Ragnar and the others were still on the Night Fury, waiting for the Flying Fish Riders to arrive.

"Damnit, what's taking them so long?" Snotlout grumbled.

"We did call them on very short notice," Ragnar reminded him.

"Young master!" a voice cried out.

"Seems like there here," said Ragnar.

Sure, now heading towards them was Duval and his Flying Fish Riders.

"Handsome is here," said Duval. "Oh, sorry, I mean, Duval is here."

"So we!" the Flying Fish Riders yelled.

"How are you, young master Gunslinger?" Duval asked.

"Happy now that you Flying Fish Riders are here," said Ragnar.

"We're not Flying Fish Riders any more, remember," said Duval. "We're the Rosy Life Riders now."

He then tried to wink and immediately winced in pain as he still hadn't recovered.

"I told you before, don't wink until your face is settled," said Ragnar. "Anyway, it's our mermaid friend who got kidnapped in Sabaody Park. I called you here to help us find her."

"Not kidnappers, how horrible," said Duval.

"They sound like devious villains!" said the Life Riders.

"You guys kidnappers to like what yesterday?" Snotlout snapped.

"They say it takes a thief to catch a thief, so here we are," said Eret. "You guys up for this?"

"But of course, we shall do our very best to serve you," said Duval.

"Your wish is our command," said Life Riders.

"Can we really trust these guys?" Snotlout asked, looking at Ragnar.

"Oh, and by the by, before I came here, I showed my new looks to some ladies," said Duval.

They all looked at him, unsure what this had to do with their current circumstances, but listened nonetheless.

"So what happened?" Ragnar asked.

"I wasn't quite the success that I imagined I would be," said Duval, looking rather disappointed.

"Well, I can fix your face, but not your brain or your annoying personality," said Ragnar.

"But that's all right, I'll help you out. Don't you worry," said Duval as his face lit up. "We just need to find your mermaid friend before she gets sold, right?"

"You got it," said Ragnar. "Since you're from around here. I figured you must know the archipelago better than us."

"Why have course we do," said Duval proudly. "Sabaody is our backyard; we know all the ins and outs. You won't find a better tour guide than us."

"Okay, hop on," said one of his men.

They then jumped onto the flying fish.

"We're taking the flying fish?" said Snotlout.

"You bet we are!"

"Ready when you are," said Eret as he mounted.

"Right!"

Ragnar partnered up with Duval, who was riding on Motobaro and had outfitted him with deer that allowed him to float and move in the water. "Uh, how do you guys plan on finding?"

"Now don't fret; those of the trade know each other's ways, and we were once kidnappers as well," said Duval. "I can think of a few groups already that might be responsible. First off, we'll take a quick cruise across the groves and pick up the rest of your crew so they can help the search. In the meantime, we'll try to find which kidnappers grab your mermaid friend. Let's go, full speed ahead!"

"Yeah!" the Life Riders cheered.

The Life Riders immediately took off into the air.

"Don't worry, we won't let anyone hurt you, Camie," Ragnar promised. "We're on our way right now. Hey, Duval, let's speed this up!"

"You're so funny," Duval laughed. "Motobaro is already going at full speed."

"Good if we had maximum speed…" said Ragnar, then he noticed that they were going slower than a snail. "What? This is as fast as it goes?"

"Hold on tight," said Duval.


Back at the theme park, Chopper was pacing up and down.

"I hope this works out," he said.

When Hiccup and Fishlegs were immediately informed of the situation and had Chopper phone the others on the Night Fury.

"Ragnar, what now?" Chopper cried up the transponder snail.

"It's going to be okay," said Ragnar. "Just stay right there and don't move an inch. I'll send someone there to get you."

"Okay," Chopper nodded and put the receiver down. He then quickly turned to Hiccup and the others. "Hiccup! Ragnar said not to—"

He stopped when he saw the others mounted the bubble bikes and quickly took off.

"Just to be safe, I should wait here instead of breaking up the group even more," said Chopper. "Don't you think Skull?"

Skull had not joined the others and stayed with Chopper and was drinking a cup of tea calmly.

