Detonation

"Finger Pistol!"

Just as Chen Qiang was feeling a little dizzy, the CP leader seized his chance and flashed in front of Chen Qiang again. Countless fingers appeared in the air, repeatedly jabbing into Chen Qiang's body.

Blood sprayed everywhere. Chen Qiang's body was like a sponge, pierced with hole after hole by the fingers, blood gushing out of each one.

Fortunately, the pain cleared Chen Qiang's muddled head at once. When the other man jabbed at him again, Chen Qiang lifted his feet off the ground and let the attack send him flying, managing to dodge the rest of the other man's assault.

"You really are strong!"

After escaping the attack, Chen Qiang wiped the blood from his body and remarked with a sigh.

Chen Qiang had certainly seemed powerful in his earlier fights, but that was all thanks to his cheat-like ability. He had plenty of combat experience, but that depended on who he was up against. The leader before him had not only superior fighting skills, but more combat experience as well. That was why Chen Qiang had been suppressed so quickly.

Even though the other man's physical abilities weren't much greater than his own, Chen Qiang was still at a disadvantage in a fight. Even if he traded injuries with his opponent, Chen Qiang would likely be the one to suffer more in the end, because he couldn't break through the other man's defenses.

Once he recognized this, Chen Qiang didn't hesitate. He turned and ran straight back into the city. Even though he was being very careful, the other man still found an opening and punched several more holes in his body.

"Heh heh! I wonder how long you'll survive buried under the ground?"

Chen Qiang fled all the way to the center of the city, where Toby's Playground was located, then stopped. As the leader caught up with him again, Chen Qiang looked at him with a smile and spoke cheerfully.

Hearing Chen Qiang's words, the leader, who had been about to attack again, stopped and looked around. He immediately realized something was wrong.

At some point, the surrounding plaza had become filled with corpses. Traces of explosives could be seen among the bodies, and countless red gems had been installed on the ceiling of the cavern.

The leader immediately thought of what had happened at the port and realized something was wrong. He wanted to leave and warn his men to get out of there at once. He also prepared to flee himself.

That lunatic Chen Qiang was going to bring down the entire cavern and destroy the whole city.

"Heh heh! Figured it out? Too bad it's already too late!"

"Blood Tribute!"

Just as the leader realized what was happening and prepared to run, Chen Qiang began to act. Until then, he had only stood in the plaza and waved a hand.

In the city, still alight with flames, pillars of colored light rose one after another, shooting straight up to the cavern ceiling. The red gems Chen Qiang had installed were set off by the blood-red beams, triggering violent explosions. The blasts ignited the explosives buried among the corpses, setting off even more explosions.

"Rumble!"

The violent explosions reverberated throughout the city. Great chunks of rock were blasted from the cavern ceiling, crashing down into the city below.

Meanwhile, explosions on the ground rapidly demolished the surrounding buildings one after another. Chen Qiang had planted far more explosives at the port, especially along the only road out of the city.

So, as soon as the explosions began, that area was blasted shut by a cavern collapse, turning the entire city into a dead end.

"Hahahaha! You'll all be buried along with this wicked city!"

Explosions continued to rock the city. Amid them, only Chen Qiang's frenzied voice could be heard. The CP agents, the slave traders hiding in various places, and the slaves who hadn't dared to resist could do nothing but keep running for their lives.

But as the explosions continued, their attempts to escape were futile. They were either killed by the blasts or crushed by the boulders falling from the cavern ceiling.

The city was filled with explosions and screams.

It didn't take long for the explosions to stop. The entire city had been buried beneath the Red Line. The blasts had been so violent that this section of the Red Line had even sunk a little, leaving a crater in the middle that looked like a giant sinkhole.

After an unknown amount of time, thin streams of blood seeped out of the earth at the dock, now completely buried beneath boulders. The blood rose into the air and shot off in one direction.

While Chen Qiang was detonating the entire city, the Revolutionary Army members who had left earlier were, after several hours at sea, arriving at a nearby island they used as a temporary stopover.

After a brief rest here, they would take the people they had rescued to islands they had already liberated. But that was for later.

Once they arrived, Sabo told everyone to rest where they were and replenish their supplies of food and fresh water, which they had stashed here beforehand. He went off by himself, took out a Den Den Mushi, and made a call.

"Moshi moshi!" The call connected.

"Chief!"

"It's Sabo! How did it go? Was the operation a success?"

A middle-aged man's voice soon came from the other end of the Den Den Mushi. It was the Revolutionary Army's leader, Luffy's father, Monkey D. Dragon.

"The operation went well, but I ran into Chen Qiang during it!"

"Chen Qiang the Undying? What was he doing there? Kuma told me he'd sent him near an island controlled by the Revolutionary Army."

"I'm not sure, but he must have landed somewhere else and been captured by a slave ship. Then they brought him here!"

"Hmm. In that case, I assume you rescued him too. If he's willing, you can bring him to one of our nearby bases."

"Chief, I didn't call to report on the operation. I called because of something else—something concerning Chen Qiang!"

"What is it?"

"After we met Chen Qiang, he had already freed himself from the slave ship and gone straight into the city to fight Toby."

Sabo quickly recounted everything that had happened in the city to Dragon. Then he told him, word for word, everything Chen Qiang had said after they met, along with what Chen Qiang intended to do afterward.

"He really said that?"

After a moment of silence, Dragon finally spoke from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, seeking confirmation.