"Say that again. Who is coming?!"
Saint Charlos blurted out the question in disbelief.
But by now, he had completely shed the arrogance he had displayed just moments ago.
Everyone present was stunned.
No one had expected a Celestial Dragon of all people to undergo such a drastic change in expression.
Even Commodore Ryan was no exception.
Kidd, standing nearby, let out a disdainful chuckle. "Heh. The new Marine Admiral? I heard that, despite being a newcomer, he’s supposed to be pretty strong."
"However, there are quite a few Supernovas gathered here this time. If he really is the new Marine Admiral, perhaps we can join forces and test just how big the gap between us and a newly appointed Admiral really is."
"Everyone, do you have the guts? If we win, we might even make a name for ourselves across the sea."
Among the eleven Supernovas, Kidd had the highest bounty.
He had always been the most reckless and audacious of them all.
In the original timeline, he was constantly thinking about challenging the Four Emperors.
When he encountered Shanks, he lost an arm.
When he fought Kaido, he was utterly crushed.
Those incidents alone were enough to demonstrate just how arrogant Kidd could be.
However, faced with Kidd’s sudden proposal, the Supernovas watching the spectacle from a distance clearly had not expected him to be this reckless.
Yet the moment those thoughts flashed through their minds, they immediately understood Kidd’s intention.
He was simply trying to drag them into the mess with him.
"Marines! I’m asking you which Marine Admiral is coming this time! Tell me, quickly!"
Saint Charlos roared at the Marines.
This time, there was an unmistakable urgency in his voice.
The Celestial Dragon who had been so overbearing just moments ago had suddenly lost every trace of his lofty demeanor.
Commodore Ryan was stunned for a moment before stammering, "I-it’s the newly appointed Marine Admiral, Glutton Lucas."
"Saint Charlos, please rest assured. An Admiral is known as the strongest combat power of Marine Headquarters. Although Admiral Lucas is newly appointed, rescuing you from these pirates will certainly not be a problem."
"Please hurry back inside the auction house and ensure your own safety first."
"It’s really him?"
Saint Charlos’s expression instantly stiffened.
Even the snot hanging from his nose was momentarily forgotten.
The next moment, under the stunned gazes of everyone present, he did not hesitate for even a second.
He turned around and fled, scrambling away as fast as his legs could carry him.
Yes.
Everyone present had seen it correctly.
When faced with the arrival of a newly appointed Marine Admiral, the first person to flee was neither a pirate nor a Supernova.
It was the Celestial Dragon who had always considered himself superior to everyone else and was supposedly protected by the Marines’ greatest combat power.
At least, the fleeing figure before their eyes was something they had never imagined seeing.
They had never thought that a Celestial Dragon could run so fast.
Everyone present was completely dumbfounded.
Whether they were pirates or Marines, none of them had ever imagined such a scene.
The Admiral is coming, and the Celestial Dragon fled first!
"Run! Bepo, you guys, run!" Trafalgar Law’s expression also changed drastically.
He immediately tightened his grip on Kikoku and frantically activated the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi, forcing his way out of the encirclement.
At the same time, Luffy, Zoro, and the others, who had originally been advocating a fight, were equally shocked by the Celestial Dragon’s decision.
The instant the three exchanged glances, they turned around, hoisted Nami and the others onto their backs, and fled as well.
At this moment, neither Trafalgar Law nor Luffy had any desire to compete with Kidd anymore.
If another Marine Admiral had arrived this time, they might still have been able to grit their teeth and deal with him for a while.
But after personally experiencing things that others had never experienced, one would finally understand what true terror was.
At the very least, whenever Trafalgar Law recalled everything that had happened in the Kingdom of Dressrosa five days ago, he believed that the so-called Supernovas were probably nothing more than a fart in front of this newly appointed Admiral—someone who had even dared to take action right in front of the Five Elders.
Not to mention the extraordinary combat forces assembled aboard that ship.
The sudden turn of events left everyone staring in shock.
The fact that a Celestial Dragon, a World Noble, had chosen to flee was already far beyond their expectations.
And now, two of the three pirate captains who had been competing to prove themselves had also fled.
Was the mere name of a newly appointed Admiral really enough to inspire such overwhelming fear?
For a moment, Kidd, who remained standing in the middle of the scene, felt as though he were standing out from the crowd.
Feeling the gazes coming from all around him, Kidd was stunned for a moment before breaking into a savage grin.
"Hahaha! I thought you had some kind of guts. I never expected a mere name would scare the wits out of you. Looks like I overestimated you."
"But since you’ve all run away, the title of the strongest Supernova belongs to Captain Kidd now."
"Is that so?"
A calm voice suddenly rang out without warning.
Kidd and the others’ expressions changed drastically.
They hurriedly looked up toward the source of the voice.
A pitch-black afterimage shot toward them from the distance like a meteor descending from the heavens.
Before anyone could react, it slammed violently into the open ground.
BOOM!
A massive wave of explosive force swept outward like a hurricane.
The surrounding Marine soldiers were sent tumbling through the air by the violent blast.
Even Kidd and the other Supernovas in the distance were forcibly driven back dozens of meters by the sudden impact.
Looking at the enormous crater, dozens of meters across, that had been smashed into the ground, many people’s gazes quickly shifted toward the dust cloud.
They desperately wanted to see whether the person who had arrived was the newly appointed Marine Admiral who had even frightened a Celestial Dragon into fleeing.
As the dust gradually settled, Lucas emerged at a leisurely pace, a gourd of liquor in his hand.
After casually surveying the surroundings, he asked,
"Are you Commodore Ryan?"
"Where did the Celestial Dragon, Saint Charlos, go?"
Ryan had only just managed to regain his footing after being battered by the shockwave.
To have the Admiral personally address him was practically an honor.
But when he recalled everything that had happened moments earlier, his face filled with bitterness.
"Admiral Lucas, just now, after Saint Charlos learned that you were coming, he seemed to go completely mad and fled. We tried to stop him, but there was nothing we could do."
"Fled?"
Lucas took a sip of his liquor, his expression becoming slightly stiff.
"Could it be that the Celestial Dragon I blasted away last time was him?"
"Looks like Celestial Dragons may come and go, but Charlos is the one constant."
"Still, it’s probably for the best that he fled. Now I can give Sengoku an explanation. Otherwise, if I accidentally blasted him away again later, that would be troublesome."
"By the way, you should have received the tactical orders by now as well. Get moving as soon as you’ve read them. I’m in a hurry to get off work."
"Tactical orders?"
Ryan’s expression froze.
He hurriedly lowered his head and looked at the Transponder Snail in his hands.
The first thing that caught his eye was a faxed set of orders.
However, on the enormous tactical fax, there was only a single word.
FLEE!
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