16 months after the end of the campaign
The remnants of the devil's luck pirates had never given their bounties much thought, and for good reason. Duros was on another planet that didn't even recognize the Berri as currency. Verona was a humble shop owner who sold gadgets to whoever wanted them, whether they be marines, pirates, revolutionaries, crime bosses, private militaries, bounty hunters, or any other sketchy characters. Pearl and Cyril were protected in their country, and Ragnar's infamy was growing, so few chased him anymore. William was the only one who ever dealt with an occasional bounty hunter or overly enthusiastic marine. With all that being said, it was shocking that the person with the smallest active bounty would be the first captured.
William and Hemlock were in Hemlock's office. Hemlock was leaning back in her chair, sharpening knives. She would slowly drag them along the sharpening stone and hold them to the light to see how sharp they were. A beaker full of clear liquid sat on her desk. Every once in a while, she dipped a knife in it and waved it gently to dry. William cleaned his pistol and used a rag to wipe the barrel. They were both laser-focused. Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door. They looked up, and Hemlock said,
"Come in."
The door opened, and a man strolled in. He had long gray hair that reached his lower back. His face was almost completely obscured. He had large, heavy goggles on with two silver balls that moved like eyes. There were large holes in the balls where a red light dimly shone through. A metal mask completely obscured everything below his goggles. The mask was a dark gray and had large vents on both sides. A mechanical breathing-like sound quietly hummed. The front of the mask had a tube attached to it that led down his face and neck and connected itself to a chest plate. The plate was small and black. It had a gauge on the front and a few buttons adorning the bottom right. Two small tanks could be seen on the back of the plate. They were attached to the back of the plate, and two tubes fed directly into the back of it. They were not noticeable because they were under an oversized purple leather trench coat. It hung open and had metal plating along the right shoulder and sleeve. It was full of stitch marks and patches, resulting from many past battles. Under the plate, he wore a tight undershirt that was the darkest shade of gray before being considered black. He wore black cargo pants with a large belt and black combat boots. He had a short sword attached to one side of his belt and a holster with a sawed-off shotgun against his left thigh. Over his left shoulder, he had a brown leather pouch full of whatever he might need. Over the other shoulder, he carried two rifles, both looking like they had been destroyed and put back together meticulously multiple times. Verona looked ready for war. A quiet intensity radiated from his usual reasonable self.
William stood up and hugged Verona. Verona hugged him back, and William aggressively patted him on the back. They broke apart, and he motioned for him to sit next to him in another chair by Hemlock's desk. Verona nodded and sat down. He clinked as he walked due to everything he had on him.
"Captain. Hemlock." He said with a nod as he greeted both of them. His voice was a little muffled due to the heavy metal mask, but Verona's voice had always been a little muffled.
"Verona, darling. What happened? Your bird only said 'war party,'" Hemlock asked as she reached out from under her desk and pulled out a little mechanical bird. Verona snapped his fingers, and the bird sprung to life. It flew towards him, morphed into a rectangular box, and fell into a pouch in his inner jacket.
"Lyssa's been captured, " he said, his voice trying to sound calm. His arms gave him away, though; he was trembling with rage.
"By who!?" William shouted, standing up suddenly. The force caused the chair to fall backward.
"Marines," Verona said, "she had been collecting supplies for the ship, and one of them recognized that she had a bounty."
"When did this happen?" Hemlock asked calmly.
"A few days ago," Verona answered.
"Darling, she may be going to Impel down by now," Hemlock said sadly.
"No, she's at a nearby rear admiral's base." He said sternly, "One of the marines I tortured told me so."
"Damn straight, Verona!" William roared, "We need to move quickly!"
"Well, people will say anything to stop the torture. He may have been lying."
"No." He repeated, "he said they wanted to use her as bait to get to me."
Hemlock took a minute to think. That did sound plausible. It wasn't rare for marines to capture pirates, send a civilian friend to collect their bounty, and split afterward. Verona's bounty would be much more enticing if these marines wanted a payday.
"So are you saying this is a trap?" Hemlock asked.
"Maybe I have eyes on the base. They seem to have called in more men to perform an ambush."
"We'll kill them all, let's go, Verona!"
"Who's the rear admiral?"
"A woman named Patricia Cannon."
"We have no intelligence on a name like that…"
"Hemlock! Quit asking all these questions! We will help even if they have all the admirals there!"
"Darling, I'm just trying to form a plan. One rear admiral and boats full of plebs shouldn't be too much of a concern."
"Yes, the three of us and Doxie would be enough," Verona said.
