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After clearing out the auction house in Grove 1, Captain Mejes and his men turned their attention to the other venues, sweeping through every last auction house, large and small, on the Sabaody Archipelago.
For a time, a state of extreme panic swept through the islands.
An immense number of slaves were liberated, their suffering and the sins of their captors exposed under the cover of a deep night that could not hide such evil.
However, the purge did not stop.
"Captain Mejes, report! Groves 1 through 10 have been cleared. We have destroyed 12 human trafficking dens and accounted for a total of eight hundred rescued individuals!"
(A/N: I made up the numbers, just go with it.)
Mejes was shocked. He hadn't expected to find so many slaves in just the first ten groves.
Moreover, these were likely only the most recent captures; the number of people sold off in the past was probably immeasurable.
"What about casualties?"
"Not a single Marine was lost, but a large number of the rescued are severely injured or maimed. We have executed over a thousand criminals!"
Over a thousand. It was a simple number, but behind it lay enough bodies to form a mountain.
On this night, rivers of blood flowed, and the courage of nearly everyone who witnessed it was shattered.
Sleep would not come easily for them in the nights to follow. The entire atmosphere of Sabaody was shaken.
Those who were committing crimes, and those who were planning to, trembled with fear and abandoned their thoughts of new misdeeds.
"Good. We'll begin sweeping Groves 11 through 29 now!" Mejes ordered.
The Marines had a force of about 2,500 on the Sabaody Archipelago, but it was impossible to deploy them all at once.
The strategy was to dispatch patrols while a main force launched targeted strikes, maximising the results of their operation.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Open up! We're the Marines! We suspect you're harbouring pirates!"
"Are you serious? We are nobles! What right do you, Marines, have to investigate us?" the master of the house shouted back, clearly irritated.
It was obvious he intended to use his noble status to defy the Marines' operation.
BANG!
Without another word, Mejes led the Marines in, smashing the door down. He roughly shoved a couple who looked like nobility aside, his sharp eyes scanning the room.
"What do you think you're doing? Who gave you permission? I am a noble from a World Government-affiliated nation!" the woman shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her scream piercing the eardrums.
Her face was twisted in fury. They were legitimate nobles from a kingdom allied with the World Government.
Having heard that the Sabaody Archipelago was beautiful, they had spent a fortune to travel here, hoping they might even get a chance to connect with the World Nobles.
If they could win the favour of the Celestial Dragons, their politically marginalised status back home could be resolved.
"Who is he?" Mejes ignored the woman's screaming and pointed to a young boy in the living room wearing an explosive slave collar.
The boy was gaunt, his large eyes dim and lifeless. He had been about to sleep in the living room but was startled awake by the Marines' commotion.
He looked at the stern-faced Mejes with no will to live.
"He's a slave we bought!" the noble husband spoke up. Unlike his wife, he had not lost his composure and answered Mejes's question calmly.
"Is that so?" A cruel smile touched Mejes's lips. "Where is his proof of identity?"
"What proof of identity does a slave need?" the nobleman asked, stunned.
"No proof of identity? That makes it simple. The Marines will take him back for a background check to prevent pirates from hiding among the populace."
"Hey! Do you know what you're saying? We are nobles with legal rights!" The nobleman could no longer maintain his composure.
This was a slave he had just recently bought, and he had spent a fortune in Beri!
To a noble, a slave was a status symbol. This was the only one they owned, and they hadn't even had a chance to show it off yet.
How could they just let the Marines take him away?
"Remember this!" Mejes's expression turned grim as he stared at the couple, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.
"I am informing you, not negotiating. Otherwise..." He let the threat hang in the air.
"I believe it would be quite reasonable for two nobles to die in a pirate attack... Hahahaha!"
It wasn't that Mejes was being overly arrogant or cruel. After witnessing so much darkness in one night, he had come to see these so-called nobles as nothing more than beasts in human skin.
There was no need for courtesy with such creatures. Besides, if the sky were to fall, there was someone much taller to hold it up.
