Since the Navy stationed itself on Fish-Man Island, the sudden crackdown has made life difficult for human pirates.
The pirates who once dared to show their faces on the streets now don't even have graves. Besides living in constant fear, the remaining pirates can only drown their sorrows in alcohol and curse the Navy.
"Damn it! Who knows how long we'll be stuck on this godforsaken island?!"
A pirate slammed his wooden mug heavily onto the table, causing the spilled liquor to soak the flintlock pistol lying beside it.
Another pirate, sporting a massive beer belly, comforted his companion, "At least we can still sit in this basement bar and drink."
The owner of this establishment was also one of their biggest clients. Pirate crews, slave traders, and even scattered mercenaries could all bring their "goods" here to sell.
These hunters not only earned a hefty profit but also increased their own safety in this fish-man-populated island. The disappearance of merfolk and fish-men left the Sea King Army with no way to track them down.
However, during this recent Navy raid, a large number of pirates who failed to react in time died in the streets within a month. Those who went into hiding were also found by the Navy, their heads cut off and stacked into a grisly war trophy at the front gate of Fish-Man Island.
Only those sheltered within this company's various hideouts survived—these dozen or so human pirates and some slave traders.
"That damned Akainu!" The pirate who had been cursing didn't stop his rant. "The Seven Warlords of the Sea are in the middle of being selected, yet instead of staying put at Marine Headquarters, he came running to Fish-Man Island to uphold his ridiculous idea of law and order!"
Before he could finish speaking, the entire building shook violently. In the basement, the pirates were showered with dust, and many lost their balance, stumbling onto the ground. Drinks on the tables spilled onto the floor.
"An earthquake?" Amidst the chaos, the pirates looked at each other in confusion.
But they quickly realized that wasn't the case.
A massive magma-clad hand melted through the ground above, tearing the floor apart in one swift motion.
"What the—?!"
Panic overtook the pirates. Speaking of the devil, Akainu, the harbinger of death, was now right above them. That could only mean one thing—there was no escape.
"How did he find this place?!" One pirate, his body trembling, muttered in disbelief.
There was no way out. That single thought echoed in every pirate's mind.
But from the moment they chose the pirate's life, they knew it was a path where they tied their heads to their belts. Pillaging, killing, raping, and burning through stolen riches—it was the only way of life they knew.
Pirates reveled in their unchecked desires, never caring about the people they left homeless, grieving, or dead in their wake.
To them, Fish-Man Island was just another land to plunder. And here, they had found a more lucrative business—human trafficking.
Pirates never cared about what happened to the fish-men and merfolk they sold off. To them, "goods" were nothing more than stacks of Berries and gold.
Among them were a few reckless warriors with the guts to fight, but most were just rats who only dared to raise their blades against the weak.
One pirate unsheathed his sword, laughing wildly as he stepped forward to face the inevitable:
"Yo ho ho ho ho, yo ho ho ho ho ho~
A man sails freely, bound by no chains,
Bringing Binks' Sake to your side~"
Following his lead, several pirates grabbed their weapons, singing their pirate anthem as they charged at Sakazuki in a desperate bid to take him down.
"The Jolly Roger flutters in the wind,
We pirates cut through the waves~
A real man lives and dies this way~"
Meanwhile, many others, including the slave traders, remained frozen in place.
Rather than choosing to throw their lives away in futile defiance, they pinned their hopes on a sliver of luck—maybe, just maybe, the Marines would spare them if they didn't resist.
Standing alone in the grand hall of the company's headquarters, Sakazuki coldly looked down at the pirates rushing up from the basement, his expression unmoved.
"A laughable song for a laughable freedom," he sneered. "You built your happiness upon the suffering of others, and yet you have the audacity to sing about it?"
His magma-arm swelled, glowing with dozens of molten-hot embers. With a single punch, the air screamed as it was torn apart by the force of his blow, triggering a deafening sonic boom.
Like an erupting volcano, the sheer force sent dozens of fist-sized magma bombs scattering like fireworks.
"I have no time to waste on you."
Molten rock swallowed the basement whole.
At a crossroads in Coral Hill, a nearby mailbox was suddenly kicked open from the inside. Two men emerged from the hidden passage, their eyes darting around warily as they scanned the empty streets.
