This is too easy.
Watching the flames tower into the sky, Fisher Tiger snapped the neck of a rushing soldier as if in a dream.
It's almost too easy.
He had never imagined infiltrating the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, would go so smoothly. The so-called Holy Land Guards on the walls might as well not have existed—the place was practically undefended. He scaled the ramparts with laughable ease.
From there, everything unfolded exactly as planned.
Following the map and intel Darren-san had given him, Fisher Tiger found an armory in under three minutes. He set it ablaze, and the blast plunged the Holy Land into chaos.
Panic-stricken crowds scattered like blind flies, fleeing without even glancing at the "invader." The World Nobles and their officials, running in terror, tripped over one another and only delayed the Holy Land Guards further.
Fisher Tiger freed three hundred gladiator slaves from a trading den. As their shackles hit the floor and the first Guard units rushed in, a long-banked fury ignited as one.
What astonished Fisher Tiger most was the Guard's actual combat power. Gleaming swords, fresh-issued firearms, high-end armor, state-of-the-art boots—they looked every inch a force of wolves and tigers.
Their opponents were nothing but scarred, unarmed slaves.
When steel met flesh, reality shattered the image. The Guards who should have cruised to victory broke like rats, overrun by a tide of frenzied gladiators. Ranks collapsed almost at once; weapons and armor hit the ground.
Armed now, the slaves' fighting strength surged. Like a snowball gathering speed, they chased the routed Guards and followed Fisher Tiger to pry open more cages.
Their numbers swelled, moment by moment.
Flame and clamor swallowed everything. From afar, it looked as if half of Mary Geoise burned.
"D-damn it! Vermin! Don't come closer!"
The Celestial Dragon, chalk-white with fear, stammered as the Fish-Man strode toward him.
"D-do you know who I am?! I am the god of this sea! If you kill me, no one will save you!"
He got only the Sea Bream Fish-Man's flat stare—and the slaves' murderous glares.
"They need no one to save them," Fisher Tiger said.
"From today, they wear no shackles and kneel to no one. They are free."
He turned and headed for another slave pen.
Behind him, amid the Noble's screams, a dozen ragged slaves swarmed him and beat him into red ruin with their bare hands.
---
North Blue.
Felsek Island.
The Marine Vice Admiral's low, mocking laughter froze the Gorosei. Horror twisted their faces.
"What are you implying?!" Saint Saturn's Gyuki bellowed, crimson eyes fixed on Darren.
"I'm saying," Darren drawled, "with all five of you so exalted Excellencies gathered here… if something happens at Mary Geoise, who's guarding it?"
Their pupils tightened.
An unthinkable dread began to pool and spread until it seized their minds.
"Impossible," Saint Warcury's Fengxi snapped. "Mary Geoise is impregnable. For eight centuries, it hasn't wavered an inch. No one can infiltrate it."
Purupuru…
A Den Den Mushi's urgent trill rang like a death knell.
Warcury's eyelid twitched. Under the others' hard stares, he snatched up the receiver.
"Speak!" Saint Saturn rasped, voice like a demon's.
"E-Excellency! Catastrophe!" The terrified voice blared beneath a barrage of blasts—flames roaring, buildings collapsing. "S-someone has invaded Mary Geoise!"
Silence fell.
The Four Elders turned to Warcury as one.
"Where are the Guards?!" Warcury roared. "Send reinforcements and crush them! The Holy Land Guard numbers over a hundred thousand—advanced weapons, strict discipline—they should—"
"They're in full retreat!" the voice cracked.
Warcury's jaw locked.
"Then contact Marine Headquarters! Order immediate deployment to suppress the invaders!"
"All elite Marine forces were dispatched to the North Blue to escort the World Nobles' Native Hunting Competition. It's too late… everything is too late…"
Warcury went still. His fangs jutted farther as fury surged.
"What about Marineford? Even without the elites, they must have units on station!"
"E-Excellency… at Marineford, only one man can suppress the invaders now."
"Who?!"
"Former Marine Headquarters Admiral—'Black Arm' Zephyr."
Veins bulged on ancient brows.
"Anyone else! Stall them!"
"We can't reach Marineford!"
"Why?!" the Gorosei snarled, eyes blazing.
"Marineford has declared martial law and is refusing all external orders."
"Damn it! Who issued that order?!"
"I-It was you, Excellencies…" The official's voice wavered, on the edge of tears.
The Gorosei froze.
Under Darren's amused gaze, their faces went ashen.
"Then who are the invaders? If possible, dispatch the Seven Warlords at once to suppress them!"
"B-but the invaders are the Seven Warlords…"
"..."
A scream ripped through the line—and cut off.
A deep, chill voice filled the Den Den Mushi:
"Greetings, esteemed Gorosei. I am the invader—Shichibukai 'Blood Dragon' Fisher Tiger."
"…Acting under the orders of Rogers Darren, I have come to liberate all slaves in the Holy Land!"
To be continued...