Chapter 161: Admiral Zephyr, Your Family is in Nereus's Hands...
Nereus naturally didn't refuse such a request. It was just a concert; it wouldn't delay anything.
Even if the tickets were sold out because they received the news late, it didn't matter.
This was an open-air concert, and they had a unique "cloud view" to watch it from above.
Right now, the Sabaody Archipelago could be considered exceptionally bustling.
Even though the sea hadn't been peaceful lately, the Sabaody Archipelago was still an island with a booming tourism industry. Tourists from all over the world would visit from time to time.
Many Marines from Headquarters would also choose to hang out here during their leave, though they avoided the lawless zones.
Within the World Government's controlled areas, it was still considered safe.
All sorts of tourists shuttled through the various Grove islands, perfectly manifesting the two extremes of the Sabaody Archipelago.
On one side, there were orphans surviving in the slums with barely any clothes on their backs—mostly abandoned children or vagrants with nowhere else to go.
On the other side were the tourists. In this era, those who could go out to sea for a far-off vacation were either rich or noble, mostly with substantial family backgrounds, including quite a few children.
At this moment, one could see a child with purple hair, holding a piece of wood shaped like a shield, with a red helmet hanging from his body by a string.
Anyone who frequently read picture books would recognize that the helmet belonged to the protagonist of the most popular hero comic book on the sea decades ago.
Behind him, there was a cape resembling a Marine coat, but instead of the Marine "Justice," it bore a giant letter "Z".
He kept shouting hero titles and occasionally made "pew pew" sound effects.
However, this hero was soon suppressed.
"No running around, Yekrik, or I won't bring you out next time."
A woman with short orange-brown hair walked over, ruffled his messy hair, and put the helmet on his head.
"I told you not to bring so many things. If you insisted on bringing your father's childhood toys out, then you have to wear it the whole time."
"Hero Z is the strongest hero even without wearing the helmet! I'm learning from Papa!"
"Even your Papa had to listen to adults when he was little! Your Papa just went off to execute an escort mission, so you have to be a good boy and behave."
Hero Z, Zephyr's childhood idol. And the person holding Zephyr's childhood items was naturally Zephyr's family.
In the year he was promoted to Admiral, Zephyr had already gotten married, and in the following year, he had his son.
This wasn't a problem for the high-ranking Marines. Garp and Tsuru both had their own descendants; so far, among the older generation of Marine generals, only Sengoku was relatively mysterious.
However, Zephyr himself wasn't a born monster, but rather a late bloomer. His son was no exception, and his wife was also an ordinary person.
They hadn't noticed that ever since they landed on the Sabaody Archipelago, someone had been tailing them.
"Are you sure it's those two?"
"That's right, it's definitely him. That kid's hair color is exactly the same as Zephyr's... his face shape is very similar too."
There was a very severe "genetic disease" on this sea—face blindness.
Many people simply couldn't recognize disguises that were full of loopholes, and identifying people often relied on some bizarre traits.
This group of people were Zephyr's mortal enemies.
It was common for Marines and pirates to be mortal enemies. Every high-ranking Marine general, regardless of their attitude towards the World Government, had participated in operations to eradicate pirates.
Beneath the feet of high-ranking generals lay the bones of countless pirates, so it was only normal for Marines to have a few pirate enemies.
Go to Impel Down and ask a few pirates, and they could all name a few people they hated.
But among the high-ranking Marine generals, Zephyr had the most enemies.
This was all because he personally adhered to his principle of "no killing." This reputation was even more famous than his moniker "Black Arm."
He wouldn't pull his punches in battle, but as long as he had the chance, Zephyr wouldn't deal a lethal blow. Therefore, the number of pirates he sent to prison was, overall, much higher.
Impel Down was the most heavily guarded underwater great prison; anyone locked up there basically couldn't escape. But the Marines' prisons weren't limited to just that one place.
Some pirates with lower bounties wouldn't be sent there; instead, they would be detained at a nearby Marine branch. Even Marine Headquarters itself had an exclusive dungeon.
These people were escapees from a nearby branch who harbored a deep hatred for Zephyr and wanted to exact revenge on him.
"Should we make a move?
If it weren't for the Levely drawing away Marine personnel and leaving that branch's defenses empty, we might not have been able to escape.
