Crack—
The moment the golden light flashed, Vergo felt his consciousness waver.
His prideful Haki couldn't protect his bamboo stick... or his ribs.
That cracking sound wasn't just the sound of his weapon breaking… it also announced Vergo's overwhelming disadvantage in combat power.
A crushing defeat, without a doubt.
The other party's voice in his ears gradually faded.
"You! I've been putting up with you for a while!"
Including Lucci, everyone was left dumbfounded.
'Hey, you just told us not to act rashly, and now you immediately attack after the other guy only said a couple of words?'
'What now?'
The three... oh, four combat personnel looked at each other, glanced at the Marines starting to surround them, and made a decision.
"Engage."
The agents immediately activated their Devil Fruit abilities and charged towards the surrounding Marines.
Meanwhile, Naomi placed the somewhat frightened children behind her, drawing her bow and aiming, ready to fire arrows at any moment.
The Marines opposite were equally full of fighting spirit. Even those who were initially hesitant couldn't say much now.
Regardless of Vergo's style, he was still the commander of the G-5 base. Attacking him before his true colors were revealed was tantamount to declaring war on G-5.
"Aim at those agents! Ready! Fire!"
These Marines weren't so tense as to shoot at the children, and their bullets were aimed at the rapidly approaching CP0 trio.
Don't underestimate these G-5 soldiers who hadn't developed Haki… the bullets in their guns were loaded with Seastone powder.
These bullets were quite expensive. It was only thanks to Fujitora and the others bringing a batch when they came for support that they could afford to use such extravagant ammunition… otherwise, they wouldn't be so willing.
Swish—
A bullet grazed Kalifa's arm, leaving a blood trail.
But thankfully, it was just a superficial wound.
"Kalifa-nee!"
Several of the children exclaimed, seemingly very worried about Kalifa's safety.
Feeling the slight weakness spreading in her body, Kalifa's expression also turned serious.
"Lucci, Kaku, they're Seastone bullets."
Hearing this, Kaku and the others, who originally intended to block them head-on, chose other ways to respond.
"Kami-e—"
With the assistance of Lucci's Observation Haki, Kami-e, which originally relied on sensing air currents to evade, clearly became much more flexible.
Kaku's approach was simpler.
Besides being a Devil Fruit user, he was also a swordsman.
A few sword flashes, and those bullets were sliced in half mid-air, falling to the ground.
"Our turn!"
After dodging the bullets, a hint of bloodlust immediately appeared on Lucci's face.
He had been suppressing it for days.
As for attacking Marines—
Even when he was still an agent, he wouldn't have hesitated to attack Marines, let alone now that they were 'wanted'.
However, his movements were stopped before they even began.
"Everyone, stop!"
An unfamiliar, yet undeniably awe-inspiring Conqueror's Haki emanated from Karin.
She couldn't knock people unconscious with Conqueror's Haki like Naruto or Red-Haired Shanks, but this imposing aura could still make those old soldiers freeze like startled birds.
It was a presence like the blazing sun. Unlike the sea's top fighters whose auras were like 'storms' or 'thunder, which is violent and destructive, it still gave people a breathtaking sense of awe.
The golden divine bird enlarged its size. Combined with the halo behind its head and chains resembling tail feathers, it truly looked like a mythical beast from legends.
Several soldiers even had the illusion of wanting to prostrate themselves in worship.
Of course, another reason was that their superior was now bound by chains, trussed up and hanging in the air.
"Bast...ard..."
Vergo felt a tightness in his chest, not only because of the fractured ribs but also because of the other's released aura, making it difficult to breathe.
Karin ignored the guy's words, just lifted him up, and examined him closely, as if inspecting some beast.
"From the very beginning, you harbored such strong malice towards us."
"Not just towards them three, but even towards these children."
Karin's pupils emitted a faint golden light, meeting Vergo's eyes behind his broken sunglasses.
"You, are you involved with what happened on Punk Hazard?"
Karin's Mind's Eye of Kagura had the ability to sense malice. This power had undergone deeper evolution after her several transformations.
Now, she could also easily perceive the emotions of those around her, like Naruto.
Of course, her Observation Haki was still at that level… forget predicting the future, even using it normally during combat was somewhat difficult.
What was strong was her perception, not Observation Haki. There was a bit of a difference.
Upon hearing the word 'Punk Hazard' from Karin's mouth, Vergo's face momentarily stiffened.
Although it was just an instant, Karin still caught it.
"As I thought. I said those guys dared to run rampant there, how could the Marines know nothing about it?"
"The only explanation is that you lot are also in cahoots with those scum who experimented on children!"
From the information she gathered, Karin naturally reached this conclusion.
Otherwise, it couldn't explain why Vergo's malice towards those children was even greater than towards them.
"What the hell are you talking about!?"
"Damn it! Let go of Commander Vergo!"
The G-5 veterans didn't fully understand the cause and effect but roughly grasped that the other side seemed to be pinning some blame on them.
This made them quite unhappy.
Damn wanted criminals, actually slandering them!
At that moment, a gentle voice suddenly rang out.
"Might I trouble you to explain in detail about this matter concerning 'experiments'?"
Tap, tap...
A blind man's cane gently tapped on the deck. The G-5 Marines revealed joyful expressions.
"That's right! There's also Vice Admiral Fujitora!"
Unlike the Marines, Lucci and the others' expressions suddenly turned very ugly.
'This guy! When did he appear!?'
The three of them hadn't noticed him at all until Fujitora spoke up on his own.
Clearly, if not relying on some Devil Fruit ability, then this level of strength was simply not on the same level as theirs.
Karin, however, didn't react much, seemingly not surprised by Fujitora's appearance.
"It was you who kept 'looking' at me back and forth earlier, wasn't it! Your gaze is really… huh? Oh, it's you, blind guy."
Halfway through her sentence, Karin suddenly recognized the person before her.
It was the Marine officer she had met during the Summit War.
At the same time, she didn't sense any malice from the other party, which was also why she didn't attack immediately.
"That's right. These eyes of mine cannot see, so how could there be any gaze to speak of?"
Fujitora didn't avoid mentioning his blindness at all and even joked about it, trying to ease the tension a bit.
"I remember you, the Marine Commodore who can manipulate gravity… oh, you got promoted?"
During the Summit War, Fujitora was only a Commodore, but now, he was already a Vice Admiral.
"Haha... I am indebted to Fleet Admiral Sengoku for his trust in me..."
Watching the Vice Admiral they saw as their savior actually chatting and laughing with the enemy, even scratching his head somewhat embarrassedly when mentioned about the promotion, the Marines inwardly shouted.
'Vice Admiral Fujitora, what are you doing! The other side is the enemy!'
Fortunately, Fujitora's 'foolishness' didn't last long. He quickly returned to the previous question.
"Since you are Naruto-san's companion, why not sit down first and tell me about these children... and those little friends?"
As he spoke, he gave a kind smile towards the deck cracks, startling the Tontatta tribesmen peeking through.
"Oh no! We've been discovered!"
"What do we do!?"
"Let's just charge out and help Kariland!"
"But Kariland told us to hide..."
Before the little ones could come to a decision, Karin spoke up first.
"Their matter can be discussed, but before that, I need to deal with this guy."
As she spoke, countless ethereal chains instantly pierced through Vergo's body, then dissipated into nothingness before the Marines could exclaim.
Immediately after, marks similar to the [Life Lock] on Lucci and the others' necks appeared all over Vergo's body.
It seemed the treatment was quite generous.