Who dares to touch?

The six fish-men had clearly suffered serious injuries. Hunted by so many people, their strength was gradually failing as they fled desperately, faces filled with despair. All they wanted now was for the kingdom's soldiers to arrive quickly and save them. Once captured by humans, they would become slaves forever, confined inside cramped display tanks. To merfolk, such a life was practically no different from death—no, it was even more terrifying than death. Given the choice between spending a lifetime in prison and being executed, which would you choose?

"The Marines are actually joining forces with pirates to capture such beautiful mermaids. They have no shame!" Boa Hancock was indignant. It was one thing for pirates to behave this way—they were called thieves, after all—but weren't the Marines supposed to pride themselves on justice? Not only were they capturing mermaids in broad daylight, they were even working with pirates. Fish-Man Island had already joined the World Government. In other words, merfolk and fish-men were citizens of the World Government. How were these Marines any different from slaughtering their own people?

"Captain!" Shanks pressed down on his straw hat. Its shadow obscured his eyes, making his expression impossible to see, but his tone made it clear that he, too, was truly angry. This was not compassion—it was a violation of one's moral bottom line. Unless someone was a bloodthirsty killer, no one could stand idly by before a group of people in need of help. Besides, these Marines were truly shameless. They usually waved the banner of justice while constantly hunting pirates, yet now they were capturing their own citizens for profit. Anyone who saw people like this would surely feel nothing but contempt!

Click!

Benn Beckman had already cocked his gun. As long as Mirai gave the word, the two