Chapter 23
Snow knew that Law was speaking to him. But he couldn't hear a thing. Only his shallow breathing and his heart that felt like bursting could be heard. Everything else was muted as he looked at the slaves before his eyes.
He was a slave, too, once. Though he didn't wear any chains, he was a slave like the rest of the people of his home island. Forced to work in the mines. Forced to live on the island, isolated from the rest of the world. Forced to dig graves for his friends, family, and everyone he knew.
"Free them," Snow didn't know what Law was saying, as there was only one thought in his head. "Free everyone."
To Law, it was simple work; with a snap of his fingers, the chains binding the people and the animals disappeared. But no one moved. Their empty eyes only settled on Snow. The marks on their wrists and ankles from the chains stayed with them and might stay with them for the rest of their lives.
"They need medical attention immediately," Law said. "Our ship is too far."
"Caribou, go with Law and find medical equipment in this manor. Law, do everything you can to help them."
"What are you going to do?" Law asked.
"I am going to kill everyone."
Heavy footsteps could already be heard as the guards started to gather at the center of the commotion they heard and felt. They still didn't know what had happened, but once they saw their unconscious colleagues, all hell would break loose.
That was fine with him, though. Let them all come. It would save time for him since he wouldn't have to go looking for them. Snow could already hear the voices upstairs as he walked up. He glanced at Law, who nodded in understanding and disappeared with Caribou, leaving only him to walk up.
"Stop! Who are you?" Three barrels of rifles were aimed at Snow's head the moment he got out of the basement.
"Do you know what is down here?" Snow asked them, getting close.
"Kill him!"
The rifles burst into flames and smoke as bullets hit Snow's head, and then they dropped to the ground. Snow looked coldly at them as his skin returned to normal. He stepped forward, grabbed the barrel of one of the rifles, and bent it ninety degrees.
"Wrong answer," Snow replied as he punched the first guard in the face, and he went through the wall. "I ask again, do you know what is down here?"
"Ahh!"
The second one answered with a scream as he drew a saber and slashed at Snow. Snow's grip on the blade stopped the guard in place. Then, with a little bit of his strength, Snow shattered the saber's blade.
"Wrong answer," Snow's hand went down, smacking the guard to the floor. He didn't look down to see what cracked, the guard's head or the floor, as he didn't care and instead turned to the last one. "Did you know what is down here?"
"Yes," the last guard answered honestly. "Please forgive me."
"So, you know it was wrong."
"I do."
"Then why are you doing something so wrong?"
"I didn't mean to, please," the guard was crying. "It was supposed to be a simple job of protecting the manor. I didn't know what kind of operations the lord was doing. By the time I found out, it was too late. I have a family to feed, and if I had done something, the lord would not have let me go. There would be no place for my family or me on this island anymore. Please, believe me."
"I do," Snow replied as his fist buried deep into the man's stomach. "But I can't let it go so easily."
It was wrong, but who cared, huh? Was it a lack of empathy that let others do something like this? Well, it wouldn't be surprising. The Celestial Dragons didn't know pain; they didn't know what it felt like to be treated like that. So, they didn't see anything wrong with it.
As the highest authority in the World Government, they couldn't be wrong. So, the ones below them, enslaving others, didn't care if it was wrong. It was their right to do so, and be damned anyone who dared to oppose them.
"Who…"
Before the new guards could even ask the question they should have already known the answer to, Snow moved. They were lucky, for Snow managed to calm down by the end of the last guard's pleading with him. So, he left them alive once he was done with them, barely, but alive.
They were just people following orders to earn money. In the end, neither their actions nor their decisions mattered. But they still deserved a good beating. And Snow went to hell with them, not leaving even one standing by the end of his rampage through the manor.
He punched the air out of them. Slammed their heads into the walls. And even broke a few bones of the guards, just because he didn't like the look of them. There were dozens of them, and then there were none.
At this time, Law returned with medical equipment, dragging the servants of the manor with him to the basement. Snow shut his eyes for a moment, and after a few moments decided not to return to the basement and went to look around the rest of the manor.
"Let's go, Caribou, we're taking everything there is to take from this place."
"Kehehe, I can't wait to see what goodies await us."
Snow stopped by the secret storage room in the kitchen, where the wine was stored. After storing everything inside Caribou, he instructed the mud man to go ahead and take everything else while he saved himself a bottle of nice-looking wine and stayed behind.
After finishing a glass of quite sweet wine, Snow snapped out of the trance he was under. Looking at the empty glass, he knew what he had to do. And it was time to move on from his past. After all, he had a lot to look forward to.
Craning his head back, Snow sighed before standing up, of course taking the wine bottle with him as he returned to the basement. It was quiet on the way; he had completely forgotten that he had hunted down every single guard. Well, there were probably some who ran away to save themselves or to report to their lord.