"You..." The nobleman knew Mejes was threatening them, but he was powerless. He could only glare at Mejes's face, trying to burn the image into his memory.
"Tch." Mejes noticed the man's undisguised hatred but didn't care in the slightest.
He had seen that same look a thousand times tonight. He trusted that Vice Admiral Atlas wouldn't let him suffer for his actions.
"Hey! You there, it's time to go!"
Mejes turned to the dazed slave boy, whose mind seemed unable to process what was happening. The boy just stood there, frozen to the spot.
"This..." The boy finally snapped out of it, realising the arrogant Marine was there to save him. He pointed helplessly at the explosive collar around his neck.
"Oh! Almost forgot!" Mejes slapped his forehead as if annoyed with himself. Then, his face grew cold as he turned to the noble couple and held out his calloused hand.
"Hmph." The nobleman's face was grim, but remembering Mejes's threat, he reluctantly pulled a remote control from his coat.
Snap!
Mejes snatched the remote and crushed it in his hand, the broken pieces falling from his palm.
For some reason, the slave boy felt his eyes well up with tears. It was as if a shackle around his heart had been broken. Perhaps... this was freedom.
"What's your name? That doesn't matter anymore. From now on, your name Elpis!"
The boy—no, Elpis—seemed to come alive. A new light shone in his eyes. For him, this was a new beginning.
"Alright! Let's get going. We still have patrol duties to complete," Mejes said, turning to lead his men outside.
"Sir!"
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Are you still recruiting Marines?"
"The Marines are a dangerous line of work. Are you sure you can handle it?"
"Of course. I've just walked out of hell..."
"Why? Give me a reason."
"Perhaps... It's because I saw justice," Elpis said, his eyes surging with hope, as if he had witnessed a beautiful new creed.
"...Alright. Report to the base tomorrow!"
In the exchange of questions and answers, the figures of the boy and the Marines disappeared into the darkness...
The next day. Dawn's early light broke through the darkness. The Sabaody Archipelago welcomed a new day, and... new life.
"Reporting to the Vice Admiral. The lawless zones from Grove 1 to 29 have been cleared. All human trafficking dens have been destroyed, and nearly two thousand slaves have been rescued."
In the Marine base commander's office in Grove 66, two figures sat on opposite sides of a desk. Atlas leaned back in his soft office chair, facing a respectful Mejes.
"What are the arrangements for the rescued people?" Atlas sat up a little straighter, his gaze fixed on Mejes's face as he asked quietly.
"About... eight hundred have expressed a desire to join the Marines. Six hundred want to return home."
"During identity verification, we discovered over a hundred were wanted pirates, who were executed on the spot. As for the rest..." Mejes reported his statistics without hesitation.
"Let the rest do as they please. For those who want to go home, use the assets seized from the auction houses to pay for their travel. Divide what's left among them as a small compensation."
"But what if the remaining people become pirates?"
Atlas looked at Mejes, his expression serious. "Mejes, you must understand, they are civilians now, under the protection of the Marines."
"Whatever they choose to do in the future, you need only remember this: judge people by their actions, not their intentions."
"Yes, sir!"
"Sir! What should we do with the mermaid?"
"Dispatch a warship to escort her back to Fish-Man Island."
"Alright, I understand the general situation. You may go attend to your duties." At this, Atlas paused, looking at Mejes with clear admiration. "And one more thing. You did an excellent job."
"Thank you for the praise, sir!" A pleased look appeared on Mejes's face, and he left the office with a spring in his step.
Knock, knock, knock...
"Come in!"
As soon as he spoke, a Marine soldier cautiously pushed open the office door.
When he occasionally glanced up at Atlas, his eyes were filled with fervent adoration and worship.
"Vice Admiral, sir, there's someone outside who claims to know you and is asking to see you."
"Hm? Knows me?" In this life and his past one, Atlas had been a man with no relatives.
