Seeing this, Fujitora did not try to stop her. Instead, to the Marines' disbelief, he nodded.
"If it's just restraint, I have no objections."
"Vergo-san was indeed a bit too hasty."
As he spoke, he ignored the watchful CP0 trio and the worried Marines, walking directly up to Karin.
Karin didn't take any measures against this sudden approach. Instead, she examined him with an air of composed calm.
During the Summit War, they had only seen each other from afar once and hadn't interacted.
But from the other party's aura, Karin sensed a sense of friendliness.
Of course, more importantly, it was the words 'Naruto-san' that came from his mouth.
'It sounded like this blind guy had a good relationship with Naruto-san.'
'But why didn't the two have any communication last time?'
Karin hadn't reached a conclusion yet, but she wasn't in a hurry.
"This guy doesn't seem like a good person, but you, blind guy, seem quite friendly. Here… take him."
With that, under Lucci and the others' puzzled gazes, Karin handed Vergo over to Fujitora.
This made the watching Marines breathe a sigh of relief and also made Fujitora silently praise Karin in his heart.
'A clever young lady.'
The issue with Vergo hadn't been fully exposed yet. If he were killed now, Fujitora, whether out of duty or maintaining morale, would have to fight Karin.
It was a matter of principle.
As a Marine Vice Admiral, he couldn't stand by and watch a colleague die in front of him.
As for the possible 'conspiracy' behind it, before evidence was found, nothing was certain.
Hiss, hiss, hiss—
The sound of scales scraping against the deck made many Marines subconsciously tense up. But upon seeing who made the sound, they silently lowered their weapons.
It was Naomi.
"Captain, are we really letting this guy go back?"
"If we fight later, should I send the children away first?"
Her whispered words, which she thought were quiet enough, were no different from speaking through a megaphone to perceptive individuals like Fujitora and Karin.
Hearing this, Karin shook her head and told her without any reservation.
"This blind guy is skilled. If we fight him, it's best you don't run around, or you might get caught in the crossfire."
In Karin's perception, Fujitora's strength wasn't something Vergo could even compare to.
Even now, Karin could still sense a faint threat from him.
It had nothing to do with personal will… it was purely an animal's instinctive self-defense against creatures that could threaten it.
"Young lady—"
"Call me Karin."
"Alright, Karin-san."
Fujitora readily complied. He placed his cane beside him, indicating he posed no threat.
"What everyone is worried about won't happen. I will not attack you."
Saying this, he turned his head to the side, looking at Vergo, who was trying to say something but could only make 'muffled' sounds, his mouth bound by chains.
"If it's not too troublesome, please tell me the whole story."
After speaking, Fujitora signaled the other Marines to step back, not to crowd so closely and scare the children.
He chose to trust Karin not only because she had fought alongside Naruto but also because he could sense the children's concern for Karin… and even for these former World Government's agents.
If they were villains, how could they win over children's hearts?
Children's sensitivity to malice wasn't much weaker than his, a blind man.
Seeing Fujitora's non-hostile behavior, Karin also signaled Lucci and the others to back off and not act rashly.
"Tsk..."
Although feeling a bit regretful inside, Lucci obediently transformed back to human form and returned to the children with Kaku and the others.
"Kalifa-nee, are you okay?"
"You're bleeding..."
Many children immediately gathered around Kalifa, even tearing off the edges of their own clothes, clumsily helping Kalifa bandage her wound.
Seeing this, many Marines also relaxed a bit, their wariness towards Lucci and the others easing slightly.
Seeing this, Lucci curled his lip but didn't say anything.
That Kalifa could earn so much concern from children was because of her meticulous care for them during these days of interaction.
Faced with the children's pure concern, Kalifa was momentarily at a loss, then relaxed, letting a little girl bandage her.
Because the torn cloth was relatively large, a big piece was left after bandaging.
But under Kalifa's guidance, the children tied it into a butterfly knot.
...
"Human experiments? On these children? Truly—"
"Appalling!"
Issho's tone remained steady, but Karin, seeing his hand unconsciously gripping his cane so tightly that veins bulged, could also sense his anger.
Before becoming a Marine, Issho was a 'chivalrous person', daring to act against any injustice.
He had also sensed those children of varying sizes.
But originally, he thought these children were just from different races.
However, the reality was even more cruel than Issho imagined.
