Chapter 53

Chapter 53 The Celestial Dragons arrived

The bulky white outer garment that might be even more bloated than a spacesuit, possibly due to the bloated physique of the wearer, a transparent bubble helmet resembling an upright fish tail, whether these high and mighty Celestial Dragons have a different sense of aesthetics from ordinary people, well, in Adrian's view, this guy is just hideous.

Adrian and Artoria stood behind the crowd, silently watching the Celestial Dragon.

This Celestial Dragon was young, and his face looked stupid and arrogant. He wasn't walking on his own; rather, he was sitting on a slave.

The slave was on all fours, crawling forward with difficulty. He was dressed in tattered red clothes, a hat with a skull emblem on his head, and his face bore numerous scars. He looked like a pirate captain who had taken a beating during his time as a slave.

Beside him was a person dressed in a black suit like a butler, followed by four guards covered in armor.

Just by observing these accompanying individuals, one could understand the immense intimidation that the Celestial Dragons wielded in this world. No one would dare have ill intentions towards them without a second thought.

Soon, someone rushed out from the auction house and knelt before him, saying, "Respected Saint Charlos, thank you for gracing us with your presence. In order for the auction to proceed smoothly, may we be excused from kneeling in the hall?"

Saint Charlos sniffled and spoke slowly in a foolish voice, "I permit it."

"Much appreciated. Please proceed to the VIP seats."

"This time, I want to buy a strong slave. This guy is utterly useless," Saint Rosward kicked the slave's shoulder repeatedly.

The unknown captain's face twisted in pain, but he didn't dare to say anything. He clenched his teeth and continued to crawl forward slowly with difficulty.

Watching this scene, Tom felt fearful and instinctively tried to hide behind Adrian, completely forgetting that he was currently in invisible mode.

Adrian could feel the hand clutching his wrist tightening slightly, so he quickly reached back and held her wrist, worried that she might lose control. He whispered, "He's just a pirate. No need to sympathize."

"Yeah, I know, but..." Artoria didn't continue.

Adrian could probably guess what she wanted to say, but it wasn't right. Pirates were detestable, and their punishment should correspond to their crimes—execution, imprisonment, or punishment. The way he was being tormented by the nobles, although it was initially satisfying to see, felt wrong upon closer examination.

"It's better for a pirate to suffer than an ordinary person," Adrian consoled himself. In this world where the Celestial Dragons held absolute power, one couldn't expect law enforcement agencies to do much.

As Saint Charlos entered the venue, the people outside stood up, some leaving directly, while some nobles and merchants followed to purchase their desired slaves.

"Why is that person so weird, wearing a bubble on his head?" Tom seemed to be amused by the eccentricity of that old fool.

"Because they consider the air we breathe unworthy of them. As soon as they leave the Holy Land, they put on those bubble helmets," Adrian explained with a hint of malice, thinking that maybe they suffered from oxygen deprivation.

"Let's go back," Artoria said with a touch of disappointment after witnessing the ugliness of the world's nobles.

As for whether she had considered overthrowing the Celestial Dragons' rule and saving the world's people, Artoria had indeed thought about it, but she wouldn't act on it. She believed that if she couldn't even protect a small part of Britain, she couldn't save the whole world either.

Little did she know that many kings in this world were just comparing notes. If she were a ruler, she would definitely be much better than those guys.

Adrian didn't know exactly what Artoria was thinking, but he could sense the disappointment in her tone. He guessed that she felt upset about witnessing such events yet being unable to intervene.

After a moment's thought, Adrian suggested, "Since we're here, why don't we do something before we leave?"

...

2nd Grand Red Line (GR), in front of a shop with a sign that read "Human Dwelling."

"What is this place..." Artoria looked at the shop in confusion.

Adrian explained, "This is a human trafficking shop, similar in nature to the human auction house."

Through the wide-open door, they could see numerous small compartments about the size of telephone booths inside the shop, each with glass windows. People wearing slave collars were displayed inside like commodities, their faces showing either numbness or despair. Each compartment had a label.

Due to the ongoing auction, there weren't many customers in the shop today. After all, the quality of the slaves here couldn't compare to those in the auction.

Passersby were indifferent or used to this existence, as most of the slaves here were from non-affiliated countries or were criminals like pirates.

"While we're still invisible, I want to discreetly deal with the shop owner and free some slaves," influenced partly by Rear Admiral's Kadar impact and partly by sympathy, Adrian wanted to do something for these unfortunate people.

Directly involved in slave trafficking wasn't a noble act, and those who established a business by "procuring" and selling them weren't any better. Artoria and Tom agreed with Adrian's plan.

The shop had only one owner and one shop assistant, the rest were slaves with collars and chains. Surprisingly, there were no security personnel.

Suddenly, some slaves saw something unbelievable. They rubbed their eyes in disbelief, and a few even let out small gasps.

The owner and the shop assistant thought some slaves were misbehaving and turned their heads to look. One saw a baseball bat floating in the air before them, while the other saw a golf club.

[Tom's Baseball Bat: Sturdy and durable, capable of knocking down Spike, the big dog, in one hit.]

[Tom's Golf Club: Hole-digging artifact, give Tom a golf club and he'll dig through a golf course.]

The owner and the shop assistant had just shown expressions of astonishment when the bat came crashing down on their heads, thumping twice. The two collapsed to the ground, red envelopes floating above their heads.

The slaves displayed various expressions of joy and hope. They eagerly pressed against the glass, looking outside.

A bunch of keys flew out from the owner's pocket and hovered in the air for a few seconds before opening the compartments, freeing the first slave from his collar.

With a clank, the sound of collars and chains falling to the ground filled the air, igniting a spark of hope in the eyes of the slaves. The one whose collar was removed fell to the ground, tears streaming down his face as he expressed gratitude.

Although they didn't know who these unseen people were, they had heard of Devil Fruit users and were certain that kind-hearted ones had come to rescue them!