Fisher Tiger looked at the person in front of him with some surprise, then his expression grew serious. "Compared to you, I am not worthy of such a title."
He, Fisher Tiger, was nothing more than an adventurer. He wasn't a big shot. But the moment the man in front of him appeared, Tiger recognized him. It was none other than the man the World Government called the "world's most heinous criminal," Monkey D. Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army.
It was then that Tiger finally understood the situation. He had felt that something was off. He had been killing and setting fires in Mariejois, yet he hadn't even been hurt. It was insane. But it was all because the Revolutionary Army was here. They had crashed into each other's plans.
Tiger hadn't told anyone about his plan, so he hadn't expected the Revolutionary Army to be waiting for him. He just assumed they also had a plan to attack Mariejois, and they had coincidentally run into each other. But this was a good thing.
Tiger had no positive or negative feelings toward Dragon. In the past, he had heard that Dragon was a cruel criminal who had shed countless innocent lives, but after meeting him, he realized that wasn't the case. He was a good person, and Tiger could see that he had his own ideals and ambitions.
However, Tiger no longer trusted any human. He hated to admit it, but he knew he could never let go of his hatred for humans. He had become a racist. For now, he could still suppress his dark desire to kill all humans, but his heart was already in tatters. This hatred would one day become impossible to contain.
So, even though he admired Dragon, he had no intention of wasting time talking to him. Dragon was a smart man, and from Tiger's unceremonious response, he understood. He said with a hint of sadness, "Tiger-san, I admire your determination to free the people of Mariejois. Although I can see you don't wish to talk to me, I still have to ask, have you ever thought about joining the Revolutionary Army?"
Tiger was silent for a moment. He finally shook his head with a smile. "They say you, Dragon, are a cruel and evil criminal who has shed countless innocent lives, but after meeting you, I see that's not true. You're a good person, and I can see you have your own ideals. But I'm sorry, I am not fit to join any army."
With that, Tiger didn't wait for a response. He turned and disappeared into the darkness and flames, heading toward another slave compound. Dragon watched Tiger's disappearing figure with a sense of helplessness.
To be honest, he didn't know much about Tiger. He had only heard about him from Diarmuid. But when he saw that Tiger had come to Mariejois alone, risking his life and ignoring race to free all the slaves, Dragon was moved. Tiger's actions were undoubtedly great, and Dragon was willing to believe that Tiger was a man of great resolve. It would be great if he could get someone like him to join the Revolutionary Army.
Ever since Diarmuid had started making moves on Fish-Man Island, Dragon had also started to pay attention to the issue of race in the world, and Fish-Man Island was one of his focuses. He just hadn't come up with a plan yet.
After meeting Tiger, he suddenly realized that getting him to join the Revolutionary Army would open up a channel of communication with Fish-Man Island. But to his disappointment, Tiger wasn't even willing to talk to him. He just exchanged a few pleasantries and then left.
"Dragon-san? What should we do?" a Revolutionary Army officer asked.
Dragon averted his gaze. "How is it?"
"We've already freed a lot of slaves, but it's too dark and chaotic. We haven't been able to count them. We've handed out weapons, and the World Government's defenses in Mariejois have started to react. A fierce battle is underway, but those guys are too weak to fight back..." the Revolutionary Army officer said with a look of disdain. He had thought that the Holy Land of Mariejois would be a powerful place, but it was just a paper tiger that fell at the first poke.
Dragon said softly, "This will only happen once. After this, Mariejois will be different. What about the port?"
"Ivankov has already taken over the port. We can retreat at any time," the officer said.
Dragon nodded and said, "Alright, leave some people here to continue freeing more slaves and guiding them to the port to board the ships. We will gather our forces and head for God's Palace..."
The Revolutionary Army had brought a lot of their elite forces to Mariejois, and the city's defenses were incredibly weak. But even so, Dragon knew that they couldn't wipe out the World Government's high-ranking officials. And even if they did, the Revolutionary Army wouldn't benefit much. They didn't have the power to take over and maintain order in the world after the World Government's collapse.
Dragon wasn't a madman or a man of chaos. He knew that if he killed all the World Government's high-ranking officials and the Revolutionary Army couldn't establish a new world order, the world would quickly fall into chaos, becoming even darker and more disorganized. At that point, countless innocent people would die, and he would become a butcher and a criminal. This was not what he wanted.
He also had a concern. He wondered if Diarmuid had scattered the Marines from Marineford on purpose, to give them an opportunity to attack. Is he using us as his pawns to kill all the high-ranking World Government officials? And then he'll come back with the Marines to take over the World Government's power, using the name of justice to eliminate the Revolutionary Army?
If he thought about it, this was a real possibility.
