The palace gate opened once again, and Rosse walked out slowly.
As he was walking out, the two gatekeeping CP0 members happened to return with the barely breathing Guernica. When they saw Rosse, they both bowed in salute.
Rosse ignored them and simply walked past the three of them, heading toward his own palace.
Different people, different fates. Even with a certain level of strength, it cannot change everything.
The reason Guernica was at the gate to greet him was merely because Saint Saturn wanted to see his bearing and character.
Since Saint Saturn wanted to see, then let him see.
The people he cares about, he will protect with his own strength.
The ones he doesn't care about were just chess pieces to begin with.
———
Rosse slowly returned to his palace. As he stepped into the front hall, the others were already waiting for him there.
Facing the concerned gazes from different people, Rosse unexpectedly felt a bit dazed.
After being here for so long, he was no longer alone.
His little group had taken some initial shape.
"Master, the room has already been arranged. Would you like to bathe now or…", Stella had changed into a maid outfit, walking up to Rosse with composure and grace.
She didn't feel there was anything wrong with her current life.
From the moment she was sent to the slave shop, she had anticipated this kind of life.
As for her current situation, it was much better than the rumors she had heard.
By comparison, the slaves of other Celestial Dragons were truly miserable.
Being Rosse's slave was her fortune.
"You go help Rogue settle Ace for now," Rosse glanced at the already sleeping Ace, and a smile rose at the corner of his mouth.
During the conversation with Saint Saturn just now, neither of them brought up the matter of Ace.
Although Saint Saturn likely didn't know the full story, the fact that Zannie had taken out a CP0 from her own family was true. Saint Saturn could definitely guess something.
But the two tacitly didn't mention this matter.
The main reason was, the dead Roger had already lost his value.
Even if Saint Saturn knew Roger's bloodline was in Rosse's hands, he wouldn't say much more.
After Roger's death, these things were no longer necessary.
Even when he was alive, as long as he didn't touch the taboos of the World Government, Saint Saturn and the others wouldn't have deliberately targeted him.
What great Pirate Era? That was something for the Marine to worry about. They didn't really care what happened down below.
A little more chaos made it easier for them to collect Heavenly Tribute.
After Stella left with Rogue and Ace, Rosse then briefly explained the follow-up arrangements, "This time, the Five Elders in charge of the Heavens Hunt is the Warrior God of the Environment, Saint Marcus Mars. Zephyr is most likely arranged in the escort unit and won't participate in the actual hunt."
"So this is a disguised way of weakening our strength?", Gion slightly furrowed her brows.
When Rosse went to see Saint Saturn, they hadn't been idle either. Zephyr had obtained information about Holy Tea Island through the CP channels.
Holy Tea Island is located on the edge of the Calm Belt, not on any major sea routes. Its economy, technology, and even cultural development level are all not high.
The only special trait it had was a small amount of seastone ore.
Initially, the World Government adopted a gentle policy, allowing Holy Tea Island to use seastone ore in place of paying Heavenly Tribute, and included it in the Allied Nations system.
Unfortunately, the island natives rejected it.
Those natives didn't even know what the World Government was, let alone pay some kind of Heavenly Tribute.
After being rejected, the World Government originally planned to cleanse the land, leaving no people. But considering the island had little seastone and it wasn't worth the effort, they finally adopted a trade-based approach.
Holy Tea Island was remote and uncivilized to begin with.
At the start, the World Government used a small amount of agricultural goods to happily get the natives to mine.
The natives received food, the World Government got seastone.
In the original trading model, both sides were quite happy.
Until the Great Pirate Era began, then everything changed.
After the start of the Great Pirate Era, countless people flooded into the seas looking for the treasure Roger spoke of. Even islands like Holy Tea Island, which weren't on the main sea routes, were frequently visited by large numbers of pirates.
That information exchange inevitably led to some surprises.
Holy Tea Island felt they had been deceived, and immediately tore up the contract with the World Government, then turned around and sold the seastone to pirates.
This matter wasn't particularly big. Normally, the World Government would've sent a few CP9 agents to resolve it.
But it just happened to coincide with the Heavens Hunt, so it was singled out as the first typical target after the Pirate Era began.
Toward the natives of Holy Tea Island, neither Zephyr nor Gion had much affection.
So what Gion prioritized most was how to help Rosse defeat Shamrock.
"Weakening our strength might not be accurate. Usually, admiral-level powerhouses won't participate in the Heavens Hunt. They'll only serve as external protection. If those at that level join the hunt, there won't be anything left for others to do," Rosse shook his head.
"Then this time, let me go with you," Gion proposed her idea. Rosse was enhanced by his Devil Fruit abilities, but only in certain battles.
If they ran into a top-level martial artist, Rosse's strength would take a big hit.
The battlefield this time was on an island, and without the rare sea-water amplification from the Watatsumi Fruit, Rosse would still be at some risk.
"When the time comes, we'll act together," Rosse nodded lightly. This was already within his consideration.
Gion's strength now was not weak. After fully mastering the Devil Fruit over the past six months, even though her overall rating hadn't changed, her combat power was much stronger than before.
"Right, the Great Grade Blade promised you earlier will be delivered soon. The sword's name is Konpira."
Since Gion's previous saber was also named Konpira, Rosse wasn't going to look for another famous blade.
Given the forging standard of this world, famous blades were just so-so.
The difference between a Great Grade Blade and a Supreme Grade Blade lies only in the user, not the blade itself.
The swords of great swordsmen are usually black blades, and those so-called black blades are often Great Grade Blades nurtured with Armament Haki.
And the so-called Twelve Supreme Grade Blades are twelve black blades that have been nurtured to the extreme with Armament Haki.
Once the blade is taken up, it's not necessarily the person controlling the blade. Rather, it might be the Haki contained within the blade that's controlling the person.
"Konpira? The one in the Marine's treasure vault?", Gion looked at Rosse with surprise and joy. She really hadn't expected she could still get this sword.
Back during training camp with Zephyr, the Marine had used this sword to tempt her, saying that once she was promoted to Vice Admiral, it would be given to her.
Fate is unpredictable, she never thought that after leaving the Marine, by coincidence, she'd still get the sword she once dreamed of.
"Saint Rosse asked me about that sword before. He specifically looked into your experience at the training camp," Zephyr added from the side.
Old people tend to like seeing warm, friendly things.
Seeing a student find a good place, he was rather sentimental.
But he wasn't making this up. Saint Rosse really had confirmed it with him and even had the Marine exchange the sword at a price of 1.5 billion berries.
These past few days of experience had also given Zephyr a more complete understanding of Rosse.
Rosse's personality may have some issues, but he is definitely a good superior.
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