For one brief instant, genuine fear entered Charlos's eyes.
He remembered Sabaody.
Unfortunately, he also remembered where he was now: Mary Geoise, his home, surrounded by fellow World Nobles and CP0.
The fear vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared, buried beneath greed and arrogance.
"WHO CARES?!" Charlos shrieked. "This is OUR land! I WANT HER! BRING HER TO ME!"
Behind him, a gigantic chained slave gave a hollow groan.
Almost no awareness remained in the Giant's eyes, but under the crack of a handler's whip, he staggered forward and reached one enormous hand toward Shirahoshi's transport bubble.
"Yamakaji!" Gion ripped Konpira free. "WITH ME!"
She moved at once, and Yamakaji followed.
Lucci intercepted her almost immediately.
CLANG—!
Konpira screamed against Armament Haki as Lucci caught the side of the blade between hardened fingers and forced it off course, while another CP0 agent stepped in to block Yamakaji.
"Stand down, Vice Admiral," Lucci said flatly. "Drawing a sword against a World Noble's entourage inside Mary Geoise will only make this situation worse."
Gion's eyes burned.
"You call standing here while they enslave a member-state princess keeping order?"
For the first time, a trace of coldness entered Lucci's voice.
"I said stand down."
Behind them, Charlos was growing increasingly frantic.
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!"
Several slaves among the surrounding World Noble entourages twitched at the sound of his voice.
Then Charlos screamed the one word capable of cutting through even years of exhaustion and despair.
"WHOEVER CATCHES THAT MERMAID FOR ME—"
He threw both arms into the air.
"—I'LL GIVE THEM THEIR FREEDOM!"
The word struck the avenue like a curse.
Freedom.
Something most of those slaves had stopped allowing themselves to imagine.
Empty expressions changed, desperate eyes sharpened, and dozens of slaves from Charlos's procession and the surrounding entourages began moving at once.
Explosive collars rattled around their necks as they surged toward Shirahoshi.
They were not soldiers.
Most barely looked healthy enough to stand, but desperation had stripped away whatever judgment remained.
Neptune gripped his trident until veins rose across his hands.
Every part of him wanted to move, to crush Charlos where he stood, yet one attack against a World Noble could condemn Fish-Man Island itself.
Cobra and Riku were trapped by the same terrible calculation.
Vivi and Rebecca could do little more than watch with clenched fists while their fathers tried to shield them from a political nightmare that had suddenly become physical.
"LUCCI!"
Gion broke away from the lock between Konpira and Lucci's fingers and threw herself forward.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
She was prepared to take whatever counterattack came if it meant reaching Shirahoshi.
It was reckless and probably foolish, but at least she was living up to the word written across her back.
Justice.
High above the avenue, on an upper terrace overlooking the procession, Zaraki quietly watched everything unfold.
He had reached Mary Geoise only minutes earlier after returning to Red Port from the secret meeting with Sengoku, Garp, and Dragon.
Instead of reporting directly to Pangaea Castle, he had followed the commotion toward the royal delegation.
Apparently, he had arrived at exactly the right time.
'Ugly.'
He watched the slaves rush toward Shirahoshi, Neptune force himself to remain still, and Gion struggle against Lucci.
That was enough.
Zaraki stepped off the terrace.
For a brief instant, he simply fell.
Then his Conqueror's Haki swept across the avenue.
HMMMM—!
The pressure was tightly controlled. It left the royal delegates and Marines untouched, rolling instead through the desperate slaves charging toward Shirahoshi.
One after another, their eyes rolled back and their bodies collapsed harmlessly across the white stone before they could reach the carriage.
At the same time, dark-gold pressure flared around Zaraki as he dropped into the center of the avenue.
BOOM—!
His boots struck the stone hard enough to spread cracks beneath him, yet no destructive shockwave reached the unconscious slaves nearby.
The avenue went silent.
Zaraki straightened.
"Sorry," he said casually. "Looks like I'm a little late."
Inside the bubble carriage, Shirahoshi stared at him with tears already gathering in her enormous blue eyes.
Zaraki looked around at Lucci, the rest of CP0, the World Nobles, and finally Charlos.
Then the corner of his mouth rose.
"Since everyone seems to be here..."
