Fish-Man Island, national border port, on the docks.
Left Minister led a squad of Neptune Royal Army soldiers and stood before Sephiroth, his face full of shame as he said:
"I'm truly very sorry! We clearly mobilized the entire Neptune Royal Army to search, but...
We still let Fisher Tiger get away..."
Hearing this, Sephiroth looked over the five photos handed to him and replied nonchalantly:
"Not at all!... You've already done your best to cooperate.
I've also had my adjutant report the general situation to Admiral Sengoku.
I'll give a detailed account of the Ryugu Kingdom's full support in the mission report as well..."
The five photographs showed, from different angles, Fisher Tiger and other fish-men boarding a ship flying a black pirate flag, setting sail, and leaving Fish-Man Island.
Left Minister's actions were undoubtedly meant to tell him that Fisher Tiger was now a pirate, a lawbreaker.
Catching pirates was the Marines' business. Fish-Man Island had already done everything it could to help the Marines. If they still could not catch him, that was the Marines' own problem, not theirs.
"To express our apologies, please allow us to see you off."
As he spoke, Left Minister took out a whistle and blew it hard. The sound carried far into the distance.
Splash!
Before long, an enormous sea beast over a hundred meters tall, resembling a lion, surfaced from the sea and moved up beside the dock.
"This is a sea lion specially raised by our Neptune Royal Army. With its help towing your ship through the deep sea, your journey back to the Sabaody Archipelago will be much safer and faster.
That way, you won't need to go to the New World first, then cross the Red Line again to return to the Sabaody Archipelago."
"Then I'll gladly