Boss Fisher Tiger was currently instructing Bellemere on something. In the eyes of the Mind Reader Sig, Bellemere's complicated expression was like a pie chart!
It held discomfort at being entrusted with tasks by pirates, guilt over the Marines failing to protect everyone, forcing them to rely on pirates instead, and... deep self-doubt.
Sig estimated that Bellemere would leave the Marines after thoroughly wrapping up the affairs of Machu Picchu Town.
"Aladdin, come here. She's more seriously injured... Little Fei is tough, he can wait," Fisher Tiger called out to Aladdin.
Sig: ???
Boss Fisher Tiger, you're going to break my heart!
"I..." Bellemere wanted to refuse. As a Marine, she still had psychological barriers to accepting treatment from pirates.
"We can't stay here long. These children still need you," Fisher Tiger didn't persuade further, merely stating this before turning to arrange the rescue.
Although the open flames were extinguished, Machu Picchu Port Town was still a ruin...
After hearing Fisher Tiger's words, Bellemere no longer spoke of refusal.
Aladdin came over and removed the lead bullet still lodged in her left abdomen, then disinfected, stitched, and bandaged the wound. Sig grumbled beside them the entire time, but Aladdin acted as if he couldn't hear.
While lying down, Sig mentally reviewed the previous battle, recalling how he had unleashed the "Two Thousand Sheet Tile Fist"—Fish-Man Karate used "Tiles" to describe power, with the standard being a certain water flow vibration.
Furthermore, "Thousand Tiles Punch" and "Two Thousand Sheet Tile Fist" were fundamentally different. The former merely represented the power of a standard punch during training, and was generally described without the quantifier "Sheet."
Being able to unleash a "Thousand Tiles Punch" meant the standard punch during training was at the thousand-tile level. After using Armament Haki and other power-exerting techniques, the actual combat power often exceeded this number. At this point, the power of the technique would be quantified with "Sheet."
At the critical moment, Sig's power of the Wrathful People erupted, guided by his "anger," his willpower completely ignited, forming true Armament Haki!
In other words, Sig's Fish-Man Karate was still around the thirty-dan level, but under extreme anger, he awakened Armament Haki, thus displaying greater combat power.
His power output was a full five hundred tiles more than usual—one thousand five hundred tiles. Rounding it up to "two thousand tiles" wasn't reasonable?
It was just that Sig didn't know any specific techniques, so it remained a "standard punch"...
"Arlong, what are you doing here? Didn't Boss Fisher Tiger tell everyone to participate in the rescue?" Sig asked Arlong, who was loitering nearby, with annoyance.
"Heh, aren't you lying there too!" Arlong looked disdainfully at Sig, who was lying on a rock.
"Can't you see I'm injured?" Sig retorted righteously.
"I'm protecting the wounded," Arlong replied even more righteously.
Arlong had always slacked off whenever it came to rescuing humans.
"But are you really not going to kill these slavers?" Sig looked at the bound figures around them, his gaze growing colder.
This was one of the rare topics on which Sig and Arlong could find common ground...
"Boss Fisher Tiger said this is fine. The Marines will be here soon to take them into custody," Arlong said resentfully, also questioning whether the Marines would let them go.
However, Sig understood that since the incident had escalated so much and they were caught publicly, with so many residents of Machu Picchu Town witnessing it, even if there were corrupt high-ranking officials in the Marines, it was unlikely they would let them go—assassination, however, was very possible!
Of course, even if the people of Machu Picchu Town witnessed it, the subsequent reports would undoubtedly state that the Marines had annihilated the Two-Headed Wolf Slaver Squad.
After all, communication was inconvenient on the Grand Line, and other islands would believe whatever the World Government said.
Perhaps Curly and Bellemere would have their careers advance because of this? After all, they needed someone to take credit.
"This is too lenient for them!" Arlong said hatefully.
Sig thought for a moment and, echoing Arlong's sentiment, shouted loudly, "Yeah, these slave traders are connected to high-ranking Marines. They must know this themselves, and they'll definitely find a way to plead for leniency!"
Arlong looked at Sig, who had suddenly raised his voice, in surprise. Then, understanding dawning, he also began to shout along with Sig.
This was partly to be heard by the residents of Machu Picchu Town, and partly for the Two-Headed Wolf members—to ensure everyone knew they had "connections above," and even if they couldn't implicate the Marines, they had to ensure they were all silenced!
"Can you two keep it down? Can't you see there are wounded here!" Uncle Aladdin yelled irritably, startling an elderly person being bandaged, almost causing their wound to reopen.
Although called "wounded," apart from Sig, those needing treatment were the ordinary humans of Machu Picchu Town.
Bellemere, despite her serious injuries, immediately joined the rescue efforts after being bandaged.
If Marines were the ones busy, she would have rested due to her injuries.
But now, Bellemere couldn't accept just lying there watching a group of pirates save people; moving herself would make her feel better.
Curly was also brought down from the ship by the kissing Fish-Man "Chuu"...
"Damn it! What did you do?" Rear Admiral Kuri instinctively assumed the Fish-Man Pirates were responsible upon seeing the attacked town before him.
"Shut up! What did we do? We're cleaning up your mess, you idiots in the Marines!" Chuu was not polite, kicking him directly into a face-plant.
Kuri then noticed that some of the bound individuals were basically armed, while those being rescued appeared to be civilians, and... the tattered flag of the "Two-Headed Wolf" on the ground.
"This is... Machu Picchu Island?" Curly finally realized.
At this moment, Fisher Tiger and his men returned to the port shore. Sig glanced at the sky and, propping himself up with his arms, stood up.
Bellemere, who was busy helping, looked at Sig in confusion.
"It's almost dawn. It's time for Merfolk to disappear," Sig said.
Uncle Aladdin had finished treating all the severely injured by then...
The Sun Pirates were not entirely altruistic; they weighed their own risks. They had to evacuate before dawn to avoid being cornered by Marines rushing over after hearing the news!
Like a fairy tale, after dawn, no Fish-Man Race figures could be seen on Machu Picchu Island, and only a fading pirate flag could be seen on the horizon.
Apart from the residents of Machu Picchu Island, others would only know that on February 12th, Year 1506 of the Sea Calendar, the Marines fought bravely on Machu Picchu Island, defeating the notorious "Two-Headed Wolf Slaver Squad" and upholding justice and peace on the seas
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