"Why are you acting so calmly?" Chopper demanded. "This is bad news! Camie has been kidnapped! She's going to be sold to some creep and be a slave for the rest of her life if we don't go and save her right now!"

"Let me put it this way: Ragnar gave us very specific instructions to stay here and wait for someone to come pick it up," said Skull. "And no matter what we do, our wait will be just as long."

"Oh, that makes sense," Chopper agreed.

"Though we try to make it pass, time marches at its own pace. If we are forced to wait, then why not do so in peace and tranquillity?"

"Brilliant!" said Chopper, beaming at him.

A few moments later, the Life Riders had reached the park.

"Hey, Head! We made it to Sabaody Park. What's next?" said the Rider with Snotlout as he talked for a transponder snail.

"Fine the rest of the Dragon Riders and pick up one member each," Duval ordered.

"Right!"

They then flew over to the amusement park.

"They were supposed to wait by transponder snail number five, which should be right here," said the Rider.

"Yeah, there they are!" Snotlout pointed. "See on the bench! Looks like Skull and Chopper!"

The Rider then flew as close to the ground as possible, allowing Snotlout to jump off and quickly rushed over to them.

"All right, you guys, we're ready to go," he said.

"I told you everything would be fine," said Skull as he rose.

Chopper rushed over to Snotlout. "Hiccup, Fishlegs and the twins ran off somewhere on their own."

"Then we don't have any time to waste. Let's go!" said Snotlout.

Moments later, they were back in the air, each riding with a Life Rider.

"Keep on the lookout for every kidnapping team on the archipelago," Duval ordered. "It's got to be one of them, so it's only a matter of time. I know the other Dragon Riders ran off, but we still got to find them too!"

"Right! Let's split up!"

"Right!" the Riders nodded and separated.

"We're betting are cried on this, so you better not let the young master down," said Duval. "Do this fast, but do it right, okay?"

"That's all well and good for them, but isn't there any possible way we can move a little bit faster on this thing?" Ragnar asked.

"Did you say that I am handsome?" Duval asked.

"Not even close!" Ragnar snapped. "And if you're the head of your gang, how come you're stuck on the slowest ride while everyone else can fly?"

"Why would you say something like that?" he said. "Of course, I am the most handsome person on the team. There is no competition."

"Oh, never mind," Ragnar groaned. "Just step on it."

"Yes, young master."


Toothless had finally found the hospital.

"Hey, I've got someone in need of a doctor!" Toothless yelled.

A doctor then rushed over. "Hey, come on, pal. This is an emergency room, you know. But what's wrong with him?"

"He's been shot and needs urgent care," Toothless informed him.

"Wow, this looks bad," said the doctor and then looked at the young man's neck. "Nope, no collar."

"And why would having a collar matter?"

"Well, medical treatment for slaves costs 50% more. So sometimes it's cheaper to buy a new one."

Toothless glared at him. "This guy is hurt, and that's all that matters. So, are you going to help him or not?"

"Yes, of course, I will," said the doctor. "Please take him inside."

Toothless left the hospital after dropping the young man off.

"This place is starting to annoy me," he said to himself. "I had better head back to the ship."


Hiccup and the others, meanwhile, were looking at all the local human shops, trying to find Camie.

"What? You want a mermaid?" said a slaver. "If you're window shopping, get out of here, kid."

"I'm telling you that our friend had been kidnapped," said Hiccup impatiently. "I just want to know if someone has come here to sell a mermaid or not."

"We need information," said Octron. "If you know anything, you've got to tell us, please."

"I don't know nothing, but it's not in your best interest to stick your nose into that kind of stuff," said the slave. "Just as a warning."

Hiccup then grabbed him and pulled him towards his face. "I'm very short on patience! Now you're sure that no one came in here to sell a mermaid!"

"I'm sure, I'm sure!" the man panicked. "No one today!"

"Hiccup, calm down," said Fishlegs. "It'll only be harder if you cause trouble."

Hiccup then released him.

"If you don't believe me, you're free to check out the place if you want," said the slaver, gesturing to all the cages in the shop.

"Let's look around," said Hiccup.

They then began looking around, but they saw no mermaid. However, they did notice that there were a whole bunch of people, most of whom looked like simple citizens.

