Dongye Huanglong ignored the cries for help from the pirate prisoners. Not one of these scum even claimed to be a Devil Fruit User!
He walked straight to the back of the prison and saw Dissolving Man Buck, who had been tortured beyond recognition.
This brutal man had once shouted before Trafalgar Law, "My freedom means killing whenever I want and living according to every one of my desires!"
On Svalbard Island's Joy Town, he had slaughtered civilians and destroyed the town on a massive scale.
Yet now, he had been beaten like a dog and turned into a "model example" for intimidating the other prisoners in North Blue Prison!
"Are you here to recruit me?"
A trace of longing flashed through Buck's swollen red eyes. After being imprisoned for years, he finally had a chance to escape this terrifying North Blue Prison.
"Stop! Dongye Huanglong, I won't let you release a single pirate!"
Commodore Ginn charged into North Blue Prison with killing intent, laying eyes on that terrifying Half-Dragon Man figure.
"Open fire, all of you! Kill without mercy! Even if you kill every pirate here, you cannot let them escape!"
Commodore Ginn suddenly ordered the gun-wielding Marines behind him. The command terrified the pirates, and even Dongye Huanglong was slightly surprised.
He had not expected to encounter such an iron-blooded soldier here, as merciless as Sakazuki—better to kill the innocent than let the guilty escape!
"What are you waiting for? I'll take responsibility for anything that happens!"
Commodore Ginn roared and charged at Dongye Huanglong with his saber in hand, buying his subordinates time to fire.
Upon hearing Commodore Ginn's order, the North Blue Marines hesitated for only half a second before opening fire viciously.
For a time, gunshots rang throughout North Blue Prison, accompanied by unending screams.
Clang!
Commodore Ginn's sword struck Dongye Huanglong's arm and shattered on the spot, making his scalp go numb.
That had been his full-force strike, reinforced with a trace of Armament Haki.
Yet it had failed to even break Dongye Huanglong's defense!
"Your courage is admirable! But your strength is lacking!"
Dongye Huanglong kicked the Marine Brigadier General into the wall, smashing through the prison's sturdy structure. The brigadier general was buried beneath the rubble and could not get back up for a long time.
Buzz!
A terrifying aura surged forth, knocking unconscious the Marines who had been firing wildly.
With one fierce charge from Dongye Huanglong, the branch colonels and lieutenant colonels who had not been knocked out by Conqueror's Haki also fell to the ground.
"Is there anyone left who can still speak?"
Dongye Huanglong called out indifferently. Anyone who had avoided the Marines' gunfire and endured his Conqueror's Haki had both good luck and decent strength, making them qualified to join the Desolate Dragon Group.
"What a pity. There isn't."
Dongye Huanglong said disappointedly, then kicked open Buck's cell and grabbed the Seastone-cuffed Dissolving Man.
"Thank you for saving my life, sir! I'll follow you faithfully!"
Buck said excitedly to Dongye Huanglong, trembling all over with excitement.
"Who said I was taking you in?"
Dongye Huanglong knocked this self-important scum of a pirate unconscious with one punch. Buck was merely an experimental subject Huanglong had prepared for Vegapunk.
This Paramecia dissolving ability was fairly good and qualified to become one of the candidate abilities for a Seraphim.
Dongye Huanglong carried Buck, transformed into a divine dragon, and left North Blue Prison behind in ruins and corpses.
A long while later, Commodore Ginn crawled out from the rubble of the wall, covered in blood, his eyes filled with fear of Dongye Huanglong.
That was a true monster, far stronger than the Vinsmoke Siblings.
The five hundred million bounty was not a single berry too high!
He struggled to his feet, knowing that demon had seemingly held back.
He hurried to his subordinates and was relieved to find that not many Marines had died. Even the several colonels and lieutenant colonels had only been seriously injured.
Then he looked at the pirate prisoners amid the devastation.
For a moment, he did not know whether Dongye Huanglong, that criminal, possessed a shred of conscience, or whether he, a Marine Brigadier General, was the more ruthless one.
He swiftly reported the miserable state of the attacked North Blue N-11 Marine Branch and North Blue Prison.
Gino did not conceal anything. He directly reported that he had issued the order to shoot the pirate prisoners and was willing to accept punishment from Marine Headquarters.
However, not only did Marine Headquarters refrain from punishing him, they conveniently pinned all the blame on Dongye Huanglong.
They even planned to spread the infamy that Dongye Huanglong had slaughtered pirate prisoners, making other pirates resent this villain as well.
Meanwhile, Dongye Huanglong returned to Joy Town on Svalbard Island and handed Dissolving Man Buck over to Vegapunk for research.
Wolf no longer held any feelings for this son. Perhaps living as an experimental subject for the World's Number One Scientist was still better than rotting away in prison.
"Captain, you attacked the Marine branch without taking me along. That is truly disappointing."
Lafitte said regretfully to Dongye Huanglong. He enjoyed matters like slaughtering Marines and pirates alike.
"Has Trafalgar Law called back?"
Dongye Huanglong ignored Lafitte's words and changed the subject. He did not want to mobilize the entire group for such a trivial matter.
This raid on the North Blue branch had taken Dongye Huanglong a day or two round trip. Law should have been about ready to return to Svalbard Island as well.
"He said he'll arrive this afternoon, but I think he may return early to rescue old man Wolf."
Lafitte smiled with narrowed eyes, occasionally glancing toward the underground harbor of the research facility. He seemed to be waiting for Trafalgar Law's submarine to return early, guarding against Wolf being suddenly rescued.
After all, Dongye Huanglong had warned them that Trafalgar Law could use spatial abilities to suddenly take people away.
Even Kuma had gone on alert to prevent Law from attacking them. Moreover, after reading the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia Huanglong had entrusted to him, he had become very interested in this Op-Op Fruit User.
He wondered whether the legendary "Immortal Surgery" was real.
And with this Op-Op Fruit User, along with Mansherry's Heal-Heal Fruit ability, Bonney's Stem Cell Transplantation surgery would recover faster. Then Bonney would be able to live beneath the sunlight sooner.
"With that devious, meticulous personality of his, he really might do that."
Dongye Huanglong agreed with Lafitte's assessment. Having a subordinate like Lafitte, one who used his brain to fill in the gaps, left Huanglong extremely satisfied.
As if to confirm Lafitte's guess, less than an hour later, a transparent ring expanded into the underground research facility from an unknown location.
A young man in a spotted fur hat and yellow long-sleeved shirt, carrying a nodachi over his shoulder, suddenly appeared beside Wolf, intending to teleport away with him directly.
But Kuma was also extremely fast. At the instant Law appeared, Kuma had teleported beside Law and Wolf as well.
A small bear-paw air cannon sent Law, this young man who had not yet left the North Blue, flying into the research facility wall.
"Urgh—"
Law spat out a mouthful of blood and could not even maintain the Op-Op Fruit's ROOM space.
This was the difference in strength between Tyrant Kuma, a Shichibukai-level powerhouse, and Law, a future Supernova.
Law had yet to master the two types of Haki. Even with the Op-Op Fruit's teleportation ability, he was completely crushed by Kuma.
There was no surprise at all!
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