"Boss, aren't we making a move yet?"
"Wait a little longer, Soap Bubble Park is too chaotic right now, and it's already dark. We'll make a move when they come out. She's a rare catch, a golden goose."
Young and pretty girls are the most popular in the human trafficking market here, let alone someone like Yamato who carries a lot of money. Selling her off and then extorting a hefty ransom from her family is his real intention.
The human trafficker organizations are scattered across every corner of The Sea, yet they don't have a unified body, and the quality and strength of the members vary greatly.
There are fishman scoundrels who kidnap their kind, feeble weaklings, and elite traffickers who can abduct people from the Nine Serpent Ship.
Then there's the nun Carmel, who cooperates with the World Government and deceives the Giant Race through a series of methods. In a way, these people can be said to be the second largest organization, only next to the photographers' group.
Even ships have their blemishes, and all kinds of oddities appear, including but not limited to photographers who forget to remove the lens cap and Clown Buggy, a crew member of the Pirate King.
Yamato didn't show a hint of worry on her face; she even had the leisure to observe what's different about the Shampodi Islands at night. Jack and Maria were the same.
Unlike the calmer ones, Robin was not as composed, but she wasn't overly worried under the influence of their calm demeanor.
Arceus' behavior up until now didn't align with his sudden disappearance, prompting her to believe he's watching them from some hidden corner.
However, Tesoro was different; he couldn't understand why these four kids were so carefree. Although adult Maria and Jack could be considered by Giant Race standards, their physiques could be called little giants.
But at the moment, they hadn't shown this aspect. Even King began growing rapidly after puberty, reaching his current height of over six meters. Currently, both Jack and Maria appeared to be about thirteen or fourteen years old.
When they left Soap Bubble Park, the surrounding lights dimmed. During the day, only parts of the Shampodi Islands were lawless zones, but at night, their impact spread outwards.
Fighting, illegal transactions—all took place under the shadows. Trouble arrived as they reached the red tree intersection.
"Run quickly! There's a Navy patrol on 31st Avenue! Those people won't dare grab anyone in front of the Navy!"
Although population trade in the Shampodi Islands happens right in front of the Navy, they ignore these matters and even help maintain order there, but they do have their bottom line.
Capturing others to become slaves right in front of them is something they cannot tolerate. At the moment, they were at the intersection of the 33rd and 32nd red trees, but the Shampodi Islands are a circle, not a straight line.
There aren't just one red tree connected to the 33rd red tree. Reaching the area patrolled by the Navy wasn't difficult, but whatever he could think of, those human traffickers naturally also thought of. They were working in a gang, and there were traffickers closing in from all possible escape directions.
"Kid, I advise you not to meddle, or you might get yourself into trouble..."
A fat trafficker threatened Tesoro, but his words were cut short by a slap from the person in front of him.
"Fool! We've got this place surrounded with so many people, and you still want to let him escape? Of course, we're going to capture them all! Men can fetch a price too!"
Their main targets were Yamato and Maria, but they had everyone surrounded, so there was no reason to let half of them go, thus he intended to capture them all.
"Kid, you can't blame us for you being caught in your own trap. If you don't resist now, you might suffer less. We'll find a good buyer for you all."
Getting injured in the face could reduce the selling price. Most of these traffickers wielded ropes and bags as weapons. If the area wasn't so open, they might have used anesthetic gas directly.
"No other choice, little girl, I can't take care of you all. Try to split up and run, see if you can escape or find someone to help you."
He didn't have confidence in taking down more than a dozen strong men himself, and even he wasn't sure if he could escape. It was evident they had already targeted Yamato and the others. Even trying to divert their attention was impossible.
However, Yamato's response wasn't what he expected. She wasn't panicking like a child; she seemed somewhat excited instead.
"They're all traffickers, right?"
"Yes... but now's not the time for a lesson... listen for my command, I'll tell you when to run."
Tesoro reached into his pocket, which held quicklime. In such an environment, having something on hand was essential, while the other hand pulled a small knife from the guitar case.
But Yamato's action was quite different from what he imagined.
"Great! These bad guys can be knocked away!"
Being hit by Kaidou, trained by Arceus, and beaten by stone men daily, she had long wanted to experience what real combat felt like; she just hadn't had the opportunity.
She put down her backpack and pulled out the Ken 4.0 from inside. While traveling, she always carried her Wolf Fang Club.
"Jack, Maria, ready for battle. Robin, help take care of Little Fairy." Alcremies, on average, stood at 30 centimeters tall and usually hung like a doll on her shoulder.
Since they were already older kids, the Chanseys didn't come out with them, only the Alcremies followed her like a pet.
Maria and Jack adopted the same move, handing their Alcremies to Robin.
Maria pulled out a pair of Finger Tigers, while Jack's backpack contained a small scythe. This left Tesoro, who initially planned to fight hard, a bit confused. These kids seemed a little unusual.
Finger Tigers could be seen as self-defense, but a scythe and a Wolf Fang Club... they weren't things ordinary people would carry.
Even the approaching traffickers couldn't believe it, laughing at Yamato's Wolf Fang Club.
"Little girl, don't try to scare people with inflatable toys. No one's playing house with you here, better behave, or you'll hurt your pretty face."
"Ken Four is no toy; it carries the legacy of One, Two, and Three. He's my comrade!"
"Hahaha, kid, that's the funniest joke I've heard today. Almost makes me not want to sell you. Blame yourself for coming to Shampodi."
He approached with a rope, but Yamato didn't continue arguing. She just tightened her grip on her Wolf Fang Club and then jumped up in front of his incredulous eyes.
"Thundering Hakken!"