Sabaody Archipelago, Area GR66.
This was the Marine branch base stationed on the archipelago. Nearby, Area GR62 had been designated for the Fish-Man Island's Sea King Army. Essentially, the entire 60s zone belonged to the government, and entry was strictly prohibited to the general public.
While Jinbe, Aladine, and the others were still familiarizing themselves with Marineford's environment, Dragon—recently promoted to Vice Admiral and appointed as the base commander—spent the entire morning inspecting the base's facilities and personnel. He also took a lap around the island, disguised as an invisible gust of wind.
At this moment, he was in the conference room with the Right Minister of Fish-Man Island, who had been specially invited. The two were discussing the upcoming operation.
Normally, the Sea King Army wasn't obligated to cooperate with the Marines, but since this mission involved rescuing Fish-Men and Merfolk, Dragon had personally extended the invitation—and the Right Minister hadn't voiced any objections. In fact, after hearing the details, he seemed rather enthusiastic.
"Technically, I should have applied for reinforcements from the main Fish-Man forces, but Colonel Jinbe and the others have just arrived in Marineford. They still need time to adjust to life there," Dragon said, looking at the Right Minister with a hint of apology.
The Right Minister replied sternly, "No, it is we who should be grateful that the Marines are allowing the Sea King Army to participate in this liberation operation. Whatever you need, just give the order!"
"In that case, I won't stand on ceremony."
Dragon nodded and got straight to the point. Looking down at the map of the Sabaody Archipelago laid out on the conference table, he said: "I want the Sea King Army to enter the waters and assist our ships in sealing off the entire archipelago. Focus particularly on the lawless Zone 20 and the shipyard-heavy Zone 50."
"Your mission is simple: if any pirate or slave ships attempt to escape, pierce their hulls and keep them from fleeing. If anyone falls into the sea, prioritize rescuing the slaves and hand them over to the Marines. If they're Fish-Men or Merfolk, you may take them directly to the Sea King Army's station—we won't interfere."
The Right Minister saw no issue with Dragon's proposal and agreed readily. "Understood. Leave it to us. I'll make arrangements right away!"
With that, he turned and left the conference room without delay.
"The arrest of the so-called 'Slave King' has already been announced. Those involved in the slave trade here must already be wary of my arrival... but no one expects me to launch a crackdown on my very first day in office, do they?"
Dragon shifted his gaze from the Right Minister back to the map of the Sabaody Archipelago. The smile on his face faded, replaced by a cold, expressionless look.
This operation included the shipbuilding and coating industries on the island, but the primary focus was on the lawless Zones 1 through 29.
These three zones were interconnected and overrun with crime syndicates engaged in kidnapping and extortion. In particular, Zones 20 to 29 were densely packed with slave companies, slave shops, and slave auction houses.
It wasn't hard to imagine that an industry that had rooted itself on the island for over a century would be guarded by heavily armed personnel—many of them powerful.
But for Dragon, none of that mattered. In his view, it was better to rip off the bandage than to prolong the pain. Rather than dragging things out, why not wipe them out all in one day?
There was no question that chaos would ensue—but how else could such a deeply embedded cancer be removed if not by striking hard?
He suspected this was exactly why Fleet Admiral Kong had sent him here as base commander. His strength and status were more than enough to weather any turmoil or retaliation.
A regular Vice Admiral simply wouldn't cut it.
However, there was one piece of intel from Fleet Admiral Kong that Dragon couldn't ignore—one that made him cautious, even wary. His eyes drifted toward Zone 50 on the map.
"The Dark King Rayleigh of the former Roger Pirates, huh…"
To be honest, Dragon had no desire to provoke such a formidable opponent right now. But given his personality, there was no way he would abandon the regulation of the coating industry just because of Rayleigh.
As long as they strangled the pirates' access to coating services, they'd lose the ability to descend to Fish-Man Island—and more importantly, they'd be unable to enter the second half of the Grand Line.
And that meant most pirates would never even get the chance to come into contact with Armament or Observation Haki.
While there were indeed pirates capable of awakening and mastering Haki on their own, such cases usually relied on extraordinary luck or innate talent. In any case, they were far from the norm.
If this continued, the number of pirates making it into the 'New World' would gradually dwindle. Without the influx of fresh blood, the influence of pirate crews would also stagnate—turning that part of the sea into nothing more than a gladiatorial cage.
That said, Dragon knew that this cage wasn't quite secure yet.
But every great endeavor must begin somewhere.
Before long, while the citizens of the Sabaody Archipelago were still going about their peaceful lives, and the various underworld bosses were gathered in secret to discuss what Dragon's arrival might mean and how to respond—
—battleships began to sail out from the Marine base's harbor.
Instead of immediately surrounding the island from both flanks, they advanced a full nautical mile forward before turning and forming a much larger encirclement.
As for the soldiers of the Sea King Army, their movements were much simpler. They dove straight into the sea and spread out. Per Dragon's instructions, most of their forces concentrated around Zones 20 and 50, while the rest split up into two-man patrols to monitor the remaining areas.
[Bang!]
At that moment, the Marine base gates swung open with a loud crash. Three officers wearing coats of justice emerged at the head of a large force of sailors armed with rifles and sabers, charging swiftly in three different directions!
