We Might as Well Not Waste Food / Purge

The pirates in the tavern dropped like dumplings tossed into a pot and never got back up.

"What...?"

The onlookers left standing were at a loss. All they had felt was a gust of wind against their faces, and the pirates who had been shouting a moment ago were now unconscious, foaming at the mouth. Some were even bleeding from every opening in their heads, with no sign of life.

"Hey, hey, hey! Are you blind? Can't you see that person standing right over there?"

In the Lawless Zone of Grove 2, a scrawny, rat-faced old man imperiously ordered around a group of thugs in black suits behind him. In front of them stood a terrified girl of seventeen or eighteen.

"What a shame. That bastard's set his sights on her..."

"Who is he?"

"Keep your voice down! He's the man behind Sabaody's biggest human auction house. They say he has the Celestial Dragons backing him."

"Tsk, tsk. Looks like that girl's not getting away today..."

Hearing the whispers around her, the already terrified girl burst into pitiful tears, as though she could already see the life of slavery awaiting her.

"But isn't she a tourist?"

A burly man standing behind the rat-faced middle-aged man seemed reluctant.

"Chehahaha! Hutton, why the sudden attack of conscience? Think about your bedridden wife and daughter!"

Those words seemed to hit a nerve. The burly man clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"What a fine specimen... I'm sure the Celestial Dragons will love her. Mary Geoise happens to be short on slaves lately, too. Hehehehe!"

"Urgh..."

Before the rat-faced middle-aged man could step forward, he felt as though someone had struck him on the back of the head. Warm streams of liquid poured from his ears, nose, and throat.

Thud.

The same scene played out all across the Sabaody Archipelago. It was as though the eye of God were watching over the entire archipelago, striking down evildoers with divine punishment at almost the same instant!

Don't Waste Food on Them, Either

Grove 51, Sabaody Archipelago, Grand Line.

"Hm? This presence..."

A disheveled young man with gray-green hair prowled furtively around the area.

His name was Gild Tesoro. He was in Sabaody, fresh from Mary Geoise.

To Tesoro, the so-called Holy Land of Mary Geoise was a nightmare he never wanted to remember. Yet the presence that had just swept over Sabaody seemed to belong to the person who had saved him there.

"Forget it. I'll ask around later. Right now, I need to find a ship and get out of this damned place."

No matter how beautiful the Sabaody Archipelago was, this playground of the Celestial Dragons made Tesoro deeply uncomfortable. It constantly reminded him of his life as a slave.

He still had no idea what exactly he would do, but his goal was clear: make money!

If he had money, he could have stopped the Celestial Dragons from buying Stella!

If he had money, even the Celestial Dragons would have to curry favor with him!

If he had money, his life would never have been so miserable!

Money was the most wonderful, most useful thing in the world!

Tesoro's desire for wealth had already become almost fanatical. As far as he was concerned, all his misfortunes came down to a single word: poverty!

"Vice Admiral, what did you just...?"

Watching Sabaody's coast slowly draw closer, Majors was puzzled by what Atlas had just done.

"My Conqueror's Haki has knocked out most of the criminals. Take the soldiers and bring that scum back here," Atlas said, then lazily added, "If any are still alive."

"Conqueror's Haki... can do that?"

Majors's throat felt dry, and he instinctively swallowed.

As far as he knew, wasn't Conqueror's Haki only useful for clearing out small fry?

It was hardly surprising that Majors thought that way. As a Marine colonel, he had little access to the circles of people who possessed Conqueror's Haki, and his understanding of it was inevitably superficial. Even some of its users regarded it only as a symbol of their potential and knew nothing of its true power.

"Well, combine it with Observation Haki, and you can target people precisely. It's pretty easy."

In fact, after taking two of Rayleigh's slashes enhanced with Conqueror's Haki Infusion last time, Atlas had become far more flexible in her use of Conqueror's Haki. Otherwise, attempting precision strikes over such a vast area could easily have hurt innocent bystanders.

"Yes, Vice Admiral!"

Majors promptly accepted the order, completely ignoring Atlas's boasting, and led the soldiers aboard the warship onto Sabaody in an orderly fashion.