We almost got executed all because of that bastard Zephyr!"
"The Levely just ended not long ago. That bastard Zephyr shouldn't be here, and that concert has drawn a lot of Marine attention. This is a great opportunity..."
"When did I ever say we wouldn't make a move? Even though we escaped, our crewmates are gone, and our ship is gone... He destroyed our dream, so I will destroy what's his!"
As for whether they would kill the wrong person, or whether the people in front of them were truly Zephyr's family, they didn't care.
If they killed the right people, great; if they killed the wrong people, it didn't matter either. They were pirates, after all, so naturally they wouldn't care about such things.
"Oh no! Boss, those two are getting away!"
Due to the mangroves and the tourism industry, the Sabaody Archipelago inherently had many obstacles. Coupled with the dense crowds right now, it was very easy to lose someone.
Seeing that the mother and son were about to disappear from sight, these men stopped overthinking it, grabbed their weapons, and gave chase.
"Get out of the way! Don't block the path!"
"Anyone who doesn't want to die, move!"
Without caring who was in front of him, the pirate giving orders slashed wildly into the crowd ahead.
"Ahhh!!!"
"Pi... Pirates! Pirates are killing people!!"
The splattering blood fell onto the faces of tourists nearby. The miserable screams and the bloody scene instantly triggered a riot.
People close to the pirates ran desperately into the distance, terrified of becoming the next target, and the dense crowd immediately opened up a path.
"Where are the Marines?! Where are the Marines?!"
"I don't know, don't block the way!"
In the crushing crowd, someone unfortunately tripped and fell, which quickly triggered a vicious stampede.
Even though the average physical constitution of humans in this world was stronger, a large number of innocent people were still injured under these circumstances.
The Marines quickly received the report. They hadn't expected that pirates would dare to act on the Sabaody Archipelago at a time like this.
After all, due to the arrival of Kings from all over, heavy forces were gathered near Sabaody. For pirates to choose to cause a riot at such a time was tantamount to seeking death, so the Marines had been somewhat careless in their patrols.
"Where?"
"Over at Grove 33."
"Assemble the troops and head over immediately!"
"B-But... the shortest route requires crossing through the lawless zone and Fish-man Island's territory..."
"Then take a detour!"
The lawless zone was already entrenched with quite a few pirates, not to mention the Ryugu Kingdom's office branch. The former was fine, but the Marines were unwilling to deal with the latter, so they ultimately chose to take a detour.
However, the crowd at Grove 33 couldn't wait for them. While the Marines were still assembling, the scope of the riot's impact had already begun to expand.
The dense tide of humanity almost separated Yekrik and his mother. Yekrik's mother expended a massive amount of effort to finally shield her son within the surging crowd.
But soon, she realized that the target of those pirates seemed to be her.
Before she got married, she would also come to the Sabaody Archipelago for vacation around this time. Her thoughts were similar to the local Marines': with heavy forces gathered nearby, pirates would basically all hide.
Conventional thinking made her fail to realize that after marrying Zephyr, the risks would also increase, so she hadn't applied for extra guard protection.
The Marines, too, due to this conventional thinking, assumed the Sabaody Archipelago was currently in a "safe period," ultimately leading to this disastrous result.
Although these were just a few pirates who didn't even qualify to be locked up in Impel Down, their bounties weren't high, and reaching Sabaody was purely luck, they were still several able-bodied men wielding sharp weapons.
"Hurry up! Don't let those Marines get here!"
"What are you afraid of, Boss? With so many tourists, it will take those Marines a while to get over here."
"How about we take them alive? Make the Marines give us a ship, otherwise it'll be hard to leave here..."
"Are you afraid the Marines won't be able to catch up to us? Hurry up and kill them, then we can escape in the chaos. Where are the Marines going to find us?"
Before they even had time to act, the few pirates actually started arguing due to a disagreement.
"Stop arguing! Kill the big one, grab the small one! The small one is easier to control!"
Their boss chose a compromise, quickened his pace, and slashed at the back of the fleeing mother.
However, just as his blade was about to hit its target, a white cloud suddenly blocked his path.
Clang!
The seemingly soft cloud was actually harder than steel. The reactionary force traveling back up the hilt of the blade shocked his arm so badly it went numb.
"Princess Nanamo! This lowly one has found the culprits and successfully stopped their atrocity!"
