Go See the Real Sun

The fire in Mary Geoise only began to die down well into the night.

In the Holy Land's temporary command post, an official stared at a report, his hands trembling.

"More than six hundred people missing from the East District?"

"The western district is about the same! Someone lowered all the outer ring elevators. At least several thousand must have escaped!"

"Where are the guards? Where are the Cipher Pol agents?!"

A subordinate braced himself and reported, "Rear Admiral Ron stopped several groups, but after he sent them through a spatial door... they disappeared without a trace."

"And Lord Shanks brought down three streets in a row during the pursuit, blocking all our own people's paths."

The official's vision went dark.

One had lost people by opening doors, while the other had swung his sword and wiped out the roads.

Had the World Government spent so much raising these formidable figures, only for them to undermine their own side tonight?

But with their ranks and identities, none of the people below them dared say a harsh word.

A communications officer tried calling both of them on their Den Den Mushi. One said he was in pursuit; the other said the people he had sent back had been snatched away again.

They both sounded busy enough, but no one could say where the slaves had actually gone.

The official slammed the table. "Where's Fisher Tiger? Capture him first!"

The outer ring, at the last slave prison.

Fisher Tiger smashed through the final iron door with one punch and helped several people who had trouble walking out.

"Head down! There's an elevator passage ahead. It'll take you straight to the foot of the mountain!"

"What about you?" someone asked, looking back.

"I'll cover the rear."

The flesh on his back had long been torn and bloody, the skin on his palms was rubbed raw, and even his fingernails had been torn up.

From scaling the Red Line barehanded to fighting his way through the prisons, he had not had a moment to catch his breath. Every breath tasted of iron.

Only when the last child disappeared around the street corner did he prepare to turn around.

Before running off, the child had looked back and called out, "Thank you."

Fisher Tiger had not answered.

He was afraid that if he opened his mouth, what little strength he had left would leave him.

But footsteps were already closing in from every direction.

Cipher Pol agents, the Holy Land garrison, and God's Knights in special uniforms crowded together, blocking every escape route.

Shanks stood to the side of the crowd, a hand on his sword hilt, saying nothing.

At the intersection directly ahead, a black-haired young man stood straight, wearing a Justice Coat with the Zhenyuan Sword on his back.

"Rear Admiral Ron!"

The commander shouted himself hoarse. "That's him! We can't let Fisher Tiger escape! Please kill him at once!"

Ron looked at the blood-covered Fish-Man across from him. "All right."

Shanks frowned slightly.

Ron had been secretly letting people go before, so why had he agreed so readily this time?

"Everyone else, stand back."

Ron stepped out of the ranks.

The commander was taken aback. "What?"

"He's a tough one. He climbed the Red Line barehanded and fought his way through half the slave district."

Ron gripped the hilt of the Zhenyuan Sword. "You'll only get in the way if you go after him. Let me handle it."

No one objected.

One Cipher Pol agent, unwilling to give up, tried to circle around for a sneak attack, but Ron shot him a sidelong glance as soon as he moved.

"Can't you understand a word I'm saying?"

The man froze on the spot, not daring to move again.

Fisher Tiger lowered his center of gravity and raised his fists.

He recognized that white coat.

Across the fire earlier, this man had clearly let him go, yet now he had drawn his sword.

"Marine, are you going to drag them all back too?"

"Fisher Tiger."

Ron's voice was icy. "Surrender without a fight!"

Fisher Tiger wasted no more words. He stamped his foot, shattering the paving stones beneath it.

"Fish-Man Karate: Shark Tile Fist!"

He threw a punch, making even the moisture in the air tremble as a shock wave burst across the street!

Clang!

The spine of the Zhenyuan Sword met the punch head-on, and Ron did not budge.

Fisher Tiger's entire arm, however, went numb, and his bones seemed to groan.

At the instant the blade met the fist, a tiny door no larger than a fingernail quietly opened in the shadow of the sword's spine.

A voice, barely above a whisper, traveled through space straight into Fisher Tiger's ear.

"I can only give you one chance."

Fisher Tiger froze.

Bang!

Ron's next sweep of his sword sent him staggering back several steps, his back slamming hard into a wall.

The onlookers saw only Ron pressing Fisher Tiger hard, every attack vicious.

"Still refusing to surrender?" Ron shouted in a deep voice.

Fisher Tiger roared and charged again!

The two exchanged more than a dozen blows in an instant.

The force of Fisher Tiger's punches cracked the stone pavement, and a backhanded chop shattered even a stone pillar beside them.

Ron neither dodged nor retreated. He swept the Zhenyuan Sword across, knocking Fisher Tiger's fist aside.

Bang!

The sword's heavy spine slammed into Fisher Tiger's shoulder.

Fisher Tiger grunted. The scabbed wound on his shoulder split open again, and blood ran down his arm.

Fisher Tiger endured the pain and hurled himself forward, but Ron drove a knee into his ribs, knocking both his feet off the ground.

"Argh!"

His ribs cracked.

This brat... he's really hitting me!

Fist and sword collided again, and the tiny door opened between them once more.

"I'll drive you to the cliff on the eastern side of the Red Line."

Ron's voice was soft. "How you get away alive after that is up to you."

Fisher Tiger clenched his teeth and did not look toward the voice.

Another sword strike came down!

He raised his arm to block it and used the impact to keep retreating east.

Since this brat is willing to give me a chance to live, I'll take the gamble!

The two clashed fiercely again.

"One more thing."

Ron's voice drifted through the tiny door. "Once you go back, the World Government will definitely label you a pirate."

Fisher Tiger frowned.

