Chapter 16: A Visit to Marineford?

In the Claudius Palace, within the large pond in the courtyard, two incredibly beautiful mermaid women were swimming gracefully. They seemed quite happy in the water.

These mermaids were slaves, a gift from Doflamingo to Claudius when he left Mariejois two months ago. Claudius had kept them here mainly for the sake of appearances.

Over the past two months, the two mermaids had begun to adjust to their new surroundings. They'd come to realize that their new master wasn't someone who enjoyed torturing slaves for amusement. He was even somewhat handsome and treated them with more kindness than they had expected.

Compared to their previous lives, though they still hadn't gained their freedom or left Mariejois, things were much better. They no longer had to wear the collars of slaves, weren't locked in giant fish tanks on display, and no one tossed vicious piranhas into the water to torment them for sport.

At that moment, not far from the pond, Claudius was sparring with a few men wearing slave collars, as if he was honing his combat skills against real opponents.

The two mermaid girls lay by the edge of the pond, watching the scene with curiosity.

"Mero, why do you think His Highness Claudius is doing this?" one of the mermaids asked her companion. "Isn't he one of the Celestial Dragons?"

Sori, the other mermaid, shook her head in confusion and replied, "I have no idea. Maybe he's just bored. When I first came here, I was terrified. I never imagined a Celestial Dragon like Claudius could be so strange. Not only does he not torture us, but he even removed our slave collars…"

A glimmer of hope flashed in her eyes as she asked quietly, "Lenny, do you think there's a chance he might let us go home someday?"

Lenny was silent for a moment, hope also flickering in her gaze. "I don't know, but… I have a feeling there's a chance."

"If we could go home, that would be wonderful," Sori said softly. "I miss Fish-Man Island."

In the past, when they were in Doflamingo's hands, simply staying alive had been their only hope. But after two months here, the idea of going home no longer seemed like an impossible dream. If Claudius knew about their secret hopes, he might even find it amusing. Could they really be mistaking him for a kindhearted man?

At that moment, Claudius threw a punch and sent one of the gladiator-like slaves flying. His expression darkened.

"I told you, you don't need to hold back," Claudius said, frowning. "You're not going to get in trouble if you hurt me, so why are you still being so cautious? Do you think I'm just playing games here, pretending to fight?"

The slaves, trembling in fear, knelt down in the courtyard. Their bodies were drenched in cold sweat, too terrified to respond.

Watching this, Claudius felt a wave of disgust.

These slaves had been broken stripped of their courage and hope. Especially the ones with some fighting ability, they'd been rigorously trained for Celestial Dragons, conditioned never to resist or show aggression. They'd been taught to fear causing any harm, lest they pay with their lives and bring ruin upon their fellow slaves.

Even though Claudius had promised rewards, even their freedom, if they could defeat him, none of them dared to truly fight. They treated it like a game, performing flashy moves before deliberately leaving themselves open to be easily defeated.

On the one hand, they didn't trust Claudius. He was still a Celestial Dragon, after all. They couldn't believe that beating him in a fight would lead to freedom. More likely, it would end in their deaths. On the other hand, they thought that playing along, making their master happy, might earn them a slightly easier life.

Claudius, seeing them act like mindless drones, felt even more bored and frustrated. He waved to his steward, Nia, and said, "Take them to the arena. I don't want to see these pathetic creatures anymore."

Nia nodded quickly. After a few orders, the guards came and escorted the group of trembling slaves out of the courtyard.

Nia then approached with a cup of tea, offering it to Claudius. "Your Highness, why waste your energy on these slaves? You've already given them a chance, but they're too broken to make use of it. They deserve to be slaves."

Claudius took the tea, sipping it to moisten his throat. He shook his head. "Pitiful people are always so detestable. It's not that they're weak that bothers me; it's that they're so useless that they have no value at all. No matter how many times I fight them, I can't gauge my own strength."

Claudius had been training for about six months, making significant progress. But there was no one around who could provide him with a real challenge. Originally, he thought sparring with the slaves might help, and he'd even considered freeing them if they impressed him. But the whole thing had been a massive disappointment.

