Thunderous Measures / If You Don't Uproot the Grass, It Will Grow Back in the Spring

"..."

Steam billowed from Atlas's body after her workout. Majors, standing in the doorway, felt a fierce gust rush toward him, followed by an overwhelming pressure. It stunned him for a moment, leaving him rooted to the spot, oblivious to Atlas as she was about to leave.

"Move! What are you standing around for?"

Noticing Majors's hesitation, Atlas turned her head, frowned, and snapped in displeasure.

"Huh? Oh! Yes, ma'am!"

The Lawless Zone of the Sabaody Archipelago.

This was a nearly deserted stretch of coast that Lauren Frost had discovered by chance. Docking here was somewhat inconvenient, but that was nothing compared to the lure of immense profits.

"Phew... almost there. The Marines probably haven't noticed us. Looks like that devil hasn't caught on."

Lauren Frost let out a long sigh of relief. His luck seemed pretty good today, and the slaves aboard this ship should satisfy the Celestial Dragons' demands for the time being.

Especially... that exquisite mermaid slave aboard. The Celestial Dragons were sure to love her.

Lauren Frost could practically picture himself winning the Celestial Dragons' favor and rising to wealth and power, forgetting how cautious he had been just moments earlier.

What an... ugly face!

Thunderous measures

"Quick, hurry up! Get moving! Vice Admiral Atlas has given the order. We're teaching those bastards a lesson this time, and we can't let her down."

Watching Majors methodically direct the Marine soldiers a short distance away, Atlas nodded in mild satisfaction.

In her opinion, Majors was a fairly capable commander.

Still, Atlas wanted a female Marine as her aide-de-camp. She would be pleasing to the eye, after all.

As the saying went, when there was work, let the secretary do it; when there wasn't...

It seemed she would have to discuss it with Vice Admiral Tsuru. There was no helping it—most of the female Marines at Marine Headquarters served aboard Tsuru's ship. Still, Atlas was only entertaining the idea. An aide-de-camp didn't need to be especially strong, just capable of handling administrative matters. She didn't want to end up like Sengoku, buried in tedious business all day.

Soon, while Atlas indulged in her fantasies, Majors led the Marines toward Lauren Frost's location based on their earlier intelligence.

"Hey! Lauren Frost, what the hell are you doing, you idiot? Why did you pick this godforsaken place for the handover?"

The slave ship wasn't particularly large. A burly man stood at its bow, his expression utterly arrogant as he openly challenged Lauren Frost, the auction house's boss.

"Alex, show me some damn respect! I'm your superior!"

Lauren Frost sounded displeased, with a touch of... smugness?

To Lauren Frost, Alex was simply jealous of him. They had once held equal positions at the auction house, but the old man above them had suddenly died while Alex happened to be away. Somehow, Lauren Frost had ended up the winner.

"What a lucky bastard..."

Though Alex resented Lauren Frost's good fortune, he didn't press the issue. They were all here to make money, after all. Who would turn their nose up at that?

"Heh... let's hurry this up. While you've been away, a powerful Marine has arrived on Sabaody."

"A Marine?"

Alex was dismissive. Lauren Frost was as cowardly as ever. As far as Alex was concerned, they had the Celestial Dragons backing them. How could mere World Government lapdogs possibly touch them?

You really are getting more pathetic with age, Lauren Frost...

Alex's gaze grew even more contemptuous.

"Hey! What's with that loo—"

"A slave ship? You've got some nerve, operating so openly right under Vice Admiral Atlas's nose!"

Before Lauren Frost could finish, Majors's voice cut straight into their conversation.

"Marines? Didn't I..."

The sudden interruption sent Lauren Frost into a panic, leaving him at a loss.

"You mean these lookouts?"

Thud!

As though in answer to Lauren Frost, several burly men in black suits were tossed down from the sky. Judging by their condition, their chances of survival were less than one in ten.

"Huh?! Marine Vice Admiral Atlas?!"

Lauren Frost instinctively looked up, and his terror deepened. He hadn't expected the devilish Marine to come in person. His face instantly turned ashen.

He knew he would not escape death today. He had witnessed that day's massacre himself, when blood had all but swallowed the entire Lawless Zone. That woman had become synonymous with the devil that day.

Of course, Atlas hadn't come here solely for Lauren Frost. He wasn't important enough for that. This was only the beginning, after all, and she still had to oversee the operations to come.

"Hmph! A Marine Vice Admiral? We have the Celestial Dragons behind us—the nobles of the world! Even Marine Admirals have to obey them!"

Alex showed no fear, staring defiantly up at Atlas as though certain that the Marine Vice Admiral before him wouldn't dare touch him.

What an idiot...

Never before had Lauren Frost thought his longtime colleague standing beside him could be this stupid.

Boom!

Atlas narrowed her eyes at Alex's challenge from below. Without wasting a word, she unleashed an Explosive Flame, engulfing the man who had been swaggering just a second earlier.

The terrifying blast tore Alex's body apart as easily as cloth. His spraying blood and red-and-white remains were instantly vaporized by the savage flames in midair, leaving only a faint smell of roasted meat.

"Gulp..."

Lauren Frost forced down a mouthful of saliva. The scorched smell in the air assaulted his nostrils, and every hair on his body stood on end like a frightened cat's fur. Never had he felt death so close!

"Kill him, and everyone who came with him. They're even worse scum than pirates."

Atlas glanced in disgust at the trembling Lauren Frost below and curled her lip.

