By now, Fisher Tiger and the others could see the place Lin Yuan had mentioned. From a distance, three women seemed to be waiting there.
"Pick up the pace! Once we reach the sea, we'll be free."
At Tiger's words, everyone seemed to see a chance of survival, and their faces lit up with excitement.
Stella, Erza, and Emile were startled by the dense mass of people in the distance.
But when they saw the slaves in tattered clothes, they quickly understood what was happening and finally realized what Lin Yuan had gone to do.
They admired Lin Yuan even more now and hurriedly waved to Tiger and the others.
Tiger understood at once and paid no heed to their pursuers. They had to make every second count.
The CP guards pursuing the slaves saw that Tiger and his group had been driven to the edge of the Red Line, so they weren't in much of a hurry.
But a CP agent who was clearly the commander suddenly thought of something. His expression changed drastically, and he bellowed.
"Catch up to them! They're going to use the waterway to escape!"
The environment in the world of pirates was very strange. In many places, water flowed uphill, with Reverse Mountain being one such peculiar example.
On the Red Line, near Mary Geoise, there was a similar ocean current, but while one side flowed upward, the other flowed toward the sea.
Originally, it had only been a scenic feature the Celestial Dragons used to display their status, but it gave Tiger and the others a chance to escape.
Although a single mistake could still send them plunging to their deaths, Fish-Men like Tiger could unleash ten times their strength in water.
Finally, just as the CP guards closed the distance, everyone reached the edge of the Red Line.
Looking at the current flowing downward, all the Fish-Men shed tears of excitement.
"Boss Tiger, what do we do now?"
"First, have the brothers take everyone away. Each brother will be responsible for three people, especially the ability users and the children. We can't leave a single person behind. I'll hold them off for a while."
"Understood!"
Pain immediately assigned the brothers under him. Although looking down from the Red Line made many people's hearts tremble, not one of them refused. Even if they died, they would leave this place.
Boom...
Just as Tiger and the others were preparing to hold off their pursuers, a terrifying slash of blade light struck the CP guards chasing them.
Because the crowd was packed so closely together, the single slash killed more than a dozen people and left a blade mark dozens of meters long in the ground.
Tiger's eyes lit up.
"My lord!"
Lin Yuan swept his eyes over Tiger and the others from beneath his cloak and said coldly, "You go first. I'll hold these people off!"
"Uh, yes!"
Tiger had wanted to offer to stay and help Lin Yuan, but hearing the unquestionable tone of his voice, he hesitated no longer.
Tiger and Pain personally took charge of Stella, Hancock, and the other four women, and then they jumped one by one into the downward-flowing current.
"Everyone, hold tight to your Fish-Man brothers! We're escaping together!"
"Yeah!!!"
Everyone shouted at the top of their lungs. Though they felt like crying at that moment, they all clung tightly to the Fish-Men.
Some men who had a measure of strength and weren't ability users also jumped into the current of their own accord. As for whether they could survive, everyone could only leave it to fate.
Although the cloaked figure who had suddenly appeared blocked their path, the CP commander grew anxious when he saw the slaves jumping into the current.
If those people escaped, they would surely be executed.
"Kill them! We can't let them escape!"
Hearing this, Lin Yuan's expression turned cold. As he watched people continue to jump into the current, he narrowed his eyes.
At the edge of the Red Line, the sky suddenly darkened, and something seemed to be brewing within the clouds.
Then a terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki swept toward all the pursuers.
Boom...
Countless bolts of purple lightning raged across the sky as clouds churned, and a terrifying pressure instantly swept toward Mary Geoise.
Under the stunned gazes of Tiger and the others, the pursuing CP guards fell in rows like harvested stalks of rice.
Aside from a handful who were somewhat stronger, more than ninety-nine percent of them were knocked unconscious by Lin Yuan's terrifying Conqueror's Haki and Zhu Jiuyin's pressure.
"Go!"
Lin Yuan's shout instantly jolted Tiger, Pain, and the others awake. They had been awed by his presence, while Stella, Hancock, and the others regarded him as a godlike being.
"My lord, please be careful."
With that, Tiger and Pain jumped into the current with Stella and the others.
