One Piece: Dream of Immortality

Chapter 440: Trouble in the Holy Land



Although going from a member of CP9 to CPO was technically a promotion, and one that paid quite a bit more money, Rob Lucci couldn't help but find the whole gig to be terribly dull.

His days were mostly filled with training or guarding the celestial dragons, the latter of which would legitimately drive him insane if he had to do it everyday.

Today, he was stuck guarding the lesser royalty of the world. At least when he was eavesdropping on these idiots they actually talked about things that were marginally interesting sometimes. The celestial dragons talked about the same mindless shit all day everyday; if he didn't actively tune them out, he was sure that his brain would start leaking out of his ears.

It was just as he was starting to grow bored of the lesser royals' conversations that something interesting occurred, right on time to break up the monotony of useless fool guard duty.

"Pupupu! Mermaid~ Mermaid ~ Where are you~!" one of the uglier celestial dragons sing- songed.

Rob Lucci wasn't stupid. He didn't need to think too hard to know what was about to happen, and he couldn't be more thrilled about it.

Saint Charlos (he hated that he needed to memorize the names of every dumbass up here) was clearly planning to make a slave out of the mermaid princess.

"Should we try to de-escalate this?" Kaku asked from Lucci's side.

There wasn't all that much they could actually do towards that end, but they could at least put in a token effort. The authority of the Five Elders shielded CPO from the whims of the common celestial dragons since individuals worthy of joining CPO were rare; any complaints against a CPO agent by any celestial dragon would have to go through the Five Elders before anything got done.

"No, let's see how this plays out," Lucci declined.

If he was lucky, he might get to kill King Neptune for the crime of rebellion. That would certainly liven up a boring day.

"There it is, Slave #3! Quickly put it in chains so I can take it home!" Saint Charlos demanded.

Slave #3 was a human of imposing stature. His size and burliness was comparable to that of King Neptune himself, so the task of capturing a similarly large mermaid princess was an easy one, he thought. His body was still covered in bandages from the beating he had taken three days ago, so he was keen to complete this task and divert his horrid master's attention away from himself for however long that would last.

Not very long at all by his reckoning, but he would savor every minute.

Slave #3 pushed his way through the still oblivious royals with no regard for their lofty statuses. As far as he was concerned, they were no different than himself; slaves of their celestial dragon masters. He cared not if he offended them.

The people milling about began to realize that something was happening when he knocked over the queen of the Tajine kingdom, spilling her wine across the front of her expensive dress. She let out a short shriek, but went quiet as she quickly put together what was happening and wisely fled to make sure she wasn't the center of attention. After all, if a celestial dragon took a liking to her world class beauty, there wasn't anyone who would help her!

Shirahoshi looked away from her new princess friends after hearing the shriek. Slave #3 was fast approaching her, and she was quite certain that she was his target. So she did the only thing that a dainty princess could do.

*SLAP*

Slave #3 staggered for only a second before promptly planting his face into the lawn, unmoving.

"Huh? What happened?" Saint Charlos uttered. Then his face twisted in outrage. "How dare you take a nap on the job!"

In Saint Charlos' mind, it simply wasn't possible that Shirahoshi could put up any kind of resistance, which only left Slave #3 to blame.

The royals in attendance, having clearly seen what just happened before their eyes, could only marvel at the willful ignorance of this celestial dragon.

"That was impressive," Stussy spoke up, walking up to stand next to Lucci.

"Mhm," Kaku marveled. To an amateur, that slap would seem like a lucky shot; but in reality, it was a beautifully executed palm strike across the jaw.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Even Lucci had a hint of a smile. It was too bad that Saint Charlos was too stupid to put the blame where it belonged, but that pig probably wasn't done yet anyways. He couldn't wait to see what happened next.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Saint Charlos kicked Slave #3 several times and fired his pistol into the torso of the helpless man. "Get up and get me that mermaid!"

Slave #3 was well and truly out for the count however, so he wasn't going to get up any time

soon.

The royals in the courtyard watched with bated breath, not daring to approach or speak up. "Someone get this useless sack of meat out of my sight!" Saint Charlos shouted, spinning around in search of whomever that someone was going to be.

A tall CPO agent wearing a mask flashed into view, spoke a quick "Of course, Saint Charlos- sama,", then vanished with the body of Slave #3 as quickly as he had appeared.

Saint Charlos moved his attention back to Princess Shirahoshi. "You, mermaid! Chain yourself up and come with me."

Saint Charlos immediately turned on his heel and started marching away in a cheery mood. The sheer confidence that he would be obeyed without hesitation or question passed far beyond the point of absurdity.

In fact, he did not even notice that Shirahoshi made no move to do as he ordered. She simply blinked in mild confusion as she watched him leave.

"Shirahoshi, get over here!" Ryuboshi hissed in barely contained rage towards the celestial dragon. "We need to get you out of here before he comes back!"

"You aren't going anywhere," the voice sent shivers down the spines of the merman princes and the nearby royals. Rob Lucci was in their midst before they even registered his presence. "Saint Charlos-sama gave you an order. He won't be happy if you don't follow it."

Vivi, Rebecca, Neptune, and a few others such as Leo of the Tontatta Tribe and Sai of the Happo Navy were immediately outraged. A CPO agent wasn't easy to stand up against, but it was much easier than standing against a celestial dragon. Though, the only reason they hadn't made a move against Saint Charlos was because he hadn't truly threatened Shirahoshi yet, so they still had hope of resolving the issue without making a huge mess.

"My daughter will go wherever she pleases," Neptune rumbled as he towered over Rob Lucci, an attempt to intimidate the smaller man that failed utterly.

"No, she won't. Is the Ryugu Kingdom rebelling against the World Government?" Lucci said. A bit heavy handed, perhaps, but the provocation would serve his purpose nicely.

Lucci spotted Saint Charlos marching back into the courtyard out of the corner of his eye, clearly furious.

"You dare to disobey me!" Saint Charlos shouted feebly, though in his own mind it was like a

lion's roar.

'What will you do now?' Lucci smirked.