Coral Hill was usually bustling with people and vehicles. But today, the streets were deserted, and the shops were all shut tight.
At the Navy's request, the Sea King Army had evacuated all civilians from the impending battlefield.
"Looks like the Navy came prepared…" Pirate Captain Bobin, who had long experience dealing with Marines, muttered grimly.
This was a textbook Navy operation—first evacuate the residents to safety, then systematically hunt down the pirates one by one.
"Hurry up! Before the Marines take over this street!" The merchant beside him frantically pulled at his bodyguard, urging him toward his warehouse.
With this kind of large-scale search, the Navy would undoubtedly find the other hideouts in Coral Hill.
For now, only the warehouse hidden in a remote area remained safe. At worst, they could even use the captured mermaids there as hostages to negotiate with the Marines.
But they had barely taken a few steps when a sharp whistle rang out from both sides of the street.
"Fweeeet!"
A Sea King Army soldier, standing on the second-floor window of a nearby shop, blew his whistle sharply, an iron trident clutched in his hand.
"Run, you idiot! What are you standing there for?!" The merchant, now sprinting at full speed, reached out to grab his bodyguard but nearly stumbled when Bobin, who stood rooted to the ground, yanked him back.
"Are you insane?! If we don't run now, the Navy will find us!"
But Bobin simply tilted his head, listening carefully to the distant noise. Then, with a bitter smile, he shook his head.
"They're already here."
Panic flashed across the merchant's face. "T-Then the secret passage! We can still escape—"
Before he could finish, the Sea King Army soldier in the window abruptly shut it tight.
From all directions, the synchronized sound of marching footsteps echoed through the streets.
The Navy was closing in, step by step, trapping them in the middle of the road.
"Call someone! Hurry and call someone!" The merchant turned around and shouted at the bodyguards. Whether he could survive until tomorrow all depended on this move. Bo Bin took out a launch tube from his pocket and aimed it straight at the sky.
"Shhhreee!" Accompanied by the sharp whistle of the signal flare, fireworks exploded in the night sky in the shape of an axe.
"Nobody is allowed to shoot! We have hostages!"
"Marines, you heard me. I still have many subordinates over at the warehouse, and I also have those mermaids you care about! But if we launch the signal flare a second time, my men will take it as my order to kill all the hostages!"
The merchant gestured wildly to keep the Marines' attention, while Bo Bin used the opportunity to reload the second round and assumed a stance as if he could fire at any moment.
"Oh? Then go ahead and fire it." A deep voice came from the far end of the street in front of them—it was coming from the direction of their company.
The Marine soldiers parted to open a path, allowing Sakazuki to step into the encirclement, dragging the battered and half-dead Macuro, the devouring eel-man, behind him.
"You! You don't care about those hostages?" [Debt Collector]Bo Bin roared, trying to appear intimidating, but his voice betrayed his fear. He waved the launcher in Sakazuki's direction.
Sakazuki casually tossed the beaten Macuro aside. "Hillbilly, stop wasting your energy. While you were all busy making trouble for Macuro, my men already took care of all your underlings in the warehouse!"
"!?"
The merchant's face turned ashen. He swallowed hard and fumbled inside his coat for a small, finely crafted certificate.
"Vice Admiral! Vice Admiral Sakazuki!"
With a fawning smile, he trotted toward Sakazuki. "Misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding! Look, I'm also working for the World Government!"
Sakazuki sneered in contempt. "I don't recall the World Government having any legal slave traders."
"No, no, no, look," the merchant waved his hands frantically and opened the exquisitely crafted certificate, presenting it to Sakazuki. "This is an award issued to me by the World Noble, Saint Rosward—that supreme Celestial Dragon."
The slave trader held his breath, waiting for the Marine Vice Admiral's response.
Sakazuki unfolded the certificate in his palm and examined it carefully. "Not bad, this is indeed a Celestial Dragon's decree."
"Phew..." The merchant let out a long sigh of relief. It seemed that the Celestial Dragons' status still carried enough weight to make the other party hesitate. He seized the opportunity. "See? This was all just a misunderstanding—I'm one of you."
"One of us?" Sakazuki looked down at the merchant with a half-smile. "I'm here to deal with 'one of us.'"
