Hearing Raleigh's words, Cleveland quickly moved his feet away just as he was told.
The originally solid ground suddenly cracked open, creating a dark, gaping fissure.
Several mysterious figures in robes emerged from the earth.
"Wali! Are you okay?" Karasu, the squeaky-voiced giant, quickly helped up the rebel (Wali) who had already been knocked down by Cleveland.
As Karasu tended to his man, Dragon stepped forward, standing between his group and Raleigh's.
He faced off against the "slave trader."
'Christian Raleigh?' Dragon thought silently, his eyes narrowing under his hood.
'Wasn't he in the East Blue? What's he doing here?'
After leaving the Marines, Dragon wasn't very clear about many of the new developments within the marine.
In his memory, Christian Raleigh was just a junior from the Academy, someone with whom he had no particular connection with.
He only really remembered the name because he was quite familiar with his older, much lazier brother, Borsalino.
At the exact same moment, Raleigh was having a near-identical internal monologue, only his was far more shocked.
'Monkey D. Dragon??? Why is HE here?!'
Raleigh was genuinely stunned.
Although Dragon's disguise—a thick hood and a face-concealing mask—was well done, his physique and, more importantly, his haki couldn't be changed.
Raleigh had been paying close, if secret, attention to Dragon's movements ever since their time at headquarters.
He was, after all, the future leader of the Revolutionary Army.
Both sides immediately saw through each other's identities.
And both, in a silent, tacit agreement, decided not to expose the other.
"Barena," Karasu's reedy voice squeaked, now filled with cold rage, "I'll make you pay for this."
He handed his injured comrade over to the others, clearly intending to vent his anger.
He pointed a finger at Barena, and one shadow-crow after another began to emerge from his body.
Just as he was about to launch his attack, Dragon suddenly stepped forward and reached out, placing a hand on Karasu's arm to stop him.
"Dragon-san?" Faced with Dragon's unusual action, Karasu was left baffled.
However, during their earlier interaction, he had come to see Dragon as a man of vision and wisdom, so he did not oppose the intervention.
Dragon spoke in a low tone.
"The situation is a bit off. There's someone over there... the one in the middle... whom I knew from before. If we fight him, the chances of us being exposed are very high."
Hearing Dragon's words, Karasu looked at the three people opposite.
Apart from the spineless Barena, he didn't recognize the other two.
But he did know that the expert who had effortlessly captured Wali (Cleveland) was now standing respectfully behind the other person.
From this alone, it was clear that the man in the middle, the one Dragon knew, held the highest status.
"Alright," Karasu conceded, "let's go then."
"You're not going anywhere!" Barena suddenly grew anxious.
He had nearly thought he was about to meet his end just moments before.
He was especially panicked because, for some reason, none of the other overseers in the area had noticed the commotion.
As for the King's Guard? They rarely set foot inside the high walls, let alone deep within the factory.
Dragon ignored him, leaping into the hole Karasu had created.
The others quickly followed.
Karasu stayed behind for one second to cover their retreat.
"Flock Crow Raid!"
Hundreds of shadow-crows exploded from his body, flying in a massive, chaotic cloud toward Barena and the three with Raleigh.
"Raleigh-san, save me!" Barena shrieked, diving behind Raleigh for cover.
Seeing such a powerful, widespread attack, Barena knew he couldn't withstand it.
Raleigh paid him no mind, his thoughts focused more on Dragon's sudden appearance and this interesting Devil Fruit user.
"Great Wind Pressure." Raleigh threw a single, casual punch.
A compressed cannonball of wind erupted from his fist, instantly dispersing the flock of crows and creating a thick, blinding smokescreen of soot and dust.
By the time the cloud cleared seconds later, Karasu and the others had long since vanished.
The only thing left was a sealed crack on the ground.
Raleigh had anticipated this outcome.
'So, that's him.'
If he wasn't mistaken, the Ability User who appeared with Dragon was none other than the so-called Revolutionary Army's future North Blue Commander, Karasu.
'Tsk, so that's it,' Raleigh thought, his mind racing. 'The Eryoku Kingdom has a long history of uprisings. Dragon, not long after leaving the Marines, is traveling the world founding his "Freedom Fighters." It all lines up.'
Running into Dragon here was unexpected, but it was also a gift.
Raleigh smiled.
He had originally thought he'd need to find some small-fry rebel leader to pin the blame on for the "unfortunate" demise of the CP9 agents.
Who would have thought that a true dragon was hiding in the waters of the Eryoku Kingdom? There was no better scapegoat than Dragon.
If he had pinned the murders on some nobody, the World Government might have been skeptical.
But Dragon? The son of Garp, a former Marine himself, leading a secret, violent uprising? Oh, they'd buy that in a heartbeat.
"Raleigh-san... what do you think?" Barena interrupted, rubbing his hands together nervously, his face still pale.
He was trying to get back to business.
"The factory inspection is complete," Raleigh said, instantly snapping back into his "slave trader" persona.
His voice was all business.
"We're confident our... 'resources'... will adapt well here. You'll likely recoup your costs in about five years. After that, it's pure profit for the next twenty to thirty."
Raleigh's words made Barena's heart bloom with joy, but then Raleigh shifted his tone.
"However," he said, fixing the Mafia boss with a cold stare, "Barena, you should understand. While we don't concern ourselves with... this... we require a stable, long-term market and a solid partner. If this is just a one-time deal, or if our 'partner' can't even control his own factory, we wouldn't offer you such favorable terms."
Upon hearing this, Barena first felt his heart tighten, then, bizarrely, he relaxed.
Coming from a "New World slave trader," not saying something like this would have been strange.
Compared to shady dealers who hint at various conditions, Barena actually preferred dealing with straightforward, powerful people like Raleigh.
They were all shrewd individuals; laying everything out openly meant they could get right to the deal.
"Don't worry, Raleigh-san! This was just an exception! A freak accident! I normally never come to such places," Barena said, sweating.
To prove his value and that the situation was "under control," he decided to share his own intel.
"According to my sources, the Marines and the World Government have already dispatched experts. The Marines are reportedly sending an Admiral, though I don't know what they look like."
Raleigh had to fight the urge to smile.
Barena leaned in, whispering, "And... the World Government has sent its own CP organization members. Rumor has it, they've already infiltrated these rebel groups, though they haven't located the leadership yet."
Raleigh wasn't particularly surprised.
'Of course they did.'
The Marines were just the muscle.
It was normal for the World Government not to fully trust them.
They'd send their own intelligence personnel to find the rebel leaders, then pass the info to the Marines, who would simply serve as the executioners.
After circling around the factory a couple more times, Raleigh grew bored.
He had his money, his intel, and his perfect scapegoat.
He suggested they return to the port to rest for the night.
....
Back in the Rebel's Mine Shaft Base
"Dragon-san, why didn't you let me kill Barena earlier?" Karasu didn't understand.
The moment they were safe, he asked Dragon.
Dragon took a deep breath, the filthy mine air doing little to calm him.
"Among those three people earlier," he said, his voice grave, "the one in the middle. The leader. It was likely someone I know."
"If we had fought him, I might have been exposed." He paused, looking at his small, dedicated band of followers.
"My main concern is that if word gets out that I am here... my old man might come and cause trouble." He let out a long-suffering sigh.
"If he shows up, our success here would be impossible."