Questions

Whoosh—

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...

The bombardment continued.

The CP Organization's guards under the command of the Celestial Dragon Saint Lolowim swiftly took over the Navy's blockade points all across the island.

Those positions had also been intended to intercept Aiven Lindsey, but to avoid accidentally harming civilians, the weapons used had mostly been swords. Even firearms were rare.

The CP Organization, however, didn't care about that.

They were Saint Lolowim's private guard force, directly under his command and answerable only to him.

So they completely disregarded the lives of the civilians and immediately brought out powerful firearms.

They even had the incredibly expensive Handheld Portable Cannons!

And their targets weren't just Aiven Lindsey. They were after everyone trying to escape, and wouldn't let a single person get away.

Boom!

"D-Damn it!"

After the bombardment, a figure in a tattered sailor's uniform burst out of the black smoke and stumbled away at a run.

He was one of the slaves from the Arena, and had once been a pirate captain with a bounty of forty million Berries.

When he'd been sailing near the Sabaody Archipelago, his crew had betrayed him. He'd ended up a slave, barely clinging to life ever since.

Now that he had a chance to regain his freedom, he certainly wasn't going to give it up so easily.

But Aiven Lindsey had killed a Celestial Dragon, an unforgivable crime on a global scale. The CP Organization and the Navy had both mobilized, making it far harder to escape by sea!

"The lunatic monster who killed the Celestial Dragon is the one you should be after! Why are you keeping your eyes on me?"

The pirate captain couldn't help cursing.

When he reached a residential area, he'd been looking for a small boat that could take him out to sea, only to be spotted by CP guards patrolling the area.

The CP guards didn't hesitate. They raised their cannons and prepared to pull the triggers.

Seeing this, the pirate captain panicked and grabbed a little girl who was taking shelter by the side of the street. He threatened the guards:

"I've got a hostage! You wouldn't dare fire!"

"..."

The CP guards didn't answer. They simply approached at a steady pace.

Were they trying to calm the pirate captain? Or... get a better shot?

The pirate captain's scalp prickled. He forced a laugh and stammered, "You wouldn't dare fire, right?"

Click!

The trigger was pulled. The cannon fired!

Just as the pirate captain and the little girl were about to be hit, a shadow suddenly charged over. More than six meters tall, huge and misshapen, it planted itself in front of them.

Boom!

The cannonball hit the shadow's body, and the resulting black smoke quickly swallowed all three of them.

When the smoke slowly cleared, Lindsey stood firmly on the ground in his Earth Demon Form, arms raised. They were barely speckled with gunpowder.

Completely unharmed!

In truth, Lindsey had a "physical body," with skin and blood just like an ordinary person. He wasn't indestructible like an ancient Stone Tablet.

But his ability was an even rarer Zoan Mythical Beast Type than a Logia Type. In his fully transformed state, Lindsey's defense was astonishing all the same.

Even without using Armament Haki, mere firearms and cannonballs couldn't hurt him in the slightest!

Perhaps a slash from a master swordsman could?

Lindsey wasn't sure. He hadn't tried it yet, so he wanted to give it a go if the chance came...

"Phew, I-I'm saved..."

The pirate captain gulped in great, ragged breaths, but his hand still clung to the little girl's neck, acting on muscle memory.

He'd been a wanted criminal, often escaping the Navy by taking hostages. But that trick was no use against the CP guards.

"Hey."

Just as the pirate captain was marveling at having survived, another figure appeared behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

The pirate captain didn't understand. He turned to look.

At the same time, the figure reached out with his left arm and pulled the little girl away from the pirate captain.

"What?"

The pirate captain looked dazed. He raised his head and saw a fish-man's bright red face.

It was Fisher Tiger, who had been traveling with Lindsey!

"Y—"

Before the pirate captain could get out even half a word, Tiger covered the little girl's eyes with his left hand, raised his right arm, clenched his fist, and brought it down hard.

"Scum!"

Thud!

The pirate captain was smashed straight into the ground, dead beyond any doubt.

Tiger valued honor and loyalty. Naturally, he couldn't stand a despicable pirate who used a little girl as a hostage.

Even though the man was also a slave who'd escaped from the Arena, Tiger couldn't accept such behavior!

"It's all right now. Go somewhere safe and hide."

Tiger gently let go of the little girl, then frowned and looked toward Lindsey.

"This is getting complicated..."

Having been a slave himself, Tiger knew that slaves were a mixed bunch.

