Chapter 141: The Teleport-Teleport Fruit
The water bullet howled as it shot forth, trailing a tornado-like white torrent, carrying the crushing weight of seawater as it blasted toward the ship above.
The missing subordinate was on this ship. Any words to be said could wait until the ship sank.
Babel felt there was no need for communication when dealing with such people.
As for their own people on board...
It was just a sunken ship. In history, no Fish-man or Merfolk had ever drowned. Their dual respiratory systems provided ample oxygen whether underwater or on land.
Ordinary people couldn't dodge this kind of underwater ambush, let alone a clumsy ship. To be able to abduct a sentinel from under his nose, Babel admitted the culprit had some skill and struck ruthlessly.
But this very strike, which was bound to hit, was dodged right before the ocean current made impact.
"Dodged? An ability user?!"
It wasn't that Babel's aim was off. Right as the ocean current roared out, the ship eerily shifted its position, causing Babel to miss his target.
"I don't believe you can dodge every single one of them..."
As if refusing to believe in the occult, Babel grabbed the ocean currents once more. The already turbulent sea grew even more furious. Columns of water surged toward the surface one after another, but they were all dodged by the ship with movements akin to teleportation.
"The ocean currents of the Grand Line... why are they so terrifying? What the hell is this?!"
The people on the ship were not at peace either. The successive water columns carrying lethal threats made them panic. If they were hit by one of those columns, the ship would definitely be destroyed.
"This isn't a natural phenomenon; it's man-made. To move so fast? We really underestimated these fish living at the bottom of the sea."
On the deck of the ship, a slightly plump man with a small braided pigtail, dressed in a French-style suit, was crouching. His hand remained pressed against the hull of the ship.
"Commander Harding! Stop joking around! Can't you just teleport the ship directly to the Red Port? If he catches up to us..."
"Do you think teleporting a ship this big doesn't consume stamina? Even for a Devil Fruit, abilities have limits. I can't teleport both the ship and the people all the way to the Red Port at once!"
"Why don't we just release that mermaid... The World Government issued orders before... We won't gain anything from going against the people of the Ryugu Kingdom on the sea, Commander..."
After Harding pointed out that this was man-made, the people on the ship quickly figured out the root cause. It was definitely the consequence of Harding capturing that mermaid on the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Heh, just a bunch of fish at the bottom of the sea. The World Government agreeing to such demands is already a display of incompetence. How are they fit to sit at the same table as us?"
"Don't worry. I am a user of the Teleport-Teleport Fruit. Although the teleportation distance is limited, this guy won't ever hit our ship. Once we reach the Red Port, I don't believe they'll still dare to chase us."
Paramecia-type: Teleport-Teleport Fruit. The fruit's ability was very simple: instantaneous teleportation. Not only could the user teleport themselves, but they could also bring people or other objects along with them.
The more things brought along, the shorter the teleportation distance, and the greater the stamina consumption.
And the teleportation distance depended on the condition of the ability user.
The first time Nereus liberated slaves in Mary Geoise, it was widely considered a night raid.
His second display of militant diplomacy was placed under a gag order by the World Government. The outside world generally didn't know about it; most people genuinely thought a meteorite had struck Mary Geoise.
Therefore, in the eyes of the majority, Mary Geoise still represented absolute safety.
"C-Commander! It's a tsunami!!"
The waves below roared toward them once again, but this time it wasn't condensed water columns, but an entire tidal wave.
The entire ocean seemed to be violently lifted by an invisible, massive force. Unquantifiable amounts of seawater soared into the sky and rolled backward, surging toward their ship.
"Hmph, useless. It's just a giant wave; we just need to dodge it."
Harding activated his ability once more, directly taking the ship through the tidal wave and appearing behind it.
However, Harding failed to notice that a tall figure had already appeared on the ship. Just a moment ago, Babel had hidden himself within the tidal wave.
He realized that although this ship could teleport, the distance was limited. In that case, he just needed to find a way to get on board first.
Moreover, after boarding the ship, he didn't immediately launch an attack. Following his perception of Una's location, he moved preemptively and retrieved his abducted subordinate.
Compared to killing these people, rescuing his own person was more important. If he couldn't get his own person back, killing any number of people would be meaningless to Babel.
"You there, you're the user of the Teleport-Teleport Fruit, aren't you? Your ability can't take people away from a distance. Good thing I've read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. Big Bro was right when he said it's good to read more."
In battles between ability users, grasping the opponent's ability was highly crucial. Only then could one formulate a better response.
"The stinking fish from the bottom of the sea actually has some knowledge..."
"Stinking fish... Heh, once you turn into a corpse at the bottom of the sea, let's see if you can still say such things..."
During the era when the Fish-man and Merfolk races were most severely discriminated against, their classification was "fish," not "human."
Therefore, this kind of address was inherently an insulting slur towards the Fish-man race, akin to a pure-blood wizard calling someone a Mudblood.
Just at the moment Babel wanted to destroy the ship, the vessel beneath his feet suddenly vanished, causing Babel to fall out of thin air into the sea.
"Consider yourselves lucky this time! You'd best be able to defend against this every second of the day, and don't give me a chance to strike!"
Harding had absolutely no intention of fighting Babel. Upon realizing the opponent was not easy to deal with, he immediately activated his ability and chose to flee.
"What a troublesome ability..."
Looking at Una, who was still unconscious, Babel didn't continue the pursuit. After all, with that Devil Fruit ability...
Even if he chased them to the Red Line, it might yield no results.
Seeing that the other party had continuously activated his ability so many times yet still appeared full of stamina, Babel chose to take Una back first.
And this news was also reported up after Nereus returned.
"So, in other words, you let him escape?"
"Big Bro, that Fruit's ability is truly troublesome. This matter is indeed my failure; I am willing to be punished."
Inside the Ryugu Palace, Babel stood to the side, his face full of guilt. Although the situation was halted in time and the abducted citizen was rescued, letting the culprit escape was still a failure.
"The ability being troublesome is not your fault. However, you do deserve punishment, but your punishment is for being careless. As for that Harding's specific identity, information, and motives... have you investigated them clearly?"
Judging from the situation, the other party didn't seem to be a simple human trafficker, but rather someone harboring a specific, special purpose.
Three years of stability made Nereus find this situation perplexing. He wanted to figure out exactly what purpose drove the other party to commit such an act.
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