"I take the blame for the chaos, and you get the honor of restoring order... Diarmuid, you are truly a devious man," Dragon whispered. If things really turned out that way, Diarmuid would be laughing all the way to the bank. This was not in the Revolutionary Army's best interests.
So, Dragon had no intention of fighting to the death with the World Government's high-ranking officials. After causing enough chaos to buy them some time, he planned to invade God's Palace and loot the World Nobles.
Soon, the Revolutionary Army's elite forces gathered in Mariejois. Taking advantage of the chaos, the fires, and the street battles, the Revolutionary Army quickly breached the Pangea Castle and used it as a stepping stone to invade God's Palace.
This territory, which for hundreds of years only the World Nobles and their servants could enter, had now been breached by an individual of the "Enemy of the Gods," Monkey D. Dragon.
The Revolutionary Army's forces and the World Nobles' guards engaged in a fierce battle within God's Palace. But with Dragon, a top-tier powerhouse, leading the way, the Revolutionary Army had a huge advantage from beginning to end.
As the vanguard broke into a World Noble's home, a large number of people would follow them inside to loot the place, then transport all the money, goods, famous swords, and Devil Fruits back to the Pangea Castle they had just taken over.
In Pangea Castle, the giant Morley was constantly using his power to bury the endless stream of stolen wealth, including Berries, famous swords, Devil Fruits, and other miscellaneous items from God's Palace, underground.
Dragon was smart. He knew that he couldn't take all the wealth from Mariejois in one night. He needed more time, but he didn't have it. When the sun rose, the situation would become clearer, and the World Government's counterattack would begin. He only had one night.
Although Diarmuid had already sent the high-level Marines away, Marineford still had tens of thousands of soldiers. These were true elites. If the Marineford forces came and surrounded Mariejois, the Revolutionary Army would have a hard time escaping.
So Dragon decided to finish everything in one night. He planned to bury all the stolen wealth from God's Palace beneath the Red Line using Morley's power. It would be safer to retrieve them later when the dust had settled, and they would be able to maximize their gains.
In fact, at this point, the high-ranking officials of Mariejois had a good handle on the situation. The CP agencies were not useless. They might not have had enough people to quickly quell the chaos, but they were more than capable of gathering intelligence from the situation.
Soon, they got the information they needed from some of the captured slaves. And the names "Fisher Tiger" and "Monkey D. Dragon" quickly reached the Gorosei's ears.
The Gorosei were both shocked and enraged. How dare the Revolutionary Army do something like this?
The World Government had always been the one hunting the Revolutionary Army. And even though the Revolutionary Army had grown stronger instead of being wiped out, the World Government was always on the offensive, constantly searching for Revolutionary Army members all over the world.
The Revolutionary Army, on the other hand, had to hide like mice and occasionally launch political coups when the World Government wasn't looking.
So the Gorosei had never imagined that one day, the Revolutionary Army would break into Mariejois. But now, it was happening right in front of them!
"Who is this Fisher Tiger?! Is he a member of the Revolutionary Army?" the bearded Gorosei asked, standing by the window of his office and looking at the fire still spreading in Mariejois.
Thankfully, they had already created a firebreak around the Headquarters building, so the fire shouldn't spread to them. But... it seemed that God's Palace had been breached? It was a good thing that Imu-sama wasn't in Mariejois; otherwise, it would have been an even bigger problem.
"No, according to our intelligence, Fisher Tiger was a slave in Mariejois. He escaped a few months ago. It's likely that he came back with the Revolutionary Army for revenge today!" the CP official responded quickly.
"Where did they sneak into Mariejois from? Did you find them?" the Gorosei asked again.
"Not yet," the CP official said fearfully.
"Useless!" the Gorosei cursed, then asked, "When will the Marine reinforcements arrive?"
"Former Marine Admiral 'Black Arm' Zephyr has already led twenty warships and 20,000 Marines, and they are rushing here. They should be able to arrive before dawn," a high-ranking World Government official said in a low voice.
Although Diarmuid had taken most of the high-ranking generals, as the situation worsened, and the fire and slave rebellion turned into the absurd attack by the Revolutionary Army on Mariejois, the Gorosei could no longer stay calm. They immediately ordered Marine Headquarters to send reinforcements.
To be honest, when Fleet Admiral Kong received the news that Mariejois had been breached by the Revolutionary Army, he was also stunned. He had wanted to send Sakazuki for support, but for some reason, Mariejois refused. In desperation, Kong had no choice but to ask the former Admiral Zephyr to come out of retirement. He quickly gathered 20,000 Marines and sent them to Mariejois for support.
It was at this moment that the Gorosei finally realized that Mariejois and the World Government could not function without the Marines. In this chaotic, critical moment, the Marines were the only ones they could rely on.
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