Chapter 10: Releasing the Slaves, Benefactor Law
"Damn it, stop looking down on me!"
Dragon felt insulted. He grabbed his recruit's short sword and charged at Rono, as if wanting to prove he wasn't just all talk.
*Woom~!*
There was no need to even move. A single burst of Conqueror's Haki knocked Dragon unconscious again.
"There are some good seedlings in the Marines, too. He'll definitely become an opponent in the future."
Roger said with a laugh as he looked at the fallen Dragon.
"Perhaps," Rono said, as if to himself.
He wondered if this guy, Dragon, would change his stance before the battle at God Valley.
After dealing with Dragon, the two continued walking into the ship's cabin.
Opening the cabin door, a massive amount of gold and jewels immediately met their eyes, almost blinding them.
"WOW! As expected of the Heavenly Tribute. This much gold must be worth several hundred million Berries," Roger said excitedly.
"At least over a billion Berries." Rono wasn't sure exactly how much money this gold would fetch, but it was definitely more than just a few hundred million.
With this much gold and treasure, one could completely wash their hands of piracy, return home, and live for several lifetimes without spending it all.
"Hahaha, then let's go buy wine!" Roger lay down in the pile of gold, looking like he was thoroughly enjoying himself.
"There's another room inside?"
At the same time, Rono noticed there seemed to be another room inside. Was there more gold?
*Bang!* He pushed the door open. The room inside was dark and damp, the air mixed with a foul smell.
In the middle of the room was an iron cage crammed full of people. The foul smell was coming from here.
It seemed this was a room for holding slaves.
They were all ordinary people, including many beautiful women.
When they saw Rono walk in, the slaves were very quiet, but everyone's eyes were filled with terror, and they subconsciously retreated.
They mistook Rono for someone from the World Government.
To be this frightened just from seeing him, one could only imagine what kind of inhuman abuse they usually suffered.
Looking at so many innocent people and the terror on their faces... this was all the sin of the Celestial Dragons!
"You are free." Rono ripped open the large lock on the iron cage. The crowd looked at this scene in disbelief, unable to believe it for a moment.
It wasn't until Rono walked straight to the next room that the people snapped back to their senses.
"We're free!"
"Free!"
The slaves swarmed out like headless flies. Some of them ran out, then turned back, coming to Rono to thank him.
The next room also held slaves, but this room was larger.
Because the slaves here were clearly not ordinary people, but some special races.
There was the Longarm Tribe, the Longleg Tribe, Merfolk, the Snake-Neck Tribe, and Rono even saw Minks.
But that wasn't all. Rono even saw a member of the Oni Tribe with horns.
He had to admit, the Celestial Dragons' reach was wide. These races were all very rare, yet the Celestial Dragons captured them by the cageful.
These races' reaction to seeing Rono was the same as the previous slaves: disgust mixed with fear. Some of the merfolk even showed despair.
After all, mermaids were known for their beauty; some human beauties weren't as good-looking as mermaids.
It seemed their usual plight was even more tragic than that of the human slaves.
"Go... You are free."
*Bang!* He shattered the huge iron cage with one punch. Like the humans before, these people of different races couldn't believe the scene before them.
"R... really?"
A slightly braver Mink cautiously walked out of the cage. Seeing that Rono didn't move, he quickly ran out.
A minute later, the Mink ran back, his expression extremely agitated!
"It's true! The Marines and World Government people outside are all unconscious! Quick, let's get out of here!"
The Mink waved his hand, and the people of different races, filled with joy, quickly left.
In the chaos, suddenly, a Fish-Man with red skin came before Rono and knelt down directly!
"M... may I ask our benefactor's name!"
The red Fish-Man asked respectfully.
Hearing this, the slaves who were originally fleeing all stopped.
They also wanted to know the name of the benefactor who had saved them.
"Rono." Rono said his name, while carefully observing the red Fish-Man before him.
This guy looked a bit familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
This red skin... if he remembered correctly, this seemed to be the future hero of the Fish-Men, Fisher Tiger!
But the current Tiger was only in his twenties, a huge difference from the original story.
If not for this striking red skin, Rono wouldn't have recognized him at all.
"Your great kindness, Tiger will never forget for the rest of his life!"
Tiger solemnly kowtowed to Rono a few times, then left with his fellow Fish-Men.
If it weren't for their benefactor Rono, he and the other Fish-Men would have been sent to the Holy Land, where they would have suffered who-knows-what kind of horrific abuse!
"Rono..." The slaves of other races also repeated Rono's name, memorizing their benefactor's name!
Some people also followed Tiger's example and kowtowed to Rono.
"I didn't expect Tiger to be captured so early."
Rono hadn't expected to meet the future hero of the Fish-Men, Fisher Tiger, here.
Although Tiger's strength wasn't top-tier, his influence among the Fish-Men was enormous, comparable to Queen Otohime.
Tiger's influence wasn't just limited to Fish-Men; his influence was immense among all who had been slaves of the Celestial Dragons!
After all, Tiger was known as "Hero" Tiger.
After freeing these slaves, Rono continued walking towards the deepest room.
He had to admit, this ship's cabin was really big. He wondered how much money it cost to build such a giant sailboat.
Opening the cabin door, Rono was stunned to find that the things in this deepest room were what interested him the most!
The room was lavishly decorated, opulent and noble.
In the middle of the room were several glass display cases. Inside these cases, all of them held Devil Fruits!
Under the light, the Devil Fruits shimmered, looking incomparably beautiful.
Besides the Devil Fruits, the room also displayed many other treasures.
All kinds of famous swords and weapons. It seemed they were all being transported to the Holy Land as offerings for the Celestial Dragons.
But now, they would never reach the Celestial Dragons' hands. Instead, they would all fall to Rono.