"What is he doing?" Marigold was utterly confused.
Hancock and Sandersonia had no idea either; the two of them could only stare blankly at Chu Yang.
Suddenly, the uneven stone floor of the dungeon cracked open. From the widening fissures, thick roots and vines burst forth, growing with wild, barbaric ferocity. Like a tidal wave of green, a literal forest began to swallow the dungeon whole.
The typically indestructible iron cell doors were suddenly more fragile than tofu. In mere seconds, they were violently crushed and blown apart by the expanding trunks.
The sudden, catastrophic change left the three sisters dumbfounded. They stood frozen in place, terrified, thinking some horrific monster had just invaded the dungeon.
Under Chu Yang's precise control, the surging timber left a clear path for people to pass through. Standing just outside their shattered cell, he shouted, "Hurry up and get out!"
Snapping out of her daze, Hancock pushed her way through the lush foliage. Staring at him in shock, she asked, "Are you a Devil Fruit user?"
"No time to explain!" Chu Yang deflected, turning his back to her. "Take everyone and run!"
"Thank you!" Hancock gave Chu Yang one last, deep look, as if trying to carve his face permanently into her memory, before grabbing her younger sisters and sprinting away.
Relying on his newly acquired Wood Release, Chu Yang systematically destroyed every single cell door in the block in record time.
The slaves, having been imprisoned in the dark for so long, surged out like a broken dam, scrambling frantically toward the exit. The massive, chaotic swarm of people formed a dark, churning tide. From a distance, the stampede looked absolutely terrifying—and that was exactly the effect Chu Yang wanted.
As the very last person fled the dungeon, Chu Yang decided to burn this abyss of sin to the ground. With the massive amount of wood he had just generated acting as premium kindling, the fire spread with terrifying speed.
Under the cover of night, Chu Yang sprinted through the streets, lighting fires everywhere he went and using his Wood Release to guide the inferno throughout the entirety of Mary Geoise.
However, what Chu Yang didn't know was...
On the opposite side of the city, someone else was currently trying to do the exact same thing.
Illuminated by the dancing flames, a tall, incredibly burly silhouette stood out in the night. His distinct red skin and unique features made it painfully obvious that he was not an ordinary human.
Fisher Tiger!
Tiger, who had always worshipped freedom, had dreamed of becoming a great traveler. But shortly after beginning his journey, he was captured by human traffickers and sold into slavery.
For three whole years, Tiger had suffered inhuman abuse. He had seen the absolute depths of human greed and depravity, leaving him utterly disillusioned with the human race.
Yet, rather than being consumed solely by hatred, Tiger's greatest desire was to liberate the lives of other races who shared his tragic fate. This was exactly why, after successfully escaping the Holy Land on his own, he had returned.
Tiger intended to free every single slave in this hellhole.
Carrying this grand, noble ideal, Tiger had just unlocked a few cages and was preparing to set them on fire... only to look up and see that the other side of the city was already ablaze!
Who?!
Who the hell beat me to it?!
Staring at the rapidly escalating inferno, Tiger realized that if he didn't speed up his rescue operation, all the slaves he came to save would be burned alive.
"Who the hell set this fire?!" Tiger cursed furiously, forced to run wildly as the creeping flames threatened to swallow him.
Fortunately, thanks to his time as a slave, Tiger knew the layout of the Holy Land like the back of his hand. Despite the severe time crunch, he still managed to rescue the vast majority of the captives. The remaining slaves capitalized on the ensuing chaos and managed to flee on their own.
Having achieved his goal, Tiger prepared to make his grand exit.
But just a short distance away, a fully armed squad of Marines marched directly toward him, cutting off his escape.
"You've got a lot of nerve, daring to illegally release so many slaves!" A Marine Captain wearing the standard Justice coat roared, trembling with fury.
Tiger replied righteously, "They were innocent people to begin with, kidnapped by traffickers and dragged to this Holy Land! As Marines, you not only fail to protect the weak, but you actively aid the wicked! You are a disgrace!"
