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In a small inn, Basil Hawkins, a man with long, flowing blond hair and a slender build, known as "The Magician," was doing what he did best: telling fortunes.
Just a moment ago, a twitch in his eye had given him a bad feeling.
He immediately laid out his cards.
The reading...
Disaster.
Grave danger.
Without a second thought, he stood up.
"We're leaving," he told his crew. "Now."
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As evening fell, the auction began.
Jin and Robin attended. Their tickets were for the free spectator seats; they weren't eligible to bid.
As expected, it was a scam.
The proceedings were rather dull, until the Devil Fruit was brought out. After a flurry of bidding, it was sold for a high price to a mysterious figure.
Bellamy, of course, had been acting as a shill, driving up the price.
350 million Berries for the Paramecia Spring-Spring Fruit. Not a bad price.
Jin hadn't spent a single Berri, but he'd gotten to see a good show.
It was an experience.
He'd been running around nonstop since he'd arrived in this world. Tonight was a rare moment of leisure. And with Robin by his side... shouldn't they make the most of the romantic, moonlit evening?
Just as he was thinking this, Robin gently elbowed him.
Oh? Are we on the same wavelength?
Apparently not.
"We have to go," she whispered. "Something's wrong."
"What is it?" Jin asked, though he was already getting to his feet. He trusted her years-honed instincts for danger.
"Marines," Robin said.
"The southern port has a Marine base," Jin said. "It's not surprising they'd be here."
"I used my fruit's ability to listen in on the backstage area," Robin explained. "This auction is a trap. The commander of the port base is up for a promotion to Rear Admiral and needs a few more merits. He's planning on rounding up a bunch of pirates."
Jin understood.
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Sure enough, as they stepped outside, the sound of cannon fire erupted from the direction of the Black Harbor. On the other side of the town, a large contingent of Marines began to advance.
"Fire!"
"Capture the pirates and criminals! Don't let a single one escape!"
Gunfire, cannon fire, and shouts echoed through the night.
The black market exploded into total mayhem. Pirates and merchants bolted in all directions, panicking like animals. Cannonballs ripped through the buildings, turning the wooden structures into blazing infernos.
In an instant, the sky was filled with flames and smoke.
Jin and Robin had gotten out early, avoiding the crush of the crowd.
When they reached the Black Harbor, the pirate ships were all on fire, the flames illuminating the entire cavern.
Three Marine warships were blocking the exit, their searchlights sweeping across the water.
Hundreds of Marine soldiers were already on the shore, setting fire to the ships and capturing the crew members who had been left behind.
"Brilliant," Jin said, applauding.
The Marines were going for a clean sweep.
He suspected it wasn't just about a promotion. It was probably tied to a power struggle among the nobles of the Lvneel Kingdom. You only reshuffle the deck when the people at the top have been taken out.
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"Well, the situation is unclear. Let's get out of here first."
They fought their way through the chaos, back toward their ship.
As they approached, they saw a man and a woman fighting. The man was in a Marine uniform. The woman was slender, dressed in a sexy, revealing outfit.
Jin's eyes narrowed.
The pink-haired girl... wasn't that Vinsmoke Reiju of Germa 66?
Her kicks were incredibly powerful. And as she fought, a poisonous gas began to fill the air.
The Marine Captain she was fighting was gradually losing strength.
He collapsed, poisoned.
Reiju landed lightly on the snail ship, her long, white legs flashing. She seemed to sense something and looked back at the two strange figures on the shore.
She had no time to waste. She ordered the clone soldiers to set sail, and they charged fearlessly toward the three Marine warships blocking the exit.
The ship's cannons roared to life. Backed by Germa 66's advanced technology, their firepower was even greater than the standard Marine issue.
Jin was impressed. He thought that Reiju's quixotic charge meant she was planning on taking out all three warships by herself.
But after a single volley to suppress the enemy, the snail ship suddenly turned, executing a beautiful drift and accelerating to the side.
It turned out there was more than one exit to the cavern. There were hidden passages and currents, and Reiju knew one of them.
Jin leaped onto his ship. "Follow them."
His primary target here was Germa 66.
First, it was another option for curing Bonney.
And second, the lineage factor technology.
Vinsmoke Judge and Vegapunk had co-discovered the lineage factor, and both had made great strides in their research.
In fact, Judge had gone even further than Vegapunk.
Vegapunk was still just cloning.
Judge had broken through the boundaries of ethics and was playing with genetics, genetically modifying his own children.
He was, to put it mildly, insane.
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"Hey! Another ship! Sink it!"
Cannon fire roared.
The Empress pushed through the hail of bullets, following the snail ship through a series of caves and out into the open sea.
"Get out of my way!" another ship burst from a different cave. Bellamy stood on the deck, a wide, arrogant grin on his face. He saw a ship blocking his path, its broadside facing his own ship's ram. "Full speed ahead! Ram them!"
The Empress didn't move, sitting in the path of Bellamy's ship, as if it were frozen in fear.
Bellamy let out an exaggerated laugh. He could already see the other ship being smashed to pieces, its crew helplessly sinking into the sea.
It was a beautiful sight.
He had just stolen the Spring-Spring Fruit back from the mysterious figure and had become a Devil Fruit user. He was feeling pretty good.
But in the next instant, his smile vanished. His ship had clearly hit the other one, but there had been no impact.
They were still moving forward.
As if the ship in front of them was a mirage, a ghost, a phantom.
Bellamy's ship sailed straight into the demonic carrier, like a moth to a flame. Bellamy finally realized that something was wrong.
"Spring!"
His calves turned into springs. He compressed them and leaped into the air. By now, his ship had been completely swallowed.
And it hadn't come out the other side.
Such a large ship... it had just vanished.
"You bastard!" Bellamy screamed, plummeting down toward Jin. "What did you do to my ship??"
Jin simply sidestepped. Bellamy couldn't stop himself and crashed headfirst into the deck, which had split open to receive him.
"..." Robin was speechless. She offered a silent prayer.
What a clown. Pathetic.
Jin didn't even have the interest to punch him.
After shaking off the pursuing Marines, the demonic carrier continued its chase of the snail ship.
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In the early hours of the morning, the snail ship began to slow down. Reiju, realizing she couldn't shake them, decided to see who they were. When she saw that it was the two from the Black Harbor, she frowned.
"Who are you?" she called out. "Why are you following me?"
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