"We wouldn't need that; William or I could easily sneak in and rescue her before even being noticed. Impel down is one thing, but I am more than confident I can get in and out of some random naval base without being seen."
Verona paused and shifted uncomfortably.
"I'm sorry, Hemlock, but that's not how it will happen."
Hemlock raised an eyebrow.
"My priority is getting Lyssa back, but I want revenge."
"Are you mental?" She scoffed, "Just be more careful next time."
"No one goes after my family and walks away with a warning," he said calmly.
"You tell 'em, Verona!" William said.
"Well, if that's how you want to do it, we can't help you."
"What!?" William exclaimed, "Why not?"
"The marines leave us alone. You even have a good thing with your brother to get the bounties. They leave us alone because we mostly kill pirates and crime bosses. If you kill a rear admiral, they'll be all over us."
"Let them come, I'm not scared of any fucking marine."
"We still don't want to deal with it. Do you really think Trevor would overlook this?"
"If I may," Verona interjected. They both looked at him, "This is my fight. If you can get Lyssa out quietly, I can kill that piece of shit by myself."
"I'm sure Lyssa would want you to save her," Hemlock said.
"Lyssa would also want revenge."
The room was silent. Hemlock looked at William, his arms crossed. She could tell that he would help no matter what she said. She buried her face in her hands and sighed loudly.
"Verona, make a small dispute to draw attention. Me and William can save her in 15 minutes, then go wild and kill whoever you want."
Verona stroked his mask.
"They'll think it's just me since I was the target. I like it." Verona said happily.
"Wait, wait, wait." William said, annoyed, "Are we being serious here? All of this for some random rear admiral? You're making a big thing out of nothing, Hemlock."
"Maybe, but I don't like poking bears."
"Well, a bear was my shipwright, and I want to teach that rear admiral a lesson."
"William, that doesn't make any sense." She said, irked. "Whatever. William, baby. I love you having your base of operations here, but I will kick you out if you're bringing fleets to my door every other day." She said sternly. She hopped out of her chair and leaped over the desk so her body was millimeters from his. She stood on her toes and leaned upwards to whisper, "I don't think either of us wants that."
Williams' face was full of visual conflict. He scowled and tapped his foot in annoyance. His face was like stone. He turned to Verona, a deadly seriousness radiating from him.
"Verona, we'll get her out." He said dramatically, giving him a passionate thumbs up. Hemlock smiled, turned around exaggeratedly, and gestured for the other two to follow her. Verona gave him a perplexed look but only shrugged. William shrugged and just followed Hemlock.
Several people tried to talk to Hemlock as they walked, but she paid them no mind. Tempest had been forced to take a more significant administrative role, so Hemlock was less inclined to micromanage everything. Walking, they saw Doxie playing poker with some kids her age.
"My my, what do we have here?" Hemlock asked, looking over them. The other students froze and dropped their cards.
"Mistress hemlock, I can explain." Said a slightly chubby blonde boy.
"You don't gotta take this from her, Mustard." Doxie said to Hemlock, "Not after what you told me."
"Wait, what?!" Mustard shrieked.
"Oh, Mustard, what were you saying?" Hemlock asked.
"Nothing! I swear it on-"
"Called you a hag." Doxie interrupted, "A proper creepy old woman with a weird thing about snakes."
"No! Please! I never said that!"
"Don't waiver now, Mustard! The witch graces you with her infernal presence; fight!"
"Oh please, Stop! Mistress Hemlock! I don't know why she's saying these things!"
"I'm not saying anything. I am repeating your words!"
"No!" He cried. Hemlock sighed.
"Mustard, I'll deal with you when I get back. Doxie, get your things. We'll leave in twenty minutes."
"Where?"
"They took Lyssa," Verona said. Doxie jumped. Verona was oddly quiet for all the heavy equipment he carried.
"They abducted the alien?!"
"Yeah, put a cloak on. You'll be back up for Verona to get his revenge while we free her," William said. Doxie quickly stood up, saluted a now crying Mustard, and walked after the others.
The base she was being held at was small. It was housed on an island that was not inhabited. For a Grandline base, it was shabby. Impel down was close, giving credibility to the theory that she was being held as bait. The Base was five buildings surrounding a fountain at the center of a small plaza. There was a beach that had a large port. Four marine ships were docked. The rest of the Island was surrounded by large hills and cliffs, making a large-scale attack from behind impossible. However, a small group of four could make it up relatively quickly. William used double-lift to advance first, knocking out the two scouts placed there and lowering a line for the rest to get up. They traveled up and down the hills until they were just behind the base. They lay on the backside of the hill so only their heads were visible from the very top. They had a clear view of the base. Verona used his spyglass and a marine cap he had animated the day before to scout the area.
