A moment later.
"Who told you about our movements!" Dragon pinned a man against the mast, his right hand gripping the man's shoulder with such force that it almost crushed his shoulder blade.
Dragon had always been a very calm man, rarely losing his temper. But the panic and rage in his heart now made him lose control. Who was playing tricks?! Their whereabouts weren't just exposed to the Marines; even the extremists from Flevance knew where they were! And it wasn't just a general knowledge; they knew their exact route and came straight for them! This was too terrifying! What if it had been the Marines who came knocking? His cause, which had just begun to show signs of life and was on the verge of flourishing, was now suddenly clouded by a shadow.
This matter had to be resolved quickly!
"Hehehehe!" The man's facial muscles twisted in pain, but the insane Flevance native merely laughed. "You're scared? Good! That's great! This won't be the end. Anyone who hinders our revenge will face ruthless retaliation!"
A vein pulsed on Dragon's forehead. But he couldn't do much against such a crazed individual. To this day, the Flevance revenge faction still wreaked havoc across the seas. Without a future, they exacted mad revenge on everything they loathed. Their revenge against the World Government had long since degenerated into mere venting and destruction.
Dragon had always found them quite a headache. His Freedom Fighters were predominantly made up of Flevance people, and this group was constantly tarnishing Flevance's reputation. In the North Blue now, the mere mention of Flevance would cause people to instinctively cower in fear, for that group symbolized terror. Dragon could already imagine how difficult the Freedom Fighters' activities would be in the future.
But before he could figure out a way to overcome this difficulty, a change occurred.
"Bastard!" The anger in Dragon's heart made him instinctively crush the man's shoulder. The man wailed in pain, but the smile never left his face.
"Angry?" he asked, struggling with a grin. "Kill me! Hehe! If you're angry, then kill me! What are you hesitating for? Unleash your rage! If you want to lead us Flevance people, you have to be reckless, hahahaha!"
Dragon panted heavily. Madman! Truly a madman! Now was not the time to waste words on such a lunatic. The key was to find the mole in the team! If this problem wasn't solved, the team would never know peace!
But who? Who could it be? The Freedom Fighters now numbered in the tens of thousands. To find someone in such a massive organization without any clues was like a fool's dream! Dragon's Observation Haki couldn't read minds!
"We can only temporarily scatter the team now!" Dragon found Trafalgar to discuss countermeasures, his face grim. "That way, even if we're attacked again, the losses won't be too great."
"What then?" Doctor Trafalgar's face was equally anxious. "Are we just going to remain fragmented like this forever? What about overthrowing the World Government then?"
"I'll have Mr. Zephyr's side investigate thoroughly and see who the informant is." Dragon was equally distraught at this moment, but he forced himself to calm down. The more panicked he was, the more mistakes he would make, and that was exactly what the hidden enemy wanted. Dragon clenched his fists, breathing deeply, his mind racing.
"The person lurking within us has definitely been here for more than a day or two, especially since we haven't recruited new members for a long time," Dragon analyzed. "Why did they only act now? If they wanted to eliminate us, then our movements would probably have been discovered by the Marines long ago! Why did they only act now?"
"Perhaps," Dragon said with a grave expression, "it's a warning."
"A warning?" Doctor Trafalgar looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"Even without Mr. Zephyr's tip-off, the Marines who came to us were just ordinary North Blue Marines because the informant mentioned the Flevance extremists, not me! If no one from Marine Headquarters came, then they definitely couldn't do anything to us!" The more he analyzed, the more certain Dragon became of his conjecture's correctness. "The attacking Flevance extremists now are clear proof. What good are they other than to disgust us?"
"It seems true!" Doctor Trafalgar still didn't understand. "But who? Who could have placed a mole among us, and how did we offend them, that they want to warn us now?"
Who? Dragon already had a guess in his heart. But there was no evidence; it was purely a guess based on that person's modus operandi.
"Since it's a warning, it shouldn't end here!" Dragon said in a deep voice. "At least they should reveal why they're warning us, otherwise, wouldn't it be a meaningless warning?"
"For now, disperse the fleet! Don't regroup until the crisis is resolved! All the cadres, act together!"
"Are you suspecting the mole is among the cadres?" Trafalgar was startled. Then he also understood that at least ordinary soldiers wouldn't be so familiar with their routes. The cadres indeed had greater suspicion!
And so, the Freedom Fighters' grand fleet suddenly dispersed, fleeing in different directions across the North Blue. Dragon and Trafalgar also disappeared into the vast North Blue with a few ships.
"So what do we do next?" Doctor Trafalgar was still somewhat panicked. "Do we just wait for them to come knocking?"
