"What is that thing…? You fed your sword a Devil Fruit?!"
After Lilith stepped away from him, Strawberry stabbed his twin blades into the ground and forced himself back to his feet.
He had actually been defeated by a weapon. Let alone taking revenge on Vane.
"A fortunate coincidence…"
A Mythical Zoan was already powerful by nature. On top of that, Lilith had been constantly absorbing his demon blood, her strength steadily increasing. Caught off guard, Strawberry was no match for her.
"...By the way, Strawberry, weren't you serving as a Rear Admiral at a Marine base? What are you doing here, on my turf, a great pirate's territory?"
"Pah!"
Strawberry spat on the ground. Much of the bearing he once had as a Marine was gone.
"Vane, you bastard, don't play dumb. Don't tell me you haven't seen the news!"
Vane: "The news…? Baccarat, which one are you talking about?"
Using her illusion ability, Baccarat projected the bounty poster she had previously touched.
[Fallen Rear Admiral Strawberry – Bounty: 98,000,000 Belly]
Strawberry's bounty was just 2,000,000 Belly short of one hundred million. The Marines had probably suppressed it to some extent—otherwise, it likely would have exceeded that mark.
"I thought it was fake news before. So you really were put on the bounty list… No way. The World Government just abandoned you like that? Didn't the Marines protect you? What about the Admiral and the Fleet Admiral?"
"Oh, my mistake—I almost forgot. The Fleet Admiral and Admirals are just slightly bigger tools of the Celestial Dragons. Tools who don't have to kneel in front of them."
Vane knew everything. He was just deliberately provoking Strawberry.
"Vane! You bastard!"
Enraged, Strawberry once again forgot the difference in strength and charged forward.
"Fugitive Marine, please show some respect to our Captain."
This time, it wasn't Lilith who moved. It was Bonez, stepping forward like a small mountain of black muscle.
"Move!"
Strawberry's blade struck Bonez's dark, hardened muscles. The clash rang out like steel striking iron, the grating sound drilling into the ears like tinnitus.
Strawberry felt both hands go numb, while Bonez's body bore only a faint white mark. As a swordsman capable of cutting through steel, he hadn't managed to inflict any real damage against this level of defense.
More importantly, when he had been captured in West Blue, he had seen Bonez before. Back then, this man absolutely hadn't been this strong. How had his power soared so dramatically in just a few months?
"You've mastered Armament Haki?"
At this point, Strawberry himself had not yet grasped Armament Haki. As for Observation Haki, he had only begun to show the faintest signs of it.
Just like Drake back then—when he was still a Rear Admiral and placed on the bounty list, he hadn't mastered Haki either. He had been kicked around by his colleague Admiral like a rag doll. Going undercover to that extent without uttering a single complaint—that was something else entirely.
"Following Captain Vane, all of us have improved… Strawberry, you haven't grown much at all."
Strawberry truly hadn't grown much. This period of his life had been utterly miserable.
After destroying the slave trade and being saved by Zephyr, he had returned and finally come to terms with the end of his political career, preparing to remain a lifelong Rear Admiral.
Then an even bigger disaster struck. That iron lunatic Vane had actually stormed Mary Geoise—and left Strawberry's name behind.
The Celestial Dragons whose kin had died immediately decided to vent their anger on him. Even knowing it was Vane's open scheme made no difference. The Celestial Dragons did whatever they pleased. Innocent or not, they would deal with you all the same.
If not for Zephyr and Sengoku's help in allowing him to escape the Marine base, he would either be dead by now—or shackled with chains around his neck, reduced to a Celestial Dragon's slave.
"That's enough. You didn't come here to die… If you really had that resolve, you'd go drag a Celestial Dragon down with you instead of traveling all this way to seek death."
No one wanted to die. Especially not an unjust death.
Staying in the first half of the Grand Line or the Four Seas was too dangerous. The World Government's control was stronger there.
And on top of that, he still carried resentment over how Vane had set him up. Fueled by that anger, he fought his way all the way to Sleeping Island.
He just wanted to land a single strike.
But he couldn't even get past Vane's sword—or his subordinates. How could he possibly face Vane directly?
Seeing Strawberry remain silent, Vane continued,
"You even brought a whole ship of people with you. What's that about?"
Strawberry's battered ship carried more than three hundred people—men, women, young and old. It looked like an entire village's population. They were clearly not pirates he had coerced.
This time, Strawberry did not stay silent. He explained their origins.
"They're your neighbors. Residents of Carnival Island."
Carnival Island was a nation formed long ago by pirates. It was the nearest inhabited island to Sleeping Island. Back then, many of the survivors from Sleeping Island had settled there.
Carnival Island's primary sources of income were heavy taxation of its residents and pirate plundering.
Living in such a place, those under an ambitious captain might live somewhat better. But in recent years, the ruling captain of Carnival Island had been an exceptionally cruel man—one who combined plunder with tyranny.
Because of that, he had earned a resounding title: The Corrupt King.
Yes—Pizarro, the future Shichibukai Blackbeard's subordinate and future Island-Island Fruit user.
When Strawberry passed by Carnival Island, he encountered an entire village being massacred by the island's pirates. The justice in his heart drove him to intervene and save them.
Since Vane had brought quite a few people along his journey, and Strawberry had nowhere else to settle this village, he brought them to Sleeping Island.
"You've actually done something good. I happen to be short on manpower."
Strawberry had been turned from a Marine Rear Admiral into a World Government fugitive because of him—and now he had even delivered over three hundred people to him. Truly… Vane was touched.
From Strawberry's perspective, Vane had been the stumbling block of his life. And yet here he was, repaying grievance with kindness.
"Baccarat, settle them in. Ask whether they'd prefer Midnight Town or one of the villages."
There were many elderly and children among them—people unsuited for factory work. If they were willing, they could be placed in the agricultural villages.
Moreover, most of them were from the same village. Keeping them together would give them a greater sense of security. In any case, the town and villages weren't far apart. Those who wished to work in industry would still have convenient access.
"As for you, Strawberry… do you want revenge against the Celestial Dragons?"
He wasn't worried about Strawberry being an undercover agent like Drake. The Marines hadn't even established SWORD yet.