The elderly man kneeling at the front opened his mouth, but in the end, he did not know what to say.
Rojen's words left him speechless.
"Freedom is mankind's innate right. No one can take it away."
The calm voice echoed throughout the entire place. Everyone below unconsciously clenched their fists.
"Do you long for freedom?"
Another question followed immediately.
The people were stunned. They asked themselves inwardly, and the answer was certain.
No one wished to be imprisoned. No one did not yearn for freedom.
"Then stand up. I have already received your gratitude, and I am very satisfied!"
Rojen smiled.
He asked for nothing and had no need to make demands. These people's spirits had already suffered tremendous trauma; they would need a long time to heal and recover. Just as he had said, he had already received Abiles Island's gratitude.
He was very satisfied!
The old man moved his lips, then finally sighed and slowly stood up.
"Abiles Island has nothing to repay our benefactor with right now, but in the long years ahead, as long as our benefactor comes here, no matter the request, we will never refuse!"
The elder's voice was extremely firm.
Rojen shook his head.
One by one, people rose to their feet. Their eyes toward the group on the platform were filled with gratitude and reverence, a respect that came from the depths of their hearts.
A drop of kindness should be repaid with a surging spring; then how should a life-saving grace be repaid? Among the crowd, many people had already silently made their decision.
After discussing things, the crowd gradually dispersed. The elder led several highly respected individuals to Rojen's side.
"Benefactor, please, you must tell us your great name."
The elder bowed as he requested.
Having an old man old enough to be his grandfather bow to him made Rojen extremely uncomfortable, and he hurriedly helped him up.
"My name is Rojen. Just call me by my name."
"We will be responsible for hosting you. They've already gone to prepare a banquet. Also, the scum under Anuki's command, others on the island have already arrested them."
The elder, whose name was Briels, voluntarily explained the situation to Rojen, subtly asking for his opinion.
"Handle it yourselves."
Rojen replied with a smile.
At this time, the others also stepped forward to ask for Jason and the others' names, silently committing them to memory.
The two sides began chatting and exchanging information. As the conversation deepened, Rojen's group was shocked to discover that Anuki had done quite a lot of vile things.
He colluded with outside black-market merchants, trafficking cheap drugs, arms, and more. Deep within the base, there was even a laboratory.
And within that laboratory, human experimentation was being conducted. Its cruelty and cold-bloodedness were horrifying to behold.
It was said that these human experiments were also part of a business transaction.
"Anuki has an underground warehouse where he stores all his treasures."
The elder Briels mentioned at last.
"If you, our benefactors, need money or valuables, please take whatever you want."
"Money, huh? I really could use some."
Rojen's eyes brightened.
For pirates sailing the seas, besides adventure, there was another purpose: treasure.
The system balance had long since been emptied, and Rojen did not feel right touching Barut's national treasury. Being able to replenish some funds here naturally suited him.
"Please follow me."
Briels was very pleased to finally be able to do something for Rojen's group, and immediately led everyone toward the underground warehouse.
Half a quarter-hour later, the group arrived at the underground warehouse.
The warehouse gate was immensely heavy and solid, forged from steel, with ten large guards stationed beside it. After Briels arrived, he ordered them to open the warehouse.
Hong long long!
The massive door slowly opened, and Rojen's group followed Briels into the warehouse.
When the dim candlelight inside the warehouse grew brighter, a sea of gold shimmered in everyone's eyes, and they were deeply stunned.
"Just… how much treasure is this?!"
"My god, I can see mountains of gold!"
"This is way too much! Could this buy an entire country?"
The crew were shaken. Just how much wealth squeezed from the people had Anuki accumulated in this warehouse?
"Inside Anuki's warehouse is not only the money extorted from us, but also the profits from his black-market dealings over the years."
Briels said in a low voice.
Every mountain of gold here was stained with their sweat and blood.
"Benefactors, take whatever you like. You can even take it all."
"Money can always be earned again, but if life is lost, then we truly lose all hope."
Briels sighed.
Compared to wealth, life was naturally far more important.
To have been rescued from oppression, these treasures had become meaningless to Briels. Besides, he believed the people before him were not the type who cared much about money.
But he was wrong.
"Captain, let's take everything! This is amazing!"
Chaporos excitedly threw himself into the mountain of gold, his whole body trembling with excitement.
Briels' mouth twitched as he looked at this overly dramatic crew member.
Trens covered his forehead, utterly speechless.
"Heh heh."
Rojen shook his head and smiled.
Taking everything was naturally impossible, but he truly did need money at the moment. Moreover, there were quite a few valuable items in Anuki's warehouse.
Walking forward slowly, he picked up a long blade from among the gold. The blade was a deep, dark blue from hilt to tip.
"Thunderous."
Those two words were lightly engraved near the end of the blade.
Rojen tested it with a swing and vaguely saw arcs of lightning flickering along its surface.
"A fine blade!"
Back in Impel Down Prison, he had once learned from No. 8 that after so many years, the world possessed more than just the Twelve Supreme Grade Swords as its greatest weapons. There also existed certain blades with special powers, possessing sharpness and durability no less than the Twelve Supreme Grades. The Blackwater wielded by No. 8 was such a blade.
Naturally, weapons like these were exceedingly rare, and many had already been lost to history.
Rojen did not understand swords deeply, but he could still tell that the dark-blue long blade in his hand, occasionally crackling with electric arcs, was no ordinary weapon.
"Agson of the Naraka Path happens to be missing a longsword."
Putting Thunderous away, Rojen led everyone to continue searching.
Anuki's warehouse was vast, covering nearly three thousand square meters. Treasures, paintings, collectibles, luxury goods… there were too many to count.
Everyone searched for things they liked while Briels watched with a cheerful smile, showing not the slightest dissatisfaction.
Two hours later, they emerged from the warehouse.
"Benefactors, won't you take a little more? You've taken far too little."
Briels tried to persuade them again, feeling guilty.
After entering the warehouse, the value of what Rojen's group took amounted to only a tiny fraction of the contents. The vast majority remained quietly stored inside.
"We've already received what we should have, Briels. You don't need to worry about it."
After declining with a smile, Rojen departed. Everyone wore satisfied, happy expressions.
Only Chaporos looked utterly dejected.
"Why didn't we take everything? That was nearly 30 billion Belly!"
(End Of This Chapter)
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