Rosinante and the others didn't wait for Rayleigh to return.
After all, no one knew when that old gambler would finally wander back.
So after chatting for a while, Rosinante left Shakky's bar with Bins and Redfield.
The three of them were planning to head straight for Mary Geoise.
But life had a way of being irritating.
Sometimes you had no intention of causing trouble at all...
And yet there were always idiots who insisted on throwing themselves right in front of you.
The moment they stepped onto the main street, they saw a strange scene ahead.
A crowd of people were kneeling on both sides of the road.
When the kneeling civilians saw Rosinante's group strolling forward so casually, their expressions instantly turned pale with terror.
"Get down!"
"Do you want to die?!"
"A Celestial Dragon is coming!"
The civilians kneeling on the ground shouted at the three of them in panic.
"Kneel?" Rosinante smiled. "There's no one in this world who can make me kneel."
He chuckled faintly.
"And even if there were... they couldn't bear it."
"You—you're going to get us all killed!" the civilians cried bitterly.
The moment they heard Rosinante speak like that, they knew immediately—
They had run into a complete madman.
And just then...
Several figures appeared.
At the front was a man crawling on the ground on all fours.
Strapped across his back was a massive chair-like seat.
And seated on top of it was a somewhat obese man dressed in the unmistakable attire of a Celestial Dragon.
Snot dripped from his nose without stopping.
He looked as disgusting as it was possible for a person to look.
Beside him walked a butler-like attendant, and behind them followed several guards.
The entire group advanced slowly down the street.
The Celestial Dragon suddenly noticed Rosinante's trio standing right in the middle of the road.
His face immediately twisted with fury.
"Hey! What are you trash doing?" he barked at Rosinante.
"A filthy human dares remain standing in front of me?"
"Do you know what I am?"
"A mere human dares stand before a god?"
"How rude. You deserve to die!"
Rosinante smiled faintly and turned his head slightly.
"Bins... the last person who dared talk to me like that..."
He paused, the corners of his lips lifting.
"The grass on his grave must be at least three feet tall by now, right?"
Bins grinned.
"Probably more than that."
"Someone's probably cut it down a few times already."
The Celestial Dragon stared at the two of them in complete disbelief.
He clearly hadn't expected anyone to dare speak to him so insolently.
So in a rage, he directly pulled out a pistol.
He was just about to raise it and aim at Rosinante—
When Rosinante suddenly spoke again.
And the moment he did...
The Celestial Dragon's whole body trembled.
"I remember that man was called Roswald."
"If I'm not mistaken... he was your father, wasn't he, Charlos?"
Rosinante's smile widened slightly.
"And if I remember correctly, you should be called that."
"From the time you were little, you were already a disgusting little snot-nosed brat."
"Still as revolting as ever."
The moment he heard those words—
Saint Charlos shuddered violently.
The pistol dropped straight to the ground.
His eyes widened in utter disbelief as he stared at Rosinante.
Charlos had known Rosinante when they were children.
Unlike some others, the two of them had never gotten along in the first place.
"How... how is this possible...?"
"You... how can you still be alive... Rosinante...?"
Charlos stammered, his voice shaking uncontrollably.
"No... impossible! Impossible!"
In a panic, Charlos scrambled to pick the pistol back up from the ground and pointed it at Rosinante again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Terrified out of his mind, Charlos fired three shots in rapid succession.
Rosinante casually lifted a hand.
With a simple motion, he caught all three bullets in his palm.
Since Charlos had already fired at him...
Rosinante no longer had any reason to show mercy.
"Well," Rosinante said lightly, "since you've already made a move against me..."
"I don't need to hold back anymore."
He flicked a finger.
One of the bullets he had just caught shot out in an instant.
Blood burst from Charlos's forehead.
With an expression of utter disbelief frozen on his face, he collapsed to the ground.
A neat hole had been punched straight through his forehead.
Not too big.
Not too small.
But it was more than enough to kill him.
"Ahhh! A Celestial Dragon is dead!"
"He actually killed a Celestial Dragon!"
"We're finished! An Admiral is going to be deployed!"
The people all around erupted into complete panic.
Everyone fled in every direction, desperate to get as far away from the scene as possible.
They all knew exactly what it meant when a Celestial Dragon was killed.
A Marine Admiral would move.
And in the worst case...
Even a Buster Call on the area wasn't impossible.
"Y-you... you actually killed a Celestial Dragon!"
At that moment, the butler beside the Celestial Dragon finally reacted.
Even now, he still couldn't believe what he had just seen.
Someone had really dared to attack a Celestial Dragon?
Was this man insane?
"Y-you! All of you, attack!"
"K-kill him!"
"The Celestial Dragon is dead—none of us will survive anyway!"
"Only by killing him do we even have a chance to atone!"
The butler shouted frantically at the guards beside him.
The terrified guards, hearing that, barely managed to steady themselves.
One by one, they raised their weapons and charged at Rosinante.
"Hmph."
Rosinante gave a soft snort.
A tyrannical aura burst out from him in an instant.
The guards rushing toward him were blasted backward on the spot.
They flew through the air and crashed to the ground.
By the time they landed, every single one of them was already unconscious.
Rosinante then looked toward the butler and the others, his voice calm and indifferent.
"If an Admiral comes later..."
"Tell him this."
"If he wants to find me, then come to Mary Geoise."
"I'll be waiting for him there."
He took two steps, then continued without turning around.
"And tell him this too—"
"Sleepless City is my territory."
"Not one brick, not one tile here is to be damaged."
"If the Marines destroy even the slightest thing..."
"I'll make Marine Headquarters pay it back tenfold."
He walked a few more steps.
Then, as if remembering something, he stopped once more and casually added:
"Oh, right."
"Pass along a message to those Celestial Dragons staying in the Sky-Covering Hall."
His voice turned colder.
"The Sky-Covering Hall is my palace."
"If they don't want to die..."
"Then they'd better get the hell out.**"