He rested one hand on Nozarashi.
"Then I hereby declare this Reverie temporarily suspended."
Nobody laughed.
Zaraki drew his sword.
Shing—!
Sealed Nozarashi slid free.
Rather than turning the blade toward the crowd, Zaraki faced the unoccupied stone gate Bastille had been trying to open and swung once.
A compressed dark-gold flying slash tore across the avenue.
CRAAASH—!!
The heavy gate split cleanly down the middle, along with enough surrounding masonry to open a broad route toward the secured receiving road and the Bondola station.
Dust rolled outward.
When it cleared, the escape route stood open.
Neptune stared at Zaraki's back.
"Zaraki-dono..."
"Save it."
Zaraki waved without turning.
"Take your daughter and get back to Red Port."
His gaze shifted toward Yamakaji and Bastille.
"You two, get the delegations down safely."
Gion asked the question before she could stop herself.
"What about you?"
Zaraki finally looked back.
His golden eyes were calm. Almost too calm.
"Me?"
A faint smile appeared.
"From this point on..."
He glanced toward the gathering CP0 agents and World Nobles.
"My job title might be about to change."
Behind him, Shirahoshi stared through the bubble with tears streaming down her face, guilt and fear filling her enormous eyes as though she believed everything about to happen was somehow her fault.
Zaraki's gaze rested on Shirahoshi for half a second.
'Seriously. Why are you crying?'
The apology written across her face was so obvious that even he could understand it. She looked as though she believed the entire disaster had happened because of her.
Foolish, but innocent enough that he could not dislike it.
"Hey, Your Majesty."
Zaraki looked toward Neptune.
"Take your daughter and go."
Nozarashi rested loosely against his shoulder.
"And tell her to stop crying before she floods the road I'm about to fight on."
Despite everything, Neptune's expression twitched.
"Zaraki-dono... this debt—"
"Yeah, yeah."
Zaraki waved impatiently.
"You can give me the emotional speech when you're somewhere that doesn't have lunatics trying to enslave your daughter."
Then he looked toward the other royal families.
"And the rest of you, move."
He jerked his chin toward the shattered gate.
"I opened the road for a reason."
That finally shook the delegates into motion.
Yamakaji and Bastille began ushering the royal parties toward the Bondola route while Marine guards closed around them.
Then a shrill voice erupted from behind Zaraki.
"You... bastard!"
Saint Charlos struggled out from behind the overturned platform where his attendants had dragged him during Zaraki's arrival. Dust and mucus covered his face, and his bubble helmet had cracked along one side.
"You filthy lower-born animal!"
His cloudy eyes locked onto Zaraki.
"You dare to interfere with ME?!"
Zaraki barely looked at him.
Charlos pointed wildly.
"GRAB HIM! And the mermaid! They're both mine!"
Grotesque excitement twisted his face.
"I'll turn that man into a slave who can't even move without my permission!"
His finger swung toward Shirahoshi.
"And her! I'll make her give me a hundred mermaid slaves!"
Something in Zaraki's expression went still.
Charlos spun toward CP0.
"What are you standing there for?! KILL HIM! This is an order from a World Noble!"
Zaraki sighed.
'There really are people too stupid to understand fear.'
He looked toward Lucci, and a faintly mocking smile appeared.
"So this was the idea?"
Lucci said nothing.
"Put Charlos in front of Shirahoshi, wait for him to do what he always does, then let me make the first irreversible move."
Zaraki tilted his head.
"Not bad."
His grin widened as his thumb nudged Nozarashi's guard.
"Only problem is... I already knew the bait was rotten."
Charlos finally noticed the way Zaraki was looking at him.
Fear flickered across his face.
"You wouldn't dare!"
His voice climbed higher.
"I am a World Noble! I am a god! If you touch me, the entire world becomes your enemy!"
Zaraki vanished from his sight.
Shhk.
There was no grand explosion, only the sound of steel passing cleanly through flesh.
Charlos stopped speaking.
A thin line of blood appeared down the center of his face and continued lower.
His bubble helmet separated first.
Then the white suit.
Finally, Saint Charlos's body split cleanly down the middle and collapsed across the immaculate stone of Mary Geoise.
Blood spread beneath both halves.