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"Deal."

Before going to find Whitebeard, the Golden Lion had already planned to gather his old subordinates from the Flying Pirates, lie low for a while, and then destroy the East Blue.

He just didn't expect that upon hearing from Whitebeard that the person inheriting Luo Jie's will had appeared, the Golden Lion changed his mind on the spot and chased to the East Blue.

The result was that he was unfortunately captured alive by Barzab.

Although the process was tortuous and turbulent, fortunately, he has finally returned to the right track, and even turned a misfortune into a blessing, as he is about to safely remove the ship's wheel from his head.

Thinking of this, the Golden Lion suddenly felt a bit itchy on his head—

"This old man entrusts his life to you."

"I hope you can keep your word."

After the Battle of Edwar Sea, the Golden Lion also sought doctors everywhere, trying to remove the ship's wheel from his head, but received the same reply: forcibly removing the ship's wheel would be life-threatening.

The Golden Lion then gave up, beginning to live and fight with the supreme great ship's wheel on his head.

Saint Saint Saiwen immediately promised.

"Don't worry, the medicine cures the disease upon arrival."

Regarding how to remove the ship's wheel from the Golden Lion's head, Saint Saint Saiwen chose the most primitive and direct method: forcibly pulling it out.

As Saint Saint Saiwen exerted brute force, the Golden Lion was in such pain that stars danced before his eyes, and he cursed and swore in his mouth.

"Barzab, this old man has been deceived by you."

The Golden Lion had trusted that Barzab would have a solution, yet the result was simply pulling it out forcibly?

White-haired brat! Damn it!

Has this old man's lifelong reputation finally come to an end?

The moment the ship's wheel was pulled out, blood sprayed from the top of the Golden Lion's head like a pillar; Saint Saint Saiwen calmly raised his hand, collecting all the splashing fresh blood, preparing to keep it for Vegapunk to study.

Immediately after, Saint Saint Saiwen took out a Senzu Bean.

"Open your mouth and swallow it."

The reason he had not yet fainted was that the Golden Lion was resisting the heart-rending agony with his will; upon hearing the words, the Golden Lion cooperatively opened his mouth and swallowed the small pill.

The instant the pill entered his abdomen, a surging torrent of vitality spread through his limbs and bones.

"Eh?"

The Golden Lion's pupils trembled; he raised his head in terror, looking at Saint Saint Saiwen, whose face showed not the slightest ripple.

For a miracle had occurred.

Around the hole on the Golden Lion's head where the stark white skull was visible, flesh and blood seemed to come alive, beginning to frantically regenerate, reorganize, intertwine, and seal tightly; skin followed closely behind, healing and smoothing over at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Finally, only a completely bald scalp remained.

The Golden Lion was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving violently; in his gaze toward Saint Saint Saiwen, the hatred of the past vanished, replaced by a complex, indescribable gleam—

A divine miracle, this is a divine miracle.

This was, after personally witnessing a miracle, a mixture of awe, incomprehension, and a touch of reverence that even the Golden Lion himself was unwilling to admit...

Such a method, unheard of, unseen, and even immeasurable by cognition, had already approached the realm of gods within the Golden Lion's worldview.

Are there truly gods on this great sea?

Thinking of Barzab's Lunarian bloodline, precisely known as the race of gods, the Golden Lion suddenly felt relieved: as a human, losing to a god is quite reasonable, isn't it?

Luo Jie, you are a ruthless man!

Secretly raising a god.