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It's possible to make one's cheeks thinner and subtly adjust one's appearance by returning to a life-saving state.

However, this adjustment had almost exhausted his remaining physical strength.

"Get down, all of you!"

The slaves were driven off the prison carts and lined up in a row.

Here they replaced the sea stone shackles with the holy site version, and also put slave collars containing high-explosive bombs on their heads.

Akainu did not resist, but his expression grew increasingly somber.

Just as the slaves were being led away, a cold gaze fell on Akainu's face.

The gaze came from Phoenix Palace, the female Celestial Dragon who was not wearing a hood. Although her gaze remained cold and arrogant, the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned.

“Interesting.” In a flash, Phoenix and Akainu locked eyes.

“Uncle Charmaco, I want this slave,” Phoenix Palace suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Akainu's face twitched slightly.

Akainu quickly lowered his head, but he had a vague premonition in his heart.

It seems he... has been discovered?

The chattering Celestial Dragons around them suddenly fell silent, looking at Phoenix Palace with astonishment.

"Phoenix Palace has made a request?"

"This seems to be the first time, right?"

"This...this is truly unprecedented. Phoenix Palace is actually selecting a slave, and a strong male slave at that. Didn't she previously look down on both male and female slaves?"

"It seems that she has finally matured and grown up."

"Yeah, I heard she's not quite right in the head, like she has some kind of... necrophilia?" the Celestial Dragons whispered among themselves.

A flicker of disgust flashed in Phoenix Palace's eyes, but it quickly vanished.

The Celestial Dragons are a large group whose origins lie in the nineteen royal families that established the World Government 800 years ago.

After 800 years of reproduction, these nineteen families have grown many times larger than they were originally.

More Celestial Dragons bring more celestial gold and a greater burden to the member states.

Within such a large and powerful group that is not bound by law, there are naturally outliers like Phoenix Palace.

Of course, compared to Don Quixote Homingo, who did not keep slaves and voluntarily gave up his Celestial Dragon status, Phoenix Palace was not the most outrageous.

Phoenix Palace was eccentric from a young age and disliked everyone else, including other Celestial Dragons. The only thing she could say she liked was a... male corpse.

This peculiar fetish was considered too extreme and unacceptable even by the Celestial Dragon elders in the family.

Fortunately, as Phoenix Palace grew up, she gradually became much more normal, and the distance between her and the other Celestial Dragons seemed to disappear.

Of course, this wasn't because Phoenix Palace suddenly recovered from her heartache; it was simply that as she grew up, she learned to hide herself better and developed better acting skills.

"So, Uncle Charmaco."

Phoenix Palace looked at Saint Charmaco, who was standing in front of the Celestial Dragons.

It was clear that Charmaco Saint's expression was somewhat conflicted, his fat bulging out in a ball.

"This is my first request. Can you give me this male slave?" Phoenix Palace asked earnestly and eagerly.

"this..."

Charmaco hesitated for a moment, then finally frowned and said;

“Phoenix Palace, this strong male slave is too early for you. I can send you ten easier male slaves.”

“Look closely at his eyes.”

Charmaco Saint lifted Akainu's chin with one hand, forcing him to look him in the eye, and clicked his tongue in amazement:

"This is a slave who successfully escaped once. It is extremely rare, one in ten thousand."

“His eyes were different from others; they had a wildness and tenacity that domesticated slaves lacked.”

"That kind of gaze... is perfect for slowly shattering his pride."

"It's not easy to tame them, it's a bit too difficult for a beginner like you."

Charmacos said:

"So listen to your uncle's advice, you can't handle this male slave, so let your uncle take care of him."

This assessment of the slaves left Phoenix Palace stunned for quite a while.

When they came to their senses, Saint Charmaco had already led his group of slaves away and left.

Phoenix Palace stood there for a long time, lost in thought.

"I don't know if it's someone who looks similar, or the Marine himself..."

To the Celestial Dragons, the Marine Admirals are merely their direct subordinates who clean up the mess after causing trouble.

No matter how powerful or prestigious they are, in the eyes of the Celestial Dragons, they are no different from other subordinates like CP0.