He'd once thought about sneaking into the arena in disguise to fight, but when he mentioned this idea to Nia, she was so shocked that she immediately summoned the arena's owner. The poor man had nearly fainted from fear.

The mere thought of Claudius, a Celestial Dragon, getting injured in his arena terrified the man. If Claudius were hurt, his entire family would likely face execution. And if the other Celestial Dragons found out that Claudius had been fighting slaves, the consequences would be even worse.

Claudius didn't want to cause unnecessary deaths over something like this, so he ultimately abandoned the idea.

Handing the empty teacup back to Nia, Claudius rubbed his chin in thought. "If there's no other option… maybe I should visit the Naval Headquarters."

"Naval Headquarters?" Nia repeated, surprised.

"Yeah... why didn't I think of that earlier? I could go in disguise and ask Zephyr to set me up with some promising Marine recruits. It's such a simple solution," Claudius said, his eyes lighting up at the idea.

While Nia found the notion a bit far-fetched, her duty was to serve. If His Highness had made up his mind, all she had to do was carry out his wishes.

"Very well, Your Highness. I'll fetch the phone transponder so you can contact Admiral Zephyr," Nia replied.

Meanwhile, at Naval Headquarters in Marineford, Fleet Admiral Kong was reviewing some documents in his office. A few months ago, a fierce conflict had erupted in the New World between the pirate fleets of Ochoku and Golden Lion Shiki. The battle had been chaotic, but it now seemed like Shiki's forces were gaining the upper hand, while Ochoku's power had nearly been wiped out.

"Maybe in a month or two, we'll see a winner between them," Kong mused, glancing over the reports.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Admiral Zephyr walked in, wearing an odd expression.

"What's going on, Zephyr? You look… unusual," Kong remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Something strange has happened. A Celestial Dragon from Mariejois is coming to visit us here at Marineford," Zephyr said, still sounding puzzled.

Kong blinked, searching through his papers. "What? I didn't receive any notice about that."

While it wasn't unheard of for Celestial Dragons to visit Naval Headquarters, it was a rare occurrence, often happening only once in a decade. And when it did, it was usually with a lot of pomp and ceremony, something the Fleet Admiral would definitely be aware of.

Zephyr chuckled. "No, this isn't an official visit. He contacted me privately."

"Privately? You have a direct line to a Celestial Dragon?" Kong asked, surprised.

But then he paused, a thought crossing his mind. "Wait… is it that Claudius from the Donquixote family?"

Zephyr nodded. "Yes, that's him. He called me out of nowhere, saying he wanted to visit, but asked that we not go overboard with preparations. He even said he'd be coming incognito and didn't want anyone to know he was a Celestial Dragon."

Kong let out a slow breath, shaking his head in disbelief. "A private visit, disguised? This Claudius really is unlike any other Celestial Dragon I've ever heard of."

Zephyr scratched his head. "I know, right? He said he wants me to arrange for some Marine recruits to spar with him. Apparently, he wants to test his skills."

Kong stared at him, speechless. "A Celestial Dragon wants to come here, to Marineford, just to fight? What happens if he gets hurt? We'll be the ones in trouble!"

"This is definitely unexpected," Kong finally said, still trying to wrap his mind around it.

After thinking for a moment, he sighed. "Alright, pick a couple of recruits who can put on a good show, but make sure they don't embarrass the Celestial Dragons. If we make them look bad, it'll cause us all sorts of problems."

Zephyr smiled and shook his head. "I don't think that's the best approach, sir. You don't know Claudius like I do. He's not like the others. I think he genuinely wants to test his abilities. If we handle this seriously, it could be beneficial."

Kong gave Zephyr a strange look. "Why do you say that?"

Zephyr didn't hold back. He nodded and said, "Well, for one, he's sort of like a disciple of mine. I've been working with him on some combat techniques, and I'd like to see for myself how far he's come in the last six months."

Kong sat in silence for a moment, then finally nodded. "You've always had a good eye for people, Zephyr. I'll trust your judgment on this one. But if anything goes wrong, don't expect me to go to Mariejois to clean up the mess."

Zephyr chuckled. "Don't worry. Leave it to me."