"Send a few men with me to look around the town and investigate. Report anything amiss immediately!"
Barnett a few marines to scout ahead with him. They didn't know what was going on, and they couldn't all rush into the town, lest they be wiped out and no one would be able to report back to Vic.
"I'll go too, Rebecca can stay here!"
Wendy didn't want Barnett to go into danger alone. At least they could look out for each other, especially since she was now an ability user and might be able to play a big role in a critical moment.
Although Vic told her not to reveal her abilities outside, he also told her not to worry about the consequences when her life was in danger, and to use whatever could save her life.
Barnett gave Wendy a deep look but didn't say anything. Rebecca also wanted to go, but things were getting weird, so she couldn't just do whatever she wanted. She reached out and grabbed Ain's small hand!
Frodeku naturally followed him in. His Observation Haki allowed him to Future Sight, enabling him to be the first to detect any unexpected situations and quickly relay the information to Rebecca.
Then only Rebecca and Ain remained at the scene; the others entered the town under Barnett's guidance.
After Barnett led his men into town, he did not separate them. Instead, he searched each shop and residence. He was very cautious at first, but after searching several places, he found nothing unusual.
So Barnett separated the people. The town was quite large, consisting of streets, shops, and residential areas. It would be too late to see everything one by one before dark. Spreading the people out would allow for a quicker result, provided there was no danger involved.
Rebecca kept her Observation Haki around the two of them just in case. Everyone else had left, leaving only her, a young woman with a child. To those unaware of her strength, the two of them were the easiest targets.
Therefore, Rebecca will not let her guard down, and she is using herself and Ain as bait. Rebecca is the strongest person on the warship besides Vic, and now that Vic is not here, she needs to hold the fort.
Barnett and his group were very fast. All three of them possessed Observation Haki, allowing them to investigate from outside. Their efficiency was high when they split up, while the other marines had to go inside to investigate more thoroughly. It took them a little over two hours to return to the town entrance and reunite with Rebecca.
"So? Any discoveries?"
Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief when she saw everyone return safely. If there had been someone lurking nearby, they would have made their move long ago; taking them down one by one was the safest approach.
It's unlikely they'll wait until they're all together before making a move, unless some Devil Fruit ability can wipe them all out in one fell swoop, but that's highly improbable.
However, it's not impossible that they gathered at the town entrance twice. When they first arrived, they weren't as wary of the town, so they could have easily launched a surprise attack. Now, they could wait until everyone relaxes after being on edge before making their move. Either time is fine, as long as the person making the move isn't weak.
"I didn't see a single person!"
Barnett's face was grim. The entire town was deserted, with no one alive or dead in sight. However, the town's buildings didn't appear to be abandoned. Although some goods in the shops were missing, they were all in good condition. This meant that the people in the town had vanished collectively in a short period of time. What had happened? Barnett was filled with doubt.
"I saw that the food on the table in one house was still warm, two chairs in front of the table were overturned, and there were a few drops of blood on the floor that hadn't congealed yet. There was also a small dog hiding inside the house. It was as if the people here had just disappeared!"
Wendy continued Barnett's words, saying that the food was still warm, which meant that someone was cooking or eating just now, but something suddenly happened and the homeowner disappeared, leaving only a pet dog.
"And you? What have you discovered?" Barnett asked the others.
"The situation is pretty much the same. I also saw food on several tables, some untouched, some already half-eaten. Pets were also there. All signs indicate that people were present not long ago. We might have arrived too late!"
Frodeku adjusted his glasses and said that they had left the fishing village around mealtime, so the incident in town must have occurred around that time.
That's why Frodeku said they were too late. But with such a large-scale mass disappearance of the entire town, even if they were there, could they possibly stop it with just a few people?
Other marines also spoke in succession, but their content was similar. The main point was that the people hadn't been gone for long, and some houses showed signs of struggle, indicating that they had been forcibly taken away by armed people.
Some left no trace at all, as if the homeowner had left with someone else on their own initiative, and there were no signs of a mass exodus of townspeople on the streets.
All signs indicate that the entire town's population disappeared almost simultaneously. How many people would have been mobilized at once? And how could they have managed to leave no one behind without alerting the townspeople?
Nobody's a fool. Nobody will run away when they see bad guys coming to arrest them, unless a large number of people are deployed to ambush outside every house and then act together on orders.
"The situation is a bit complicated! Should we notify Vic?"
Wendy looked at Barnett and asked, in her mind only Vic could solve the problem here.
"No rush. We only see that the town is deserted, but the fishing village we just visited was inhabited. We don't know if the rest of the island is also deserted. Let's investigate and then inform Vic!"
Barnett wanted to understand the situation thoroughly before telling Vic. Right now, all he knew was that the town was deserted, and there were very few clues. He didn't want to wake Vic up now; that would make him seem too incompetent.
"But these people haven't been gone for long. If Vic intervenes, he can quickly find out if they're still on the island."
Perhaps these people are currently being herded onto a boat like pigs by thugs on some beach? By the time we've searched the entire island, the thugs might have already left with their people, and then it will be too late to rescue them!
Wendy retorted that as a princess of a nation, caring for her people had always been part of her upbringing. Although the commoners on this island had nothing to do with her, they still stirred a deep sense of compassion within her, and she couldn't get over it!
"I can fly, and I'm quite fast. I'll go check it out! Let's not disturb Vic!"
Seeing the disagreement between the two, Rebecca came up with a compromise. Although she didn't want to bother Vic, she also didn't want to see the civilians disappear completely.