Then, that cloud suddenly shouted out toward his side as if asking for credit, and he controlled half of his body to perform a kneeling, welcoming gesture.
"Are you the ones causing a riot here and delaying the concert? Do you have any idea... how much a front-row scalped ticket costs?!"
Although she could have watched for free from a high-altitude "cloud view," for a better viewing experience, Nanamo had still gone to a scalper and bought a few tickets—three whole tickets, using her own personal allowance stash.
Yet, just as they were checking tickets to get in, a riot suddenly broke out outside, causing the concert to be temporarily suspended.
Not hearing the music, plus the slight possibility that her money had been wasted, made Nanamo fly into a rage on the spot, directly coming over to find out who exactly the culprits were.
"What the hell are you talking about? You monsters, get out of my way!"
A creature made of clouds, someone with a special skin color, and a skeleton with an afro standing behind them—this combination looked incredibly abnormal in the eyes of this pirate.
The leading pirate kicked forward, but his foot sank directly into Hermes's body. That body, originally as hard as steel, suddenly turned into a swamp, ruthlessly devouring him.
"Hanauta Sancho: Yahazu Giri (Three-Verse Humming: Arrow-Notch Slash)."
Before the other pirates could even react to what was happening, a soft hum drifted past their ears.
Following the sound of a blade returning to its sheath, massive amounts of blood suddenly sprayed from their necks or hearts, and their eyes rolled back as they collapsed.
"Wantonly slaughtering the innocent and making a child cry... such villains are truly repulsive... Princess Nanamo, these men have been dealt with."
As a guard, Brook had fulfilled his guard duties for the first time. Then, looking at the terrified and crying Yekrik, he offered a smile, wanting to comfort him.
But upon seeing this skeleton smile, the child actually cried even harder.
"I'm sorry, this child is terrified... Could you help me contact the Marines nearby? I... I am the family of Marine Headquarters Admiral Zephyr..."
Perhaps because of the fright, the condition of Yekrik's mother was also quite poor.
Her face was pale, cold sweat beaded on her forehead. After saying these words, she slumped to the ground hugging her child, panting heavily.
Although she had no combat power, she had a good memory. Because of the Levely, the news during this period mainly reported on these matters.
She had seen Nanamo's face in the papers and remembered that this was a princess of a member nation participating in the Levely.
Although she didn't fully understand the political landscape, in her perception, the Marines and the member nations should be on the same side.
Plus, since the other party had just stopped those pirates, she safely revealed her identity.
"Contact the Marines? Those guys are so troublesome. But... the family of a Marine Admiral... Never mind, I'll just let the old man handle it."
Because of Nereus and her past lifestyle habits, Nanamo didn't really like dealing with the Marines. But she also understood that conveniently saving the family of an Admiral might be somewhat helpful to Nereus.
Nanamo remembered that Nereus had been quite interested in this Admiral for a period of time, so she simply contacted Nereus directly.
When Nereus came over, he also conveniently brought a doctor from the Sabaody Archipelago along the way. After a simple examination, the conclusion was that the other party was merely suffering from severe shock and was otherwise fine.
Looking at the still-panicking surroundings and the many people injured from the stampede, Nereus made another call to the personnel at the Sabaody branch office.
"Lord Nereus?"
"Have the off-duty patrol squad come over to Grove 33 to maintain order. Bring the military doctors and medical supplies; there are quite a few wounded here."
A chaotic scene where the Marines were nowhere to be found—this was exactly a perfect opportunity to farm some reputation, and Nereus wasn't going to waste it.
The guards of a member nation arriving at the scene of an accident earlier than the Marines—they could even slightly guide the public opinion. The civilians here were from all over the world; they were ready-made propagandists.
The Marines who received the news arrived late because they had to assemble their troops and take a detour. The low-ranking officer leading the squad quickly noticed that the people over there seemed to be Zephyr's family, and he took even greater notice of Nereus.
But a low-ranking officer had no authority to contact an Admiral directly, nor did he really dare to approach Nereus. In the end, he could only report the news up the chain of command, layer by layer.
In the end, when Zephyr received the news, he was almost stimulated into an asthma attack on the spot.
"Admiral Zephyr, bad news! Your wife and son are currently in Nereus's hands!"
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