"They have maybe 200-250 marines. All low rank, though. Rifles and cutlasses, nothing stronger." He said.
"Are you sure?" Hemlock asked, "I doubt a rear admiral would be without a commodore or at least a captain."
"So far, I haven't seen any indication that this base has anyone strong other than that rear admiral. Even she might not be that strong, the promotions seemed to be more so rewards for a job well done instead of real indicators of strength."
"Where will you be?" William asked. Verona turned to Doxie and held out his hand. She handed him a duffle bag. He unzipped it and pulled out a rifle, animating it.
"Oh lord, thank you for this day, and for the sinners, I will blow away. I thank you for the lead in my head. I thank you for the life I was bestowed. I beg for my carnage not to be postponed." the gun said. Verona pulled out a much bulkier gun—a turret would be a more accurate description. He animated it.
"I will do it. I want to do it. Please just make me do it. Can I do it? I want to do the thing. Verona, let me do the thing. Please, the thing, I want to do it."
Verona pulled out the rifle of injustice and animated.
cough* *cough* "America! Yeehaw!"
Verona grabbed Little Timmy and pointed it at the plaza.
"I will open fire in three minutes. In fifteen, I will go down there and cut down that rear admiral."
William and Hemlock nodded and made their way to enter the base from the back.
As the two of them made their way to the side, they slid down the hill until they reached the wall of one of the buildings.
"How do you want to go about this?" Hemlock asked.
"We could go through that window." He answered. The window was about 15 feet above their heads. Hemlock nodded. She backed up and took a running start at William. He locked his fingers and threw her upwards as hard as he could. She, with help from William, jumped seven feet in the air. Hemlock grabbed two small knives and, with swift movements, used them to dig in the wall and launch herself upwards. When she reached the window, she used all of her strength to stab a larger knife into the wall. Luckily, the building was old, and it didn't take much to penetrate the concrete wall. She held herself up with her left hand stealthily, slicing through the lock on the window swiftly with another knife in her right hand. She cautiously opened the window and peeked in to see if anyone was around. The coast was clear. She rocked her body and jumped into the room through the window. She whistled quickly, and William Double-lifted into the room in a split second. Both of them crept through the hallways, William moving forward and Hemlock keeping an eye on their backs. They heard the voices of two people talking from behind them. Hemlock tapped on William's shoulder. He turned, and she made a motion to a nearby equipment closet. He nodded. She entered the closet and pulled the door in without closing it. WIlliam jumped up and suspended himself on the ceiling. The two marines were talking about shift changes and leave time when they heard the sound of bullets flying. A symphony of yelling and bullets rang through the air. It was less audible from the inside but still audible. Before they could even do anything, William pounced. He jumped down and landed right in front of them. Hemlock quickly opened the door, and William shoved them both into the closet. He walked in and shut the door.
"Who are you, people–"
Hemlock punched him in the face and stabbed him in the knee with a dagger. He screamed as the blood gushed out. The marine was stunned. He was paralyzed in fear. To both of their horrors, they watched as the bleeding stopped and the marine's leg started to turn into stone. She slashed the other one in the arm quickly as well. The stone started spreading.
"You and you're buddy are going to be real fucking quiet, or your families are going to have some mighty nice statues in their backyards." William hissed at them. They both nodded and didn't speak.
"Where are the cells?" Hemlock asked, holding the stone blade to the other's throat.
"They're not here!" one yelled, the other nodded frantically. There is a stairway on the bottom floor in the building to the right of ours."
"Down there?" Hemlock asked. "The cells are under the ground?"
The two marines nodded frantically. Hemlock nodded and motioned to William, who knocked them both out with a swift kick to the head.
"Want to do the whole prisoner transfer scheme?" William asked.
"With all the commotion, we could both just wear these uniforms and be fine."
"What should we do with them?" William asked, "I mean, they saw us."
William pulled out his pistol. Hemlock put her hand on her chin and thought aloud.
"Well…If something goes wrong, they'll see us anyway, and finding them here will make it look worse."
"Yeah, but if everything goes perfectly, they'll know it was us anyway." He responded. Hemlock reached into her pouch and pulled out a vial full of yellow liquid. She poured a bit into each of their mouths.
"This'll make them so sick by the time they recover, they'll barely know their names."