"Do they just kidnap anyone and pawn them off to this place?" Ruffnut asked.

"It certainly looks like it," said Tuffnut.

'Oh, Camie,' Octron panicked.

The slaver then looked at a muscular man sitting on a couch nearby. "Hey."

The man then got up and walked away.

"Did you guys have any luck?" Hiccup asked as they met back up.

"No, looks like he was telling the truth," said Octron.

"We found nothing," said Ruffnut.

"Camie!" Pappagu cried.

Hiccup looked back at the slaver. "Do you have any others to show?"

"I haven't got a warehouse or anything, so what you see is what you get," he said.

"Come on, Dragon, we're going to have to look somewhere else," said Octron.

"Hey, I just remembered!" said the slaver. "Now that you mention it, I do have a mermaid."

"For real, do you mean it?" Fishlegs gasped.

"Yeah, but only one. This pretty little thing here, her name is Mary, and if you like, I'll cut you guys a good deal."

However, the mermaid he showed them was a guy dressed up as one. He was pretending to swim while keeping his head above the water.

"Do you want to take me home," he said in an obviously fake voice.

"There's no way in hell that a mermaid!" they glared in unison.

"I saw him in the shop just a second ago," said Pappagu.

"It's really hard to breathe in here," said the fake mermaid as his wig fell off.


After that, they left but weren't sure where to go next. However, there was certainly getting better attention from the locals, especially Hiccup.

"Hey, check it out,"

"That guy's Dragon Conqueror Hiccup from the East Blue, isn't he?"

"He's shorter than I thought."

"Don't lose hope. Maybe she hasn't been sold yet; we just need to figure out which kidnappers grabbed her," said Octron.

"But there must be hundreds of them in this archipelago is pretty big," said Fishlegs.

"Way to cheer everyone up, Fishlegs," said Ruffnut, rolling her eyes.

Pappagu was crying in the bubble bike.

"Will you give the crying arrest already?" said Tuffnut. "We're going to find her, so stop whining."

"Dammit!" Pappagu cried. "This is all my fault. The amusement park is the number one spot for kidnappers to pick people up. I knew they would be on the lookout for a mermaid like her, but I didn't do a thing! I'm never going to see her again, and the last thing I said was about ice cream. It's terrible. I should never have let go to the amusement park; what was I thinking?"

"You didn't do anything wrong," said Hiccup. "If anything, it's my fault I should've stayed with you guys, especially knowing the truth of this archipelago."

"What are you guys talking about?" Fishlegs frowned.

"Well, it's a terrible idea for Fishmen and Merfolk to come to this place at all," said Pappagu. "But Octron wanted to help you guys after what you did for us, and I felt the same way."

"Pappagu!" Octron scolded. "Don't say any more!"

"We're stuck like this either way," said Hiccup. "I knew it was dangerous for you guys to come here, but the others don't, and they deserve to know."

"Yeah, you guys have been acting funny since we got here," said Ruffnut.

"What is the big deal?" Tuffnut asked.

"You see, those kidnappers aren't the only enemies Camie and Octron have in Sabaody," said Pappagu. "In fact, you might say everyone in the whole archipelago is the enemy."


Astrid and Heather were in the mall dimension shopping, and as they made their way through the street, Heather explained a little bit of history to Astrid.

"200 years ago?" Astrid frowned as she pedalled on the bubble bike.

"Yes, it's more recent than you would think," Heather nodded. "But things used to be quite terrible here. The Fishmen and Merfolk races were considered the same as fish, and humans all over the world persecuted them in every possible way. They were seen as lesser than human, and they were treated as such."

Astrid found that rather surprising; she remembered how strong Arlong and his cronies were. "That's a surprise. There's so strong."

"Perhaps strength in numbers is greater still, and they were treated cruelly by everyone. That was until the World Government declared friendly relations with Fishman Island. Slavery is another relic from that unfortunate past, and human trafficking is still very alive on this archipelago. In fact, it may even be condoned. If such a deplorable condition still remains, it wouldn't surprise me if they continue to discriminate against Fishman and Merfolk as well."

