A Bunch of Rebels

Jinbe suddenly turned to look at Beiyuan Heng. His green eyes instantly filled with incredulous shock, and his brows furrowed tightly.

He had sailed the seas for decades and seen countless Devil Fruit users, yet he had never encountered an ability like this. An inexplicable sense of wariness rose within him.

Silence hung over the sea for a moment before Jinbe suppressed his surprise and asked in a deep voice,

"What exactly do you want?"

His voice carried the unique weight of a fish-man, with a faint vigilance hidden beneath it. Even the seawater around him seemed to ripple slightly with his tone.

Beiyuan Heng gently shook his head, his voice utterly calm.

"You should leave quickly. Don't waste any more time here."

After a brief pause, he raised his eyes toward the distant horizon and added in a profound tone,

"If nothing unexpected happens, the Marine reinforcements arriving will be Admiral candidate 'Kizaru,' Borsalino."

The moment the name "Kizaru" left his mouth, Jinbe's pupils shrank sharply. Every muscle in his body tensed, and the surprise on his face completely replaced his previous wariness.

That Kizaru, known as a Marine monster, who possessed the Glint-Glint Fruit?

Once he set his sights on them, not only Jinbe himself but even his companions would likely have no chance of escape.

Beiyuan Heng seemed to have expected his reaction. He gave a slight nod, his voice remaining calm.

"Yes. If he comes, all of you will probably be arrested. No exceptions."

Jinbe stared fixedly at Beiyuan Heng. He truly could not understand why someone in a Marine uniform would suddenly warn him, even indirectly giving him a way out.

So he asked in a low voice, "Why are you saving me? We don't seem to have any connection."

"I can't stand the Celestial Dragons. That's all."

Beiyuan Heng spoke lightly, without the slightest attempt to hide it, his voice carrying a trace of barely perceptible mockery.

"And in my view, you haven't committed any evil deeds for the time being. There's no need for you to become fish on the chopping block for the Celestial Dragons' selfish desires and the Marines' orders."

The suspicion in Jinbe's eyes did not lessen. Instead, his confusion deepened. He leaned forward slightly and pressed on,

"Since you know how vile the Celestial Dragons are and have seen through the World Government's hypocrisy, why join the Marines? Rather than keeping company with them here, why not join the Revolutionary Army and overthrow this rotten order together?"

To Jinbe's surprise, Beiyuan Heng did not hesitate at all. He slowly said,

"I don't think the Revolutionary Army is wrong. Their ideals may be right, but I only want to protect the peaceful lives civilians have now. The Revolutionary Army's resistance will ultimately trigger even greater wars, and the ones who suffer will still be ordinary people with no means to defend themselves."

He paused, impatience creeping into his voice as he waved a hand.

"For the sake of your captain, I'll let you go this time. I hope I don't run into you again. Next time, I won't show mercy."

Jinbe's eyes darted rapidly as he repeatedly weighed the pros and cons.

He knew Beiyuan Heng was not lying. He knew all too well how strong Kizaru was. Staying any longer would only mean walking into a trap.

After a moment, he finally nodded slowly and gave Beiyuan Heng a deep look. That gaze was complicated, filled with gratitude, suspicion, and a trace of indescribable admiration.

Then, without further hesitation, he plunged into the water. His body became a dark-blue afterimage as he rapidly swam toward the shore.

Beiyuan Heng remained concealed beneath the water for a moment. Only after confirming that Jinbe had gone far away did he slowly surface, wipe the seawater from his face, and shout toward the Marine soldiers on shore,

"Be careful! That fish-man went that way! Get on guard!"

The Marine soldiers on shore had not even reacted. Before anyone could raise a weapon, Jinbe had already rushed close to the coastline.

His hands swiftly formed signs as he skillfully unleashed Fish-Man Jujutsu. A powerful force gathered in his palms, and he slammed them hard against the sea. Vast swirling water currents instantly formed and surged toward the shore.

Immediately afterward, the fish-men scattered along the shoreline charged into those currents without hesitation. Borrowing their flow, they shot toward the deep sea like arrows loosed from a bow, leaving only a few blurry silhouettes in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this, Beiyuan Heng immediately swam through the water at high speed, his body like an arrow as he tried to stop Jinbe and prevent them from escaping.

He was incredibly fast, closing in on Jinbe by the second. Yet just as his fingertips were about to touch Jinbe's coat, the flowing currents suddenly dispersed. Every fish-man had already successfully dived into the seabed and vanished without a trace.

In this vast ocean, once fish-men submerged themselves, they were almost impossible to capture. Even if Kizaru came, he might not be able to catch them underwater.

A helpless expression appeared on Beiyuan Heng's face. He sighed softly, rose slowly from the water, then used Geppo from the Marine Six Powers beneath his feet, stepping through the air as he returned to shore.

He turned around and spread his hands at the baffled Marine soldiers nearby, his tone carrying a hint of regret.

"Everyone, go back and rest. What a shame. We were so close, but they still got away."

Just as he turned to leave, the corner of his eye suddenly caught a dazzling yellow flash. It vanished in an instant, yet it carried a suffocating pressure.

Kizaru!

He had still come.

Beiyuan Heng's heart tightened. He was just about to speak and report everything that had happened to Kizaru.

But that yellow flash had already streaked past him in an instant, racing in the direction Jinbe and the others had fled.

"Yasakani no Magatama."

Kizaru's voice, carrying a trace of lazy amusement, came from within the yellow flash.

The moment he spoke, countless slender yet devastating yellow lasers burst from the flash like a torrential downpour. With piercing shrieks through the air, they shot toward the fish-men who had not yet completely escaped.

Jinbe's expression changed drastically when he heard the sound. He immediately roared at his companions behind him,

"Dive underwater! Don't surface!"

The fish-men had already been frightened by those blinding lasers. Upon hearing Jinbe's shout, they immediately obeyed, plunging into the deep sea and diving as far down as they could.

The lasers densely struck the sea's surface. Wherever they hit, the seawater was instantly vaporized by the intense heat, raising a thick white mist that blanketed the ocean. No one could see what lay beneath it or determine whether the fish-men had been hit.

Kizaru hovered in midair, looking at the sea mist spreading below. A trace of lazy helplessness appeared on his face as he lightly shook his head.

With a flash, he returned to Beiyuan Heng's side and said in a teasing tone,

"Oh dear, what a shame. They still got away. Looks like this mission will fail again."

Beiyuan Heng looked up at Kizaru, then turned toward the sea shrouded in mist.

Did you really want to catch them? You were clearly covering their escape...

The World Government and the Marines really had plenty of natural-born rebels, apart from that single-minded Akainu.

Every one of them appeared loyal to the World Government on the surface, while secretly harboring their own thoughts.

He suppressed his thoughts and laughed twice, deliberately easing the awkward atmosphere as he said,

"It's fine. At least we've confirmed that the Sun Pirates are operating in this area."

"And he's very likely hiding on Fish-Man Island."

Although Fish-Man Island was nominally a member nation of the World Government, it was located ten thousand meters beneath the sea in an extremely dangerous environment.

The World Government had almost no authority or ability to interfere with it and could only allow it to develop on its own.

Furthermore, Fisher Tiger's actions in freeing slaves and attacking the Celestial Dragons' Holy Land had thoroughly enraged the World Government long ago. Those deeds were more than enough to make the World Government and Fish-Man Island completely tear off all pretenses.

That was precisely why so many Marine soldiers had densely surrounded the Sabaody Archipelago.