Garp stopped several paces from the World Noble vessel.
"I removed him from an evacuation route he was blocking."
Saint Rosward's face darkened behind his bubble helmet.
"You carried a descendant of the world's creators through the street like baggage."
"He kept kicking the civilians."
"He may do as he pleases!"
"That attitude is why he was blocking the road."
Saint Shalria looked past Garp and saw the broken chains hanging from the freed slave's wrists as Marines helped the injured man aboard an evacuation transport.
Her expression twisted.
"That one belongs to our family."
"Not anymore," Zaraki said.
Rosward's eyes found him.
The War Demon stood in a black trench coat beside Garp, one hand resting near Nozarashi.
He wore no Admiral's uniform, no ceremonial decorations, and no expression suggesting that Rosward's status impressed him.
Recognition came slowly, followed by anger.
"You are the Marine who interfered with my son."
"He interfered with the evacuation."
"He purchased that mermaid lawfully."
Gion arrived from the eastern canal with a squad of Marines and stopped beside Zaraki.
"Camie was abducted from an affiliated nation and sold through an illegal trafficking network."
Shalria laughed.
"If she reached the auction floor, then she was merchandise."
Gion's hand tightened around Konpira.
Before she could answer, the command receiver at Yamakaji's waist rang.
Law's face appeared on the Den Den Mushi.
"The mermaid is stable. The collar has been removed, the bleeding is under control, and Jinbe is remaining aboard the Polar Tang until she can be moved safely."
Rosward's gaze snapped toward the snail.
"You allowed a pirate vessel inside a World Noble evacuation zone?"
Yamakaji ended the call.
"We allowed a doctor to prevent a slave collar from killing a citizen."
"She was property."
"No," Gion said. "She was a kidnapping victim."
The answer struck the pier harder than a shout.
Rosward raised his cane.
"I will have every officer here stripped of rank."
Garp finally set Charlos on his feet, though one broad hand remained clamped around the back of the World Noble's suit.
"Get on the ship. Kaido will reach the western groves in less than thirty minutes."
Charlos wrenched himself free.
His original pistol had been crushed, but one of his guards immediately offered him another. The guard probably intended it as reassurance.
It was a terrible decision.
Charlos snatched the weapon and pointed it toward the freed slave being helped onto the neighboring transport.
"That one is mine!"
Garp caught his wrist.
"Do not."
Charlos pulled against him.
"Release me, dog!"
The World Noble twisted the pistol toward Garp's face, then jerked it toward the crowd when the older Marine did not move.
His finger tightened around the trigger.
Zaraki struck him.
It was not a sword slash, a blast of Haki, or an uncontrolled blow capable of killing a weak man.
Zaraki stepped inside Garp's reach and drove the heel of one palm through the side of Charlos's bubble helmet.
The transparent shell shattered.
Charlos spun once, left the ground, and landed inside a heap of ceremonial cushions beside the evacuation carriage.
His eyes rolled back before his body stopped moving.
The pistol clattered across the pier.
Silence spread outward.
Rosward stared at his unconscious son.
Shalria dropped the silk cloth from her hand.
Even the government guards seemed unsure whether to aim their weapons or pretend they had seen nothing.
Garp looked at Zaraki.
"I had his wrist."
"He was still making noise."
"That is not a legal defense."
"It solved the immediate problem."
Garp's mouth twitched despite himself.
Rosward recovered with a strangled roar.
"You struck Saint Charlos!"
"Yes," Zaraki said.
"You admit it?"
"You were watching."
Shalria drew a pistol from beneath her dress.
Gion moved before she could fire.
Konpira left its sheath by several inches.
The blade flashed once, cutting the weapon cleanly through the barrel without touching Shalria's fingers. The severed metal dropped to the pier.
Shalria stared at the ruined pistol.
Gion sheathed Konpira.
"The archipelago is under attack. No one fires inside an evacuation berth."
Rosward pulled a secure World Noble Den Den Mushi from inside his robes. It was white with gold trim, but it was not a Golden Den Den Mushi and carried no Buster Call function.
The receiver connected directly to the Government emergency exchange at Marine Headquarters.
A communications officer answered.
"This is Marine Headquarters command relay."
"This is Saint Rosward!" he shouted. "Marine officers have attacked my children, released our property, and placed a pirate submarine inside our evacuation route. Send an Admiral immediately and execute War Demon Zaraki!"
The relay officer's face tightened.
"Remain on the line."
Several seconds later, Sengoku's features appeared on the snail.
"Saint Rosward."
The Fleet Admiral's voice carried the exhaustion of a man who had already survived several impossible reports that day.
Rosward pointed his cane at Zaraki as though Sengoku could see through the receiver.
"That animal struck my son in front of witnesses!"
"I have received the preliminary Marine account."
"Then order his arrest!"
"Sabaody is under an active Emperor-level attack. Civilian evacuation and containment of the Beasts Pirates have priority."
"My son is more important than commoners!"
Sengoku's expression hardened.
"Your son discharged a firearm inside an evacuation corridor after being ordered to stop. Zaraki's action will be investigated, but no officer is being removed from the defensive line while Kaido is approaching."
"You dare lecture me?"
"I am telling you to board the protected vessel and leave Sabaody."
Rosward shook with fury.
"I will speak to the Five Elders!"
"I assumed you would."
The call ended.
For several seconds, Rosward stared at the sleeping Den Den Mushi in his hand.
Garp bent down, lifted the unconscious Charlos by the back of his suit, and placed him aboard the World Noble vessel.
"There. He is evacuated."
Shalria climbed the gangway after him, still staring at Gion with open hatred.
Rosward remained on the pier.
"This is not finished."
"No," Zaraki said, turning toward the western sky. "It isn't."
Clouds were gathering above the distant mangroves.
A vast pressure rolled through Sabaody, heavy enough to make the remaining bubbles tremble in the air.
The horned skull flags of the Beasts Pirates had already entered the western channels, and something enormous moved behind the clouds above them.
Yamakaji's command receiver rang again.
"Enemy flagship has crossed the final marker! Kaido confirmed in dragon form above the fleet!"
Zaraki's golden eyes brightened.
Garp cracked his knuckles.
Gion looked toward the evacuation ship.
"Saint Rosward, leave now."
For the first time since arriving, the World Noble obeyed without another argument.