Everything started to make sense. "That explains the disguises. They didn't want people to know that they weren't human."

"Let's just hope that these fears of mine are unfounded," said Heather.

"Heather! Astrid!" a voice yelled.

They turned around and saw Eret heading towards them on a Flying Fish with two more behind him.

"Eret?" Heather stared.

"What are you doing here?" Astrid asked.

"Get on the Flying Fish quick!" Eret yelled. "Somebody kidnapped the mermaid!"

"Someone took Camie!" Heather gasped.

"You're kidding me," said Astrid.


Pappagu and Octron just finished explaining the truth of the archipelago to the rest of the Dragon Riders.

"Persecution?" said Ruffnut.

"You're a fool if you can't see this place for what it really is," Pappagu cried. "The human trafficking is just the icing on the cake, but I should know better. So I blame myself for not stopping Camie when we got here."

"I'm sorry, Dragon," said Octron apologetically. "I wanted to help, not cause more trouble. This is a mess."

"Guys, you two have nothing to apologise for," said Hiccup. "You two and Camie are our friends now, and no matter what, we're in this together. Right guys?"

"Yeah!" the twins and Fishlegs cheered.

"And we're going to rescue Camie no matter what," Hiccup vowed.

"You mean it?" Pappagu cried.

"Hey! Guys!" said a voice above them.

They looked overhead and saw the Life Riders flying overhead.

"What the?" Octron stared.

"Good, we finally found you. Now get up here!"

Hiccup looked at Octron. "Octron, can you jump that high?"

"Yeah," Octron blinked.

"Good," said Hiccup and transformed into his animal form. "Then the rest of you can get on me. Let's go!"

Fishlegs and the twins then quickly climbed onto Hiccup's back, and then he took off. Octron jumped high into the air just a few seconds later.

Hiccup flew over one of the Flying Fishs and dropped the twins and Fishlegs onto one each before flying to a Flying Fish of his own.

"Did you make it?" Hiccup asked.

Octron as you grab hold of one of the Flying Fish. "Yeah, I'm fine!"

Hiccup then looked at Pappagu in his arms. "Don't worry, we'll get Camie back in no time."

"Thank you, Dragon," said Pappagu.


Over at Grove 1, several influential people had arrived at the Human Auction House, hoping to buy a slave.

Peterman had just arrived at the submission desk.

"Oh, it's Peterman," said one of the employees, looking up from his desk. "You have something you want to auction off?"

"Yeah, if there's still time to submit an entry," he said.

"Sure, but we got a giant today. Your catch won't fetch a very high price unless it's really something."

Peterman placed the sack he was carrying on the ground and began to open it. "Why don't you have a look for yourself?"

He then showed him Camie, who was bound and gagged.

"Whoa! It's a mermaid! I can't believe it. Where the heck did you catch that?"

"That's a secret," said Peterman.

The employee looked at Camie gleefully. "Forget the giant; this is more like it."

Peterman soon left the Auction House. "All right, I'm expecting some good results this time!"

"Don't worry, you're going to make a killing. They'll love this one. Come by a few hours, and we'll have your money ready!"

"Looking forward to it," he smiled.


At the same time, the Celestial Dragons were approaching the main entrance with their slaves and guards in tow. The employee standing at the front of the gate immediately went down on his hands and knees.

"Oh, it is an honour to have you here, Saint Oswald and Saint Shari," he said.

"Of course," said Oswald.

"Can we refrain from kneeling in the auction house, sir?" the employee asked. "It would make our job very difficult."

"That'll be fine; we don't want a boring auction."

"Ah, that's very generous of you. Please use the VIP seats."

"My brother is certain the taking is time getting here," Shari noted.

"That's what the fool gets for riding a sluggish human," Oswald huffed. "If you're going to write something, make it a Fishman. They may be filthy, but they're ten times stronger than humans."

The two of them then soon went into the Auction House.

Dagur was in the Auction House leaning against the wall when they entered.

"Celestial Dragons, slaves, human shops," sad Dagur.

Dagur was a bit of attention himself from the people that had gathered.

"That pirate…"

"Yeah, that's Dagur the Deranged from the West Blue."

