Port Slaughter

"Your opponents are here!"

Seeing the experts from the direct intelligence agency trying to destroy the stone bridge, the burly red Fish-Man roared and charged forward.

His muscles bulged, and he directly used his chest to block the huge slash attack kicked out by his opponent!

At this moment, Sig was certain that this man was definitely Fisher Tiger—the hero who orchestrated this mass slave escape.

Although he was struck to the ground and slid over ten meters before stabilizing his feet, Tiger still stood firm, his chest completely unharmed.

"What a troublesome monster."

The two combatants from the direct intelligence agency... Sig didn't know if they were "CP0" or "CP9"... were also starting to get a headache.

This stone bridge was merely a pier in the port for ships to dock and disembark. For Fish-Men and Mermaids, it held little significance; without it, they could still swim to the ships.

Even without considering speed, they could escape by diving without ships...

However, for humans, apart from the "experts," even those who could swim and were familiar with water would face many difficulties boarding without the pier. They would either have to swim across or use a small boat first. For ordinary people with average combat power, the port would be a dead end without the pier!

Tiger's act of stepping forward to protect the pier had also ignited the fighting spirit of many pirates...

Even after being enslaved for so long, some still had a spark of courage in their hearts that could be ignited!

Tiger had also inspired many pirates, or other enslaved individuals with combat ability, to turn back and fight to cover the escape of more slaves!

This was why the port, with its four berths and four paths to freedom, was being fiercely held by the slaves.

If everyone who arrived here only thought of escaping as quickly as possible, this place would have been recaptured long ago.

Especially since many Fish-Men, under Tiger's command, were continuously pushing boats from the sheltered harbor, ensuring that ship after ship of people could escape.

As for how many would ultimately escape, it would depend on luck...

At first, Sig also wanted to find a ship and get on board immediately. After all, this was the freedom he craved, and... he wasn't exactly an expert himself!

However, halfway across the stone bridge, Sig looked back at Tiger, who was currently smashing the heads of two intelligence combatants together, and hesitated.

He had been singing pirate songs to incite others, and yet he was fleeing without stopping. It seemed a bit awkward.

What convinced Sig even more was his observation of those who immediately boarded ships to escape and those who stayed behind to support...

Well, among the former, besides the weak, were those who lacked responsibility or had had their courage completely broken and their fighting spirit dulled.

Escaping with these people seemed to have a lower success rate?

After all, once at sea, they would still face pursuit!

And if they were already at sea, when the Marines coordinated their pursuit, it would be safer to go with "strong individuals"—this was different from the logic of trying to escape amidst chaos in Mary Geoise without drawing too much attention. Later, when being pursued at sea, everyone would have only one identity: "runaway slaves of the Celestial Dragons."

Under the cover of this identity, strength would no longer be important. Any department of the World Government would hunt them down as the most important fugitives!

Whether they were strong or ordinary little girls, they represented the face of the Celestial Dragons, the face of the World Government!

There was no such thing as being overlooked due to weakness... and one must remember that Marineford, the Marine Headquarters, was not far away.

Thus, Sig turned back and charged into the fray, cutting down several cannon fodder who tried to storm the bridge area and assisting in maintaining order for boarding.

At the same time, Sig began to observe—which ship would be good for me to board?

Even setting aside the World Government's pursuit, after leaving the sea from here, they would face the Grand Line!

Sig didn't believe his current strength was enough to navigate it alone, or to rally a crew.

The good news was that many of the Celestial Dragons' slaves were once famous pirates on the seas. Humiliating powerful individuals from the outside world was a cruel hobby for many Celestial Dragons.

Although most of these slaves had their fighting spirit ground down, most of those still fighting at this moment could be considered top-tier individuals from the first half of the Grand Line.

Moreover...

They had already lost contact with their companions. If they still had ambitions, now was the time to recruit crew members, and they would certainly not refuse someone with some strength who shared their plight.

As for whether to become a pirate?

As a runaway slave of the Celestial Dragons, Sig didn't have many career options...

Of course, Sig also had to filter out those cold-hearted and cruel individuals, otherwise, they might end up silencing him later to prevent him from revealing his identity as a runaway slave.

Even if not for that reason, there was no reason to choose a cold and cruel captain!

Based on Sig's observations of pirate slaves in Mary Geoise over the past few years, the pirate world indeed had many pirate groups characterized by "righteousness and loyalty" and "deep bonds."

However, for pirates, it was more often a matter of deception and betrayal: the first mate kills the captain today, the captain executes dissenting crew members tomorrow, and the day after, they betray each other over treasure...

The sea was already ruthless enough; Sig at least hoped for a better "ecosystem" on the ship.

As for how to assess a future captain's temperament based on their performance in battle?

For others, it might be difficult to observe, as being ruthless to enemies doesn't necessarily mean being so to comrades...

But for Sig, who was endowed with observational abilities by the "Spectator," there were clues. By observing the expressions, eyes, and instinctive actions when killing enemies, Sig could roughly infer their personalities.

Of course, he couldn't see everything, nor was it always accurate. After all, Sig was just a "Spectator," not a higher-tier "mind reader" or "psychologist"...

Gradually, Sig hadn't chosen a captain yet, but he felt the pressure on the stone bridge increasing—Mary Geoise seemed to be organizing forces to retake control of the port!

And at this moment, some slaves who had been fighting bravely began to turn and flee.

After all, that burst of courage was temporary; they weren't willing to sacrifice themselves for real...

This emotion was also spreading, and it looked like they wouldn't be able to hold on any longer!

"Boss, let's retreat too! Those who haven't escaped yet can't get away now!" a Ray-Fish Fish-Man grabbed Fisher Tiger, who was getting carried away.

Fisher Tiger looked left and right at the situation in the port and said with some reluctance, "I'll cover the rear, my lads! Retreat! And... humans! If you want freedom, seize this last chance!"

Fisher Tiger insisted on covering the rear to ensure no panic broke out during the retreat.

Sig chose a ship that the Fish-Men underwater had pushed over and rushed aboard. Among the slaves boarding this ship, the leader was a blonde swordsman. Sig had seen him cover strangers around him several times before