...
One by one, bubbles slowly floated up from the ground.
This was Area GR 53. Shipyards and coating facilities stretched out along both sides of the coast. One vessel after another, their sails furled, sat docked—large and small alike.
Compared to the clamor of the shipyards, the coating facilities were much quieter.
Veteran craftsmen led their young apprentices, each carrying buckets full of red tree resin. As they worked carefully on coating the ships assigned to them, they would occasionally explain the techniques and tricks involved.
But recently, a strange newcomer had joined their ranks—and that oddity had become a hot topic among the coating craftsmen.
Some of the nearby apprentices couldn't help but sneak glances at him from the corners of their eyes.
At that moment, a sudden commotion from the distance drew everyone's attention.
"Out of the way! Move it!"
"Make way, damn it!!"
A middle-aged man wearing a black captain's hat and long black coat came charging in, followed by a crew of sailors wielding various dangerous-looking weapons.
Any passersby who got in their way were immediately kicked aside, sent flying. But the crew didn't pursue them further—they simply continued rushing toward the coating facility.
"Hey, isn't that Captain Gauls?" Rayleigh raised an eyebrow. "I thought we agreed to deliver the ship a week from now, didn't we?"
"That's right. We took half the payment upfront, and the rest was due upon delivery," Master Faulkner confirmed with a nod.
As they spoke, Gauls and his crew arrived. Without sparing the two of them a glance, Captain Gauls leapt aboard the ship. At this point, only about a third of the vessel was coated.
"Move it! Hurry up—we're setting sail right now!"
Despite this, Master Faulkner showed no intention of intervening or negotiating. After all these years on the job, he'd seen every kind of situation imaginable.
It was obvious this crew of pirates was being pursued by someone—they were in no state to negotiate. As for collecting the remaining payment, that idea was already off the table.
Regardless of what was going on, it wasn't a matter a simple coating craftsman like him could intervene in.
Rayleigh didn't react either. He simply stood quietly, watching as they unfurled the sails and rushed the ship out of the dock. What intrigued him more was what was happening on the other side—he wanted to know what exactly had triggered all this.
Because it wasn't just that one ship making a run for it. Over a dozen pirate ships still undergoing coating were now scrambling to flee, plunging the entire area into chaos and noise.
"Search them all!"
"Lower every sail! Any ship flying a Jolly Roger—detain them all!" Rear Admiral Ivan barked orders to the Marines behind him.
"Yes, sir!!"
The Marine squads scattered like a swarm of ants, paying no heed to the protests of shipwrights or coating artisans. They boarded ships by force and began thorough inspections.
Rayleigh's ship had already departed, so the Marines merely shot them a glare and ordered them to remain where they were and not move.
In an instant, the entire GR 50 area descended into turmoil with the arrival of the Navy. The atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Gunshots and shouts rang out intermittently—evidence that some pirates who hadn't managed to flee were now being apprehended by the Navy and were trying to resist arrest with force.
"Master Faulkner, do the Marines come here often?" Rayleigh leaned close to Faulkner's ear and asked in a low voice. He was starting to think that if this kind of thing happened frequently, he might need to find a new retirement job. The last thing he wanted was to constantly deal with Marine investigations.
"No, this is the first time something like this has happened in all my decades here," Faulkner replied, looking completely baffled. "The Navy has its own coating craftsmen, so they don't need to come to us. And as for chasing down pirates—as long as they keep a low profile, the Marines usually turn a blind eye."
Hearing that, Rayleigh immediately grew suspicious. Could these Marines be here because of him? Otherwise, how could something that hadn't happened in decades suddenly occur just a year after he arrived?
"No, that can't be it. How would the Navy know I'm here? And if they really were coming for me, would a single rear admiral be enough?"
Rayleigh glanced at Rear Admiral Ivan, who was busy subduing a group of resisting pirates in the distance, and his heart filled with question marks.
"What on earth is going on?"
At the same time—
Captain Gauls' ship had barely sailed 300 meters from the dock when a deep thudding noise echoed from beneath the hull. The sound sent a shiver of dread down the captain's spine.
"C-Captain! Bad news, Captain!"
"What's going on?"
The panicked pirate who came running shouted in terror, "Something like harpoons pierced the bottom of the ship—more than just one or two. It's like a honeycomb down there now! W-We're taking on water!"
"WHAT?!"
Dozens of meters below them, beneath the surface of the sea, a squad of Fish-Man soldiers from the Neptune Army—wearing armor and wielding steel tridents—grinned maliciously as they stared at the many holes they'd punched into the ship's underside.
Those were their orders—do not engage these pirates in a direct fight.
After all, pirates who made it to the Sabaody Archipelago usually had significant bounties. The Neptune soldiers weren't confident they could win in a straight-up battle. If they ran into someone with a bounty over 50 million, the whole squad could easily get wiped out.
So instead, they had to drag the pirates into the water.
If their targets were Devil Fruit users, they'd be helpless in the sea. Even if they weren't, and could swim, they would still stand no chance.
After all, Fish-Men were several times more powerful in water than on land—especially when it came to speed. And unlike their enemies, they could breathe underwater just fine.