Meanwhile, aboard the 315th Branch warship.
Seeing that the Umbrella Corporation fleet ahead had changed course, Tashigi excitedly looked at Captain Smoker.
"Captain Smoker, the Umbrella Corporation fleet really did change course according to your intentions."
"What do you mean, according to my intentions?"
Smoker, whose eyes were completely obscured by the smoke from the cigar in his mouth, immediately looked at Tashigi with dissatisfaction.
"I didn't see anything just now!"
"Alright, I understand. I'll also pretend I didn't see anything."
Tashigi stuck out her tongue awkwardly, then frowned with some worry. "But is it really okay for us to do this? What if Marine Headquarters finds out?"
"Now you're worried? Weren't you pretty excited just now?"
Smoker shot Tashigi a glance, but also stood up from the beach chair on the deck and turned his head to look into the distance.
"Didn't I already say it? We know nothing."
As he spoke, after calculating the Umbrella Corporation ship's sailing speed in his mind, he turned his head again and looked at the slave-capturing group still busy not far behind him, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. Then he looked once more at the sea surrounding the island.
After that, he put the cigar back into his mouth, pointed toward the sea area in front of the island, and said: "It's about time. Have them sail to that area."
Tashigi: "...?"
Hearing that Captain Smoker suddenly wanted the ship to move, Tashigi froze and looked up in confusion.
Weren't they supposed to block the slave-capturing group's line of sight?
Why suddenly move position again?
But when she raised her head and looked in the direction Captain Smoker was pointing, she immediately froze in place, as if she had already understood something.
She quickly said with hesitation and worry, "Didn't you say we can't make a move against the slave-capturing group? If we go there, wouldn't we be blocking their escape route?"
That was the route in front of the slave ship. Once the route on the left was blocked by the Umbrella Corporation, the slave ship could only head forward... Which was exactly the position Captain Smoker was pointing at.
As for leaving to the right, there was a protruding peninsula ahead. To sail to the right, they would have to first travel a certain distance toward the direction Smoker pointed to, in order to have enough space to turn around.
So it could be said that if the warship sailed there... The opponent's escape route would be completely sealed!
"What do you mean by blocking?"
Smoker sneered, flicked the nearly finished cigar into the sea, lit another one, took a deep breath, and said calmly: "I'm just bored and letting the ship cruise around nearby. Is that not allowed?"
…
At the same time, Wicks on the island also noticed that the marine warships had restarted.
He immediately let out a sigh of relief. Although they were a legally recognized slave-hunting group approved by the World Government, and the marines had no authority to act against them, who knew if they might run into some hotheaded idiot?
If that hotheaded idiot ignored everything and insisted on making a move against them, it would be quite a headache for him.
Once an accident happened to a Celestial Dragon's slave, even if they managed to return, everyone on their slave-hunting ship would likely be punished.
Wicks took out a cigarette from his clothes, lit it directly, took a puff, and said calmly: "Hmph! Looks like that marine base commander still has a bit of self-awareness!"
As he spoke, he no longer paid attention to the marine warships that had already set sail behind him.
Seeming to hear some movement, he turned his head back. When he saw a low-level lackey dragging a low-quality slave over, he immediately said in dissatisfaction, "Didn't I say it already? No low-quality slaves, no low-quality slaves. My ship can't hold that many low-quality slaves!"
"Sorry, Captain Wicks. This guy actually dared to interfere with our activity, so after thinking about it, I grabbed him and brought him as a slave."
Hearing Captain Wicks' tone, the lackey immediately began trembling all over and hurriedly bowed to apologize, then stretched out his hand. "I'll release him right now, Captain Wicks. Please rest assured, I will definitely catch high-quality slaves!"
As he spoke, just as he was about to loosen the rope…
"Bang!"
Wicks held the cigarette in his left hand and a gun in his right, firing a shot directly into the low-quality slave's head. He then blew on the smoking muzzle, his eyes staring at the lackey as if looking at an idiot. "Release him? What if this low-quality slave gets caught again? I don't have the time to wait for you to release him, then catch him, then release him!"
As soon as these words fell, the lackey immediately looked at their captain with admiration. "I know what to do, Captain Wicks!"
"Go on, hurry up. We should be leaving soon. If we make the Rosward Family wait too long, everyone here will die!"
After snorting coldly, Wicks waved his hand again, telling the lackey to hurry off to work.
Just as he was about to go down to see how many slaves had been captured, and whether any idiot had caught low-quality slaves again…
Suddenly: "W–w–Wicks, Captain Wicks."
A voice filled with fear came from the side.
Wicks immediately stopped his steps in displeasure, turned around, and looked at the lackey beside him, about to scold him for what he was doing.
They were serving the Celestial Dragons, serving the World Nobles; how could they be so flustered?
Wasn't this tarnishing the face of their masters, the Celestial Dragons?
However, before Wicks could speak, the panicked lackey, trembling as he spoke, said: "The ship, the ship sh–sh–ship..."
"What ship? Didn't the marine warships already leave?"
"No, no!"
"No, what?"
"That is..."
Seeming to notice that the captain beside him was becoming displeased, the panicked lackey forced himself to calm down, but the fear on his face still did not subside. With that ugly expression, he pointed forward and said, "Umbrella Corporation's ship!"
Wicks: "...?!"
What?
At this moment, Wicks is no longer fixated on this guy's disgraceful behavior.
Even upon hearing those words, panic appeared on his face. He abruptly turned his head and looked toward the rear, the direction from which the marine warships had just been. Sure enough, a familiar ship entered his field of vision.