Heart-Piercing

"This is the real big news!"

Charles Lang, the head of the World Economic News Branch Office, stared at a stack of scattered photographs and slammed both hands down on his desk.

What counted as news?

The Human Auction House.

Human trafficking.

Slaves.

None of that could be called news on the Sabaody Archipelago.

It was part of everyday life there!

What truly made it news was the other story shown in the photographs.

The Marines were cracking down on the Human Auction House.

Now that was unusual!

Now that was news!

"Good."

"If you'd come a little earlier, all the news would have been about the Straw Hat Pirates at Judicial Island. It probably wouldn't have gotten much attention."

"But you came at just the right time. The Judicial Island incident was recent enough that we can ride its momentum!"

What was the lifeblood of news...

Timeliness.

No matter how explosive or shocking a story was, after a little time passed, it became old news.

People wouldn't truly take notice until its effects reached them personally.

Only then would they suddenly realize:

So this had happened.

Charles Lang was unquestionably a seasoned journalist. He immediately saw the immense value behind a story like this.

More importantly,

it was exclusive!

It was the latest news!

Those were the lifeblood of the newspaper business.

And the same was true for Charles Lang. He could already imagine the residents of the Sabaody Archipelago seeing the story and realizing how little time had passed since the incident.

Six hours, or seven?

He had to make that window as short as possible!

Charles Lang decided to handle it personally. His Goose Quill raced across the pristine sheet of paper as he wrote the headline for the latest daily edition:

"Justice Strikes Back: Marines Announce the Liberation of Slaves!"

What, you say the Marines never announced that?

That didn't matter.

Charles Lang wanted people to be hooked the moment they saw the headline.

Buggy thought the whole incident—or rather, the whole game—had only just begun.

About an hour ago, which was the fourth hour after his house search, the Den Den Mushi in his hand had started ringing nonstop, as if it were under bombardment.

The first call came from the head of the District 66 Base, his immediate superior, Rear Admiral Sicily.

"Where are you right now?"

The Den Den Mushi's face was as cold as ice.

"Area 4?"

"Oh, no. I mean Area 1."

"The scenery here is pretty nice."

Buggy took his time. He was even ready to share the sights of the Sabaody Archipelago with the superior he had never met.

On the other end of the line, Rear Admiral Sicily clenched his fist so tightly his knuckles turned white.

Who knew how much pressure he was under?!

Before he had even placed this call, Den Den Mushi had been ringing nonstop in the base's communications room.

First came the island's nobles. Their families all held some degree of influence within the World Government.

They launched straight into a barrage of abuse.

They accused Sicily of betraying them after getting what he wanted!

They'd agreed that the Marines wouldn't meddle in anything happening in Areas 1 through 30, yet he'd turned around and sent a squad of Marines there.

And then they'd brazenly extorted people!

What was this, had the Marines grown a backbone and decided to stand up for themselves?

Were they really going to carry out that piece of crap called "Justice" on their uniforms?

As if!

Did they even remember who fed them?

Even the meek had their limits.

And Sicily was a Marine Rear Admiral, not some pushover.

He immediately went head-to-head with those noble officials for three hundred rounds.

It wasn't until Diouf came rushing in to report what had happened that Sicily finally understood.

Something had gone wrong.

There really was a troublemaker at his base who'd done something as outrageous as freeing slaves.

But just as he was preparing to deal with it quietly, to make a big problem small and a small problem disappear, a call came from Headquarters.

In fact, more than one call came.

The first was from Akainu, the formidable Admiral Sakazuki.

He had lavishly praised Sicily for the way he upheld Absolute Justice.

His only criticism was that Sicily should have burned down the auction house instead of letting those reporters take pictures.

Wouldn't that tarnish the reputation of Justice?

To be fair, earning praise from Sakazuki was a rare honor.

Not only Rear Admirals like Sicily, but even many Vice Admirals couldn't get a kind word out of him.

But the problem was, Sicily hadn't done any of this!

He'd been stationed at the District 66 Base for years. If he'd wanted to wipe out human auctions, he would have done so long ago.

But could he really do that?

Was that something a mere Rear Admiral could do?

As expected, after Sakazuki's call came a long string of calls accusing him of wrongdoing.

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

Others were from Vice Admirals under Headquarters.

He didn't even have time to answer the calls from the Rear Admirals.

An hour passed in endless torment as he was both scolded and praised. Only then did he finally find time to call Buggy.

Truthfully, even he didn't know how to handle this anymore.

If he said it was wrong...

The man had put on a Marine uniform and carried out Justice. That couldn't have been more right.

But if he said it was right...

Sicily figured he'd be transferred to the East Blue by the day after tomorrow at the latest.

The World Government's control over the Marines was no joke.

This was actually Buggy's oversight.

He'd forgotten.

The bigwigs who could decide the Marines' stance didn't have the phone number of a mere Lieutenant Commander like him.

Rear Admiral Sicily was already the lowest-ranking person they could reach.

So Sicily had become the one who had to bear the pressure.

"You know what I mean!"

Sicily gritted his teeth. He didn't dare openly voice his accusations; otherwise, the bigwigs of the Absolute Justice faction wouldn't let him live to see the third day.

He'd already realized it.

He had to choose a side in this matter.

Damn it, it was just one Human Auction House. How had it caused such a huge uproar?!

"What do you mean?"

"Did Your Excellency just say something?"

Buggy's expression was full of amusement.

Sicily's frustrated tone only confirmed that Buggy had found the fuse.

The order had already been torn apart. People had just kept patching it up.

But the contradictions hadn't gone away. They were only waiting for an outlet.

Buggy had created that outlet.

The nobles and Doflamingo were the crucial stepping stones that would widen it.

An incident that started out small could have an exponentially greater impact after passing through a few stepping stones.

Of course, more importantly, the World Government was already extremely sensitive about this.

Sensitive about the four words "free the slaves."

Sicily fell silent for a long while.

On his right, a silver Den Den Mushi that had been nothing but decoration for years began to ring for the first time.

It was a call from the upper echelons of the World Government.

Where did he stand?

He'd already made up his mind, hadn't he?

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

So the Sabaody Archipelago would never change.

"Give it up, Arrow."

"Do you think such reckless 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 to die."

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