"But they're the ones writing the name. You choose your own path."

Ron pressed down with his sword and continued speaking through the door. "You rescued those people, but don't actually lead this group into becoming pirates later."

"An adventure group, an escort ship, a seafaring organization of your own for Fish-Men... call yourselves whatever you like."

"The navy and piracy aren't the only two ways to live on the sea."

Fisher Tiger looked earnestly into Ron's eyes.

"Why... are you telling me this?"

Ron swept his sword forward, forcing Fisher Tiger back again. Only Fisher Tiger heard his final words.

"Because I can't stand them either."

Ron deliberately guided the fight, each sword strike sealing off the other directions Fisher Tiger could break through.

To the onlookers, Ron was steadily restricting Fisher Tiger's room to move, driving his opponent into a desperate corner.

"Good!"

The Holy Land commander shouted excitedly at the sight. "Drive him to the cliff!"

Shanks watched quietly, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Ron had blocked every escape route to the north, west, and south, leaving only the eastern path to the cliff open.

He moved without drawing attention, using the crowd as cover to block several of God's Knights who intended to circle around the side, and nipped their plans to seal off the cliff in the bud.

As the fight continued, Fisher Tiger was forced to retreat again and again. The ground beneath his feet changed from a smooth street to the rough rock at the edge of the Red Line.

Behind him lay a sheer, dizzying drop.

Clouds and mist churned below, hiding the sea from view.

"He has nowhere to go!"

The commander roared with excitement. The guards and Cipher Pol agents all converged on the cliff edge, raising their weapons and aiming at Fisher Tiger.

Fisher Tiger gasped for breath. Blood continued to seep from his shoulder wound, his ribs hurt unbearably, and his strength had long since nearly run out.

Ron carried the Zhenyuan Sword as he walked slowly onto the rocks at the cliff's edge. Armament Haki wrapped around the blade, while spatial power trembled and gathered along its edge.

"Dimension Slash: Severing the Void!"

He brought his sword down!

A pitch-black spatial slash tore through the air. Fisher Tiger strained to raise his arms and block, but the spatial power ignored his physical guard and swept across his chest and shoulder.

A wound split open in an instant, deep enough to expose bone, and blood splashed across the crimson cliff rocks.

The tremendous impact sent Fisher Tiger staggering backward, one foot stepping into empty air beyond the cliff.

"Fisher Tiger."

Ron's voice rang out, clear enough for everyone to hear. "You have nowhere to go."

At the same moment, the tiny spatial door opened beside Fisher Tiger's ear, and a whisper reached him: "Jump."

Fisher Tiger's pupils contracted sharply.

Ron continued loudly, "Surrender."

Fisher Tiger glanced down at the vast abyss beneath his feet, then looked back up at Ron and suddenly bared his teeth in a defiant grin.

"I went through hell to climb up here."

"How could I go back on my knees?!"

With those words, Fisher Tiger hesitated no longer. Dragging his heavily injured body along, he leaped off the Red Line!

"He jumped!"

"Shoot him dead!"

The Cipher Pol agents at the cliff edge immediately raised their guns, while the others prepared ranged attacks.

Ron turned his wrist and swung the Zhenyuan Sword again.

Boom!

A sword wave swept across the edge of the cliff!

A vast section of the crimson rock face shattered with a crash. Countless rocks tumbled down, and dust and sea mist instantly blocked everyone's view.

The commander was deeply moved by the sight and exclaimed in admiration, "Rear Admiral Ron is even following up with another attack!"

Hidden by the dust, Fisher Tiger was plummeting.

Just as he was about to hit the rock face, an Air Door suddenly opened in front of him.

Whoosh!

He vanished in an instant.

Almost at the same time, an Air Door quietly opened above the sea beneath the Red Line.

Fisher Tiger tumbled out of the door, only a few meters above the water.

Splash!

The seawater swallowed him instantly.

The two Air Doors vanished immediately afterward, leaving no trace.

Shanks only caught a faint hint of spatial fluctuation in the distance and could not tell what Ron had actually done.

At the top of the cliff, the last fragments of rock gradually settled, and the sea mist slowly dispersed.

There was nothing beneath the cliff.

Cipher Pol immediately sent people to investigate, but the waters beneath the Red Line were vast. They could not find a body, nor could they find any clear trace.

A Cipher Pol agent leaned close to the commander and lowered his voice.

"Sir, can't Rear Admiral Ron open spatial doors? Should we ask him to go down and continue the pursuit?"

The commander glared at him.

"Pursue what?!"

"He already wounded Fisher Tiger badly all by himself and forced him to jump off the Red Line! So many of you surrounded him all night and couldn't catch him, and now you're finding fault with the navy instead?"

The Cipher Pol agent who had asked the question immediately shut his mouth and dared not say another word.

Deep beneath the sea, below the Red Line.

Fisher Tiger slowly opened his eyes.

His chest hurt terribly, and blood was still seeping from his wound.

He glanced down, then looked up at the distant surface.

He had survived.

That kid... had really sent him down here.

Fisher Tiger gritted his teeth, got his bearings, and swam toward the depths of the sea.

As dawn approached, the fire in Mary Geoise was finally brought completely under control.

The World Government finalized its public announcement overnight.

[Fisher Tiger attacked the Holy Land Mary Geoise and freed a large number of slaves.]

[After arriving, Navy Rear Admiral Ron confronted Fisher Tiger head-on, severely wounded him, and forced him off the Red Line.]

[The World Government issued its highest-level wanted notice for Fisher Tiger, demanding that he be brought in alive or his body be recovered.]