"No, this... You just admitted that this decree is real! That means I'm under the Celestial Dragons' protection!" The merchant stammered, struggling to explain.
The Marine Vice Admiral raised three fingers. "There are three things you don't understand."
"First, trafficking the citizens of the World Government has always been a shady business. The only proof of your protection is this single document."
As he spoke, Sakazuki's arm suddenly turned to magma. The intense heat instantly reduced the paper certificate to ashes. His expression remained unchanged as he nodded sincerely at the now deathly pale merchant. "Oops, my mistake. Accidental discharge."
"Second, let me remind you of something—a phrase you often use to brush off the Neptune Army and cover up your dirty business. I'll return it to you as it is: 'Without evidence, there is no crime.'"
The merchant collapsed to the ground in shock. Sakazuki had made it clear—without evidence, he could execute him just like any other slave trader.
The very excuse he used to evade the Neptune Army had finally come back to bite him.
The utterly panicked human trafficker pointed at the surrounding Marines. "There is evidence! Everyone here heard you admit that I had a decree signed by a Celestial Dragon!"
Sakazuki's smile grew even colder. "That brings me to the third thing I wanted to tell you—'A general in the field is not bound by the orders of his sovereign.'"
"Wait, wait!" The crooked merchant kept retreating. "You're friends with Spandine from the CP department, right? I'm his friend too! I've treated him to dinner before!"
Sakazuki's fist came crashing down.
Then another punch.
And another.
His fists rained down like a storm on the man who saw human lives as nothing more than commodities.
After a moment, Sakazuki straightened up. A nearby Marine officer quickly ran up, handing a towel to his Vice Admiral so he could wipe the blood off his hands.
The officer then reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigar, bringing it close to Sakazuki's mouth while swiftly cutting the tip with a cigar cutter. "Vice Admiral, what should we do with him?"
Both of them turned their eyes toward [Debt Collector]Bo Bin, who had been left standing there. The pirate, whose cheeks were plump with fat, was on the verge of tears.
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki, I'm just a bodyguard! I took money and had to do my job, I had no choice! Please... please don't kill me!"
Sakazuki didn't even look at him. He simply reached out and lit his cigar. "I have no interest in killing a mere bodyguard. You can go."
Bo Bin was dumbfounded. His employer had exhausted all his tricks trying to survive, only to be beaten half to death and left lying on the ground.
And yet, he himself was let off just like that?
"Thank you, thank you, sir!" Bo Bin forced a stiff smile and slowly turned to walk toward the alley.
But he didn't see Sakazuki's arm rapidly transform, the elemental effect spreading until his entire arm became magma.
A moment later, three monstrous, snarling canine heads materialized at his side.
"But I am a little interested in taking down pirates. Pirate [Debt Collector]Bo Bin, bounty: 50 million Berries."
The pirate turned around in horror, and the last thing he saw was the three vicious, burning canine heads consuming him.
Sakazuki pulled out a Den Den Mushi and dialed Neptune's private line. "Hey, it's Sakazuki. Everything's cleaned up on my end."
On the other end of the line, Neptune's voice boomed. "Same here."
"You didn't break anything on the ship, did you?" Sakazuki asked, a little concerned, since Neptune's attacks were never small in scale.
"Well... hahaha, nothing at all!" Neptune looked at the warship that had just been sliced clean in half by his earlier attack and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Why is your voice trembling? Are you sure nothing is broken?" Sakazuki sounded doubtful.
"Let's just stick to the plan and head to Gilloncord Plaza!" Neptune hurriedly changed the subject.
Sakazuki didn't dwell on it—after all, what was coming next was the real highlight.
He gestured toward the unconscious Fish-Man Macuro and the barely alive slave trader on the ground, then turned to lead the team away. "Bring them all. And make sure to bring the freed mermaids and Fish-Men as well. We're heading to Gilloncord Plaza."
The Marine officer waved his hand, and several soldiers worked together to lift the two captives. Suddenly, the officer seemed to remember something.
He looked up at the second-floor window of a shop along the street—where the Neptune Army soldiers who had provided them with intelligence were hidden.
"Neptune Army! Come out and clean up the mess!"