The soldiers were all excited. They had overheard Vice Admiral Atlas's conversation with Colonel Majors, so they knew this was a chance to earn easy merits. Every one of them was itching to get started.

"Who would've thought that old man Rayleigh wouldn't be on Sabaody? Did he go to Amazon Lily?"

Watching the Marines leave, Atlas muttered to herself. She had intended to pick a fight with Rayleigh, but even after scouring every inch of the island with Observation Haki, she had found no trace of him.

Atlas guessed that Rayleigh had discovered that Hancock and her sisters were from Amazon Lily and had escorted them home with Shakky.

What a shame...

The Lawless Zone, Groves 1 through 29.

Pirates littered the ground, nearly all in the same state: eyes rolled back, mouths foaming. A few bled from every opening in their heads, as though they had suffered a heavy blow to the skull.

That was the sight that greeted the Marines upon their arrival at the Sabaody Archipelago.

"This is 'Evil Ghost' Nick. Seventy-million bounty. Unconscious, but still alive!"

"Whew... 'Butcher' August. Ninety-million bounty. This guy's a bloodthirsty pirate. Most of that bounty came from massacring civilians."

"Hey! This one's 'Weeping Hunter' Carpani. I heard he's a lunatic. Something's wrong with his head."

As the Marines checked the criminals one by one, they identified a great many notorious pirates. Without exception, the unconscious people were either pirates or human traffickers. Such precise targeting only deepened their sincere admiration for their young commanding officer.

"This is... absolutely unbelievable!"

Majors nearly lost his composure. Was this level of power really something a mere Headquarters vice admiral could possess? From what he had heard, this monstrous vice admiral did not even have an epithet yet.

Although Akainu and the other two had large-scale area attacks thanks to their Logia abilities, precision strikes covering an entire island... Well, Majors honestly had no idea whether they could do that. Still, that did nothing to diminish the overwhelming impact of the scene before his eyes.

In truth, Atlas was still slightly weaker than the three monster vice admirals. But she could fight any of them for ten days and nights without issue, and the outcome would remain uncertain. Earning an epithet, however, was no easy matter.

Generally, vice admirals with epithets fell into two categories. The first were the elite vice admirals of Marine Headquarters, usually seasoned veterans with sufficient accomplishments. The second were admiral candidates.

For admiral candidates, promotion to admiral was practically assured, provided they had enough strength and military achievements. After all, admirals were hailed as the Marines' greatest fighting force. Ultimately, strength was what mattered.

More than a decade later, for instance, Gion and Tokikake would clearly have enough seniority to become Marine admirals, yet the vacancies would instead be filled through the World Military Draft. Either they lacked the necessary strength, or the Five Elders wanted to keep the Marines in check by deliberately choosing two outsiders.

Atlas believed the former was more likely. In this world, strength ultimately reigned supreme. Only sufficient power could determine one's standing.

"Hurry... there's a live one over here!"

"What? We're out of handcuffs? Then get some rope!"

"No rope either? Forget it, then... just cut off their hands and feet and bring them back!"

"...Yes, sir!"

Apparently, no one had anticipated such a staggering move from their commanding officer. The warship simply did not carry enough handcuffs for all these prisoners.

Majors was decisive, too. He directly ordered his men to cut off the remaining prisoners' hands and feet, saving them the trouble of dealing with escape attempts once they woke.

The Marines were certainly efficient. Before long, they had dragged the bound pirates to the shore where the warship was docked and awaited Atlas's orders.

"What a hassle. I didn't expect so many pirates to survive."

Atlas curled her lip in distaste as she looked at the pirates the Marines had all but dragged over. She was clearly dissatisfied with the results of her Conqueror's Haki.

But Atlas was being far too demanding. How could pirates with enormous bounties on their heads all be killed outright by a long-range burst of her Conqueror's Haki?

"Vice Admiral, what should we do with these pirates?"

"Verify their identities, then... kill them! No need to throw them into Impel Down and waste food on them..."

The Purge

"It's certainly a lot quieter now..."

As usual, Atlas spread her Observation Haki over the Sabaody Archipelago to patrol it.

"There it is again..."

