Fisher Tiger was talking to Bellemere as well, giving her some instructions. In the eyes of the "Telepathist" Sig, the complicated expression on Bellemere's face was like a pie chart!
There was "discomfort at being entrusted with something by pirates," "guilt over the Marines' failure to protect everyone, leaving her dependent on pirates instead," and... deep self-doubt.
Sig figured that Bellemere would leave the Marines once she had completely wrapped up the events in Machu Picchu Town.
"Aladdin, come here. She's more seriously injured... Little Fei's tough as nails, so he can wait." Fisher Tiger called Aladdin over.
Sig: ???
Boss Tiger, you're breaking my heart!
"I..." Bellemere wanted to refuse. She was still a Marine, and had some reservations about accepting treatment from pirates.
"We can't stay here long. These children are counting on you." Fisher Tiger didn't press the matter. After saying that, he turned and went to arrange the rescue efforts.
The open flames had all been put out, but the harbor town on Machu Picchu Island was still strewn with wreckage...
After hearing Fisher Tiger's words, Bellemere didn't refuse again.
Aladdin came over and removed the lead bullet still lodged in her lower left abdomen. Then he disinfected the wound, stitched it up, and bandaged it. Sig kept groaning beside her the whole time, but Aladdin simply pretended not to hear.
As he lay there, Sig also thought back over the earlier battle. In the end, he had unleashed "Two Thousand Sheet Tile Fist" — in Fish-Man Karate, "tiles" were used to describe the force of a strike, measured by the vibration of a certain volume of water.
"Thousand Tiles Punch" and "Two Thousand Sheet Tile Fist" were also completely different in nature. The former referred only to the power of a standard punch during training, and when people described it, they generally left out the measure word "sheet."
Being able to throw a "Thousand Tiles Punch" meant that one's punches during training were at the thousand-tile level. But after using Armament Haki and other techniques for generating force, the actual power in battle was often greater than that number. In that case, the measure word "sheet" was added to describe the power of the move.
At the final moment, the power of the "Wrathful People" had erupted within Sig. His "anger" had served as a catalyst, fully bringing out the power of his will and allowing him to manifest true Armament Haki!
In other words, Sig was still only around the thirtieth level in Fish-Man Karate. But under extreme anger, he had awakened Armament Haki, so his combat strength had been greater.
His strike had been a full five hundred tiles stronger than usual — fifteen hundred tiles. Wasn't rounding that up to "two thousand tiles" reasonable?
It was just that Sig didn't know any techniques, so it was still a "punch"...
"Arlong, what are you doing here? Didn't Boss Tiger tell everyone to help with the rescue?" Sig glared irritably at Arlong, who was milling around nearby.
"Heh. Aren't you lying there too?" Arlong looked contemptuously at Sig, who was sprawled on a rock.
"I'm injured, can't you see?" Sig said with righteous indignation.
"I'm protecting the injured." Arlong sounded even more indignant.
When it came to rescuing humans, Arlong always did as little as he could get away with.
"But are we really not going to kill these slavers?" Sig looked at the bound men around them, his gaze turning colder.
This was one of the rare topics on which Sig and Arlong saw eye to eye...
"Boss Tiger said this is enough. The Marines will be here soon to take them into custody." Arlong said it angrily, voicing his doubts about whether the Marines would let them go.
But Sig understood that things had already gotten this serious, and the men had been caught in public, with so many residents of Machu Picchu Island as witnesses. Even if there were corrupt higher-ups in the Marines, it was unlikely they would release the prisoners — though covering up the evidence was quite possible!
Of course, even if the people of Machu Picchu Island had seen everything with their own eyes, the reports afterward would certainly say that the Marines had wiped out the Two-Headed Wolf Slaver Squad.
After all, news traveled poorly across the Grand Line. Whatever the World Government said, that was what the other islands would hear.
Maybe Curly and Bellemere would even be rewarded with promotions for this? The Marines would need someone to take credit for it, after all.
"They're getting off way too easy!" Arlong said bitterly.
Sig thought for a moment, then followed Arlong's lead and shouted, "Exactly! These slavers are connected to the higher-ups in the Marines. They must know it themselves, and they'll definitely find a way to plead for leniency!"
Arlong glanced at Sig, surprised by his sudden raised voice. Then he understood and started shouting along with him.
They were saying it partly for the residents of Machu Picchu Island, and partly for the people from the Two-Headed Wolf — making absolutely sure everyone knew they had "connections." Even if that couldn't drag the Marines into the scandal, it would ensure that the prisoners were all silenced!
"Keep it down, you two! Can't you see there are injured people here?" Uncle Aladdin yelled furiously, startling an old man getting bandaged so badly that his wound nearly split open again.
They were called the injured, but aside from Sig, everyone who needed treatment was an ordinary human from Machu Picchu Island.
Although Bellemere was badly hurt too, once her wounds had been bandaged, she immediately joined the rescue effort.
If the Marines had been doing the work, she was injured too, so she could have rested for a while.
But Bellemere simply couldn't accept lying there while watching a group of pirates rescue people. Getting up and helping herself made her feel a little better.
Curly was also brought down from the ship at this point, escorted by the Kissing Fish-Man Chuu...
"Damn it! What have you done?" Rear Admiral Kuri saw the attacked town in front of him and instinctively assumed the Fish-Man Pirates were responsible.
"Shut up! What have we done? We're cleaning up after you bunch of incompetent Marines!" Chuu showed him no courtesy and kicked him hard enough to send him sprawling face-first into the dirt.
Kuri now noticed that the bound men were mostly dressed for combat, while the people being rescued looked like civilians. And there was... the tattered flag of the "Two-Headed Wolf" lying on the ground.
"This is... Machu Picchu Island?" Curly realized.
Just then, Fisher Tiger returned to the harbor with his men. Seeing this, Sig checked the sky and pushed himself to his feet.
Bellemere, who was busy helping out, looked at Sig in confusion.
"Daybreak's almost here. It's time for the merfolk to disappear," Sig said.
Uncle Aladdin had finished treating all the seriously injured by then...
The Sun Pirates weren't saints. They weighed the risks to themselves, too. They had to leave before dawn, lest they be cornered by Marines from nearby who came after hearing the news!
Just like in a fairy tale, once dawn broke, not a single Fish-Man could be seen on Machu Picchu Island. Looking toward the horizon, all they could see was a pirate flag about to disappear.
Aside from the residents of Machu Picchu Island, everyone else would know only that on February 12, 1506, according to the Sea Circle Calendar, the Marines had fought bravely on Machu Picchu Island, defeated the infamous "Two-Headed Wolf Slaver Squad," and upheld justice and peace on the sea...
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