William put away his pistol and stripped the two marines quickly. They were now sweating heavily and didn't want to wear gross uniforms. The guards were not especially big guys. Williams's uniform was a bit too tight, but it fit. It hugged his chest very tightly. If it had sleeves, he wouldn't have been able to lift them. Hemlock was having the same problems. The pants were short. They didn't even reach her ankles. The top wouldn't close, so it just hung open, showing the leafy top she had on. Her blue bandana was tied around her wrist. She looked frustrated.
"You look good," William said, smiling. She was unamused.
"We're too low of rank to have personal clothes." She said, arms crossed. A top like hers with leaves would be incredibly bold for a lower-ranking marine to wear. She quickly put her hair into two braids and threw her hat on. She turned to Willaim and promptly undid his ponytail. He tried to protest but to no effect. She styled his hair to cover part of his face and put his hat on so it would stay like that.
"I look like a whiny teenager," William said as he tried to move the hair out of his face. Hemlock smacked his hand away before he could.
"Darling, if they'll recognize anyone, it's you." She said sternly. William grumbled but made his way out of the closet. Hemlock sighed. She grabbed the shirt he had to take off and her large belt and stuffed them into her pouch. Then she followed him out. They booked it down the halls in search of an exit. Luckily for them, everyone else was running, too. Everyone was too busy carrying boxes of ammunition or medical supplies or cannonballs to notice how odd the two of them looked. William looked out the window and saw the carnage outside. Verona sure had gotten stronger. With the number of bullets and bodies dropping, he must have at least ten heavy-duty weapons firing on all cylinders from that hilltop. Doxie must have her hands full, reloading them. They were about to open the door and run for the building with the cells when someone shouted.
"Halt!"
Both of them froze and turned to look behind them. A large woman approached them. She was about seven feet tall and slightly muscular. She had a pair of blue jeans ripped at the end of her legs. She had brown leather cowboy boots and a large belt with two chain lassos on each side of her hip. She had a blouse made of calico that was a faded gray and over it an oversized double-faced wool coat that was dark blue. Over her shoulders was the marine coat brandishing justice on the back. She had a beaten-up sunhat on her head. Her face was pretty, with large brown eyes and a small nose. She had a piercing on her bottom lip and light scars running down her left cheek. She had short jet-black hair that stopped at the base of her neck. She looked about 45 years old. William and Hemlock moved in unison and saluted.
"Rear-admiral Cannon," Hemlock said, hoping she was right.
"At ease." She barked, "I guess some of us are already at ease."
She looked at Hemlock, eyes narrowing.
"Ma'am, a mistake was made with my uniform, ma'am," Hemlock said, injecting a taste of fear she felt her soldiers usually had when addressing her. "I was looking to get it fixed."
She looked to buy it and turned to William.
"Are you two deaf?" She said, "Can you not hear that we are being attacked?"
"Ma'am, we cannot be expected to fight in these uniforms. They both shrank in the wash and are impractical, ma'am." Hemlock said again, stopping William from saying anything.
"Private, you will do as you are ordered. If I order you to cut off those pigtails and eat them, you do it."
"Yes, ma'am. I apologize, ma'am."
Hemlock bowed and swatted William covertly so he would do the same. William looked angry but did it.
"You new-age marines, dressing like whores and looking for new clothes when there's a battle afoot. It's embarrassing to see what our justice has been reduced to."
"Yes, rear admiral," Hemlock said.
"Maybe if you weren't so worried about your appearance, you'd be a better soldier." She said, smiling, "Do what I said before. Eat those braids."
Hemlock didn't move. Rear Admiral Cannon pulled out a knife and held it out. Hemlock didn't take it, though. Currently, she was much more worried for William. She could tell that he'd cut off that woman's head before that knife would cut a hair on her head. Hemlock acted quickly and accidentally knocked the knife from Cannon's hand as if she was too scared to act. She quickly crouched down to pick it up. She sneakily grabbed a blade from her bag, but before she could pounce, another marine barged in.
"Rear admiral! Rear-admiral! The enemy is calling for you by name!" The tired man said while he saluted. She completely forgot that she was in the middle of disciplining two marines and walked towards the marine. He looked like he would continue his report, but she shoved past him and started running to the battlefield. Hemlock breathed a sigh of relief. She stood up and started running. William, seeing what she was doing, followed. Both were able to make it through undetected. When they got inside, they found an empty lobby with a small desk and two chairs at the ends of the room.
"Can you believe her!?" William exclaimed, "I wanted just to spin my fruit and kick her ass."