Lin Yuan, meanwhile, stood like an impassable chasm, blocking every pursuer.
"C-Conqueror's Haki... Who are you?"
Only a dozen or so of the CP guards who had come in pursuit remained. Their strength was only at the level of Marine officers, and they all watched Lin Yuan in fear, not daring to step forward.
Lin Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the guards weren't strong; at most, they were only as strong as a Marine Rear Admiral. Otherwise, even with his Conqueror's Haki, he couldn't have achieved this result.
Now he only had to hold out a little longer, giving Tiger and the others enough time to escape, and then he could retreat.
But he didn't intend to wait too long. Ten minutes was his limit; the commotion here might draw some kind of monster.
Time ticked by, and Lin Yuan dealt with the dozen or so remaining CP agents. Just as he felt enough time had passed and was about to leave, a leering voice suddenly rang out.
"Ooh, how scary. Someone who's awakened Conqueror's Haki took out thousands of Mary Geoise's guards all by himself. How terrifying!"
Lin Yuan whipped around toward the voice, his whole body tensing as he stared fixedly at the newcomer.
The newcomer was none other than Marine Admiral Borsalino, an Oscar-winning-level actor, codenamed Kizaru.
Lin Yuan's entire face was hidden beneath his cloak, leaving his expression invisible.
"To think that Admiral Kizaru himself would come. What a surprise!"
Despite saying that, Lin Yuan wasn't surprised at all. Aside from Kizaru Borsalino, no one could have reached this place so quickly.
"Ooh, it can't be helped. It is my duty, after all. I'd only just arrived when I ran into a terrifying monster like you. You wiped out all of Mary Geoise's guards in one strike. How scary."
Despite his words, there wasn't a trace of fear on Borsalino's face. Instead, he looked at Lin Yuan with some curiosity.
He wanted to see the face beneath the cloak. Judging by the other man's build and voice, he seemed quite young.
Lin Yuan curled his lip, not believing a word Borsalino said. Who didn't know that when this guy acted, his Yasakani no Magatama outlined his targets, while against enemies, his laser shot through coins?
"Admiral Kizaru, are the Marines just a blade in the World Government's hand? These innocent civilians are made into slaves, then abused and murdered at will, all for the Celestial Dragons' amusement. Can you Marines simply turn a blind eye to that?"
Lin Yuan was in no hurry now. He didn't mind talking with Kizaru and seeing what sort of person this man, whose identity countless fans of the series had speculated about, really was.
Hearing Lin Yuan's rebuke, a white gleam flashed across Borsalino's glasses. He fell silent, seemingly thinking about something.
"It can't be helped. The Marines are subordinate to the World Government, and no one dares defy its orders. But our Marine justice is to maintain peace on the seas."
"As for the things you mentioned, sorry, but there's nothing I can do. After all, I'm just a Marine drawing a small salary."
A smile appeared at the corner of Lin Yuan's mouth. He hadn't expected Borsalino to say that. That's just like you.
"Heh, but how come I've heard that as long as Marine Admiral Kizaru gets paid enough, he'll even take down the Four Emperors?"
"The Four Emperors?"
The corner of Borsalino's mouth twitched. He didn't know who had dared spread such a story about him, but what puzzled him was why Lin Yuan had said "Four Emperors."
On the seas today, aside from Whitebeard Newgate, who was called an emperor of the sea, there was no such thing as the Four Emperors.
But Borsalino soon stopped worrying about it, assuming the other man had simply said it offhand.
Borsalino looked into the distance. Lin Yuan reckoned enough time had passed, and the two moved at the same time.
Just as Lin Yuan was about to leave, Borsalino made his move. He appeared before Lin Yuan in an instant and kicked straight at him, his foot shining with golden light.
Lin Yuan had been watching his every move, and his Observation Haki had long since locked onto him.
On his way to the East Blue, Lin Yuan had awakened Conqueror's Haki in the face of nature's grandeur, and his Observation Haki had also awakened naturally under the influence of his fruit ability.
Faced with Borsalino's attack, he didn't dodge. Instead, he kicked back, his leg covered in black Armament Haki.
Boom...