"There's no better way," Dragon said, now calmer. "The one hidden in the shadows will definitely appear!"
"There's no use worrying. All we can do now is wait."
"Damn it!" Trafalgar gritted his teeth. This feeling of being at someone's mercy was truly despair-inducing. It was like being a puppet in the hands of that mastermind, only able to watch himself being played without being able to retaliate.
"Where's the nearest uninhabited island?" Dragon suddenly asked.
Trafalgar was startled, then exclaimed, "You mean?"
"Find a definite place to wait, so it's easier for them to find us, right?" Dragon said. So soon, the fleet led by Dragon successfully arrived at a nearby uninhabited island. It was an island that wasn't very wide, filled with strange, craggy rocks and devoid of life. Dragon and the others set up camp there and waited quietly.
Inside Dragon's own tent, Dragon was silently contemplating. At this moment, Doctor Trafalgar hurriedly pushed the door open.
"I've sent our most trusted people to secretly monitor the cadres," the doctor's expression was a little bitter. "If there's no mole among my trusted old comrades, and if the mole really is among the cadres, we should be able to find something." The thought that there was a mole among his trusted compatriots caused Trafalgar great pain. Even now, wasn't it clear who was truly working to avenge their people?
"Mm." Dragon slowly nodded. The situation was so passive; this was all they could do for now. It was truly suffocating, this situation where their lives were in someone else's hands. The opponent had only made a small move, and the Freedom Fighters were already on the verge of collapse. The best foreseeable future was to hope that the opponent didn't intend to uproot the Freedom Fighters, but merely intended to teach them a lesson due to some unknown conflict!
Dragon slowly exhaled. Still too weak. They needed to become even stronger! Even such a crisis had pushed the Freedom Fighters to their limits; what about overthrowing the World Government?
"It's come to this. Let's eat first, Dragon," Trafalgar also sighed, saying, "Whatever we face next, maintaining our physical strength is how we'll face the danger!"
As Dragon nodded, his expression suddenly changed. "They're here! Trafalgar, get everyone ready for battle!" He suddenly turned into a gust of wind and rushed out of the tent.
Trafalgar was stunned for a moment, then immediately rushed out.
"Enemy attack! Prepare for battle!"
"Everyone, prepare for battle!!"
Panicked shouts instantly echoed throughout the camp. The resting cadres and soldiers immediately stirred. It had to be said that several months of military training had been effective; the soldiers quickly formed ranks under the cadres' leadership, assembling on the coast, ready to face the incoming enemy.
Dragon floated in mid-air, looking down at the sea ahead, his face very grim.
"Where's the enemy?" Trafalgar, carrying a rifle, stood on the coast, looking around, but still couldn't see any sign of the enemy. The sea wasn't empty—
Boom!
The sea surface not far ahead suddenly exploded. A giant beast suddenly burst out of the water. It had thick iron chains on its body, and through these chains, a large ship encased in a bubble was dragged up from the seabed. Trafalgar's face instantly changed dramatically. "How can it be!!" He was far too familiar with this combination of sea beast and large ship! After all, it wasn't the first time they had done business with them. So, could the so-called warning be because—?
In the sky, Dragon secretly gritted his teeth. He hadn't guessed wrong, after all. It was him! Besides that guy, besides Roa, who else could be so resourceful and have such a twisted sense of humor?
The next moment, the bubble covering the large ship shattered, and two figures shot into the sky, flying directly towards Dragon. One had a lower body transformed into a jet, propelling him with invisible air currents to fly. The other had a pair of large wings on his back, achieving astonishing speed by simply flapping them.
Dragon's expression softened slightly. It seemed Roa hadn't come in person. However, Mercury Bullet (Douglas Bullet) and the Demon Descendant (King) were also monsters among monsters!
"This is all your doing, isn't it? Calamity Company!" Dragon tried to remain calm. If he panicked now, who would his comrades below rely on?
"Boss said," King flapped his wings, floating not far in front of Dragon, speaking calmly, "that he wants to teach you a lesson."
"You actually dared not to pay Boss back," Bullet clenched his fist, his voice cold. "You're courting death."
So, it was indeed because of this matter? Dragon wasn't surprised. Few people in the Grand Line now didn't know that Roa was petty. It was also long expected that they would incur the Calamity Company's retaliation. But what he hadn't expected was that that guy had planted a mole within the Freedom Fighters! Now that he thought about it, the initial Flevance riot was guided by Roa's people. His people also played a part in fanning the flames of the subsequent Flevance revenge. In such a situation, it would be strange if Roa hadn't left any contingencies among the Flevance people.
A miscalculation!
Perhaps, it wasn't just his Freedom Fighters! His people were present in all Flevance communities!
