Fisher Tiger

"I've never believed in the navy's justice..."

"Ha ha ha... Interesting..."

When Ye Mu heard what Gasparde said, he did not feel any disgust toward the man because of it. Instead, a trace of peculiar appreciation entered his expression.

"Then what do you think of the Celestial Dragons...?"

Ye Mu suddenly asked.

"!!!"

Gasparde's expression froze. Then he gritted his teeth and said with bitter hatred, "They're nothing but parasites on the world..."

"Ha ha ha ha ha... Interesting... That answer satisfies me. So, from now on, work hard to survive. Climb higher... Perhaps we may have a chance to cooperate in the future... Ha ha ha..."

After Ye Mu finished speaking, he paid no further attention to the navy rear admiral and turned to walk in another direction.

"I survived..."

Gasparde looked at Ye Mu's back as he walked toward the corpse of the dead Celestial Dragon, and let out a long breath.

As for taking the chance to launch a sneak attack, he did not have the courage for that in the slightest.

From the moment Ye Mu revealed his terrifying Conqueror's Haki, Gasparde had already been clever enough to realize it.

They were simply not on the same level.

Shouldn't terrifying guys like this all be in the New World?

Why had he run into one on the Grand Line?

He thought of how the two had introduced themselves at the start.

Rookie pirates.

"What terrible luck... Why did I have to run into something like this, run into madmen like them... And what did he mean by that? Does he want me to become his spy...?"

If he had been a navy man with true faith, Gasparde might have sneered at Ye Mu's words. Unfortunately, he was not...

At this moment, he was already thinking about how to use these two lunatics to keep himself alive through the incident of the Celestial Dragon's death.

All of his subordinates had already fainted. No one had seen what happened afterward. As for those four CP9 members, they probably would not survive either.

In other words, apart from that Fish-Man slave, he was the only one on this ship who knew what had truly happened. Did that not mean he could make up whatever story he wanted?

As long as this Fish-Man slave died...

He thought this, but very quickly, he had no choice but to dismiss the idea.

Because he discovered that Ye Mu, who had left, was not heading for the Celestial Dragon's corpse, but for that Fish-Man slave...

Ye Mu slowly walked over to the red-skinned Fish-Man, who was on all fours on the ground like a little dog. Under the Fish-Man's dazed gaze, he crouched down and said with a sigh, "This really is fate guiding me... In my memories, there aren't many Fish-Men I remember, but you just happen to be one of them..."

"Fisher Tiger..."

That was right. This Fish-Man who had been treated as a slave by the Celestial Dragon was none other than the one who would later become famous, the Fish-Man hero who climbed the Holy Land Mary Geoise with his bare hands, freed the slaves, and caused the attack on Mary Geoise: Fisher Tiger.

He was the Fish-Man who appeared the most often in fanfiction.

After all, this guy would later save the designated wife of most transmigrators: the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock.

However, right now, the Pirate Empress should only be a little girl. She might not even have been born yet, let alone become a slave.

And the moment Fisher Tiger heard Ye Mu call out his name, he did not feel any excitement at being rescued. Instead, his pupils constricted, and he lowered his head in terror, as if he were very afraid of being recognized. His body trembled tensely, and he gave no response to Ye Mu's words at all.

Ye Mu found it somewhat strange at first, but very quickly, as something occurred to him, he seemed to understand.

Just as Hancock had been unwilling to admit that she had once been a slave of the Celestial Dragons, Fisher Tiger was even more so.

As Tiger, who enjoyed considerable prestige on Fish-Man Island and was also a hero in the hearts of most Fish-Men, he was even more unwilling to admit to his filthy and humiliating past. He had always hidden the fact that he had once been a slave of the Celestial Dragons deep in his heart, and only at the moment before his death did he tell everyone.

Ye Mu did not force Tiger too much. Instead, he first placed his hand on the thick Celestial Dragon collar around Tiger's neck.

Unfortunately, Ye Mu's Armament Haki, up to this point, aside from having proficiently mastered the elementary level—covering the surface of his body to provide attack power and defense—had only reached the intermediate level, meaning he could release it outward. He had not yet reached the highest level of Armament Haki: internal destruction.

So he could only walk over to the Celestial Dragon's corpse beside them and start rummaging through it.

Only then did Tiger finally raise his head nervously, his pupils wide as he stared at Ye Mu, who was groping around randomly on the dead Celestial Dragon's corpse.

At this moment, everything that had just happened felt dreamlike to Tiger.

In the Holy Land Mary Geoise, where he had been treated as a slave, he had witnessed countless darkness.

It was a past he did not dare recall at all.

Because of that, he had also come to understand just how untouchable a race the Celestial Dragons were in this world, as if they were an existence like the world's greatest taboo.

But now, a Celestial Dragon had died just like that, right in front of him.

At that moment, Fisher Tiger felt as if the bottomless darkness suppressed deep in his heart had suddenly been shattered. A crack appeared, and sunlight seeped in through it.

Even so, his distrust of the human race still made him unable to give any response at all. He could not even say a word of thanks.

Just as Tiger was struggling inwardly, Ye Mu stood up, looking a little disappointed.

"Looks like this guy doesn't have the key on him..."

Tiger froze.

"Hey, Enel, stop playing around. Bring those guys over to me."

"Got it..."

As that voice rang out, under Tiger's shocked gaze, four visible bolts of thunder crashed down from the sky.

Then the golden-haired boy descended from the sky, holding a golden chain in his hand. At the other end of the chain, four CP9 members, covered in wounds and smoking all over, were bound together and slammed hard onto the deck.

Enel came over to Ye Mu's side, looking as if he still had not had enough, and said, "These guys are no good. When is that strong guy you mentioned coming..."

"No need to rush. He should be here soon..."

"Got it..."

Ye Mu walked up to the four CP9 members. Because Ye Mu had instructed him beforehand, and because these four had decent physiques, they had not completely passed out yet.

"Hey..." Ye Mu had no interest in their names. After giving them a few kicks, he asked, "Where is the key to the collar around the Fish-Man's neck? I'll give you five seconds. If you can't say it, then sorry..."

"W-wait..."

Ye Mu did not even need to start counting before the leading CP9 captain begged for mercy and said, "The key isn't here. The key is in Mary Geoise..."

"What a pain..."

Disappointment showed plainly on Ye Mu's face, and then he glanced at Enel.

Enel understood at once, and lightning flashed all over his body.

The lightning traveled along the golden chain into the bodies of the four CP9 members.

In an instant, lightning flared and burnt smoke rose. All four CP9 members passed out.

Only then did Ye Mu turn to look at Fisher Tiger.

"Looks like there's no other way. It depends on whether you're willing to take a gamble—whether I can get the collar off your neck before it explodes, or whether you get blown straight to death..."