He withdrew his gaze and looked at Kong Tai again. For the first time, Carteris spoke to Kong Tai in an equal tone.
"Silver Hair, is that it!"
"I am Kong Tai, you can call me Mr. Kong Tai."
Kong Tai waved his hand, a hint of disgust flashing across his face. "Silver Hair is a title you gave me. To be honest, I really dislike it. If it weren't for the trouble, I would really want to go to the Marine Headquarters and have them give me a less perfunctory title."
"Uh..."
Carteris was speechless, then continued, "Mr. Kong Tai, with your strength, our World Government and the Marines do not wish to be your enemy. From your demeanor, you also don't want to be disturbed by the Marines, do you!"
As he spoke, the space around him began to ripple like water, and phantoms of powerful individuals kept appearing from behind him.
Among them were Garp, Sengoku, Zephyr, the previous Marine Fleet Admiral Kong, even Shiki, and many more figures he didn't recognize but who exuded powerful auras.
"Shall we end it here for today?"
"I promise, as soon as I leave here, the World Government will immediately cancel your bounty, allowing you to truly sail the seas freely."
Although he said this, he did not release his ability, nor did he dispel the soul form with time control. Instead, he materialized the illusions, summoning the people he considered powerful.
While these phantom images of powerful individuals could not compare to their real counterparts, they were still not to be trifled with by ordinary people.
His Devil Fruit was already awakened, and without peak Haki, even these illusions could defeat most of the powerful individuals in this world.
The reason he didn't release his ability was also easy to explain. They were currently enemies, and he feared that the moment he released his ability, the person in front of him would rush forward and fight him, which was not what he wanted to see.
His true self was hidden in the illusory world. In reality, he was merely a residual shadow, a soul, and was not afraid of this guy at all.
However, if this guy didn't let him leave, then he couldn't leave either, because wherever his external phantom appeared, that was where his illusory world was, and it couldn't move.
Moreover, whether he traveled by ship or by flight, he would have to release his ability to leave.
He wanted to leave, not out of fear of death, nor out of fear of the person in front of him, but because he wanted to bring the information about Silver Hair back, back to Mary Geoise, back to them, the Celestial Dragons, the true kings, the supreme beings who truly ruled the world, "Lord Im."
Among the Celestial Dragons, he was the only one, besides the Five Elders, who truly knew of Im's existence and had met him.
Although he had only met him once, that experience was as if etched into his soul, making it impossible for him to forget it for the rest of his life.
He clearly remembered that when he met Lord Im, he was only in his forties, at the peak of his strength and vitality.
Yet, even with such power, when facing Lord Im, he was completely unable to muster any thought of resistance, and could not even stand up straight.
That pressure that penetrated his soul was the most powerful person he had ever encountered in his life.
It felt like a mortal seeing a deity.
His heart was filled with reverence, and no other emotion could arise.
In his opinion, if there was anyone in this world now who could kill this silver-haired fellow, it would only be Lord Im.
"You want to leave?"
"You want me to let you go?"
Kong Tai looked at Carteris with surprise.
This guy was a Celestial Dragon, wasn't he!
"Yes!"
Carteris nodded. "You can feel my current state, can't you? You can't kill me, and I can't defeat you. This is just a waste of time. How about we just let it go? I'll cancel your bounty when I get back, how about it?"
After saying that, he looked at Kong Tai, a hint of expectation in the depths of his eyes.
He truly didn't want to fight this guy. Whether it was physical attacks or ability attacks, they were completely useless. What was the point of fighting!
And when he returned, he would not cancel this guy's bounty. All of this was just to deceive this guy.
As long as Lord Im made a move, this guy wouldn't live much longer.
He couldn't break the space around this guy's body, but he believed that Lord Im could definitely break it.
After all, in his heart, Lord Im was a true god.
And in front of a god, this guy was just a slightly larger ant.
Although he didn't know why Lord Im didn't come out to deal with those great pirates at sea, he must have been interested in Silver Hair.
After all, Silver Hair's ability had never appeared in the history of this world. If they captured him and had Vegapunk extract his bloodline factor and replicate this ability.
Then...
Thinking of this, a surge of excitement arose in his heart.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt he had to return quickly.
As long as the World Government obtained the ability of the person in front of him, they could truly rule this world, and no one, no force, would be able to oppose the World Government.
Then, they, the Celestial Dragons, would no longer be false creators, but the true supreme beings of this world.
Especially their lineage. As the ones who brought back this message, and if they captured Kong Tai and truly replicated his ability, then their lineage would become the highest leaders of the Celestial Dragons, second only to Im.
"What are you so excited about?"
Kong Tai looked at Carteris's overflowing excitement and showed a strange expression on his face.
"No... nothing!"
Carteris instantly suppressed his superfluous emotions, looked up at Kong Tai, and smiled, "What do you think?"
"How about it?"
Kong Tai touched his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Looking at Kong Tai, Carteris tried to appear indifferent, but his involuntarily leaning forward body betrayed him.
"Yes!"
"I've made up my mind."
Kong Tai didn't make Carteris wait long and made his decision.
"How about it?"
"Of course it's..."
Kong Tai gave Carteris a deep look, then his left hand swept across his waist, raised his wine gourd, took a big gulp, then looked down at Carteris and said with a tone mixed with seriousness, coldness, and arrogance, "You come when you want, and you leave when you want. What do you think I am?"
"So! I've decided. It's better to kill you here."
"Kill me?"
Carteris's expectant mood plummeted. A large amount of black smoke erupted from his body, and he suddenly transformed into a demon, filled with a brutal aura.
"You guy, you really don't know what's good for you. Do you really think... you've got me cornered?"
"Huh?"
The action of drinking paused, and Kong Tai seemed to think of something. The corners of his mouth widened, and finally, he burst into laughter.
"Hahahahahaha!!"
Suddenly, the laughter stopped abruptly. Kong Tai looked down at Carteris and said with extreme mockery and arrogance, "Who do you think you are? I'm going to have you cornered today. Even Jesus couldn't save you, I said so."