Upon hearing that on the abandoned island of Punk Hazard, people continuously kidnapped children for experiments, and many children had already died in those inhumane experiments...
Anger burned fiercely in Issho's heart.
"Such a filthy place still exists! Karin-san, please allow me to personally cleanse that place!"
Not only Issho, but the G-5 soldiers listening to Karin recount the children's origins were also outraged.
They might be unruly soldiers, but at their core, they were also righteous men who hated evil.
In contrast, Vergo suddenly fell silent upon hearing this news.
Karin glanced at him, then had Naomi take out a blueprint and hand it to Fujitora's adjutant.
"Those people used certain methods, leaving no survivors on the entire island except these children and the Tontatta tribesmen."
"However, on this ship we 'borrowed', this pattern was originally drawn. See if you recognize it."
Before Fujitora could give an order, the adjutant recognized where the pattern came from.
It was a smiling face icon crossed by a diagonal line, as if saying [No Smiling Here].
"It's a Donquixote Family's ship!"
When 'Donquixote' was spoken by the adjutant, Vergo lowered his head as if resigned.
"It seems what Vergo-san has been trying to contact these days... is them."
Issho's perception was exceptionally keen. He directly turned to look at Vergo.
Those pale eyes seemed to emit a gaze intense enough to burn through a person.
Hearing this, the G-5 soldiers erupted in an uproar.
Some were incredulous, some refuted it directly, and some remained silent.
Seemingly to corroborate his superior's words, the adjutant immediately took out photos taken from some unknown angle and showed them to everyone.
In the images, Vergo was indeed contacting outside through a non-official Den Den Mushi.
But if that was all, it wasn't enough to prove Vergo's issue.
"No wonder you were so eager to attack us… was it to silence us?"
Kaku crouched down, looking at Vergo, who couldn't move due to the Life Lock, and asked with interest.
"Whether it's related or not, taking him to Dressrosa would make everything clear, right?"
Lucci said with malice beside him. He didn't have any good feelings for this guy who immediately tried to attack them.
Seeing this, Karin dispelled the chains binding his mouth.
However, Vergo seemed to know it was futile and simply chose silence.
Silence was an answer in itself.
The commotion among the G-5 soldiers immediately grew louder.
"This is truly... I never imagined such a parasite lurking within the Marines. I feel deeply ashamed."
Saying this, Issho bowed deeply to Karin and the children.
"Hey... blind guy, don't take everything on yourself. This is clearly that guy's problem... and that so-called Donquixote Family."
"Those guys, I'll go cause trouble for them."
"If you really feel ashamed, help us send these children back to their homes."
"As you can see, we're really short on hands..."
Hearing this, Issho immediately nodded.
"That goes without saying."
"Please leave it to me."
In his words, he didn't mention the 'illegal status' of Lucci, Kaku, and Kalifa at all.
This was only natural.
A gentleman judges by actions, not intentions. Upon learning they had also helped the children escape Punk Hazard, Issho had no intention of arresting them.
Admittedly, these agents weren't good people either.
But under Karin's restraint, he believed they probably couldn't do any evil deeds.
Seeing Fujitora agree, Karin had Kalifa hand over the children to the Marines for transfer, letting them go to the G-5 base for temporary rest first.
Although this ship was large, it couldn't compare to land.
The children were still young… even if their bodies had grown, they were still children. After several days of sea turbulence, they would inevitably feel unwell. They needed proper rest.
Seeing they had to part with Kalifa and Naomi, the children felt somewhat reluctant. Especially since the Marines opposite didn't look like good people, making them even more resistant.
Only after Kalifa and Naomi reasoned with them again and again did the children reluctantly follow them off the ship, boarding the G-5 small boats back to the base.
There, they would receive professional treatment from military doctors, have warm beds and hot meals, and could take a good hot bath.
But even knowing they would get better treatment, some children still looked at Kalifa with reluctance in their eyes.
Clearly, they trusted this big sister more.
Seeing this, she could only step forward to comfort them repeatedly before the children obediently disembarked.
...
After sending the last child off the ship, Kalifa walked back to Lucci and the others.
"Quite the 'medal', isn't it?"
Kaku looked at the somewhat crude butterfly knot tied on Kalifa's arm, his tone complex.
"Ah, yes..."
Kalifa also gently stroked her arm. That piece of cloth seemed to still retain the children's warmth.