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Red Line, the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
Raging fires and cathartic screams had become the main theme of this city that never slept.
Amidst the flickering flames, a tall, red fish-man led a group of freed slaves, brutally breaking open one cell after another.
More and more slaves joined the vast and mighty procession.
Kori and the middle-aged man were naturally among them; even Tesoro, who had just been a picture of despair, was now mixed in with the crowd.
"Hey! Mister, where are you going?"
A nervous Kori reached out and grabbed the middle-aged man beside him, not out of fear, but because the man was walking in the opposite direction of the leading group!
"Where am I going? To get… my revenge, of course!" the middle-aged man bit out, the initial calmness in his eyes replaced by a madness so intense it made Kori instinctively take a step back, his hand letting go.
"Penny, Turner, I can finally avenge you… sob…" Choking back tears, the middle-aged man stumbled toward the residence of the Celestial Dragons.
Kori watched his retreat with a complicated expression. He couldn't feel the man's pain, but he knew… it must have been immense.
Fisher Tiger naturally noticed the commotion but did nothing to stop it. Everyone had their own choices to make.
He wasn't a reckless fool; rescuing these people and giving them a chance to choose was the most he could do.
"You useless fools, hurry up and bring my slaves back!" The young Celestial Dragon, Saint Rosward, was practically hysterical, constantly sniffling his running snot bubble.
He had been in high spirits, planning to select a few male slaves to serve him, only to be told his slaves had escaped.
Although he had shot and killed a few guards, it wasn't enough to quell his anger.
"Saint Rosward, CP0 has already been dispatched to arrest the escaped slaves."
"The Five Elders have issued an order forbidding you from stepping outside the palace gates. It's full of lowly slaves out there. You might get hurt!" a trembling attendant reminded him.
Even though he was terrified by the recent shootings, if something were to happen to Saint Rosward, his fate would be far worse. He had to stop him from leaving the palace at all costs.
"I am a Celestial Dragon! How dare those slaves touch me?" The young Saint Rosward, clearly having never been humbled, was overly confident in his status.
Besides, how could he change the servicing plans he had made for the night? He was a supreme Celestial Dragon!
This put the attendant in a terrible predicament. Then, an idea struck him. A sycophantic smile spread across his face.
"Saint Rosward, with so many slaves outside, the air has become quite unclean. And they haven't been properly groomed. How could they possibly be worthy of meeting you, a World Noble?"
"Well…" Saint Rosward hesitated, his resolve wavering.
As someone who took immense pride in his status, he naturally believed those lowly slaves were unworthy of his presence.
"Alright then, I won't go out. But you must bring my slaves back!"
"Yes, your eminence, Saint Rosward!"
"Mero Mero Mellow!"
Kori, who had accidentally been separated from the group and was fleeing aimlessly, suddenly froze.
A nearby guard hiding in the shadows was turned into a human stone statue, his gun having been aimed directly at Kori! Realizing what had just happened, Kori broke out in a cold sweat.
If that shot had hit him, even if he had miraculously survived, he would have had no chance of escaping Mary Geoise.
He looked back toward the source of the voice and saw a beautiful young girl. She had a slightly broad, smooth forehead, long and elegant eyes, and an almond-shaped gaze that held a hint of indifference.
Her nose was high and delicately cute, and her lips looked soft but not garish. Her long black hair fell straight down her back—the dream of every man!
Looking down, she wore the simple clothes of a slave, but even at her young age, her figure was already developing, as delicate and lovely as a budding lotus.
"Hey! You rude man, what are you looking at?" Hancock was annoyed.
She had saved the boy before her out of a sense of solidarity, but he had just kept staring at her rudely.
She was about to activate her power again and turn him to stone forever.
"Ah! Sister! Sister, don't! We need to get out of here! If the Celestial Dragons catch us again, we'll never be able to leave!"
Sandersonia, seeing her sister's anger, rushed to hug her. They had already wasted too much time here; their main priority was to escape this filthy place.
"I… I'm sorry! I wasn't staring on purpose!" Kori stammered in a panic.
It wasn't his fault. Even at her young age, Hancock already possessed the bearing of the future most beautiful woman in the world.
Combined with the alluring effect of the Love-Love Fruit, it would have been a miracle if Kori could have resisted.
The three sisters ignored him and hurried toward the port of Mary Geoise. In this situation, they could only hope to escape by boarding a ship.
"The situation in Mary Geoise is extremely urgent. You Marines are to dispatch reinforcements immediately. You must not allow those slaves to escape, Mary Geoise."
"This would be an unprecedented scandal for the World Government. Otherwise… hmph… You know what to do!" Saint Nazarof's cold laughter came through the Den Den Mushi.
Clack!
The call was hung up, leaving Sengoku with a grim expression. His previously good mood had been ruined.
"Admiral Sengoku, Mary Geoise is under attack?" Atlas, who had overheard the entire conversation, asked. He did have some vague memory of this event.
In the year 1509, the Holy Land was breached by a fish-man named Fisher Tiger, and the future Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock, was rescued at this time.
"Yes," Sengoku said, pondering for a moment before quickly making arrangements.
"Atlas, it's a good thing you're here. You will now lead a warship to Mary Geoise and assist the CP units in completing their mission. I will have Borsalino and Kakei follow behind you later!"
What a pain. Just assisting. If we fail, don't blame it on us Marines…
--Marineford Port--
A warship was moored quietly on the sea, with about two thousand Marine soldiers on board, ready for departure.