Below, after hearing Bullet and King's words, Doctor Trafalgar was in great pain.
"I truly deserve this!" To get revenge on Roa, he had come up with a bad idea! Now, the debt collector had come knocking!
"We can settle the debt," Dragon tried one last effort. "As compensation, we can repay double the debt, to show our apology to Roa. So, can this matter end here?"
"Of course the debt must be collected," King slowly drew the beloved sword at his waist, Ame-no-Habakiri, and black Haki instantly coated it. "But the lesson must also be given."
"Then there's nothing to discuss." Dragon took a deep breath. The surrounding air currents instantly accelerated, and a strong wind suddenly began to blow.
"Discuss? Who are you to discuss with us?" Bullet sneered. "Kneel first!" The air shrieked under the immense pressure, instantly pierced by the pitch-black mercury giant fist! That fist, carrying the force of a thunderous storm, unceremoniously slammed towards Dragon.
Dragon's pupils constricted. His right arm instantly transformed into a violent cyclone vortex, his five fingers spread like dragon claws, and black Armament Haki instantly covered them like a living entity.
"Dragon Claw Fist!"
The cyclone of his arm spun his fist at high speed, turning it into a spiraling drill that tore through the air, bravely meeting Bullet's destructive mercury punch!
"Boom—!!!"
The moment the two fists collided, the sky seemed to rip open. A deafening roar exploded, and violent air currents swept in all directions like tangible shockwaves. King showed no hesitation. Boss's order was to "teach them a lesson," so he had to achieve it perfectly! Bullet alone might not be enough to completely subdue the opponent; he had to go all out!
The Tengu mask instantly covered his face, and King's figure seemed to vanish into thin air. The next instant, the shriek of air being sliced by a sharp blade echoed by Dragon's side! King appeared like a ghost, his famous sword carving a deadly cold light, striking down mercilessly! Dragon, who was wrestling with Bullet and focusing all his strength on that point, had no way to avoid this lightning strike from his blind spot! In haste, he could only raise his left fist, his Haki-coated fist becoming a final barrier, meeting the descending blade head-on!
"Clang—Splat!"
The clang of metal and the tearing of flesh sounded almost simultaneously! Even with Haki protection, under King's fully charged, powerful slash, Dragon's left fist instantly split open, blood gushing! The immense force even sent him flying backward!
There was no deep friendship between King and Bullet, but they were actually very tacit. Without any verbal communication, the two, like two deadly black lightning bolts, charged with even more ferocious killing intent from completely different, tricky angles, relentlessly pursuing the backward-flying Dragon before the strong winds had dissipated!
At the same time, on the sea below.
"Oh, are you going to attack too?" Jinbe leaned against the ship's rail, arms crossed, watching the Five-Color Combat Team walk to the bow, then glanced at the other unmoving soldiers. "Just the five of you?"
"Completely sufficient," said the red-haired Spark Red cyborg with an indifferent expression.
"But the ship hasn't even docked yet, how are you going to get over?" Jinbe interjected.
The five cyborgs' expressions remained unchanged. They simply pressed something on their waists. Five rays of light simultaneously burst forth from their bodies. Jinbe couldn't help but cover his eyes. It was a bit dazzling. Then, after the light dissipated, he saw that all five of them were wearing combat suits whose colors matched their hair.
"Ooh?" Jinbe was slightly surprised. "Transformation?"
Then, the Five-Color Combat Team simultaneously leaped up, jumping directly towards the distant island. Their strength was astonishing; merely their jump caused the front of the large ship to dip, and the deck was crushed. But it still wasn't enough; the distance to the shore was too far! Just as the five were about to fall into the sea, a strong wind suddenly jetted from the heels of their shoes, propelling them to glide through the air.
"They're flying?" Jinbe couldn't help but exclaim. Was flying such a common ability these days?
The Five-Color Warriors instantly plummeted onto the coast. At the same moment, Doctor Trafalgar cried out in panic, "Wait! It was all my idea! If you want to teach a lesson, come at me!"
It was as if they hadn't heard him at all.
Spark Red raised his right hand, and a massive fireball suddenly appeared in his palm.
Whoosh!
The fireball suddenly shot out, heavily slamming into the soldiers' formation.
Boom!
Like the impact of the largest caliber heavy artillery, the explosion instantly engulfed everything around it. At the same moment, Electric Blue transformed into a flash of electricity and darted out, followed closely by Poison Pink, who was emitting a strange pink gas from her body. Storm Yellow pushed with both hands, and invisible wind condensed into flying wind blades. Finally, Winch Green roared, his body expanding, directly transforming into a giant Brachiosaurus, charging headlong into the soldiers' formation.
The punishment began.
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