The Marine Captain sneered. "I'm not wasting my breath on you. Compared to freeing the slaves, your crime of setting the Holy Land on fire is a thousand times worse. You're a dead man walking—surrender now!"
Tiger froze for a second, then snapped angrily, "I didn't set the fire!"
"Still making excuses at death's door! If you refuse to come quietly, don't blame me for getting rough!" Ignoring Tiger's defense entirely, the Captain ordered his men to attack.
In a flash, the squad swarmed him. Dozens of flintlock rifles aimed squarely at Tiger and fired in unison.
Without a trace of panic, Tiger shifted into the stance of Fish-Man Karate.
He gripped the very moisture in the air, compressing it into a violent current. With a powerful, sweeping thrust, a shockwave blasted outward in all directions.
The countless bullets were instantly knocked off course by the kinetic blast, losing their momentum and dropping to the ground with a rhythmic clatter, like falling rain.
The Marine Captain's face turned incredibly ugly; the Fish-Man's combat prowess far exceeded his expectations.
"To dare infiltrate the Holy Land alone and commit arson... you really aren't an ordinary Fish-Man," the Captain said coldly.
Seeing that the man was completely convinced of his guilt, Tiger didn't bother trying to explain anymore. He had come here to free the slaves and burn the place down anyway; taking the blame didn't make much of a difference now.
Seeing that ranged attacks were useless, the Captain ordered his soldiers into close-quarters combat.
As a Fish-Man, Tiger's physical baseline was ten times that of a normal human. The Captain knew perfectly well that these grunts couldn't take Tiger down. But that didn't matter. As long as they stalled him for just a little while longer, the true Marine powerhouses would naturally arrive to deal with this monster. The Captain just wanted a piece of the credit; he had no intention of risking his own life.
Tiger, noticing the commander hanging back and only sending fodder to tie him down, instantly saw through the man's cowardly tactic.
I need to end this fast!
Tiger pushed forward, trying to break through the encirclement in one breath, but he kept getting bogged down by the sea of bodies. It was like stepping into a mud pit; every movement was restricted.
Standing safely outside the fray, the Marine Captain laughed smugly. "Don't put up a pointless struggle. It'll be better for everyone this way."
Tiger's expression darkened completely. The longer this dragged on and the higher the flames rose, the closer the true Marine heavyweights were getting.
"If you think I'm going back to being a slave, I'd rather die right here!" Tiger gritted his teeth, his eyes locked on the Marines. Even if he died, he was going to drag a few of them to hell with him—especially that smug Captain.
Just as Tiger prepared to fight to the bitter end, the ground beneath his feet began to violently tremble.
Thick, rugged tree trunks suddenly erupted from the earth! In an instant, the entire Marine formation was flipped upside down, tossing countless soldiers screaming into the air.
Trapped in the rapidly expanding canopy, the Captain shrieked in terror, "What the hell is this thing?!"
A second later, he was completely swallowed by the sea of trees.
This abrupt, terrifying phenomenon forced Tiger onto high alert, his eyes locked warily onto the bizarre, writhing timber.
"Why are you still standing there? Get moving!"
A human teenager suddenly popped out from the thicket, shot Tiger a fleeting glance, and hurriedly dashed away in the opposite direction.
Tiger was stunned for a moment. Snapping out of it, he quickly fell in behind the boy, weaving rapidly through the forest of thorns and wood.
At that exact same moment, deep within the World Government... The Five Elders were absolutely losing their minds.
"Preposterous! For someone to dare commit murder and arson in Mary Geoise... they are trampling the absolute dignity of the Celestial Dragons underfoot!"
"Who is this lunatic?! Have we identified them yet?!"
"According to reports from the patrol squads, it appears to be a Fish-Man taking advantage of the chaos to release the slaves!"
"Those damned Fish-Men... they've grown far too arrogant in recent years!"
"Where is Sakazuki?! Summon him immediately to apprehend these criminals!"
"The entire city is engulfed in flames! Sending Sakazuki's magma into that will only make the disaster worse! Send Kuzan to handle this at once!"