#9 Plotting againsts God

While Carlo was still lost in thought about the system rewards in his mind, Blackbeard's voice pulled him back to reality.

Earlier, Blackbeard noticed Carlo's calm demeanor and assumed his impressive first mate was so displeased with the Celestial Dragons that he was planning to confront them directly!

This assumption made Blackbeard admire Carlo even more!

But in reality, Carlo was simply reviewing his mission rewards…

The fact that this situation could boost his image so much was something Carlo hadn't expected!

Hearing Blackbeard, Carlo snapped out of his thoughts, pondered briefly, and then nodded.

Then, the two quietly slipped back into the tavern, found the back door, and left the area temporarily without attracting any attention.

Their actions made the surrounding kneeling pirates tense up again, but once they realized the distant Celestial Dragons hadn't noticed, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally, those two troublemakers were gone. It was a real test of nerves!

Carlo's temporary retreat meant he had given up on option one, fighting the Celestial Dragons head-on!

In the brief time he had, Carlo had done some intense thinking, carefully analyzing the rewards of the three tasks.

After some consideration, he ultimately chose option two, to kidnap and ransom the Celestial Dragon!

The advanced Conqueror's Haki and its infusion in option one were impressive, but with Carlo's current abilities, it wasn't practical.

He only had the physique of a Rear Admiral. Even if he mastered Conqueror's Haki infusion, his body wasn't strong enough to wield such a power.

Conqueror's Haki infusion could damage even Emperor-level characters!

For Carlo now, using such a move would probably hurt him more than his enemies…

His body couldn't handle that kind of power.

Conqueror's Haki was tempting, but a solid physical foundation was essential to utilize any power effectively!

However, the rewards for option two were perfect: Douglas Bullet's Physique Card and Advanced Armament Haki!

These were exactly what Carlo needed, essential for enhancing his physique and basic combat strength!

With these, his combat power could potentially soar to the top level!

At the very least, he'd beat Most Vice admiral's easily.

How could that not be appealing? In terms of practicality, it was much more helpful than Conqueror's Haki infusion!

At least for now.

The best part was, besides the system rewards, he could extort the Celestial Dragon!

Celestial Dragons might lack many things, but wealth wasn't one of them. They were loaded, the ultimate rich guys!

And the rich are meant to be robbed! Extorting a Celestial Dragon made Carlo feel quite pleased…

Moreover, the system mentioned extorting rare Devil Fruits. No matter how unreliable the system might seem, its information seemed always accurate.

Besides, not choosing option one had other factors, just as Blackbeard worried.

Killing the Celestial Dragons directly would be satisfying but too reckless.

It could easily disrupt their future plans!

Killing those guys in broad daylight would be impossible to hide. Any slip-up, and their identities would be exposed, jeopardizing their most important plans.

So, after thorough consideration, Carlo went with option two.

Now, he just had to wait for a dark, to capture the little Celestial Dragon and 'teach' him slowly!

Blackbeard POV

"What are you thinking about?"

"Haha, you're not still thinking about that idiot, are you? Don't tell me you really plan to take action here?"

By the shore, Carlo and Blackbeard had returned near their 'ship' for the time being.

As they walked, Carlo remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.

But in his eyes, there was a sinister glint that flashed occasionally!

He's definitely plotting something bad!

After spending these days together, Blackbeard felt he understood Carlo quite well and could guess most of his thoughts!

Finally, he couldn't hold back anymore, jokingly asking Carlo.

However, despite his jest, Blackbeard genuinely doubted Carlo would dare act against the Celestial Dragons in the Sabaody Archipelago!

As pirates, they all knew what that meant…

"You guessed right!"

But Carlo's response made Blackbeard choke on his drink, nearly sending him to the afterlife!

"Cough… Cough! What did you say? Carlo, stop joking around!"

"You really want to kill them? That's too reckless! It would ruin all our plans!"

Blackbeard coughed heavily, then quickly grabbed Carlo, advising him earnestly, fearing he might really go after the Celestial Dragons in a fit of anger!

"Teach, relax. You're overthinking. I didn't mean killing them…"

Seeing Blackbeard's panicked look, Carlo then explained, "I've thought of a plan to quickly boost our strength!"

"Oh? What plan? Tell me!"

Hearing this, Blackbeard's fear vanished, replaced by curiosity.

He was always one to talk big but often got cold feet when facing real danger. Though he talked tough, he was actually quite cautious…

Just like when facing Whitebeard.

"I don't plan to kill the Celestial Dragons, but we can kidnap him when no one's watching!"