"Also, take care of the people aboard the slave ship. Find a way to send them home. As for... anyone with nowhere to go, ask whether they want to join the Marines!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

With the order given, the Marines surged toward the slave ship's accomplices and hired thugs like ravenous beasts.

Atlas wasn't worried in the slightest. Almost every Marine under her command had undergone rigorous training and fought through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Their combat proficiency was beyond question.

Besides, their opponents were merely thugs kept on the auction house's payroll. This wasn't remotely an even fight.

The battle swept through like an autumn wind scattering fallen leaves, ending as abruptly as it had begun.

"A-are we saved?"

"I think so... I think I heard someone say 'Marines.'"

"Don't be naive. The Marines are in league with those bastards. Why would they rescue us?"

The would-be slaves in the hold could hardly believe it. Not yet "broken in," their yearning for freedom burned with an intensity strong enough to scorch anything!

Soon, the murmuring would-be slaves suddenly fell silent.

Because... a neatly formed squad of Marines had appeared before them!

Some even raised bruised hands to rub their eyes, as though the sight before them made them think they were dreaming.

"Don't just stand there. Come out. We need to register everyone."

Seeing that no one had emerged from the unlocked cages, the Marine in charge couldn't help prompting them.

"Huh? Yes, yes!"

Clatter!

As though waking from a dream, the people who had stood frozen suddenly surged forward, plunging the scene into chaos.

"Quiet! One at a time. There's no need to rush."

Not at all surprised, the lead Marine calmly directed them out of the cages and onto the deck in an orderly fashion.

Leave the roots, and the spring breeze will bring them back

"One, two, three... huh? There's a mermaid here too?"

Majors, who was counting and registering the people aboard the slave ship, looked taken aback. It wasn't that he had never seen a mermaid before. Rather, with relations between the World Government and Fish-Man Island so strained, he wasn't quite sure what to do with her.

"Vice Admiral Atlas, we found a mermaid aboard the slave ship. What should we do with her?"

When in doubt, ask your superior first.

Majors fully upheld this fine tradition and asked Atlas directly.

"A mermaid?"

Atlas looked at Trika, who stood out conspicuously among the crowd.

She looked pitiful, with smooth, delicate skin and long blue hair falling over her shoulders. Her upper body was no different from a human woman's, with just two scraps of cloth barely covering her full breasts. Below her flat stomach stretched a fish tail covered in alternating black-and-white scales. The contrast between her upper and lower halves exuded an unusual allure.

She was a Striped Beakfish Mermaid!

I've heard mermaids' tails turn into legs once they reach thirty...

Atlas stroked her chin, her imagination wandering freely.

"..."

A short distance away, Trika seemed to notice Atlas's appraising gaze, and fear crept into her eyes. Thanks to Queen Otohime's advocacy, she had originally believed humans to be kind and wonderful.

But her experiences since sneaking away had taught her that humans had never regarded mermaids or fish-men as their equals. In human eyes, they were merely commodities, no different from fish.

The sunshine was warm, but no warmth could reach Trika's heart.

"Vice Admiral? Vice Admiral? What are you thinking about?"

When Atlas failed to answer, Majors couldn't help reminding her.

"Huh? Hmm? What else would we do? If she wants to return to Fish-Man Island, send her back."

"But the World Government..."

Majors hesitated. There was no helping it. Fisher Tiger had attacked Mary Geoise, an act that amounted to grinding the World Government's face into the dirt.

"Huh? What the hell does the World Government have to do with me? They don't get to boss me around. Let Sengoku deal with the headache."

Atlas was now almost openly dumping responsibility onto Sengoku. He had solemnly promised her as much before she left, after all.

"Crowded streets mean hidden dangers! Watch out for pirates!"

Sabaody's nights were anything but quiet, at least for those so-called slave owners.

Marine patrols were everywhere throughout Areas 1 through 29, searching practically every household. Their stated reason was to prevent vicious pirates from blending in among ordinary citizens and posing a serious threat to everyone's lives and property.

What? You wouldn't cooperate? Sorry, but the Marines had grounds to suspect you of involvement with pirates and human traffickers. If you resisted arrest, they would have no choice but to shoot you on the spot.

Naturally, the vast majority of ordinary citizens applauded the Marines' actions.

Area 1.

Sabaody's largest human auction house stood here. Even the Celestial Dragons visited from time to time.

It could be said that this human auction house harbored Sabaody's filthiest, darkest evils!

But now, ranks of neatly formed Marines surrounded the place, led by Colonel Majors and... Kyros.

As a trusted subordinate personally recruited by Atlas, Kyros naturally served as one of the operation's main combatants, while also earning a share of the credit. Oh, right—he was now a sergeant.

Atlas had brought roughly fifteen hundred Marines from Marine Headquarters, while Sabaody's Marine base had around a thousand. Some eight hundred Marines had been assigned to Auction House No. 1. Atlas intended to eradicate human trafficking from Sabaody completely, in one fell swoop!

"Hey! What do you Marines think you're doing? Our auction house has the Celestial Dragons backing it!"

Naturally, an employee inside the auction house had heard the commotion outside. Though terrified, the Celestial Dragons' backing gave him enough courage to shout at the Marines.

"Nothing much. Vice Admiral Atlas has simply ordered that human auctions are no longer permitted on Sabaody!"

"You have one minute. Every last one of you, get out here right now. Otherwise..."

For some reason, Majors suddenly recalled Atlas's cold, stern face. He paused, then continued, "You will be killed without mercy!"

"You! Aren't you afraid of offending the Celestial Dragons?"