"Not bad. This will do for dinner tonight."
Ye Chen nodded with satisfaction as he looked at the bisected corpse of the saber-toothed tiger before him.
This tiger was considered the overlord of the forest—
yet in front of Ye Chen, it couldn't withstand even a single strike.
Ye Chen sheathed his weapon and whistled toward the sky.
Moments later, a deafening roar echoed through the forest.
A massive shadow descended over Ye Chen's position as Little Sky circled overhead.
"Roar roar roar!"
Little Sky roared a few times, its eyes full of curiosity, as if asking what was up.
Ye Chen pointed at the tiger's corpse in the distance.
"Bonus meal for tonight."
Upon hearing that, Little Sky's expression became visibly excited.
Its massive claws reached out, lifting the corpse—grass, roots, and all.
Seeing this, Ye Chen leapt onto Little Sky's head.
"Let's go back."
With a flap of its enormous wings, Little Sky soared toward Daughter Country's royal palace,
vanishing into the horizon like a streak of red light.
Before long, Little Sky's vast body appeared above the palace.
"Sky Dragon is back!"
"Is that a saber-toothed tiger in its claws? Did it go hunting just now?"
The people of Daughter Country weren't alarmed by Sky Dragon's return.
They had already grown used to Little Sky wandering around ever since Ye Chen took up residence there.
Little Sky landed in an open courtyard beside the palace.
Its serpentine body stretched out over hundreds of meters, settling comfortably onto the ground.
The saber-toothed tiger's corpse had long been tossed aside.
"Rest up, Little Sky. I'll have the kitchen send food shortly."
Ye Chen jumped off Little Sky's head and turned back to speak.
"Roar roar roar," Little Sky responded with a low growl.
Ye Chen chuckled. "I know, I know. We'll head out again soon."
While the two conversed, Granny Zha walked over from the distance,
with 12-year-old Hancock following closely behind.
"Brother Ye Chen!"
Hancock ran up with a bright smile and threw herself into Ye Chen's arms like a little sloth, clinging tightly.
"Hancock, what brings you here?"
Ye Chen gently stroked her hair as he asked.
Hancock looked up with her black pearl-like eyes fixed on Ye Chen.
"I saw Little Sky return just now, so I knew you were back. I came running!
By the way, Brother Ye Chen, when are you taking me out to explore?"
Ye Chen stroked his chin.
"When you've mastered Armament Haki, I'll take you out. You're not ready yet."
"Alright then..."
Hancock pouted, looking a little disappointed.
"There, there."
After comforting Hancock, Ye Chen turned to Granny Zha.
"Granny Zha, get me a route map to Sabaody Archipelago,
and have the chef prepare that saber-toothed tiger for Little Sky."
"Understood. I'll handle it right away," Granny Zha replied with a nod.
Although Granny Zha was the queen of the country,
their conversation made Ye Chen sound more like the king,
while she came off more like a servant or steward.
Still, Granny Zha never refused Ye Chen's requests.
Kuja Pirates were still weak and needed Ye Chen's protection.
And since he never made any excessive demands, they were happy to oblige.
"Come on, Hancock. Let's go eat."
Ye Chen took Hancock's small hand and walked back into the palace.
Later that evening, on the palace balcony—
"Lord Ye Chen, your bounty poster is out."
Granny Zha handed him a newspaper.
Ye Chen glanced at it, then chuckled.
"300 million Beli. Looks like Marine Headquarters is taking the Celestial Gold incident pretty seriously."
"Well, Lord Ye Chen, you did annihilate Celestial Gold.
That's essentially a slap to the face of the Celestial Dragons.
Under pressure from the World Government, Marine Headquarters had no choice."
Granny Zha explained.
"I figured. What I really want to know is—
is the whole world looking for me now?"
Ye Chen asked softly.
Granny Zha hesitated, then said,
"Rumor has it you stole all the treasures from Celestial Gold. So... yes."
"Oh? A 100 million Beli reward just to locate me? Interesting."
Ye Chen looked at the paper with a sly smirk.
Anyone who knew him well would know what that smile meant—
he was planning something, and not just any trick, but a big one.
Ye Chen thought for a moment.
"Alright, Granny Zha. Contact Marine Headquarters and tell them I'll be appearing at Sabaody Archipelago.
Let's collect that 100 million Beli reward first."
"No! Absolutely not, Lord Ye Chen!"
Granny Zha's face changed in alarm.
"If your location is exposed, Marine Headquarters will definitely dispatch an Admiral.
Besides, Sabaody Archipelago is full of dangerous characters—not only from the first half of the Grand Line,
but also many from The New World.
Once word gets out, everyone after the Celestial Gold treasure will come after you.
You'll become a walking target!"
Ye Chen waved his hand dismissively.
"I know. That's exactly why I want them to come.
I'll lure them all in—then take them out in one go."
"The world seems to think I rely solely on Little Sky.
They've even slapped the title 'Dragon Knight' on me.
How laughable."
Ye Chen shook his head, a flicker of contempt in his eyes.
"They all see me as prey...
But aren't they the ones fattened up for slaughter?
This time, I'm going to wipe them all out."
Granny Zha stood there, stunned, her face filled with shock.
She couldn't understand how Ye Chen dared to pull off something like this.
Sabaody Archipelago was unlike any other place—
a chaotic gathering of powers,
where even an Admiral-level fighter could show up without warning.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。