"Calm down, honey." Darling said, stretching, "It's just a marine officer. They're always angry. Trust me, as someone who has infiltrated many bases, they just want to make you feel small, and then they'll move on."
"What a way to live." William said, still furious, "I wouldn't have let you cut your hair. Not like that."
"I know. I wouldn't let her cut yours either."
"Good thing she didn't see our faces."
"Bowing is humiliating but helps you keep your cover and not die."
"Brilliant wisdom," William answered sarcastically.
"Laugh all you want, but I have only been found out a few times in my life."
Both stopped as they realized a young marine had entered the room. He had clearly heard parts of their conversation. He stood, looking from one to the other. William and Hemlock shared a glance, and before the marine could figure out what was going on, William hit him with the pommel of the Eight of Spades. He dropped to the floor.
"So, which door do you think it is?" Hemlock asked.
"We could ask him," William said, pointing to the unconscious boy. Hemlock rolled her eyes and went to the door on the right. She opened it and walked in. Inside were wall-to-wall shelves full of clothes and belongings. There was every article of clothing imaginable folded and jammed in piles. There were wallets, necklaces, earrings, watchers, and many other jewelry pieces. None of them looked very valuable. Hemlock picked up a diamond and looked at it. Whoever bought this probably got scammed by some con man selling shiny rocks.
"I used to sell these things as a kid," William said from behind her, grabbing the small jewel. Along with the jewelry, stuffed animals and dolls were lying around the room. The two of them walked out and moved to the next door. Inside was a room with nothing but a large hatch on the floor. Three locks secured the hatch. Hemlock dragged the knocked marine into the room. William searched him and found a key ring with dozens of keys.
"He'd probably know the right one," William said. Hemlock nodded. She ditched her marine garb and put on her belt. In it, she pulled out a vial and rubbed it under the young marine's nose. He immediately jumped up, gagging and coughing. His eyes got watery as Hemlock put the lid back on the vial.
"What the hell?" he started, but the sword against his neck shut him up. William simply pointed to the hatch and smiled. The boy's eyes widened in anticipation. William tossed him the key ring. He wasn't ready, and they smacked him in the face. William laughed very loudly. His face reddened as he grabbed the ring and quickly unlocked the hatch. It took both the marine and William to open it.
"Thanks, man, you were a great help."
"You-you're a pirate." He practically whispered.
"Sure am."
"Are you going to kill me?"
"Now, why would I do that?"
"Because you're a pirate. Pirates are the scum of the seas."
"Would the scum of the sea be about to let you go, Mr.?"
"Davis. And no." He said.
William grabbed him by the collar and threw him down the hole. He screamed as he fell. William laughed and quickly used Shuffle to zoom down and catch him before he could hit the ground. Hemlock jumped down afterward.
"Damn it, why did you have to do that!?" Hemlock barked, "No way he'll forget us now with the poison."
"Relax, my good friend Davis won't rat us out."
"Whatever, let's just go before Verona starts firing lasers, " she said, annoyed. William laughed awkwardly and followed her, rubbing the back of his neck. It didn't take much; Lyssa was literally in the first cell. She saw them through the bars and smiled.
"Why hello there!" She said gleefully, "What a pleasure seeing you here, captain!"
"Hi, Lyssa. Verona sent us to save you while he killed that rear admiral."
"Ahh, Verona's here!" She said, "I knew he would. Been saying so, but that annoying asshole of a guard kept laughing at me."
William looked appalled. He marched over to the marine and pulled him over by his ear.
"Davis!" he said sternly, "did you laugh at my friend like that."
Davis, confused, just sputtered and nodded, shaken from the fall.
"Unbelievable, you think you know a guy, " he said to Hemlock, who was palming her forehead as he spoke. William snapped and pointed at the lock. Davis was trembling violently but still managed to get the right key and open the cell door. Lyssa strolled out, still in her regular clothes, minus the belt with tools.
"Thank you so much, William and Hemlock. I'm not going to lie; they haven't treated me too badly. No one came in to rough me up or nothing."
"I'm sure your hubby will be thrilled, darling," Hemlock said. Lyssa's face went red.
"What's behind there?" William asked as he saw a steel door against the room's wall. That room only had one cell, Lyssa's. Then there was a door. Davis started sweating.
"Well, um, the other cells."
"That's a lot of keys. How many cells do you have?" William asked.
"Oh, um, maybe 100?" He said sheepishly.
"100?! On an island this small? This close to Impel down?" William asked.