Therefore, the Celestial Dragons could not distinguish that the new admiral, after minor adjustments, only had a six or seven-point resemblance in appearance, and no one would associate a Celestial Dragon slave with a Marine admiral.

But Phoenix Palace was different; she paid extra attention to these things.

However, she couldn't confirm Akainu's identity, so she didn't fight Charmaco Saint to the end.

"Let's go back and find some information to compare."

"It is no small matter if a newly appointed admiral goes missing."

...................

A dozen minutes later.

Saint Charmaco returned to his mansion with the other slaves and excitedly ordered the black-suited CP agents beside him to begin their work.

"Finally, I can take a good look at the quality of these slaves." Saint Charmaco rubbed his hands together, looking rather impatient.

Slaves of various races were stripped of their outer garments, leaving them only in their undergarments, and were examined by Saint Charles like livestock.

But when it was Akainu's turn...

"Huh? So righteous?" Saint Charmaco was stunned for a long time, as if he had been greatly shocked.

"Has this slave who escaped once already been used? And quite a few times...?"

"That's disgusting."

He frowned, feeling utterly uninterested.

"Throw it out."

He waved his hand, frowned, and walked away, not even bothering to look at the other slaves.

It's like receiving a package with great excitement, only to find it slightly dirty, and suddenly you don't want it anymore.

The black-suited agents exchanged bewildered glances, but in the end, they could only drive the slaves away from the Celestial Dragons' mansion.

..........

The Celestial Dragons have no shortage of slaves, nor do they lack toys.

In the time that followed, Charmaco Saint completely forgot about the existence of Akainu and the other slaves, and instead focused his attention on other toys.

The Celestial Dragons may have forgotten about this, but their CP agents certainly haven't.

In the time that followed, the newly appointed admiral fell into obscurity, becoming no different from the other slaves.

Whipping.

The Devil Fruit user's body is rendered powerless by the high-purity Seastone shackles. Although his body is tough, when he is completely exhausted, he is similar to a patient on the operating table who has been given muscle relaxants, and is not much stronger than an ordinary person.

The World Government and Wano Country possess seastone torture instruments of varying purity.

When slaves are needed for hard labor or as riding tools for the Celestial Dragons, a lower purity version is used to preserve some of their strength.

For more dangerous individuals with special abilities, such as slaves who have successfully escaped once, better ones would naturally be used.

After being repeatedly whipped, his body was covered in wounds, with almost no intact skin left.

brand.

The red-hot branding iron was imprinted on the slave's body. Amidst the hissing heat and screams, the mark of the Heavenly Dragon's Hoof was thus made.

This brand represents the transformation from a human to a Celestial Dragon's possession.

He escaped death because of the Sky Soaring Dragon Hoof that was already present on his body.

As a naval admiral, this was the first time he had witnessed the entire birth of a group of slaves.

More than the physical pain, the inner rage felt like a hot iron branding his heart, making him unable to control himself.

In order to uphold absolute justice, he could kill refugees who were hiding criminals and showed no mercy to deserters on the battlefield.

But justice is not just about killing pirates.

In the end, he did not offer any further resistance, but his gaze grew increasingly somber.

"The Golden Lion once escaped from Impel Down."

"He was also helpless against the Seastone shackles, and finally managed to escape by cutting off his own feet and using the power of the Float-Float Fruit."

"Unfortunately... this isn't Impel Down, and I must escape unscathed, without leaving any stain or disability."

The highest purity Seastone shackles were prepared in Impel Down for top-tier Devil Fruit users like Shiki, leaving him helpless and with no choice but to cut off his own legs.

Akainu is in slightly better shape, still retaining some strength. But his goal isn't to escape crippled.

CP agents gave special attention to this slave who had successfully escaped once, subjecting him to punishments several times greater than those of other slaves.

But he is like a volcano, silently lying dormant, accumulating power, waiting for the day he erupts.

............

It has only been a little over half a month since the Water Seven Buster Order began.

But this period felt like an eternity, an exceptionally long time.

"You mean, the slave auction in the Sabaody Archipelago is going to start again?" Saint Charmaco looked at Phoenix Palace in front of him.