Are you all useless? You can't even find one person?
Purple Rat launched into a tirade of insults at the government officials in front of him. Then he jumped into the sea.
Fortunately, he wasn't Devil Fruit User, otherwise he really wouldn't have dared to do that.
After a period of time~
The Purple Rat slowly crawled out of the sea, its face extremely pale.
It's really gone!
He clearly saw Xia Chen fall right there, but now he hasn't found a single hair on him.
"Damn it, where did things go wrong?" Purple Rat roared angrily.
You should know that they used two King's Gun to capture Xia Chen, only to be told in the end that he had disappeared!
How is he supposed to explain this to the Five Elders?
Thinking of this, the Purple Rat's face grew increasingly grim, while the White Dove beside it remained expressionless, deep in thought. After a long while, it said:
"It seems there might be a third party here besides us!"
After he used the King's Gun Xia Chen, he could clearly feel that Xia Chen's breath was barely a whisper.
Furthermore, he is Devil Fruit User, making it impossible for him to escape on his own. Therefore, there is only one explanation left.
That means someone secretly rescued Xia Chen!
After figuring this out, White Dove's expression didn't change. He was only here to provide support; he wasn't the main person in charge of the mission.
Now that Xia Chen has escaped, Purple Rat will definitely take the blame. What does this have to do with White Dove?
Then the White Dove turned and walked in a certain direction, saying to the crowd without looking back:
"Let's go! Xia Chen may have escaped, but his crewmates can't! Today, capture every single Straw Hat Pirates except Xia Chen and throw them all into Impel Down!"
"I came with six Vice Admiral from the Navy. They were just fighting Straw Hat Luffy and his Straw Hat Boy at the cape. The battle should be almost over by now!"
"What?!!"
Upon hearing this, Garp's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. He looked at the White Dove and asked, "When did you bring the Marines here? Why didn't I know?"
"Um?"
The White Dove slowly turned around, her eyes slightly cold as she looked at Garp, and said bluntly, " Vice Admiral Garp, please watch your words. This is a government order! Since when has the government needed to notify you before it could do anything?"
Upon hearing this, Garp's expression darkened further. He was in a terrible internal struggle; if Luffy were also arrested, then both of his grandsons would be imprisoned as well.
Thinking about this, Garp suddenly felt a pang of regret. Why had he come to fight Xia Chen in the first place?
If he hadn't gotten involved, would Xia Chen have been able to go back and save them?
Garp stood there, blaming himself. Purple Rat and White Dove slowly walked towards the cape. Aokiji stood there, looking at the expression on Garp's face, and couldn't help but sigh.
He knew about the relationship between Luffy and Garp, so he understood how Garp was feeling!
but...
They are from the Navy, and now the World Government is involved in this incident. If it were just the Navy, we could let them off the hook and find an excuse to release them.
But that was clearly not the way to go now. Aokiji was silent for a moment, then walked toward the direction of the Purple Rat and the others. He didn't know how to comfort Garp.
But he will do his best to save Luffy's life. Even if Luffy is captured and taken to Impel Down, it's okay, as long as he's alive!
Garp stood there alone, head bowed, his gaze distant, lost in thought...
--
After an unknown amount of time, Xia Chen struggled to open his eyes, and what came into view was a simply furnished house.
Seeing this, Xia Chen murmured in a daze, "Where... is this?"
"You're awake!"
A voice came from the side, instantly clearing Xia Chen's somewhat dazed mind. He turned his head to look at the source of the voice, and then a look of surprise appeared on his face.
"Dragon?"
That's right, the person standing in front of Xia Chen was none other than his uncle, Long, whom he had met once in Loguetown!
In an instant, Xia Chen understood many things. Looking at the layers of bandages wrapped around his body, he asked:
"Did you save me?"
"That's right!" Dragon nodded.
"That day, while you were fighting CP0, I and some other members of the organization were watching from a distance."
"After seeing you fall into the sea, we sent our men to rescue you before CP0 could reach you!"
"That day?" Xia Chen keenly grasped the information in Long's words, then hurriedly asked, "How many days have passed? What about Luffy and the others? How are they?"
Xia Chen knew very well that if he wasn't there, the chances of Luffy and his crew escaping from CP0 would be extremely slim.
He had originally planned to use his Flying Nimbus to carry the entire ship away, but unfortunately, a Cheng Yaojin appeared out of nowhere, causing him to overturn.
Therefore, he is not optimistic about Luffy and his crew's situation!
What Long said next confirmed Xia Chen's guess.
"It's been a full three days since you fell unconscious, and Luffy and the others..."
"He's been captured and thrown into Impel Down!" Long said with a grim expression, then took a stack of newspapers from the table next to him and handed them to Xia Chen.
Xia Chen took it and saw that it was about Luffy and his crew.
" The Straw Hat Boy's Crew have all been defeated and killed. Eight of them have been captured and taken to Impel Down. Demon King Xia Chen has been killed!..."
Xia Chen stared at the newspaper in front of him, his gaze deep and thoughtful. Then he turned to Long, staring into his eyes, and asked:
"Since you were there, why didn't you help save Luffy and the others?"
"I can't do it!" Long shook his head.
"The government and navy have deployed far too many powerful individuals; with my strength, I am insufficient to rescue them from such a formidable force."
Upon hearing this, Xia Chen gave Long a deep look but remained silent.
Sometimes he felt that Luffy's situation with such a family was quite tragic. If Garp hadn't told him, he wouldn't even know who his father was.
Not to mention his relationship with his father; Xia Chen felt that they were now more like strangers despite being related by blood.
His father and grandfather, the two people closest to Luffy, watched helplessly as he was captured and imprisoned in Impel Down.
What Xia Chen didn't actually say was, how can you be so sure it won't work without even trying?
Besides, even if it really couldn't be done, shouldn't you still try to save your son when you see him being dragged into Impel Down right before your eyes?
Xia Chen genuinely didn't understand what Long was worried about. Was it really for the sake of the so-called "big picture"?
You must be joking!
Given the current global power structure and the strength of the World Government, a Revolutionary Army simply cannot withstand them. At least, that's how their combat capabilities have been demonstrated so far.
Therefore, Xia Chen still hasn't figured out what role Long and his Revolutionary Army play.
And to be honest, Xia Chen didn't think the people in the Revolutionary Army were any better.
They are currently in the common people's class, so they are speaking for the common people. But what if they were in the ruling class? Would they still speak like this?
Just like Xia Chen said before, if the World Government hadn't taken action against him, he really wouldn't have wanted to get involved!
But now that the World Government has taken action against him first, he naturally has no need to tolerate it any longer.
Shaking his head, Xia Chen exhaled a breath of stale air and focused his mind on his body, sensing his physical condition.
Next, something big is about to happen...