"Great observations, dear." Hemlock said impatiently, "But we got Lyssa; let's go and leave so Verona can kill that marine in peace."
"Open the door," William said, ignoring Hemlock.
"William, what are you doing?" Lyssa asked.
"Please, no." he practically whimpered. William paid them no mind and just pointed at the door. Davis dragged his feet and unlocked the door. William walked in and heard many voices. Many of them were crying, and some of them were calling for help. However, there was also an evident lack of voice, heavy breathing, and quiet resignation. He walked in, throwing off his marine cap. As he got a look around, the cells were more so cages. Cages with hardwood floors and iron bars. There were maybe five to ten people per cell. Each cell had cots on the floor and a bucket in the corner. As he saw the mass of people, he approached one of the cells. It had seven people: three grown men, three grown women, and a little girl. One of the men and two women didn't even acknowledge him. They just looked catatonic and rocked to the side. The other woman, a very pretty girl around 23 years old, silently cried. One of the men approached him.
"Who are you?" He asked cautiously.
"William." He said dumbly, "And you?"
"Slaves." the little girl responded, looking up at him. William's eyes widened, fixed on the shackles around their necks and hands. He stood frozen in place. He heard the woman crying and mutter, 'They're going to make me one of their fucking wives' between quiet sobs. He looked down at the little girl. He crouched down to meet her at eye level.
"Where are your parents?" He asked softly.
"Dead." She said, "We were slaves to a noble family in the Grandline. Then, we were sold to the holy land. They died to let me escape, but I got captured again."
She was now crying, too.
"I'll never see them again. They died for nothing, and I'm still here, forever."
She stopped crying. Her tone was so defeatist and matter-of-fact that it almost floored him. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Hemlock. Her face was neutral, as if she was hiding her reaction to better gauge his. His eyes were getting watery. He stood up and looked at her.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"Don't be." She said back, "fuck the Grandline, we'll always have the South Blue."
He nodded. He then turned to Davis, who was sweating profusely. Lyssa snatched the key ring from his hand and flipped through them.
"They're numbered, like the cages." She said, directly at William. He nodded. He walked towards Davis slowly and without an ounce of hostility. He then pulled out his sword and skewered him through the stomach. He let out a pained scream as tears ran down his face. His hands clutched his wound, but there was no surviving this. He crawled right next to the door and curled up in a little ball, quietly crying and moaning while he waited to die. The slaves had noticed this, and even the non-responsive ones perked.
"I am William D. Chapston!" William yelled to the room, "We have come to free you! We will come to your cell and undo your shackles! Find your loved ones!"
The room erupted in excited yells and cries of hope. Lyssa ran down quickly and unlocked a cell door. As she did, William and Hemlock would use their weapons to slice open handcuffs. They hadn't had collars put on them yet, which was fortunate. As they moved down the rows, the faces of newly freed slaves were a mix of joy, fear, anger, anxiety, excitement, and passion. They hugged their fellow man and woman. Families who had been broken up in the room ran towards each other and embraced. The strong carried the sick. These slaves were off to the human shops near the holy land; they looked healthier than other slaves because they were going up on the block. As the trio worked, the prisoners would hug and kiss them and share their stories. Some had been taken in slave raids of non-World Government affiliated islands and sold to marines, others were recaptured slaves, some were pirates from captured crews, and some had been random civilians who caught the eyes of a Celestial dragon and had been taken in the night by World Government agents on nearby islands. Some had even been kidnapped by slavers to be sold, and once the navy had killed the slavers, they just moved them to a navy base to reap the profits. With each passing comment, William grew more and more furious. He wanted to go and stomp Davis's pathetic whimpering ass. A large ramp at the end of the room rose towards a gate.
"That's where the slavers come and move us to the human shops!" A random man said in the crowd. William and Hemlock opened the gates, and the sound of bullets and carnage rang out, scaring those in the room. As they came out, they saw they were at the foot of a hill, with a building obscuring the entrance from it being seen from the sea. As more and more people came out, they saw the scene before them, fear in their eyes. Some even made to go back to the dungeon. However, then something happened. A marine had been shot in the shoulder and ran towards their location, clutching his arm, looking for cover. He ran in and saw hundreds of people shuffling out from the gates. He looked at all of them, bug-eyed.
