A masked man grinned viciously, grabbed a little girl frozen with terror, and raised his scimitar high.
Aboard the airship, Ma Chao flew into a rage. Lightning erupted around him, bathing the entire cabin in blue-white light! "You bastards!" He recognized the armed men's clothing-it matched exactly what the Wind-Listening Guard's intelligence had described: "low-ranking Baroque Works agents" who attacked border villages, plundered supplies, and framed the rebels!
"Mengqi, calm down!" Zhou Yu said sharply, though a cold light flashed in his eyes as well. His Observation Haki locked firmly onto the agent raising his blade and the despairing villagers at his feet.
"Zhou Yu! How much longer are we supposed to wait?!" Ma Chao growled. His right hand had already closed around his sword hilt, and hissing blue-black arcs of electricity snaked along the blade.
Zhou Yu took a deep breath, quickly surveyed the terrain below, then glanced again at the village's miserable state in the crystal ball. Golden light flared in his eyes, as though he had reached some decision.
"According to the Wind-Listening Guard's intelligence, attacks like this usually have an 'overseer' lurking nearby to handle any unforeseen developments and ensure the 'evidence' is conclusive," Zhou Yu said rapidly. "Mengqi, save the villagers, and make sure you leave a few alive. I'll find the 'overseer' and stop him from destroying the evidence or sending word. Remember, finish this quickly. Don't reveal our identities as men of the Empire. Act as 'Blue Sea bounty hunters who happened upon an injustice.' Move!"
"About time!" Ma Chao gave a long, piercing cry. Without even waiting for the airship's hatch to open fully, he wrapped himself in violent blue-black lightning, became a bolt that tore through the sky, and leaped straight down from the airship hundreds of meters above the ground!