The next day, the sanctuary docked at its dedicated pier outside Red Port.
Blake walked at the forefront, followed a step behind by Stella and two expressionless CPs, with dozens of Slaves, maids, and guards trailing behind them.
Yesterday, after Blake defeated a young Charlotte Linlin and gained the "Iron Balloon" talent, his sense of security significantly increased, and he finally dared to venture out to sea to seek opportunities.
Blake had no intention of returning to Mary Geoise quickly this time; he planned to travel around the Four Blues, trying to find suitable powerhouses and Devil Fruits that had yet to appear.
"Saint Black, I am Navy Vice Admiral Gumir, responsible for your current voyage. This is my adjutant, Bastille. For the duration of this trip, we will be escorting your sanctuary aboard a Marine warship."
Upon arriving at Red Port, a Navy Vice Admiral who bore a striking resemblance to Golden Lion approached Blake and bowed slightly.
Ordinary citizens must kneel when facing Celestial Dragons, while Marines only need to show respect.
Due to the long duration and distance of this voyage, the Marine sent a warship to provide escort.
Blake nodded slightly to Gumir, indicating:
"Then I'll trouble you."
Vice Admiral Gumir was momentarily stunned; it was the first time he had seen such a polite Celestial Dragon.
After Blake boarded the ship, Bastille whispered:
"He doesn't seem as unreasonable as the rumors say..."
Gumir glared at him:
"Why so much nonsense? Hurry up and follow!"
Blake was not a very polite person; he simply believed that true arrogance was reflected in one's heart.
The Marine, after all, were subordinates of the Celestial Dragons. In the absence of conflicting interests, Blake did not want to offend anyone with his words...
"Gumir and Bastille, huh?"
Blake chuckled softly.
He remembered these two.
Gumir was the base commander of G2 and had interacted with Ace.
Bastille's reddish-brown long hair and the bull mask on his face were very distinctive, making one instinctively feel he was a formidable character.
In reality, Bastille's combat record was being instantly defeated by Sabo in Dressrosa, and he hadn't even woken up until Blake's transmigration.
But it didn't matter; Blake never expected these Marines to be of much help.
With a warship present, it could at least serve as a deterrent to pirates, preventing any fools who didn't recognize the World Government flag from disturbing him...
Two months later, South Blue.
"Saint Black, we are about to arrive at Taya Kingdom."
Hearing the maid's voice, Blake sat up from his lounge chair, removed his sunglasses, and looked into the distance.
"Finally here?"
Blake murmured.
Two months had passed since Blake and his entourage left Mary Geoise.
During these two months, Blake frequently used the Card Space to enhance his practical combat abilities.
As his strength improved, Blake's snowballing speed became faster and faster.
Now, both his physique and Haki had improved compared to two months ago.
Especially Observation Haki.
After defeating a random New World passerby last month, Blake occasionally glimpsed fleeting future scenes, which meant he was not far from the advanced application of Observation Haki—Future Sight.
Blake's Haki improvement was different from others.
For others, Haki technique and intensity were not necessarily proportional.
For example, Yamato could use Conquerors Haki Infusion, but her attack power clearly did not reach the level of other Haoshoku users.
Douglas Bullet's Armament Haki, when fully released, was like a tsunami, but neither its hardness nor its internal destructive power reached the level it should have.
This was a manifestation of mismatched Haki intensity and Haki technique.
The Haki Blake enhanced through ability cards was more like a quantitative change leading to a qualitative change.
When Haki intensity exceeded a certain critical value, he would naturally comprehend the application of advanced techniques...
Recalling his thoughts, Blake looked at the nearby port, stepped onto the Slave's back, and sat in a chair.
Tens of thousands of people gathered at the port of Taya Kingdom, yet it was as silent as if someone had choked them.
The ground of the port trembled; it was the wailing sound of tens of thousands of knees touching the earth.
The guards who had jumped off the ship a step earlier had already drawn a crimson line on the ground, precisely marking out the "death by gaze" forbidden zone.
Dozens of children crawled on their knees, polishing stone slabs with seashells and straw, a rule passed down by the World Government for eight hundred years: the place where a god sets foot must be spotless.
Blake descended from the ship, riding on a Slave, and seeing this scene, his mood was somewhat complex.
From a conscience perspective, he thought it was too exaggerated.
But deep inside, an indescribable sense of pride was brewing.
He hoped the entire world could be like the Taya Kingdom before him.
Kneel! At! His! Feet!
Boom!
A dark red energy wave burst forth from Blake's body.
Just as this energy was about to sweep across the entire Taya Kingdom, it suddenly vanished.
Blake breathed a sigh of relief:
"That was close, I almost got discovered. I must be low-key... low-key..."
Behind him, Vice Admiral Gumir, who had just disembarked from the warship, looked around in surprise, murmuring:
"Was that an illusion?"
In the crowd, a shirtless young man, similar in age to Blake, slightly raised his head and met Blake's gaze, who was scanning his surroundings, immediately showing a look of shock.
"Audacious!"
A sharp shout rang out, and a guard rushed to the young man, raising his sword and thrusting it towards the young man's body.
Facing a Celestial Dragon directly was a capital offense!
Blake gestured to the CP behind him, and one of them slightly raised a hand:
"Finger Pistol!"
With a 'ding', the longsword in the guard's hand broke.
Blake ignored the king and the numerous nobles kneeling before him, shook the rope in his hand, and the Slave understood, immediately crawling towards the young man.
Arriving before the young man, Blake sat on the tall Slave, looking down at him from above.
High eyebrows, downturned eyelids, slightly thick lips.
Slightly messy dark green curly hair, shirtless.
Seeing the young man's appearance, Blake raised an eyebrow:
"You have offended me."
The young man's body stiffened:
"I apologize, esteemed Celestial Dragon."
His voice trembled slightly, but his words were clear.
Blake's tone changed:
"After two months at sea, the feeling of solid ground is good. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll pardon your offense. From now on, you are my retainer, Hilbert Black."
The young man was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed, immediately prostrating himself on the ground:
"Most exalted Saint Black, I am deeply honored to become your retainer."
Blake nodded, pulled the rope in his hand again, and the Slave beneath him walked directly towards the palace.
A voice came on the wind:
"Don't just kneel there foolishly, hurry up and follow."
The young man quickly got up, covering the distance in a few strides, following closely behind Blake, step by step.
Seeing this scene, a few people in the crowd's eyes darted, looking at Blake.
The guard first discreetly glanced at Blake, and seeing no reaction from him, he rushed forward, dragged those self-proclaimed clever individuals from the crowd, and unhesitatingly plunged his longsword into their chests.
Blake found it somewhat amusing.
Truly a bunch of'Sleeping Dragons and Phoenix Chicks'...