"Well… I was kidnapped," Dora whispered, her head bowed low. She nervously fiddled with the corner of her top, her voice thick with shame and sorrow. "I was brought here by… by that group of human traffickers."
"Traffickers. Of course, it's traffickers," Jerry muttered, his fists clenching at his sides. A familiar, cold anger rose in his heart like a furious tide.
In his old world, there was no crime more universally condemned. Human traffickers were parasites who shattered lives and destroyed families for profit. Their evil was absolute, their actions unforgivable.
He never imagined that after crossing over to a new world, he would encounter this same scum time and time again. Here, in the lawless seas, the trade was even more rampant, a festering wound on the world. Jerry was no selfless saint dedicating his life to saving the world, but he had a conscience. He had a sense of justice. And he firmly believed that if you encountered this kind of evil, you had a moral obligation to crush it. A life journey like this would be wasted otherwise.
"We were just playing near the edge of the kingdom…" Dora's voice trembled as the memory resurfaced. "There were so many of them. We weren't paying attention, and they just… they rushed out and captured us." The fear was still fresh, still raw.
Jerry's focus sharpened. "We? You said 'we.' You mean there are others?" he asked, his voice gentle but insistent.
"Yes," she nodded, fresh tears welling in her eyes. "Two of my sisters were captured with me. They… they fought back so I could get away. They made a distraction so I could jump into the water." She choked on a sob. "I saw them… the traffickers hit them so hard. They… they won't be… beaten to death, will they? I… I…"
The thought of her sisters being brutalized because of her was too much to bear. She started to panic, her words dissolving into incoherent gasps.
"You want to rescue them," Jerry stated, guessing the thought at the heart of her panic.
"Yes… but I don't know how!" she cried, her mood plunging back into despair. "I've just been swimming around here, hiding… I didn't know what else to do."
She knew, theoretically, that she could try to make it back to the Ryugu Kingdom on Fishman Island and get help, but the journey would take far too long. She had no idea what happened in a place like an auction house, but she could imagine the horrors her sisters might face if she delayed.
"Um… Brother Jerry," she began, looking up at him with pleading eyes, her voice barely a whisper. "Do you… do you know a way to save them?" She immediately shrank back, quickly adding, "I-I'm not asking you to go! I know it's too dangerous! I just thought… maybe you had an idea. Some other way. I can go myself!"
Jerry looked up at the sky, thinking for a long moment. Finally, he spoke, his voice slow and deliberate. "There is a way. But it's not something you can do on your own."
"Ah? Oh… so there's no hope?" Dora's face fell instantly. The tears she'd been holding back began to stream down her cheeks as she paced anxiously. "What do I do? What can I do?"
A flicker of cold, hard light passed through Jerry's eyes before vanishing. He stretched his right hand out to the distraught mermaid. "I'm not in the mood for fishing anymore today," he said softly. "Come on. I'll help you."
"Really?" Dora's eyes went wide, a spark of hope igniting in their depths. It lasted for half a second before being replaced by worry. "But Brother Jerry, you… you'll be in danger, won't you? I don't want you to get hurt because of me."
"Don't worry," Jerry said, patting his own chest with unshakable confidence. "I can handle it."
"Th-thank you… thank you…" Dora broke down, crying with sheer, unadulterated relief. She knew she was powerless to save her sisters alone, and the guilt and desperation had been eating her alive. Jerry's promise was a ray of light piercing through the darkness of her heart, a warmth that brought with it the promise of hope.
"Alright, let's go." Jerry took a small, unpopped bubble from a pouch at his side and expertly inflated it to the perfect size, placing it around Dora's lower half. With the buoyancy of the bubble, she could now float and move on land.
"Kotatsu, here," he said, and as if by magic, a perfectly grilled piece of fish appeared in his hand. He tossed it to the lynx. "Eat up. You're on bodyguard duty."