"The slaves have-"
Before he could finish, though, the woman crying about becoming someone's wife hit him with a large rock she had grabbed from the ground. She used both hands to wield it. The marine fell to the floor, and she got on top of him, bringing the rock down harder and harder until there was nothing left of his face. She had been screaming the whole time; occasionally, words like "never" and "die" rang out from her. When she finished and was left breathing heavily over this man's corpse, a universal thought spread like wildfire. The Marines winning would mean slavery. Even those who didn't know what was happening would fight for their enslavement. Freedom was one step away, and they just had to grab it. Like a tidal wave, the freed prisoners let out a primal scream, and all of them charged at the marines in the square. Confusion further enveloped the scene. Those marines who were just shipped in to entrap Verona looked on in utter disbelief as they were beaten to death by herds of people. The men would double up and charge a marine, taking their weapons and finding other marines to kill. The woman would gang up on anyone who wasn't looking and also take their weapons. The children swiped any gun they could find and haphazardly fired at the white uniforms, hoping to kill anyone. The square became stained with blood.
This was the best-case scenario, in all honesty. At this point, Verona had four heavy turret guns firing along with several rifles and coked-up grenades going simultaneously. He was at the very limits of his fruit ability. Doxie had done her best, but there was only so much she could do when they inevitably started running low on ammunition. The revolt changed things; suddenly, no one shot back at him. The bullets flew in all directions as marines wrestled for their guns with the freed prisoners. Rear-admiral Canon had been taken completely aback by the attack. She had been trying to organize cannon fire at Verona when suddenly, a Fishman slave had destroyed four cannons in one sweeping motion. He turned and was about to strike her when she enveloped him in her chain whip and knocked him out cold with a punch to the face. She turned to look at the scene before her. A group of teenagers were using empty rifles as clubs and ganging up on a ten-foot-tall marine. Children were waving around cutlasses with their eyes closed. It was madness. She scanned the scene until she saw Hemlock, William, and Lyssa.
"You!" She growled as she pointed at them. William stepped forward and spun his fruit. He ran at the rear admiral, Eight of Spades in hand. Suddenly, she screeched in pain and stopped and looked over her shoulder. She saw a figure with smoking eyes and a purple jacket in the madness. That moment of distraction gave William an opening. He threw his sword at her, and she lost her balance dodging it; in that second, William used Shuffle and quickly hit her with Draw a few times. The wounds were shallow, and she swung her arm to swat him away. William jumped in the air when he saw her arm coming and kicked off her forearm to set a distance. She huffed and was going to charge when the Eight of Spades stabbed her in the back. She coughed up blood in disbelief.
"What the fuck!?" She screeched. William smiled. A boomerang fruit wasn't the overpowered logia he hoped for, but it would serve its purpose. She reached behind her and pulled the sword out of her back. She threw it on the floor and grabbed her two chain whips. At the end of each were large steel balls. She breathed heavily but started swinging them around. She sent a chain flying in the direction of William, but it was like he had disappeared the second she had looked away while winding up. She looked around frantically only to face the barrel of a void shotgun. She was just able to move out of the way. Her ear was wholly blown off, but the rest of her was fine. She swung her other chains in a daze and caught Verona's leg. She jerked the chain as hard as she could, taking him off his feet. She moved to swing him against the stone fountain in the plaza. She felt a sharp pain in her hand that made her drop the chain. Verona went flying and hit the ground hard but didn't collide with the fountain. Cannon looked at her hand and saw a small dagger protruding out of it. The loud laughter would have likely enraged her if she could still hear from that side. Doxie laughed, standing atop of barrels.
"Serves you right, stupid-"
A hand grabbed and pulled her down so she was hidden behind the barrels.
"I do apologize for that girl's brashness. You must be terribly frustrated." A voice spoke into her good ear. It was as if the acknowledgment of the voice made her realize how heavier her shoulders felt. An intense pain pulsated through her body. She felt her shoulders lighter, and a green figure stood before her. A dagger soaked with blood in the figure's hand. She stumbled forward, moving to use the chain in her good hand to swing at her. She looked down, though, and noticed that her hand was gone. A bloody stump was now in its place. She couldn't feel it. Her throat was closing. Her pain faded as her eyesight became faded and yellow. William confidently jumped up from behind the barrels and sent his powerful tempest kick, Rain, at her. The slash of air hit her back and pushed her to her knees. The blood vessels in her arms and face were starting to burst. She wasn't even aware of what was going on anymore. She stopped moving and just lay still, gasping for the occasional breadth. The group stood around her.
"She was pretty weak, huh?" Doxie said.
"Even if it was favoritism, it's unusual for someone to rise this high in the ranks without talent," Verona said.
