"Umbrella Corporation's fleet? What are those guys doing over here?"
Hearing the marine's words, Tashigi froze for a moment, then sighed. "Forget it, don't bother with them. Just pretend we didn't see them. Right now we…"
However, before Tashigi could finish her sentence, Smoker beside her extended his hand and interrupted her.
Then he took a deep breath, casually tossed the cigar that had only a bit left into the sea, spat into the ocean, and said in a ruthless tone: "We have a pretty good luck. Call that slave-catching group back for me and block their line of sight of this area."
Tashigi: "...?"
...
At this moment, on the other side, on a certain island not far from the marine warships.
"Captain Wicks, that group of marines hasn't left!"
"They still haven't left?"
Hearing the words of the lackey in front of him, the middle-aged man wearing a black suit and sunglasses turned his head to look in that direction.
Sure enough, he saw that the marines had not left and were even positioned right in front of the island, blocking their line of sight.
He immediately frowned. "The 315th Branch? The branch where Ian, the God of Sun, once served? What exactly are these marines trying to do?"
After watching for a while, seeing that the marine warship was merely blocking the front and making no other moves, the middle-aged man called Wicks pondered for a moment, then stopped paying attention to it.
Turning his head back to look at the lackey in front of him, he said, "No need to bother with them. This is the area of a non-affiliated nation. We are serving the World Government. The Marines have no authority to arrest me."
As he spoke, he snorted coldly, his tone filled with dissatisfaction. "Also, tell those guys below to be more serious. We're capturing slaves for the Rosward Family. Not just any slave is qualified to serve the Celestial Dragons."
"Stop bringing over trash! And keep a close eye on that giant on the ship. Don't let that guy escape. I believe St. Rosward will definitely be interested in a giant slave."
"Yes! Captain Wicks!"
After hearing Wicks issue his orders, the lackey said nothing more, immediately turned around, and left to carry out Wicks' commands.
After watching the lackey leave, Wicks frowned again and once more looked toward the warship that was blocking their line of view. "What exactly are these marines trying to do?"
...
"What are you doing?"
"Reporting to Instructor Zephyr, a marine warship has been spotted ahead, blocking our route!"
"A marine warship?"
Hearing his subordinate's report, Zephyr, who had walked over, also raised his head and looked ahead. Sure enough, he saw a marine warship blocking their course.2
Especially when he saw the branch number printed on the hull, Zephyr's face immediately broke into a grin. "315th Branch, what a coincidence! No, wait, Enchi has already been transferred. The current base commander of the 315th Branch is that kid, Smoker!"
But what is that kid doing?
Why is he blocking their route for no reason?
Could it be that he wants to come and arrest his former teacher?
"Instructor Zephyr."
Seeing that Instructor Zephyr was not tense at all, the subordinate who had only joined not long ago also felt relieved. "Do we need to communicate with the 315th Branch ahead and ask them to clear the route?"
"No need. Let's go see what that kid, Smoker, is trying to do!"
Zephyr waved his hand casually, still wearing a cheerful expression, and directly shouted: "They have probably noticed us already. Have us move closer!"
As soon as his words fell, just as the subordinate responded with a, yes, and was about to go down to issue the order to continue forward and approach the marine warship ahead, suddenly, another subordinate who was observing the route seemed to notice something and shouted loudly: "Instructor Zephyr, ahead—"
"I see it."
But before he could finish speaking, Zephyr directly interrupted him. Then he frowned and looked over. "Internal marine signal flags? Let me see what they're saying. This area... No passage... Pass from the side?"
Seeing this, he grinned again. "That kid, Smoker, actually dares to block my path? No passage?"
"Instructor Zephyr."
Hearing Instructor Zephyr's words, the subordinate beside him spoke again with hesitation. "Then, should we continue forward?"
"Ignore him. Have us continue to move closer—"
However, before Zephyr could finish speaking, Enel, who was lying on the mast, yawned and directly said, "Go around from the right."
Zephyr: "...?"
Zephyr froze for a moment, raised his head, and looked at Enel on the mast with a strange expression. This gaze was also noticed by Enel, who immediately looked back at Zephyr with dissatisfaction. "Hey, what are you looking at me like that for?"
"This doesn't seem like you at all! Actually going around?"
Faced with Enel's dissatisfaction, Zephyr did not mind. Instead, he frowned, stroked his chin, and muttered: "When your path is blocked, shouldn't you be extremely angry and say, 'Do you know who this god is? Have us charge through!"
Enel: "..."
Damn it…
The corner of Enel's mouth twitched as he looked at the infuriating Zephyr in front of him. But before he could say anything, at this moment, Zephyr raised his head again, looked at Enel with a cheerful expression, and said: "Looks like something happened ahead. Go on, tell me about it first!"
"Hmph!"
Enel snorted unhappily, but did not continue dwelling on the topic. He directly lay on his side, resting his head on his right hand, and said casually: "Aren't you looking for slave-capturing groups? They're right ahead!"
Zephyr: "...?!"
As soon as these words fell, a trace of surprise flashed across Zephyr's face. "Slave-capturing groups?"
As he said this, his eyes immediately narrowed. He seemed to understand something.
Looking at the 315th Branch warship not far away, a grin appeared on his face once again. "So it's a legally authorized slave-capturing group granted by the World Government! Since when did that kid become so cunning? He even calculated against his former teacher. Fine then, I'll take the blame."
Waving his hand, he said to the subordinate beside him, "Be careful. Go around from the side. Don't let them notice us."