After Rayleigh's attack was blocked, he didn't make another move. Instead, he looked up at Claudius and his group on the hill, his expression a mixture of confusion and surprise. He couldn't quite understand why Claudius had stepped in to stop him.
Wasn't this the same guy who slapped another Celestial Dragon earlier? By all logic, there shouldn't be any good blood between the two, so why defend him now?
"You're the guy from the auction house, aren't you? Crowe, right? What's going on here?" Rayleigh asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Claudius. Donquixote Claudius," Claudius corrected him with a soft smile.
"So you are a Celestial Dragon," Rayleigh said, grinning. "Makes sense. Only someone like you would dare to hit another Celestial Dragon."
Claudius chuckled. "And weren't you about to hit him too? It looks like the title of Celestial Dragon doesn't mean much to you."
At this point, Roger, who had been quietly observing the exchange, burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! We're pirates! Obeying laws isn't exactly our thing. Whether we hit your Celestial Dragons or not, the Marines will come after us anyway. If we lay a hand on them, it won't make much of a difference.
We've already got plenty of heat on us, and it's not like we have a fixed base of operations. Catching us won't be easy," Roger said, still laughing heartily.
"Fair enough," Claudius nodded. "That logic holds up. But you see, I happened to witness the whole thing. And as a Celestial Dragon, I can't just stand by and watch you bully Rothschild like that."
Rayleigh raised an eyebrow, his surprise evident. "Didn't you just bully him yourself not too long ago?"
Claudius glanced at Rayleigh, then calmly explained, "That's different. I'm a Celestial Dragon. How I handle him is an internal affair. But you guys? You're pirates. If you attack him and the world sees, it'll be a disgrace to all Celestial Dragons. And if our reputation is tarnished, that includes me. So, of course, I have to step in."
Rayleigh blinked in understanding and nodded slightly. Before he could respond, Rothschild, still furious, jumped into the conversation.
"Claudius, you b******! Don't meddle in my affairs! Do you think these filthy pirates can actually bully me? I have twice as many servants as they do!" Rothschild spat, pointing an accusing finger at Claudius.
"What an idiot…" Claudius muttered under his breath, utterly unimpressed.
Roger, meanwhile, was laughing so hard he could barely catch his breath.
"Hahahaha! Exactly, what an idiot! I always thought all Celestial Dragons were like him, but I didn't expect someone like you among them!" Roger said, wiping a tear from his eye.
But just as his laughter subsided, an intense pressure began radiating from him. It was a force so powerful it seemed to distort the very air around them. Claudius felt the pressure settle heavily on his chest, as if an invisible weight was pressing down on him.
Stussy, standing beside Claudius, gasped in shock, her eyes wide. "Conqueror's Haki! That's Conqueror's Haki!"
Claudius wasn't particularly surprised. After all, this was Gol D. Roger, the man who would eventually become the Pirate King. Of course, he would possess the legendary Conqueror's Haki. Still, the force wasn't directly aimed at Claudius, and even Nia, his butler, only felt a slight strain from the pressure.
However, on Rothschild's side, things weren't so easy. Roger's Haki swept through the area, causing all of Rothschild's servants to collapse unconscious, leaving him standing there alone and utterly bewildered.
"W-what did you just do?" Rothschild stammered in fear.
Claudius shook his head in frustration. While there were certainly powerful figures among the Celestial Dragons, idiots like Rothschild made Claudius wonder how long he could survive being associated with such incompetence.
"See now? Your servants are useless! Get out of here already!" Claudius snapped at Rothschild.
Rothschild, sensing that the tides had completely turned against him, no longer had the arrogance from earlier. With Claudius berating him and Roger's overwhelming power looming over him, he hastily ran towards Claudius, leaving his unconscious servants behind.
Claudius turned to the Roger Pirates and said calmly, "You've settled your score. No one is stopping you now. Why haven't you left yet? Unless you're thinking of following me back to Mariejois?"
Roger, still intrigued by Claudius, studied him with curious eyes. While he had crossed paths with Celestial Dragons before, especially during the God Valley Incident, he had never met one like Claudius. This one was… different.
