Rami Was Captured? Time Is Running Out?

Although the house looked completely unremarkable from the outside, it was a whole different world inside.

From the outside, it looked like an utterly ordinary house, but the interior was made entirely of steel. There was even an elevator that led straight underground.

"Underground?" Aeneas was rather surprised. If he had not been certain that he had never gone out to sea, he would have suspected that he had somehow walked into a high-tech island.

The various islands in the pirate world had civilizations at wildly different stages of development. Some islands might still be in ancient times, with gigantic dinosaurs and monsters roaming everywhere, while others had already developed highly advanced human technology. The Sea Train in Water 7, Mechanical Island, where Franky had been sent flying by Kuma, and the Vegapunk Research Institute on that island were all examples of high-tech islands.

Of course, that was related to the people living on the islands. Vegapunk, for instance, would establish a research institute wherever he went, thereby driving the technological development of the entire island.

But what kind of place was Tinos?

An island of chaos!

"How could a building like this possibly exist in Tinos?" Aeneas could not help voicing his doubt.

At his side, Emondi had just entered the password and opened the elevator doors. Only after both of them had entered did he explain.

"Underground, Tinos has an abandoned mechanical base. It's enormous. There are even quite a few abandoned structures directly beneath the Hilrute Mountains." Emondi continued, "These mechanical structures had been abandoned for many years. They were only discovered more than twenty years ago, after which the Three Major Groups all established their headquarters underground."

"So the three districts in Tinos's core area are only the surface?"

That left Aeneas astonished.

If that was really the case, then the leaders of the Three Districts were unfathomably powerful. Putting aside their individual strength, the impregnable facilities and dedicated bases alone were enough to make them impossible to underestimate.

"With a space this large, how many people could be hidden here?" Aeneas stood inside the elevator as it continued descending. It still had not reached the bottom even after quite some time. "Just how big is this place?"

Emondi smiled mysteriously.

"This is the real Tinos! The Underground Syndicate!"

"Why do you think the Marines have failed to resolve Tinos's mess after all these years?" Emondi said with a laugh. "The waters of Tinos run deep."

"Is this place really safe?" Aeneas was somewhat worried. "After all, these are abandoned structures. Who knows what they were used for in the past?"

Aeneas looked at the cylindrical buildings made of steel and the blurred markings on them. They looked vaguely familiar, but because the patterns were incomplete, he could not remember what they were for the time being.

"All right, we're here."

After a rumble, they finally reached the bottom.

Aeneas followed Emondi out of the elevator. Outside was a relatively clean and orderly steel corridor, with various rooms on either side, such as an armory, an ammunition depot, and an intelligence room. There was also a fairly spacious little plaza not far away.

Inside, pairs of people holding all kinds of weapons were even training.

"What exactly are they doing here?" Aeneas was shocked once again. "They're training troops? Don't tell me they're planning to rebel against society?"

"Huh? Rebel against society?" Emondi sighed. "You're not very old, but you really will say anything. We're not a formal army, and the Revolutionary Army's ways don't apply here either. We train soldiers solely to sell them."

"Sell them?" Aeneas asked in confusion.

"That's right. We sell them to pirate crews!" Emondi said casually, as if he no longer regarded those people as living beings but as merchandise.

Aeneas frowned.

"Are they slaves?" Aeneas suddenly felt repulsed. Could there really be a slave trade here?

"Slaves?" Emondi seemed to be hearing that term for the first time. "They are somewhat similar, I suppose. But we don't abuse them. They join voluntarily and accept training. By participating in the annual Round Street Slaughter, they can even improve their status and gain the chance to enter stronger pirate crews."

"I see." Aeneas had indeed jumped to conclusions. "I never would have thought that underground activities like this were taking place here."

Tinos could not be underestimated either.

Aeneas felt embarrassed. It seemed that nothing was ever as simple as it appeared on the surface.

"Then no one could possibly shake the positions of the leaders of the three districts!" Since such a massive network of power and trade already existed, Aeneas did not believe the leaders could be replaced at will.

The Round Street Slaughter would not produce someone capable of overthrowing the leaders either.

"We thought the same thing at first." Emondi's words piqued Aeneas's curiosity.

"What do you mean?" Aeneas looked at Emondi.

"As for the Kam Group, there are already signs that it may be overturned by a newcomer named Bellamy." Emondi's tone was uncertain as well. "You brats really are terrifying!"

Aeneas shrugged.

"Nothing to do with me!"

"All right, we're here." Emondi walked to the door of a room and knocked.

"Come in!" a man's voice called from inside.

The door opened, and Emondi gestured for Aeneas to enter.

The moment the door opened, Aeneas saw Obi-Wan, whom he had not seen for more than half a year.

Aeneas could no longer hold himself back. He charged through the doorway and asked Obi-Wan, "Where's Rami?"

Obi-Wan saw Aeneas too, but the moment Aeneas spoke, Obi-Wan's face creased with anguish.

"Ah..." Obi-Wan looked as though he had aged many years. His originally jet-black hair had even begun to turn gray.

Obi-Wan had not been ill—he was in excellent health. Yet now, after only a year apart, he already showed signs of aging.

Only then did Aeneas realize that Obi-Wan had already paid a tremendous price. He had spent three years rushing around in search of treatment for Rami's illness.

"What happened?" Aeneas forced down his feelings and asked as calmly as he could, "How is Rami now?"

Aeneas could not be blamed for losing control. Rami's illness had truly reached a critical point, and now that he saw Obi-Wan sighing constantly, could it be that...

Could it be?

Rami had already...

Aeneas did not dare continue thinking. He merely clenched his teeth and waited to hear what Obi-Wan would say next.

"Rami was taken away..."

Obi-Wan's eyes reddened. His body trembled uncontrollably, and his fist clenched around the edge of the desk beside him. Blood even trickled from between his fingers.

Aeneas froze in place as well.

"Taken... taken away?" Aeneas gasped. "Who took Rami?"

"The Marine 5th Branch!" Fury burned in Obi-Wan's eyes. "I've already investigated Rami's illness thoroughly. Even Stephanie can't do anything about it. If we can't rescue Rami, then I'm afraid Rami really will..."

"Have very little time left..."