As Strong as Me

Fisher Tiger fell silent for a moment. "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 myself down in midair, and punch handholds into the cliff to rest. As long as I reach the sea, I'll be free." Fisher Tiger believed that with his powerful physique and the force of Fish-Man Karate, climbing down an eight-thousand-meter cliff would not be a problem. He had even climbed glaciers before.

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

Tiger said, "If they're all as strong as me, then perhaps. But anyone who has eaten a Devil Fruit absolutely cannot. Even I can't take someone who can't swim away alive. As a Celestial Dragon, you may never have cared about the terrain, but there are whirlpools beneath the cliff. Ships can't get close; they'll smash against the mountain wall. And Marineford is there too, with so many warships from Marine Headquarters blocking the sea. No one can escape over the water! Only strong Fish-Men can do it, diving straight to the seabed 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 every slave in Mary Geoise. I want to take several thousand people away—women, children, slaves as strong as you, and many ordinary people. How exactly can it be done...?"

"Several thousand people?!" Tiger's eyes widened. He could not even take a few people with him, let alone several thousand?

"It's impossible. Even if they escape Mary Geoise, they won't get far." Tiger shook his head. "The Navy, the Army—within a thousand miles, there isn't a single path leading to freedom unless they can fly."

Tiger could not believe it at all. Years of torment had left him unable to trust humans, especially Celestial Dragons. If he did this himself, it would naturally be so they could pin the blame on Fish-Men.

"Humans can neither fly nor breathe underwater. What makes them worthy of salvation?"

"There's only one way to save that many people. Fight your way out—!" Tiger chuckled maliciously. "Aren't you a Celestial Dragon? You can use your own army, can't you? Though more people may die than be saved! Even you won't escape it! Hahaha!"

Sure enough, Miming frowned. "Even Celestial Dragons have things they cannot do. I beg you to set aside the prejudice between humans and Fish-Men, because everyone imprisoned here has only one identity—slave."

"That sounds nice. You don't want to be hunted, so you want me to be hunted? You don't want to bear humanity's sins, so you want Fish-Men to take responsibility for them?" Tiger asked disgustedly. "Is this what they call the human conscience?"

Seeing Miming's unpleasant expression made Tiger feel incomparably satisfied. This was the first time he had felt so happy since being captured. The troubles of Celestial Dragons, the suffering of humans—they deserved it all! Feeling guilty, Miming wanted Tiger to solve the problem without paying any price himself. Tiger absolutely could not let him have his way.

Tiger was not afraid of death.

But he would certainly drag the Fish-Man Kingdom down with him. Tiger himself could die, but he could not let the Fish-Man Kingdom suffer because of him! This was all humanity's sin. He had only come onto land out of curiosity about the surface and a hope of living peacefully with humans, yet he had immediately been betrayed, sold, and tortured. Burning the Holy Land of Mary Geoise was such a grave crime that even the Celestial Dragons did not dare bear it. Why should Fish-Men bear humanity's sins instead?

Miming seemed no longer interested in saying anything to him and rose to his feet. Fish-Man Tiger's loathing and hatred for humans made it difficult for him to willingly help.

"Take your time thinking about it," Miming said in a deep voice. "I want to remind you that this is our secret. If I were you, I would start waiting for an opportunity now. What I can do is tamper with your slave collar and find you a route out of Mary Geoise."

"Wait, I never agreed to this..."

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

With that, Miming left with Hancock without looking back.

For Tiger, that day was unbearably long. Soon, people came and stuffed all the Fish-Man children into cages, taking them away to Saint Sanming's palace.

"Where are you taking them?" Tiger roared, but all he could do was sink helplessly into silence.

Miming had taken every Fish-Man slave from this place, leaving Tiger alone in the cell. Tiger suddenly felt an unprecedented terror and loneliness.

A day later, the Bird Family's branch-family movement reached its climax.

After being released from petrification, Saint Ni saw his beard and then discovered that the little Fish-Man slaves he had collected had been taken away by Miming. He rushed over and fought Miming fiercely, only to be beaten black and blue. After Rosward was freed from petrification, he too left angrily with his people, and the relationship between the two families instantly plunged to its lowest point.

Thus, in order to preserve the relationship between the Bird Family, the Charlos Family, and even the Rosward Family, it was only natural that an unfilial son like Saint Sanming would be driven out. Out of sight, out of mind.

At the same time, Saint Sanming's name shocked the Holy Land of Mary Geoise in a single day. More than thirty World Noble families had been present, and over one hundred and twenty Celestial Dragons had been petrified. Saint Sanming had extorted a total of 1.2 billion Berry from them.

Even more outrageous, Saint Sanming brought those three bizarre and ugly female slaves with him everywhere. Two were hideous monsters with snake bodies, while the other was a female slave wearing a spiked iron helmet over her face.

To emphasize that the iron helmet must not be opened, its design was especially terrifying. Aside from the frightening serpent-demon patterns, its surface was covered in sharp spikes containing Seastone, reminding everyone who saw it not to open it. In addition to having her face completely concealed, Hancock had to wear ugly, heavy armor to hide her figure, lest anyone become curious after seeing her body.

Marigold, who had transformed into a massive king cobra Snake Princess, became Saint Sanming's new mount. Riding a huge serpent demon around every day was quite imposing. Within two days, the entire Holy Land of Mary Geoise knew that anyone riding a serpent demon was that shameless, filthy Saint Sanming, and it was best to stay far away from him.

A group of agents led by Cairns were assigned to serve as guards for Saint Sanming's new residence, moving into a manor on the outskirts of Mary Geoise's residential district.

"Master, why don't we use those moving roads?" Sandersonia asked curiously, swaying her enormous head.

Along Mary Geoise's main roads, magical roadways that could move on their own were everywhere. As long as someone stepped onto one, the road would move like a conveyor belt, carrying them forward.