In the Grand Line, he should have only had contact with other Marines, and they wouldn't need to be announced, would they? Who could it be... Atlas pondered for a moment.
"Send him in," he said to the soldier. There was no point in overthinking it. With his current strength, he wasn't afraid of anyone trying to pull a fast one.
"Yes, sir!" The soldier scurried out the door, afraid of delaying the Vice Admiral.
"Hello, are you Vice Admiral Atlas?" A short while later, a young man with greyish-green hair appeared nervously in Atlas's office.
"And you are?" Atlas racked his brain but couldn't place the young man.
"My name is Gildo Tesoro. I am... a slave," the young man said, carefully watching Atlas's expression.
Seeing no change, he continued, "I escaped from Mary Geoise."
As he spoke, as if afraid Atlas wouldn't believe him, he made a move to take off his shirt to reveal the brand on his back.
"Hey! Stop! Stop!" Atlas quickly stopped him.
How could he face others if someone saw that? Besides... Tesoro probably didn't want his mark of shame seen by others either.
"Aren't you afraid I'll drag you back?" A ripple went through Atlas's mind, but his face remained impassive. He asked with a slight smile on his lips.
Atlas had already recognised the young man before him. The future "Gold Emperor"! The difference between now and a decade later was just too vast.
If it weren't for Atlas's sharp memory of his name, he would have never recognised him.
Though Tesoro's current appearance was dishevelled, his features were quite handsome, and his centre-parted, greyish-green hair added a touch of flair—a world away from the nouveau riche upstart he would become.
"You won't!" Tesoro said with absolute certainty, as if more sure of it than Atlas himself.
"You were the one who saved me in Mary Geoise. I wouldn't mistake you."
"Besides, I've watched everything you've done since you arrived on the Sabaody Archipelago. You are a true Marine! So... I want to follow you!"
As Tesoro spoke, a fanatical light shone in his eyes, like a devout believer who had finally met his god.
In truth, this was not Tesoro's original plan.
But after spending these few days in Sabaody, witnessing the Marines destroy one human auction house after another, seeing countless slaves freed and their fates rewritten, Tesoro suddenly felt a desperate urge to meet Atlas, his saviour.
Atlas had almost single-handedly changed Tesoro's entire perception of the Marines. Perhaps...
"Alright. I accept," Atlas said after a moment of consideration. He continued,
"However, the brand on your back cannot be revealed. I will find a way to help you get rid of it in the future."
"Thank you so much!" Hearing Atlas's acceptance, Tesoro was overcome with emotion and bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle.
The afternoon was meant for peaceful leisure, but the ringing of a Den Den Mushi shattered the tranquillity.
Click!
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU'VE CAUSED ME, YOU BRAT, ATLAS?!"
The moment he picked up the receiver, Sengoku's roar blasted from the Den Den Mushi.
"Now, now, don't be angry, old man Sengoku. Weren't you the one who told me I could do as I pleased?"
Atlas was completely unfazed. He believed the majority of the Marine high command, especially Akainu, would approve of his actions.
"Do you know how many complaints I've received from the World Government these past few days?"
"No idea. Tell me about them."
"You little..."
Hearing Atlas's dismissive reply, a vein throbbed on Sengoku's forehead on the other end of the line. He was close to transforming into his Giant Buddha form.
"Relax, relax. I'm sure you didn't call me just to lecture me, Admiral Sengoku,"
Atlas said quickly, trying to change the subject as he sensed Sengoku was about to erupt.
"Hmph," Sengoku remembered he had actual business with Atlas and forced himself to calm down, suppressing his anger.
"According to the latest intelligence," he said in a gruff voice, "this year's Supernovas are about to arrive at the Sabaody Archipelago. Be ready for them. Don't let a single one get away. I trust your strength is sufficient for the task."
"I'll do my best..." Heh, the Supernovas? Atlas thought to himself. Isn't that just a matter of kicking them one by one?
(T/N: Please give me some power stone, I hope it can at least reach top 100)
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