It didn't matter. Snow knew what he had to do. When he climbed down the stairs to the basement, Law was finishing treating the former slaves and even the animals. They didn't look as empty now and finally started to hope that they would be free. Snow didn't even want to guess how long they had been here.
"I am sorry for what has happened to you," Snow said, addressing them first. "We will give you enough money to start a new life. But we can't take care of you."
"Thank you, sirs," an older man bowed his head first, and the rest followed. "But there is nowhere for us to go. Once they find out that we escaped, they will make a game of it while hunting us. I have seen it too many times."
"They won't," Snow replied. "There is someone who will help you escape the island. And trust me, they won't have the leisure to even think about you. For I am here. And as long as I am here, the most important person is me. The most feared man on this island is me. Me alone. So, get ready to leave."
"What are you planning?" Law asked, as Snow was about to leave.
"Something stupid," Snow replied to Law's inquiry. "What? Will you try to stop me?"
"I want in," Snow smiled at Law's response.
"When Caribou returns, lead these people to Bege. Tell Caribou to give Bege anything he wants for the safe passage of these people to the next island, and give everything he stole from this manor to these people. Aside from the wine, that is."
"And after?"
"Come find me. Who knows what will happen by then?"
Snow tried to walk away, but was stopped by a dog that blocked his path. It was a big and tough dog, beaten to hell and back, with scars and missing patches of fur all over its body. It looked at Snow, lowered its head, and nuzzled its head against Snow's leg.
"You are one ugly dog," Snow said as he knelt and petted it. "Make sure those people who shared your pain find safety."
"Woof!" Snow had no idea if the dog understood him or not, nor did he have any idea what its response meant, but he still smiled at it and gave an extra scratch.
"Good boy."
Now, it was time to wreak some chaos. But not before he made sure there wouldn't be any trouble for Law and these people. As he walked out of the manor, he put his giant umbrella on his shoulder. Taking out a pipe, he lit it and enjoyed a good couple of smokes before going outside.
He didn't know if it was his good hearing or just how loud they were as they ran toward the manor, but Snow heard dozens, if not hundreds, of feet hitting the ground. Still, he leisurely walked through the courtyard, finishing his bottle of wine, and went through the main gate, enjoying his walk and the smoke.
"Hundreds it is," Snow said, throwing away the empty bottle and looking at plenty of ugly faces running toward him with rifles in their hands.
"Stop right here, you…"
"Shut up!" Snow's voice silenced anything the stoic commander of the Marines tried to say. "Slaves? Seriously? Have you no humanity left in you? Do you not recognize your fellow humans to let such audacity prevail? Is this the justice you are ready to die for? We pirates, are scum, sure, I will one hundred percent agree with that. But you all are far worse than scum. So, either you all die here as the worst kind of human beings one can be, or you drop your weapons and fall to the ground. Later on, you can say you were beaten up I am sure if everyone plays into it, nobody will get in trouble."
"Ready!" There wasn't even a second for the commander to reconsider his actions as he ordered his marines. "Aim!"
"Fire!" Snow finished the words as one of his arms turned into a wing made of iron spikes.
There was thunder as the rifles fired at him. The bullets fell to the ground or were deflected in every possible direction. As smoke dispersed from their rifles, the Marines could only look at Snow standing without a scratch on him.
When would they learn? Probably never. After all, most of these Marines only hurt those weaker than themselves. Sure, there were probably pirates, but with their numbers and weapons, the Marines were always able to overwhelm them.
But now, Snow stood before them. Their guns meant nothing. Their numbers meant nothing. They could only scream as Snow swung his wing and dozens of iron spikes flew at them. Snow showed no mercy today as the spikes pierced their bodies, hurling them dozens of meters from the place they stood. Some spikes pierced through three or four people before stopping.
Before they realized that they had fucked up, Snow was already in the midst of their formation. His umbrella, long and heavy, swept through them. Anyone caught by it was lucky if they only escaped with a couple of bones broken.
Some would never walk again. And Snow would make sure that none of them could ever be Marines again, that is, if they were lucky enough to survive his fury. They were nothing but toy soldiers for him to break.
He left their commander for last. The stoic man could only stand and look at the mess of bodies, who moaned and cried in pain. He could only tremble, not even able to draw his sword as Snow walked to him, blood dripping from his umbrella.
"Wait for me in hell," Snow said as he put his hand on his head. "I will kill you here once more."
The commander's head popped like a balloon. Snow flicked his hand, getting rid of blood and brain matter from it as he turned to look at a woman running at him. He looked at Vice Admiral Gion as she stared at him with horror and anger in her eyes.
"Snow!!!"
A.N. As always. Thanks for reading and supporting me. If you want 7 more chapters of this story and 42 chapters in total with all my current stories, please consider supporting me on pa treon ironworlf852. Thanks in advance.