Heart-piercing

"Now this is big news!"

Charles Lang, the branch chief of the World Economic News, stared at a stack of scattered photos, his hands slamming heavily on his desk.

What constitutes news?

The Human Auction House.

Human trafficking.

Slavery.

These weren't even considered news on Sabaody Archipelago.

It was just part of their daily lives!

What truly showcased news was the other piece of information presented in the photos.

The Marines were cracking down on the Human Auction House.

How rare!

That was news!

"Excellent."

"If you had come a bit earlier, the news back then was all about the Straw Hat Pirates on Judicial Island. It probably wouldn't have generated much buzz."

"Coming now, with the Judicial Island incident having just passed, we can still ride that wave of excitement!"

What is the lifeblood of news...

Timeliness.

No matter how explosive or shocking the news, after a short period of time, it becomes mundane.

Only when its related impact reaches people's lives do they suddenly realize.

So, such a thing had happened.

Charles Lang was undoubtedly a seasoned and qualified reporter. At a glance, he saw the immense value behind this news.

More importantly, It was exclusive!

It was the latest!

These two factors were the lifeblood of the newspaper industry.

For Charles Lang, it was the same. He could even imagine how the residents of the Sabaody Archipelago would react when they saw such news. How long had it been since the incident?

Six hours, or seven?

He had to shorten this time as much as possible!

Charles Lang decided to take matters into his own hands. His quill flew across the blank white paper, writing the headline for this issue of the daily newspaper.

"Justice's Response: Navy Announces Liberation of Slaves!"

What, you say the Navy never said that?

That's not important.

What Charles Lang wanted was to grab people's attention the moment they saw the headline.

--

Buggy felt that the entire incident, no, the entire game, had only just begun.

About an hour ago, which was four hours after he had raided the houses, the Den Den Mushi in his hand rang incessantly, as if it had been bombarded.

First was a call from the base commander of District 66, his direct superior, Rear Admiral Sicily.

"Where are you now?"

The expression simulated by the Den Den Mushi was full of frost.

"District 4?"

"Ah, no, it should be Area 1."

"The scenery here is really nice."

Buggy was unhurried, even preparing to share the sights of the Sabaody Archipelago with this superior he had never met.

On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Rear Admiral Sicily's fists were clenched tightly.

Who knew how much pressure he was under!?

Before he even made this call, the communication room at the base was already filled with the ringing of Den Den Mushi.

First, it was the nobles living on the island, whose families held varying degrees of influence within the World Government.

They launched into a barrage of scolding.

He cursed Sicily for burning bridges after crossing them!

"Wanting it both ways!"

He had clearly agreed not to interfere with what happened in Areas 1-30, but then he turned around and sent a fleet of Marines.

And brazenly carried out extortion!

What's this, the Marines are feeling tough now, ready to rise up?

Are you really going to carry out that damn justice on your uniforms to the very end?

Pah!

Don't you even look at who's feeding you dog food!

Even a clay figurine has a temper.

Let alone Sicily, a Marine Rear Admiral.

He immediately got into a furious argument with these noble officials for three hundred rounds.

It wasn't until Diouf rushed over in a panic to inform him of the situation.

That he understood.

Things had gone wrong.

There was actually a troublemaker in his base who had done the treasonous act of rescuing slaves.

But just as he was preparing to handle it secretly and downplay the matter.

The call from Headquarters came.

And it wasn't just one.

The first to arrive was the weighty Admiral Akainu, Sakazuki himself.

He specifically praised Sicily's method of implementing absolute justice.

The only criticism was why he didn't just burn down the auction house and let those reporters take pictures?

Didn't that tarnish the prestige of justice?

To be honest, receiving praise from Sakazuki was extremely rare.

Let alone for Sicily, a Rear Admiral; even many Vice Admirals wouldn't get a good word from Sakazuki.

But the problem was, Sicily didn't do this!

Having been stationed at District 66 Base for so many years, if he wanted to clear out the human auction houses, he would have done so long ago.

But the question was, could he?

Was that something a mere Major could clear out?

As expected, following Sakazuki's phone call, there was a long string of accusatory calls.

There were Vice Admirals from the New World's G Branch.

There were also Vice Admirals belonging to the main headquarters.

He didn't even have time to answer calls from Majors.

After an agonizing hour of being both scolded and praised, he finally had time to call Buggy.

In truth, even he didn't know how to handle this matter anymore.

If you said it was wrong...

The fact that they were using the guise of the Marines to carry out justice couldn't be more correct.

But if you said it was right...

Sicily felt he would be transferred to East Blue within three days at the latest.

The World Government's control over the Marines was never a joke.

This was actually Buggy's oversight.

He forgot.

The higher-ups who could decide the Marines' stance didn't actually have this Major's phone number.

Sicily, this Major, was already the lowest level they could contact.

Therefore, he became the target bearing this pressure.

"You understand what I mean!"

Sicily gritted his teeth tightly. He didn't dare to utter any accusations, otherwise, the absolute justice faction's higher-ups wouldn't let him see the sun on the third day.

He had already realized.

He had to choose a side in this matter.

Damn it, all they did was raid a human auction house, how could it cause such a huge storm?!

"Meaning?"

"Did the Vice Admiral just say something?"

Buggy's expression was full of amusement.

Sicily's stifled tone only confirmed to him that he had found the fuse.

Order had long been torn apart, but someone had been patching it up.

But contradictions wouldn't disappear; they were just waiting for an outlet.

Buggy had created such an outlet.

The nobles and Doflamingo were important springboards to widen this gap.

Originally a small incident, after passing through several springboards, its influence would multiply exponentially.

Of course, more importantly, the World Government itself was very sensitive to this.

Sensitive to the words "liberate slaves."

Sicily remained silent for a good while.

To his right, a silver Den Den Mushi, which had always been a mere decoration, began to ring.

This was a call from the World Government's high-ranking officials.

What was his stance?

It had actually been determined long ago, hadn't it?

The World Government controlled the Marines, and the World Nobles liked slaves.

Therefore, Sabaody Archipelago would not change.

"Give up, Arrow."

"Do you think such audacious justice can change this island?"

"I've been here for so many years, and this island has never changed!"

"That's because you're afraid of death."

The young man's faint voice pierced Sicily's heart.