After a brief silence, Roger grinned and suddenly asked, "You know, being a Celestial Dragon seems pretty boring. Why don't you come with us? The world's a big place, and we're setting out to find its end. It'll be an adventure like no other. What do you say?"
For a moment, Claudius was taken aback. Did Roger just invite him one of the Celestial Dragons to join his pirate crew? Was he serious?
Not only was Claudius stunned, but so was everyone else around them. Rayleigh quickly snapped out of it and scolded Roger, "Roger, are you out of your mind? If he gets on our ship, we'll never be able to escape! The World Government and Marines would hunt us down like never before!"
Rayleigh had a point. If Claudius joined the Roger Pirates, the World Government would undoubtedly label it as a kidnapping, and the Marines would stop at nothing to destroy the crew. Plus, if word got out that a Celestial Dragon had become a pirate, it would be an enormous blow to the World Government's prestige.
Roger rubbed the back of his head with an awkward smile, realizing his mistake, while Claudius finally snapped back to reality.
Did he want to join Roger's crew? If he weren't a Celestial Dragon, living a cushy life in Mariejois, he might have seriously considered it. If he were just some random guy living in Sabaody, he'd probably be begging Roger for a spot on the ship right now. The chance to see the end of the world and uncover its secrets? It was a tempting thought.
But the reality was, Claudius was a Celestial Dragon. He had power, status, and a life of luxury awaiting him. Joining the Roger Pirates was a fool's errand.
So Claudius remained silent, and Roger, realizing how absurd his offer had been, let the moment pass. The tension in the air became awkward, and the group fell into silence.
It was at that moment that Copper Jabba spoke up. "Captain, someone probably called the Marines after the scene at the auction house. If we don't leave soon, things might get troublesome."
Roger blinked as if suddenly reminded of their situation. "Ah, right! I've got a feeling Garp's already on his way here!"
With that, the Roger Pirates made a quick decision to leave the island before the Marines arrived. But before they left, Roger called back to Claudius with a grin.
"Hey, what I said earlier still stands! If you ever get tired of being a Celestial Dragon, come find us!"
Before Roger could finish, Rayleigh clamped a hand over his mouth, muttering, "Enough with that already. If this guy actually takes you up on that, we'll be in way over our heads."
And just like that, the infamous Roger Pirates left Sabaody, though Claudius couldn't help but scratch his head in confusion. The whole encounter felt… off. This was the future Pirate King? Why did he seem so… casual?
Still, Claudius knew one thing for sure despite how strange the encounter had been, Roger and his crew were not to be underestimated. Today, things had gone oddly smoothly, but that didn't mean future encounters would be so harmless. These men were dangerous, no doubt about it.
Just as Claudius was lost in thought, his butler Nia received a phone call. After answering a few questions, she approached Claudius with a serious expression.
"Your Highness, there's been an incident at Mariejois."
Claudius frowned. "What kind of incident?"
"The Homing family has returned, but they were stopped at the port. There seems to be some kind of dispute…" Nia explained.
After a moment of thought, Claudius remembered. Ah, yes. It had been nearly three months. The Homing family, after realizing they couldn't make it in North Blue, had come crawling back, hoping to reclaim their status as Celestial Dragons.
But this was ridiculous. They had left voluntarily, throwing away their noble title. And now they wanted back in? As if the position of Celestial Dragon was a revolving door.
"What's more, they left everything behind when they ran off. How do they expect Lancelot, who's been managing things for the past three months, to just step aside now that they're back?" Claudius thought, shaking his head in exasperation.
This was no small matter. The Homing family was essentially trying to re-enter Mariejois as if nothing had happened, expecting to pick up where they left off. But among the Celestial Dragons, their departure had already branded them as traitors. Coming back now wasn't going to be as simple as they thought.
Claudius sighed. "Do they think the other Celestial Dragons will just welcome them back with open arms?"
After a brief pause, he made his decision. "Let's head back to Mariejois and see what's going on."