"When the people in power act like this cruel and greedy, it makes common criminals like us look pretty humane by comparison," Dagur smiled. "When scum like that are the ones writing the rules, it creates more scum. They hate pirates, but they're the ones who made them. At least we're endearing as we are mean, right, Killer? Seems fair."

"Agreed," said Killer.

"If we see someone interesting, you think we should try and buy them?" Dagur asked.

"Hey, boss," said one of his men, who possessed a skull-like face. "Take a look, see that?"

Dagur looked down and saw Trafalgar Law sitting in the seat in front.

"Well, I'll be damned," he smiled. "That's Trafalgar Law from the North Blue worth 200 million. I heard some pretty ugly rumours about him."

Trafalgar looked up at him and smiled.

"He must be a fan of mine, too," said Dagur.


In the main office, the owner of the auction house, a man who resembled a DJ, was going through some papers one of his employees entered.

"Disco! We've got an incredible item today!" he said.

"Oh yes, I've already seen the giant," he said. "He's nice. Don't you worry, I'll make sure that the cells were high price. Speaking of which, are the buy bidders ready?"

"Oh, not the giant! We've got a mermaid, and she's young too. This will be an auction for the record books!"

"Really?" said Disco, his face lighting up.


Camie was being dragged inside by a few employees to where they were keeping all the other slaves.

"Let me go!" she demanded. "You're hurting me! Why are you doing this? Stop it!"

"Start thrashing around so much, dammit! We still need to figure out your collar size!"

Camie then saw one of the men approaching with a slave collar, and she instantly recognised it from earlier today. She immediately began thrashing around even more violently than before.

"You're not getting away, so you might as well stop flapping around, you stupid fish!"

"Now, now," said Disco as he arrived. "Let's not roughhouse our important merchandise quite so much."

"Sorry, Disco."

"So this is the star of today's show?" he said, looking down at Camie.

"Yes, sir."

He then bent down and examined her, grasping her chin. "This is just splendid. She's not only young, but she's lively. She'll fetch a high price indeed. Who submitted her?"

"The Hound Pets, sir."

"Of course, Peterman. He always does fine work; the Flying Fish Riders, on the other hand, haven't turned up this time. Well, in any case, this is sure to be the biggest auction in ages."

Camie then stuck her tongue out at him, which infuriated him. He slapped her across the face rather harshly in response, knocking her to the ground.

"You dare make a face at me!" he roared furiously. "I can destroy you!" He was just about to kick to win, and some of his employees grabbed him and pulled him back. "You're nothing but a fish. Don't forget that!"

"I know she's awful, sir, but she's valuable merchandise like you said!"

"Yeah, we need her in good shape for the auction."

"At least kick in the stomach or something that's covered up by clothes!"

Disco then showed his employees and glared down at Camie, who was in tears.

"Octron is going to beat you up so bad. Just you wait and see!" Camie yelled.

"You don't know when to shut up that filthy mouth, do you?" Disco growled. "You there give me that collar!"

"Yes, sir!" said one of his men, handing him a slave collar.

"I'll put this on you myself, fish," he said. One of his men then lifted Camie and opened the collar. "Now, don't you move an inch?"

He then slowly made his way towards Camie, and she did her best to break free, but the hold was too strong. Disco then placed the open collar around her neck and was about to close it when he suddenly collapsed.

Disco's men immediately released Camie and rushed to him, unsure of what happened.

"Disco?"

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"Dammit, the auction is about to start!"

"Doctor! Get a doctor!"

They quickly carried Disco away, forgetting all about Camie.

All the slaves had been watching from behind their bars, but no one knew what just happened—all except for the giant, who looked down at an old man beside him.

"Hey, you," he said. "I felt that you can't play down with me. That Haki, there it was yours, wasn't it? Just who in the hell are you, old man?"

"Hmm, I'm just a simple ship coated, nothing more," he said nonchalantly and then pulled out a hip flask and drank from it. "What can I say? I have a soft spot for young girls. Though I may have overdone it a bit."

The old man was not just a simple coating mechanic; in truth, he was the first mate of the Roger Pirates on the right hand of the King of the Pirates himself, and his name was Rayleigh Silver.