Joining

"All right! You should get ready too and leave here as soon as possible. I don't think it'll be long before the World Government's people arrive. They've probably already received word about what happened here."

"What about you?"

When Sabo heard Chen Qiang tell them to leave, he looked at him in confusion and asked.

"Me? Of course I'm going to keep playing this game. It isn't over yet, so how can I leave? Besides, I said before that I'd completely destroy this place. I haven't accomplished what I set out to do, so I'm not leaving anytime soon!"

Chen Qiang's smile never faded as he spoke. It remained bright and carefree.

"All right, then! When I get back, I'll tell the leader everything you said. I'm sure we'll take your words into account in our future actions!"

After hearing Chen Qiang's words, Sabo thought for a while before nodding. The revolution Chen Qiang had described did sound appealing, but Sabo didn't represent only himself. There were many people relying on him, and he had to take responsibility for them.

"Lin! You should go with them too!"

Only after Sabo left did Chen Qiang notice that Lin was still following behind him.

"No! I want to stay with you and see the country you told me about, where everyone is equal!" Lin shook her head and looked at Chen Qiang with a serious expression.

"But what I'm about to do will be extremely dangerous, so you should leave with them for now!"

"No. You said it yourself: as long as you don't die, I won't die either! I believe you!"

Lin's voice was resolute, leaving no room for doubt.

"Are you sure you want to become my partner?"

Seeing the determination in Lin's eyes, Chen Qiang grew serious and asked her again.

"I'm sure!"

"All right! Lin, you're my partner from now on. Let's work together to overthrow this rotten world!"

Hearing Lin's firm answer, Chen Qiang smiled again. He patted her on the head, messing up her already tousled hair even more.

"All right, go say a proper goodbye to your people for now. We've got another big battle ahead of us!"

While Chen Qiang stayed at the docks, Sabo led the slaves who were willing to leave with them away from the island. The city grew even more chaotic.

As time passed, all the slave traders who were still alive gathered together under Toby's command and began preparing to charge toward the docks and escape.

Meanwhile, the slaves who had returned to the city after Chen Qiang's speech began rescuing people throughout the city. More and more people gradually gathered and made their way back to the docks.

But they didn't leave. The children, elderly, and women, who couldn't fight, boarded the ships first. Everyone else picked up a weapon and stood firm, waiting for the battle ahead. Evidently, the people who had rescued them had also told them what Chen Qiang had said. Now they were all staunch supporters of Chen Qiang.

"Undying Chen Qiang, I don't know what you're planning, but do you really think these slaves can stop us from leaving the city?"

Chen Qiang and the others hadn't had to wait long. Led by Toby, the surviving slave traders arrived at the docks, and Toby's arrogant voice rang out first.

"They're not slaves anymore. They're revolutionaries, every one of them!"

Seeing Toby and his men arrive, Chen Qiang brought Lin to the front of the slaves and answered solemnly.

"Warriors? Them? What a joke!"

"Anyone willing to take up arms and fight against fate is a worthy warrior, strong or weak! You're nothing but garbage in this rotten world. Compared to them, you're nothing!"

"Taking up arms doesn't make someone a warrior. Only people with real strength deserve that title. Your lot are nothing but a bunch of clowns!"

"We'll see about that! Charge!"

After saying this, Chen Qiang didn't waste any more words. He led the charge straight at the enemy.

"Boom!" "Bang!" "Whoosh!"

The moment the two sides clashed, cannon fire, gunshots, and the clash of blades filled the docks.

People fell constantly. Every second, someone went down on Chen Qiang's side or among the slave traders. For a while, the scene was horrific.

But the two sides fought for entirely different reasons. Chen Qiang's people wanted to wipe out the enemy—not only because they had been captured and enslaved, but because they wanted to purge this filth from the world and bring about the equal society Chen Qiang had spoken of. In that world, there would be no wars, no pirates, and no one would ever be suddenly captured and sold into slavery. Their children and grandchildren wouldn't have to live in fear of that happening to them.

The slave traders under Toby, on the other hand, only wanted to survive. So even though they were stronger than Chen Qiang's people, those on Chen Qiang's side fought without fear of death, and for a while they had the upper hand.

Still, the slave traders had their own powerful fighters. It was just that their strongest, Toby, was held back by Chen Qiang. On top of that, Lin had immediately made contracts with many of their people, leaving them hesitant to fight.

There were also strong fighters among the slaves on Chen Qiang's side, of course, but they were no match for Toby and his men. Not everyone had been forced into slavery under threat; most had been captured because they simply weren't strong enough to defeat their opponents.

Though the slaves had been rescued, they had suffered greatly before that. Many were far from fighting at full strength. So while Chen Qiang's side had an advantage, it wasn't a large one.

The battle raged on. People on both sides kept falling and dying, but not one of them stopped. They continued attacking without pause.

As the two strongest fighters, Toby and Chen Qiang had clashed as soon as the battle began. Chen Qiang knew his opponent was genuinely powerful. Even with the strong resolve of the people fighting beside him, resolve alone wouldn't help if the gap in strength was too great. Charging in would only get them killed.

So Chen Qiang had intercepted Toby from the outset and fought him head-on. And since their previous battle had given them both a good sense of the other's strength, they went all out from the start. Neither bothered testing the waters.