"Maybe because of the nature of her work," Hemlock said. The crew was silent. Rear Admiral Cannon stopped gasping and fell to the ground. When the marines, still alive, noticed the fall of their commanding officer, they all dropped their weapons. Out of the initial group of marines, only about 50 remained alive. Most were the ones called for the trap, but a few were initially stationed at the base. These marines tried to hide behind the others. The freed slaves would yell at anyone they recognized and wave their weapons at them.
"What do we do with them?" Lyssa asked, looking at the group of marines.
"I don't want to kill them all." Verona said, putting his void shotgun away, "Besides, not all of them knew about slavery."
"We were just following orders!" One of them yelled. The crew all turned and looked at him. The marine was a middle-aged man; he had a knife through the shoulder and a bloody eye, "The orders of the gods of this world are absolute."
"Yeah!" A man from the crowd yelled. "We serve the ones who created the world. We can't disobey!"
William walked up to that man.
"Do you believe that the celestial dragons are gods?" He asked.
"Yes, they are."
"They bleed like you and me."
"You can't say things like that! It is taboo!"
"Does believing they're gods let you stomach what you do?" He asked quietly.
"We serve the holy land. They are gods! We would not do this for anyone other than gods!" The man shouted. William backed up and held up his hands.
"Well, is that how you feel?" He said, addressing the crowd.
Most marines were silent. A few voices yelled that they were keeping order, believed in justice, or wanted to make a world free of pirates. William nodded along. He made a grand sweeping motion and gestured at the crowd of prisoners.
"Pirates killed my parents! I want to make sure that no one else suffers that fate!" A booming voice called from within the crowd.
"Would you rather they have this fate!?" William screamed, motioning at the crowd surrounding them, "This is the order you protect!? This is the justice you value !? This is the world your gods order you to create, and you follow like dogs!?"
The Marines erupted into angry ranting and yelling, saying he was insulting the Marines and that they fought for the greater good. William glared at them and turned to address the crowd.
"People, I am leaving this island. I will guide anyone wishing to sail one Marine vessel to the East Blue."
The crowd looked happy and started crying, thanking him as he walked away.
"As for them, I'm not touching them. They are no longer in the domain of their gods; do whatever you want. The crowd erupted into chants and yelling as the Marines prepared for a fight.
"Wow, darling." Hemlock said, shocked, "Nice speech."
"Thanks. These things bounced in my head since we found the cells."
"I guess keeping a low profile was never a real possibility."
"I'm sorry, Hemlock. I understand if you want me to distance myself from the organization."
"Are you kidding me? You saw those people. What were we supposed to do? Leave them?"
"I'm not used to playing the hero."
"Hardly. That speech might just drive those slaves to kill the last few marines."
"Won't catch me losing sleep."
"Maybe if there are no survivors…And maybe if we could make it look like something else."
"Hm? I thought it didn't matter anymore."
"It doesn't, but I don't want to give up our little walks for some Marines."
William blushed at this and nervously redid his ponytail. From behind them, Lyssa was practically jumping up and down in excitement. She rushed to Verona.
"Verona! Verona! Why didn't you tell me about those two?" She said giddy.
"William and Hemlock? Yes, they are good comrades, aren't they? Hemlock has become a reliable ally."
"That's not what I mean. Spill the details. I want to know."
"What do you mean?"
Lyssa stared at him blankly and giggled. She jumped at him, removing his mask. A sharp hiss was heard from the mask as Verona lost his composure. Lyssa laid down a barrage of quick kisses all over his charred and scared face. He flailed his arms in confusion. Lyssa hopped down and quickly fixed the mask back over her face. She laughed again and smiled at Verona; his red face was visible even behind his mask.
"Never change, Verona." She smiled.
A marine convoy pulled into the small marine base. The doc was abandoned, and no communication had been made for days. Admiral Brick walked onto the island and looked at the scene before him. Hundreds of bodies stripped of their uniforms lay on the floor. The fountain's water was still deep red from the several people who bled out in its waters. As the crew walked, they slipped on the blood and marveled, horrified at the scene before them. Admiral Barry's anger was tempered, though. As he walked, he made a note of the corpses. Many had died of bludgeoning.
"Admiral!" A voice. He walked over, and what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. Suspended against the wall and off the ground by shackles tied to her wrists was the decaying corpse of rear-admiral Cannon. The words: 'Beware the slave catchers in white' were written over her head. Right next to it was the dragon symbol and the letters RA. He stood there silent. He looked at his feet. Hundreds of broken and open shackles littered the floor among the corpses. He sighed.
"Captain," He said. A young woman ran up and saluted him.
"Report. A tsunami hit the island. No survivors."