Among them were innocent adventurers and ordinary people, but there were also plenty of wanted criminals and outlaws!

Now those people had regained their freedom too, scattering across the Sabaody Archipelago and causing all sorts of chaos.

From that perspective, had Aiven Lindsey been wrong to free every slave?

No, that wasn't right, either.

Fisher Tiger was straightforward by nature, and prone to getting stuck in a rut.

The scenes he'd just witnessed had left him unsure what kind of feelings he should have toward "humans."

What about those who had been slaves alongside him?

Should someone as vile as that pirate captain have been freed from his slave collar?

Tiger truly didn't know.

Perhaps Queen Otohime could give him an answer. Or perhaps even she wouldn't know what to say.

It was all so complicated...

But whatever the case, there was one thing Tiger had to do now: escape from the Sabaody Archipelago!

"Come on, let's go."

Tiger stepped forward and patted Lindsey on the shoulder, then kept walking.

But the next second—

Lindsey suddenly reached out, grabbed Tiger, and hurled him backward with all his strength.

At the same time, a sharp slash of sword energy came sweeping down diagonally, passing right over Tiger's head!

Clang!

With a single strike, it cut through a large stretch of the surrounding homes. The cut was incredibly clean.

"Tch!"

A shadow flashed past. It was a CP Swordsman skilled with a blade.

When his ambush failed, he decided to retreat for the moment and look for another opportunity.

But he hadn't gone far before he suddenly stumbled and fell.

Lindsey had used his Earth Demon ability to rip open a small gap beneath the CP Swordsman's feet, stopping him in his tracks.

Before the CP Swordsman could react, Lindsey had already charged up to him. He casually picked up a clump of earth and stone from the ground and slammed it down, burying him.

After taking out the swordsman, Lindsey lightly tapped the ground, sensing that no other CP Organization members were nearby. Then he urged Tiger to leave as quickly as possible.

Crocodile wasn't the type to be afraid of trouble. He was always looking for an opportunity, so he must still be waiting at the port!

Seeing this, Tiger nodded and followed him.

But just then, a small shadow suddenly struck Lindsey.

He looked down and saw that it was an ordinary stone. It had been so insignificant that even Lindsey's Earth Demon Form hadn't sensed it.

"Hmm?"

Lindsey turned in the direction the stone had come from.

Among the rubble of the ruined homes, a boy of about ten was staring at Lindsey. Behind him was his bedridden mother.

Most of their home had been damaged. It had become an utterly unsafe ruin, no longer fit to live in.

"You bastard!"

The boy glared through gritted teeth. "I heard the broadcast. Our house was destroyed because you let those bastard pirates go!"

"..."

The boy's body trembled. He was afraid that the terrifying "monster" in front of him would kill him.

Tiger, on the other hand, wasn't very concerned.

Aiven Lindsey was a human being with an almost excessive cheerfulness. He didn't seem like the sort of person who would fly into a rage over words like those.

But what Tiger never expected was for Lindsey to stop and look back at the boy. In a hoarse voice, he growled, "You're the bastard!"

Tiger: "?"

Lindsey kept staring at the trembling boy and shouted, "Tell me, was I the one who destroyed your home?"

The boy paused, then shook his head. "N-No..."

"Was I the one who started the indiscriminate bombardment?"

"No..."

"Was I the one who just took an innocent hostage?"

"No..."

The boy could barely speak now. He managed only a feeble protest: "But if you—"

"If I what?"

Lindsey clenched his massive fists and slammed them into the ground. The earth around them shook.

"Are you trying to say that if I'd quietly stayed a slave, if I hadn't defied the Celestial Dragons, if I'd been content with the way things were, none of this would've happened?"

Lindsey's blood-red gaze was unnerving. Even Tiger could sense the distortion and fury in it.

"Are you saying that if those who 'resisted' had never existed, all of you would have had better lives?"

"Answer me! Does refusing to resist really mean you'll come through unscathed?"

"Ha!"

"How interesting!"

"..."

Lindsey looked ready to stay right there and keep arguing with the boy.

This time, it was Tiger's turn to drag Lindsey away.

The fish-man dragged off the monster who was arguing with a child and kept walking without looking back.

He didn't dare look back.

A multitude of questions weighed on Tiger's mind, leaving him more confused than ever.

Had starting this uprising been "right" or "wrong"?

Was Aiven Lindsey a "good person" or a "bad person"?

Or had this sea mixed everything together until no one could tell one from the other anymore...