His system inventory had grown alongside his own power, now measuring nearly a hundred cubic meters. He kept his essentials—food, water, and system-acquired items—stored within it. The space had the unique property of preserving anything non-living, freezing items in the state they were in when he stored them, making it the perfect pantry.
"Meow~" Kotatsu chirped, leaping to snatch the barbecue from the air and devouring it in two bites. It then looked at Dora, the big, strange fish-person. The lynx ate fish daily, but its instincts were sharp enough to know that this one was different.
Jerry then turned and walked back to the leader, who was still groaning on the ground. He delivered a sharp kick to his ribs.
"Still alive? Good. Get up and lead the way," Jerry commanded, his voice devoid of its earlier warmth. "Or I'll make sure you never get up again." He let his gaze drift meaningfully down the man's body, adding a silent emphasis to his words.
"Mercy! Mercy, sir!" the big man stammered, his heart pounding with a mix of terror and cunning. "I'll lead the way! Right now!" He scrambled to his feet, trembling, keeping his head bowed low to hide the treacherous grin forming on his lips.
Just get me back to the auction house, he thought. Let's see how tough you are when you're on my turf, you brat.
"Then move!" Jerry kicked him again for good measure. He then produced a cloak and draped it over Dora, concealing her tail and the bubble. With that, he, Dora, and Kotatsu began to follow the slaver.
Before they left the clearing, Jerry paused. He raised a hand, and dozens of high-pressure water droplets shot forth, striking each of the unconscious slavers on the ground with lethal precision. Anyone who chose this line of work, accomplice or mastermind, deserved their punishment.
The leader, who had risked a glance back, saw the entire thing. A violent shudder wracked his body. He quickly snapped his head forward, tucked his neck in, and picked up his pace, terrified that the slightest hesitation would earn him a similar "reward."
It wasn't long before they arrived on a bustling, opulent street. The leader's courage seemed to return to him now that he was back in his element.
"Just around that corner, look to the right," he said, his voice regaining a sliver of its former confidence. "You'll see it. The Bell Auction House." His eyes held a gloomy, vengeful glint that he quickly suppressed.
"Oh, good. Then you can take a nap."
Jerry, whose Observation Haki had been active the whole time, had already sensed the man's treacherous thoughts bubbling to the surface. He delivered a swift, precise chop to the back of the slaver's neck. The man's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed without a sound.
"Dora, you and Kotatsu wait here for a moment," Jerry said calmly, dragging the unconscious body into a nearby alley. "I need to take out the trash. This will only take a second."
He disappeared into the shadows. True to his word, he reemerged just a few seconds later, wiping his hands clean. Dora was too nervous about the impending rescue to be curious about what he'd done. Her face was pale, her hands clenched tightly as she stared at the street ahead.
This area was clearly more affluent. The street was lined with several different auction houses, each with its own grand, ostentatious style. Jerry read the gilded sign: "Bell Auction House." This was the place.
He quietly expanded his Haki, sensing the layout and the people within. He could feel the anxious energy of the captives, the greedy anticipation of the buyers, and the bored arrogance of the guards. He turned to Dora, whose face was ghostly white with fear.
"Relax," he said, gently patting her head. "I can sense them. Your sisters are okay. It looks like the auction is about to start. Let's go in and have a look."
"Really? They're okay?" A wave of relief washed over her, slightly steadying her nerves. "Then… what do we do?"
"Just stick with me," Jerry instructed. "If a fight starts, you and Kotatsu get clear. Don't worry about me. I can handle it."
With his plan set, he led the way, pushing open the heavy, ornate doors.
"Welcome!" a waitress in a crisp uniform greeted them from behind a service counter, her smile professionally polished. "It is our pleasure to have you—"
Jerry gave her a strange, knowing smile, the corners of his mouth turned up in a look of profound, impending mischief. He cut her off, his voice calm yet carrying the weight of a coming storm.
"You're a little too early to be happy."
The waitress froze, her professional smile stuck on her face. She had greeted countless wealthy and powerful patrons, but she had never seen anyone with eyes like his. She was utterly baffled, unable to process what was happening.