In the Lawless Zone, an extremely scrawny man with tightly set features sensed that familiar presence. His entire body tensed, his muscles stiffening. He did not dare make a single movement that might be misunderstood.

His name was Lauren Frost, and he was the newly appointed manager of Sabaody's largest auction house. This was his third day on the job.

Although he had been promoted from second-in-command to the top position, Lauren Frost could not bring himself to feel happy. Ever since that devil of a Marine had arrived, Sabaody's criminals had lived in constant fear. Forget trafficking slaves—the pirates barely dared to breathe, terrified of accidentally provoking that killing machine.

In fact, the World Government explicitly prohibited the slave trade. But the Celestial Dragons were the world's largest slave owners, rendering that law little more than worthless paper.

For that very reason, even after Lauren Frost bribed World Government officials and appealed to them to stop the Marines—or at least transfer Atlas away from Sabaody—all he received was a lukewarm reply from the Marines. It did him no good whatsoever.

"Damn it, the Celestial Dragons have sent people to hurry us up again..."

Lauren Frost was even considering packing his things and running. Recently, Fisher Tiger had freed a vast number of slaves in Mary Geoise. The Celestial Dragons, thoroughly accustomed to keeping slaves, found the shortage intolerable and had dispatched more servants everywhere to purchase replacements in bulk.

As one of the Celestial Dragons' largest sources of slaves, Sabaody's auction house was naturally among their targets.

The auction house owed its existence—or at least its size—largely to the Celestial Dragons' support. Once it ceased to be useful, the fate awaiting Lauren Frost needed no explanation.

"I wonder when the next slave ship will arrive. Should be soon..."

Things had been far too tense these past few days, but Lauren Frost had run out of options. He could only take a chance and secretly transport slaves to the auction house. After all, that devil of a Marine could not be watching Sabaody every second of the day.

Maybe he'd get lucky... right?

"What a troublesome brat. I'd better stop making such sweeping promises!"

Seated in his office in Marineford, Sengoku hung up the call with a click.

He rubbed his brow with a headache. This was already the third call from a senior World Government official. Only people of the Celestial Dragons' standing could casually order around officials high-ranking enough to call Sengoku directly.

All three callers had wanted the same thing: to have Atlas transferred away from Sabaody!

But stationing Atlas in the Sabaody Archipelago was a crucial part of his plan. How could he abandon it merely because of the Celestial Dragons? Sengoku had rejected the requests with almost no hesitation.

"That brat really knows how to make trouble for me. Still... well done!"

Sengoku's furrowed brow relaxed completely, and a satisfied smile curved his lips. The grotesque institution of slavery had long been a source of discontent throughout the Marines. To them, it was nothing short of a stain on justice!

Intimidated by the World Government's authority, however, the Marines could only crack down on the slave trade on a small scale. They neither dared nor had the power to suppress a major trafficking hub like Sabaody. Only someone as fearless as Atlas would dare do such a thing.

She truly was worthy of possessing Conqueror's Haki...

Sengoku's gaze grew distant, as though he were remembering the passionate young woman who had stood in his office a few years earlier, boldly declaring her belief in "Absolute Justice."

Grove 66, Sabaody Archipelago, the Marine base.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A rapid barrage of violent impacts echoed through the metal-lined training room. Atlas was bare from the waist up, throwing powerful punches, though she was clearly holding back. With her current strength, she could have demolished the entire room.

Ordinary training like this now did almost nothing to improve Atlas's strength. Its main purpose was to keep her body ready to unleash explosive power at any moment and reinforce her muscle memory. The only way for her to advance now was to keep fighting powerful opponents. Experience and the application of technique were what she truly valued.

"Vice Admiral! We've spotted a slave ship sneaking into the waters of the Sabaody Archipelago!"

As Atlas worked up a heavy sweat, Majors's voice came from the training room doorway.

"Hm?"

Atlas was baffled. How were there still people so eager to die that they insisted on walking straight into her line of fire? It seemed she would have to carry out a thorough purge today and teach those who still hoped to get lucky a lesson they would never forget. No—make that their final lesson.

With that thought, Atlas picked up the clothes beside her and headed straight for the door.