The slave-hunting squads originally operated in Districts 1 to 29. In order to find the slaves they had lost, they also began to push into other districts, stirring up panic. For a time, hardly anyone dared to go out, afraid of being seized and taken as a slave.
With them causing such a ruckus, they really did get some results.
In less than a day, they discovered a group of escaped slaves.
They found this group in District 57—more than twenty people in total. This place was already very close to the area under the Marine base's jurisdiction, and Marines would come here to patrol from time to time.
"I know that guy! He's a slave from our shop!"
"The ones with him are all slaves!"
"Don't let them get away! And take them alive."
The runaway slaves also quickly realized what was happening, and the two sides began a chase.
They were unlucky—this place wasn't far from District 60, where Marines were active.
"Run! Run!"
One side chased, the other fled. Relying on their physical endurance, this group of slaves managed to make it to District 59, only a few steps away from District 60—before they were pinned down.
"Just a little more! Just a little more!"
The few people in front looked at the huge red mangrove trunk with the big "District 60" mark on it, their hearts filled with unwillingness.
At that moment, a group of patrolling Marines appeared.
"Marines! Marines, save us!"
"Help!"
The Marines noticed the situation and immediately ran over to check.
"Sir, sir, we're not pirates. We're honest merchants. These are just goods that slipped away from us by accident."
The captain of the slave-hunting squad immediately declared his identity.
This was the Sabaody Archipelago. The slave market and the Marine base were on the same island—how could these Marines not know? Of course they knew. And the slave trade at the Sabaody Archipelago was, in fact, a semi-legal business.
They couldn't mobilize the military to suppress the slave traders. Many times, the two sides were in a state of mutual non-interference.
"You almost crossed the line, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's all because these people can really run! Next time we'll definitely keep a better eye on them. Our boss already made arrangements with your Base Commander…"
The captain of the slave-hunting squad slipped some Belly into his hand, and at the same time mentioned their connection.
With the tangled interests at the Sabaody Archipelago, the Marines themselves also had all kinds of shady, sieve-like organizations. How could the base here possibly have no dealings with these slave traders?
"Be more careful next time. So reckless. Pack it up."
The leading Captain came in a hurry and left in a hurry.
"Marines! Why did the Marines do that?!"
This batch of slaves saw everything clearly. Their eyes were about to split—they had given up another chance precisely because they trusted the Marines.
After the mysterious force rescued them and brought them to a safe place, it had given them a choice.
Follow the mysterious force and become pirates, possibly to be wanted by the Marines.
Or the other option was to go to the Marines at Sabaody, where there might be a chance to return home.
Between pirates and Marines, many people would obviously choose the Marines. So among the roughly two hundred slaves who were rescued—excluding the Fish-Men—there were still more than sixty who were unwilling to leave with the mysterious force.
They were just one group among them—and the unluckiest group.
Watching hope be snuffed out and faith collapse like this was truly a double torment of body and mind.
"Run! Go on, run! I'm telling you, even if you run into the Marine base, it's useless. The person in charge of the Marine base is one of ours. If you run in, he'll still hand you over to us."
What these slave traders feared most was slaves finding ways to escape on their own. If they ran into the Marine base, they really did have ways to grab them back out.
Of course, they couldn't guarantee one hundred percent success. Saying that the person in charge of the Marine base was theirs had a hint of bragging—they loved to boast.
The slave-hunting squad held their heads high and escorted these slaves away. Just after they turned around, the transparent air rippled, and Monet, with green hair, appeared holding a camera Den Den Mushi.
Monet had followed the whole time. Vane saving these people once was already the height of benevolence and righteousness. If they failed to seize the chance, that wasn't his fault.
...
Two days later.
"Bad news, Sengoku!"
"Take a look at this!"
Zephyr slammed a newspaper they didn't control—nor did the World Government—onto Sengoku's desk.
"What could make you, an Admiral, so flustered?"
Sengoku picked up the newspaper and began to read. His expression grew darker and darker.
What was printed in the paper was, unmistakably, the collusion between their Sabaody Marines and the slave traders.
"Fake! This has to be fake."
Even if this were true, it had to be labeled as fake. Otherwise, the impact on the Marines would be far too great.
"Look at the back. Morgans didn't put it in absolute terms. He even praised Strawberry."
Strawberry had been taken around by Vane to liberate slaves. He had definitely offended the Celestial Dragons and his official career was surely finished, but his reputation among the people was very good.
Mentioning Strawberry at the back turned this incident from the level of the entire Marine organization to the level of a single Marine base.
Then, as long as they carried out a major purge of that Marine base, maybe they could salvage the Marines' image.
It would be much easier to handle… though as for the situation at Sabaody, no matter which Marines were sent there, at best they could only manage to turn a blind eye.
As long as the Celestial Dragons still rode slaves around the streets of Sabaody, they would never be able to truly resolve this problem.
Sengoku looked at the newspaper and thought of another layer of impact: "Will this newspaper have some effect on Strawberry? It finally made the Celestial Dragons forget about him, and now Morgans brought him up again."
Zephyr shook his head. "Probably not. This time he was just mentioned in passing, right?"
That was what he said, but Sengoku still felt uneasy. He felt this matter wasn't over, yet how it would develop afterward was completely beyond their ability to predict—or rather, their thinking simply wouldn't go in that direction.
...
Before dusk that day.
Garlos, whose thoughts couldn't quite be let go, came down from the Red Line again with several subordinates.
After what happened last time, even after a few days he still felt it wasn't satisfying enough. This time he had to pick a beauty and take her back to torment her thoroughly.
When Celestial Dragons went out, the residents of Sabaody naturally avoided them if they could. Coupled with the recent chaos at Sabaody, everyone went home early to sleep.
After the group of Celestial Dragons turned a corner, the light and shadow at that corner flickered, and another scene appeared—there was no longer any sign of the Celestial Dragons.
No one noticed this.
The Celestial Dragon was strolling along leisurely when, at that moment, a somewhat neurotic voice sounded: "Isn't this a high-end toy?"
Hearing that voice, Garlos felt a wave of dizziness surge through his head.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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