"Their movements are too obvious," Otohime rested both hands lightly on the railing, looking toward the marine families' encampment, her brows unconsciously knitting.
Early when these people arrived, Rosse had already told her.
Most of the marine families in this group were the families of Warlord Sengoku and others' subordinates.
And those who did not belong to them had been arranged by Otohime to live elsewhere.
During this period, Rosse told her there was a high probability the other side would send people to pick these families up.
Otohime didn't really mind them being picked up.
That Rosse was willing to return the families of defectors to the other side already struck her as magnanimous.
People often called her kind. Indeed, in some respects Rosse was very kind.
But because of who was coming this time, Otohime couldn't help but worry.
The visitors were Kuzan and the Chief of Staff Tsuru, one top combatant accompanied by one strategic mind.
Otohime hoped those people would leave quickly and not cause any unrest.
"Tsk! They're a bit hasty, but no one's noticed anyway. Come quietly, leave quietly, it's easy for us," Borsalino couldn't read Otohime's thoughts, but he also didn't want to act unless absolutely necessary.
Those were marine families; officially Sengoku and the others hadn't defected. Even if Kuzan and the others identified themselves and took the families, on paper there'd be no problem.
If it blew up, that wouldn't be good news for the Marine either.
After all, most marine personnel were just workers like him; those who truly cared about justice had basically followed Garp and the others.
"If they don't cause a fuss, I won't act against them either," Otohime did not comment, only quietly stared into the distance.
The Yamauba Fruit had amplified her Observation Haki; especially after the veteran-development experience Rosse had given her, she had learned the Yamauba Fruit's strongest ability.
As long as she stayed in one place long enough, she could slowly permeate the land and magnify her perception to the extreme.
And she had been in the Fishman Kingdom long enough that, at least for the port district, no wind or grass movement could escape her notice.
In her perception, Kuzan and Tsuru were arranging the evacuation.
The place where the marine families lived wasn't far from the sea and was in a remote area, which made it convenient for them to take people away.
———
[Port]
Tsuru's figure hid in the night, orderly organizing the families' evacuation.
A day earlier she had already explained the situation to these people.
Their relatives had chosen to leave; the families naturally had little objection. Almost everyone chose to go.
Following their relatives away was better than staying to serve as labor for the Marine.
"Senior Tsuru, you've been off since the start, what's wrong?", Kuzan, hands in his pockets, walked up beside Tsuru and couldn't help but ask.
Since arranging things just now, Tsuru had been frowning.
But things were proceeding smoothly, which left Kuzan puzzled.
"It's too coincidental… the people living here are only those we need to take," Tsuru frowned tightly.
"Most of the people here this time are our subordinates' families, right? Rosse probably just wants to hold them," Kuzan said without thinking.
To him, gathering the subordinates' families here was Rosse's way of controlling them, preventing them from changing.
"But it's not only them. From what I know, at least a third of the people were arranged to live in other districts," Tsuru shook her head gently; she had only just learned of this.
The evacuation timetable was tight.
The Fishman Kingdom was special. Though humans were not few, merfolk and fish-men still predominated, and Otohime had absolute control in this area.
If they delayed even a bit, the risk of exposure would increase severalfold.
So she had no time to overthink it; after a brief understanding of the situation, she arranged the evacuation, the interval being less than two days.
Only during the evacuation did Tsuru suddenly realize.
Not only was this group living in a remote, easily-evacuated place, but it was also inhabited only by them. Merfolk and fish-men wouldn't come here.
This environment didn't feel like they were being softly detained; rather, it seemed like they were deliberately placed here, expecting someone to come take them.
'But how could that be… why would Rosse let this group go?'
Tsuru tried to put herself in Rosse's shoes and could not make sense of it.
They were senior marine combatants and would be morally constrained. No matter what, keeping them prioritized, even threatening them with their families to force labor, would be better than sending the hostages away, right?
She couldn't figure it out.
Tsuru thought for a moment, then told Kuzan all her conjectures.
Although Kuzan wasn't a very scheming marine, he was attentive. Perhaps he could offer a new perspective.
"There are indeed many coincidences…", Kuzan frowned, also sensing something off.
But all these things favored them, there was no reason Rosse would let them go.
"Wait!"
Kuzan's expression changed slightly, "Dragon!"
"Dragon?", Tsuru frowned.
Dragon had come with them this time as well, though both sides had different roles.
They were responsible here for the evacuation; Dragon's side was supposed to make some commotion to create cover for their departure.
"Senior Tsuru, contact Dragon quickly and tell him not to cause a disturbance. Otherwise, we may get into trouble!", Kuzan's tone grew urgent.
But before he finished speaking, the central area of Punk Hazard suddenly flared with firelight.
Seeing this, Kuzan's face went pale, "Damn, it's too late!"
"Don't panic, tell me your idea," Tsuru held back the anxious Kuzan and asked in a calm voice.
Now that it had happened, it was probably too late to stop it; better to first understand what Kuzan had thought of.
"I spoke with Rosse before; he told me to observe other Celestial Dragons. He said his colleagues hate him more than he hates them."
Kuzan drew a deep breath, calmed himself, and began to speak slowly, "That's also true. To those Celestial Dragons who massacre cities at the drop of a hat, Rosse could be considered a better man. But that's only in comparison; at his core he's still a villain who doesn't mind sacrificing others."
"He wouldn't let us easily take the families, but he also wouldn't act to fully control the Marine right now. Yet he can do one thing: by this evacuation, he can thoroughly cement his position in the Marine."
"You mean…"
Tsuru had simply not thought this far before. At Kuzan's hint she immediately reacted, lifting her head in alarm to look at Kuzan, "He anticipated we'd join with Dragon and have him create some disturbance. He wants to use that disturbance to completely push us over to the villains' side."
"And to achieve that goal…"
"He wants to use Dragon's hands to eliminate those other marine families."
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