Strong as I Am

Fisher Tiger was silent for a while. "I'll run straight to the edge of the Red Line, then jump into the sea."

"It's eight thousand meters high. Even a fish-man would die."

"I can use Fish-Man Karate to slow my fall in midair and punch footholds into the cliff with my bare hands. Once I jump into the sea, I'll be free." Fisher Tiger felt that, with his powerful physique and the might of Fish-Man Karate, climbing down an eight-thousand-meter cliff would be no problem. He had even climbed glaciers before.

"Then what if you had to bring a few people with you?" Miming nodded toward Hancock. If there was a chance, it would naturally be safer to send the Boa Sisters away as soon as possible.

Tiger said, "It would be possible if they were all as strong as me. But anyone who has eaten a Devil Fruit absolutely won't do. Even I couldn't get someone who can't swim out alive. As a Celestial Dragon, you probably never paid attention to the terrain. There are whirlpools beneath the cliff, so ships can't get close; they'd crash into the mountain and be smashed to pieces. And there's Marineford, too. With so many warships from Marine Headquarters spread across the sea, no one can escape over the surface! Only strong fish-men can do it by diving straight to the seafloor and heading for Fish-Man Island!"

Miming fell silent.

"There aren't just fish-men. There are human slaves, too." After a long silence, Miming asked, "My goal is to free all the slaves in Mary Geoise. I'd have to escape with several thousand people—women and children, strong slaves like you, and many ordinary people. Just how are we supposed to do this...?"

"Several thousand people!" Tiger's eyes widened. He couldn't even bring a few people with him. Several thousand?

"It's impossible. Even if you escape Mary Geoise, you won't be able to get far." Tiger shook his head. "The Navy and Army are everywhere. Within a thousand kilometers, there isn't a single road that leads to freedom, unless they can fly."

Tiger simply couldn't believe it. Years of torment had made him unable to trust humans, especially Celestial Dragons. Having him do this was naturally just a way to pin the blame on the fish-men.

"Humans can't fly, and they can't breathe underwater. Why should they be saved?"

"If you want that many people to be saved, there's only one way. Kill your way out—!" Tiger laughed gleefully. "Aren't you a Celestial Dragon? You can mobilize your own army, can't you? Of course, more people might die than be saved! You won't be spared either, hahahaha!"

Sure enough, Miming frowned. "Even Celestial Dragons have things they can't do. I beg you to set aside the racial divide between humans and fish-men, because everyone imprisoned here has only one identity—a slave."

"Easy for you to say. You don't want to be hunted, so you want me to be hunted instead? You don't want to bear humanity's sins, so you want the fish-men to take responsibility for them?" Tiger asked in disgust. "Is this what they call the human conscience?"

Looking at Miming's ugly expression, Tiger felt indescribably refreshed. This was the first time since his capture that he had felt so happy. The Celestial Dragons' troubles and humanity's suffering—they deserved it all! Feeling guilty, he wanted Tiger to solve the problem for him while refusing to pay any price himself. Tiger absolutely couldn't let him have his way.

Tiger wasn't afraid of death.

But the Fish-Man Kingdom would definitely be dragged into it. Tiger could die, but he couldn't let the Fish-Man Kingdom suffer because of him! All of this was humanity's evil. He had merely set foot on land out of curiosity and a longing to live peacefully with humans, only to be betrayed, sold, and tortured at once. The Holy Land Mary Geoise had been set ablaze—a crime so serious that even the Celestial Dragons didn't dare take responsibility for it. Why, then, should the fish-men bear humanity's sins?

Miming seemed to have no interest in speaking with him any longer and stood up. Fisher Tiger's disgust and hatred toward humans had made it difficult for him to willingly help Miming.

"Take your time to think it over." Miming's voice was low. "I want to remind you that this is a secret between us. If I were you, I'd start waiting for the right opportunity. What I can do is tamper with your slave collar and find you a route out of Mary Geoise."

"Wait, I never agreed to help you..."

"I don't need your agreement. Because you're destined to do this."

With that, Miming left with Hancock without looking back.

To Tiger, that day seemed impossibly long. Before long, someone came and put all the fish-man children into cages, taking them to Saint Sanming's palace.

"Where are you taking them?" Tiger roared, but the only answer was helpless silence.

Miming had taken away every fish-man slave here, leaving him alone in the cell. Tiger suddenly felt fear and loneliness unlike anything he had ever known.

A day later, the Bird Family's internal schism reached its climax.

After being released from petrification, Saint Ni saw his beard and then discovered that the fish-man child slaves he had collected had been taken away by Miming. He charged over and got into a vicious fight with Miming, only to be beaten until his teeth were scattered across the floor. After Saint Rosward was released from petrification, he also angrily left with his people, and the relationship between the two families instantly fell to rock bottom.

Thus, to preserve the relationship between the Bird Family, the Charlos Family, and the Rosward Family, it was only natural to drive out the disgraceful son Saint Sanming. Out of sight, out of mind.

At the same time, Saint Sanming's name shocked the Holy Land Mary Geoise in a single day. More than thirty World Noble families had been present, and over a hundred and twenty Celestial Dragons had been petrified. Saint Sanming had extorted wealth totaling twelve billion Berry from them.

Even more outrageous was that Saint Sanming took the three bizarre, ugly female slaves everywhere he went. Two were ugly monsters whose bodies had become serpents, while the third was a female slave wearing a spiked iron helmet over her face.

To emphasize that the iron helmet could not be opened, its design was horrifying. Aside from the terrifying patterns of a snake demon, its entire surface was covered in sharp spikes containing Seastone, warning everyone who saw it not to open it. In addition to having her face completely concealed, Hancock also had to wear ugly, heavy armor to hide her figure, lest anyone become curious after seeing her body.

Marigold, who had transformed into a giant king cobra Snake Princess, became Saint Sanming's new mount. Riding around on a giant snake demon every day looked rather impressive. In less than two days, everyone throughout the Holy Land Mary Geoise knew that whenever they saw someone riding a snake demon, that shameless and filthy Saint Sanming had arrived. It was best to stay far away from him.

A group of agents led by Cairns was assigned to serve as Saint Sanming's guards at his new home. They moved into a manor on the outskirts of Mary Geoise's residential district.

"Master, why aren't we taking those automatic roads?" Sandersonia asked curiously, swaying her enormous head.

Along the main roads of Mary Geoise, there were magical surfaces that moved forward automatically everywhere. As long as someone stepped onto one, the surface would move like a conveyor belt, carrying them forward.