It was a large, standard-issue Marine warship. Sengoku's efficiency was awe-inspiring; he had just given the order, and the ship and soldiers were already prepared.
However… Atlas would probably have to disappoint Sengoku this time. If he were to "fail," he would have a plausible excuse.
After all, he was just a "lowly" Rear Admiral right now. As for Vice Admiral? What? The promotion ceremony hadn't happened yet.
"Yo, little bro, mind if I hitch a ride? Admiral Sengoku, honestly, making an old man like me work overtime so late…"
Just as Atlas was thinking, a sleazy voice came from behind him. Needless to say, the only person who could embody the word 'sleazy' in both word and deed, aside from Kakei, was Kizaru.
"Vice Admiral Kizaru, why are you so efficient this time? I thought you'd be following along later," Atlas turned and teased him.
"Ooh, what can I do? My warship is still under repair, and Admiral Sengoku didn't prepare one for me, so I can only bum a ride off you, little bro," Kizaru said with a pained expression on his wrinkled face.
"Well now, that's quite the predicament… with only one warship, my work efficiency will be greatly reduced!"
"I know, and I wonder if the Marines even give overtime pay. I don't work for free, you know."
Atlas and Kizaru exchanged a look, a tacit understanding passing between them as they played along.
"Alright, enough nonsense. All hands! Our target: the Holy Land of Mary Geoise!"
The massive warship slowly departed from the port of Marineford, steadily sailing toward Mary Geoise.
Dawn broke, and the first light appeared. By the time the warship reached Mary Geoise, the entire city was lit up by the glow of fires, half the sky ablaze.
Escaping slaves and pursuing guards were everywhere. However, not all slaves were solely focused on escaping.
A small portion of them no longer cared about life or death; taking revenge amidst the chaos was perhaps their only goal.
Only a few, like the middle-aged man, dared to challenge the authority of the World Nobles.
Others, perhaps out of resentment with nowhere to vent, chose to take their anger out on the port city below.
"Marines? You're finally here. Why is there only one warship?"
Just as the ship docked, a person wearing a black-and-white mask and hidden in the shadows approached Atlas and Kizaru.
"Hmm? Is a sewer rat like you telling me how to do my job?" Hearing the man's questioning tone, Atlas retorted, his annoyance evident.
He never had a good impression of the CP units, and the Marines were not subordinate to them. Atlas had no reason to give him any face.
"You…"
"Ooh, ooh! Alright now, I'll leave this place to you, Atlas. I think I'll go have a look at the Holy Land. After all, it wouldn't be good if the World Nobles were disturbed."
Kizaru quickly interrupted as the masked man looked ready to lash out, conveniently using the Celestial Dragons as a shield.
The masked man could only back down. Although the Marines and CP units had never gotten along, unlike the Marines, the CP units served the Celestial Dragons wholeheartedly.
The Celestial Dragons came first—this was the education they received from childhood. In the face of a Celestial Dragon's needs, anything could be compromised.
"No problem, leave it to me. My Conqueror's Haki is perfect for clearing the field."
"Conqueror's Haki, you say? How terrifying~" As he spoke, Kizaru's entire body dissolved into light and flew toward Mary Geoise, leaving a frustrated Atlas behind.
If he didn't know that was just Kizaru's usual way of talking, he would have thought he was being mocked.
"Conqueror's Haki…" the CP0 agent at his side murmured, stunned. He had only heard that among the Marines, only Sengoku had demonstrated it.
He never expected this young Marine to possess that quality as well.
He knew that people in the Marines or the CP units couldn't awaken Conqueror's Haki, especially in CP.
"What a terrifying bunch of people," Atlas said, his Observation Haki blanketing the entire port city, every single movement rendered in perfect detail.
It was unclear if by 'terrifying' he meant the Celestial Dragons or the rampaging slaves.
"Mr. Marine, please hurry and stop this riot." This time, the CP0 agent's tone was much better.
Perhaps from spending too much time around the Celestial Dragons, he often thought he possessed the same unbridled authority, a sense of superiority always present in his speech.
"Honestly, what's the rush?"
VMMMM!
Everyone in the city, whether they were an escaping slave or a pursuing guard, felt a suffocating pressure clutch at their hearts!
"You lowly slaves, how dare you run away! Ugh…"
The three Gorgon sisters watched as the guard who had just been menacing them slowly collapsed, their minds unable to process what had just happened.
"Haki…?" It was Hancock, the most gifted of the three, who first noticed something was wrong.
She looked uncertainly toward the port, then grabbed her sisters and ran toward the escape ship Fisher Tiger had prepared.
"That scared me…" The grayish-green-haired Tesoro clutched his gaunt chest, his heart still pounding.
He carefully picked up a weapon that had just been dropped on the ground and viciously struck the fallen guard!
The same scene was playing out in every corner of the city. Many who should have died in the chaos might have had their fates rewritten in that moment!
"Hey, hey, hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" The CP0 agent at Atlas's side naturally noticed the anomaly and loudly questioned him.
"My sincerest apologies. I only awakened my Conqueror's Haki a short time ago, and I can't quite control it yet. My mistake, my mistake."
Atlas said he was sorry, but there was not a hint of apology in his expression.
Lying through his teeth! The CP0 agent was furious. This man was blatantly siding with the slaves, but there was nothing he could do about this damn Marine.
The face beneath his mask was twisted with rage.
"Hmph! I will report this to the Five Elders. You can think long and hard about how you're going to explain this to Sengoku!"
(T/N: Please give me some power stone, I hope it can at least reach top 100)
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