"No..."
"Am I... am I going to end up like that useless Charlos too..."
He remembered Saint Charlos.
That idiot whom Straw Hat had sent flying with a single punch in the Sabaody Archipelago.
That worthless fool who had provoked a dumbass and been beaten half to death, turning all the Celestial Dragons into a laughingstock.
Saint Marcus's teeth were chattering.
He did not want to end up like that.
He carried the noble blood of the Babette Family. He could not be humiliated in the street by some lowlife like Charlos had been.
But fear had already drowned out his anger.
His brain raced frantically, trying to find any lifeline he could grasp.
Then.
In the crowd.
A merchant hiding behind a shop's door panel recognized that figure.
In that instant, his face turned whiter than paper.
"Th-that is..."
His voice trembled as he pointed toward Wangchuan, as though he had seen something far beyond his comprehension.
"That's the guy on the wanted poster!"
"What?!"
The people beside him immediately crowded closer.
"Which wanted poster?!"
"Ten billion! The ten-billion one!"
The merchant was practically screaming.
"The Moon Demon! Wangchuan!"
"He's the one who sank Marineford! All by himself! He sank the entire island!"
Gasps rose from both sides of the street.
Everyone's eyes converged on Wangchuan.
He looked exactly like the photograph on the wanted poster.
"Ten billion... ten billion Beli..."
"He sank Marineford single-handedly and killed a Marine Admiral."
"That man... that man is actually here in the Sabaody Archipelago?!"
Fear spread like a plague once more.
This time, it was even worse than before.
Before, they had thought Wangchuan was a madman with a death wish, a reckless brat who did not know his own limits, just like Straw Hat.
But now they knew who he was.