"My apologies for the disgraceful scene, Lord Raleigh."
Magellan felt embarrassed, as these were heavy criminals imprisoned by the World Government.
Even severe punishments couldn't break their defiance.
Raleigh didn't say anything.
In fact, he found it boring.
Since there were no familiar pirates here, these pirates held little importance in Raleigh's eyes.
Moreover, due to prolonged hunger, these pirates had low energy levels, making their presence negligible in Raleigh's Observation Haki.
"Indeed, there are no major players left here," Raleigh sighed.
As for those pirates who would later become members of Blackbeard's crew, they were huddled in their cells at the moment.
Raleigh had no intention of killing them for now.
However, for the prisoner who had insulted him earlier, Raleigh had no desire to let him live.
Raising his left hand, a gust of wind formed in his palm and flew into the cell.
The pirate who had mocked Raleigh continued to shout.
"Looks like another Marine Ability User."
"Pretty boy from the Marine, your wind is too gentle. I think even my grandmother's fanning is stronger than this."
Raleigh glanced at the pirate with pity as the wind wrapped around his body, covering him with dense wounds.
"Not enough! This is not enough!"
"Is this all you guys can do? Have the guts to kill me!"
The stubborn pirate gasped as he spoke.
Pain surged through his brain like tidal waves, but it fueled his rebellious spirit. What he didn't see was that his legs had been stripped to bare bones by the wind.
His muscles were torn into strands of fibers by the gale.
Suddenly, another wave of pain assaulted his brain.
Looking down, he discovered everything below his abdomen had vanished.
"Damn Marine! I'll kill you!!!"
Raleigh and Magellan stood at the entrance of his cell, watching him dissolve in the wind without uttering a word.
The other pirates who had been jeering earlier fell silent upon witnessing this.
Though they were reckless, none wished to die.
It could be said that every prisoner here clung to life. If they wanted to die, they wouldn't have conserved their strength and eaten minimal food to sustain themselves.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue? Weren't you all talkative earlier?" Raleigh mocked them.
Having resolved to play turtle, not a single pirate spoke up again.
There were many ways to die, and there was no need to choose such a painful one.
"Indeed, they're all just cowardly trash that afraid of death. Let's go, Magellan."
Finding these prisoners boring, Raleigh left the area.
...
"So you're the only survivor from Ohara, known as the Devil Child, Nico Robin?"
Robin wore a small black coat, trying her best to disguise herself to avoid standing out.
But what she miscalculated was how famous her photograph had become, and her disguise skills weren't as refined as they would later be.
Several tall men in strange uniforms saw through it as they surrounded her.
Facing these strong men, Robin's mind went blank. Her body trembled from fear.
No matter where she fled, someone would recognize her and turn her in to the World Government for the bounty.
Robin's fate would either be lifelong imprisonment in Impel Down or execution by beheading on the scaffold.
In despair, Robin closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face.
"Mother, I'm coming to find you."
After what felt like an eternity, a large hand rested on Robin's head.
In Robin's mind, this hand would crush her skull, and she had no intention of resisting. But instead, she heard the second kindest voice in the world.
"Look what you've done, scaring her like this."
"Apologize to little Robin."
"Sorry, chief. Our apologies, Robin."
"We're sorry, Robin. We meant it as a joke."
The expected pain never came.
The surrounding apologies caught her attention, and she opened her eyes to see a man in a hood standing before her.
"Hello, Robin. I'm Monkey D. Dragon. Would you like to come see my place?" Dragon said.
After three years of operating in the far northern country, Dragon had turned it into a Revolutionary Army base.
Now, all other forces had been expelled from the far northern country, leaving only the king's faction as the surface authority.
Robin blinked, sensing no malice from the man before her, and replied.
"Okay."
"Take my hand."
Dragon's broad hand reached over and took Robin's hand, transmitting warmth as he did so.
Several Revolutionary Army soldiers stood guard behind Robin and Dragon.
As they walked, Dragon explained the principles of their Revolutionary Army to Robin.
Even before reaching their territory, Robin found herself drawn to the Revolutionary Army's ideology.
Why had Ohara been struck by a Buster Call? It was because they sought to study the Void Century, which contained the dark history of the World Government—a topic deemed forbidden.
But through Dragon's explanation, he expressed his desire to create a world of equality.
Whether human, fish-man, mink tribe, or any other race, everyone would be free to pursue their dreams in this world, as long as those dreams did not harm others.
Robin wished for such a world to arrive soon, as she loved studying history and the ancient texts that had been passed down.
...
Soon, they arrived at the base Dragon had spoken of.
This was one of the bustling places in the northernmost country, and Robin was captivated by everything around her.
Every person here wore a smile, and each had their own tasks to attend to.
There were also many children Robin's age—some training under the guidance of a fish-man, while others were enjoying recreational activities after their exercises.
Seeing this, Dragon pointed at them and spoke.
"Most of these children are orphans, and they came here for various reasons. Many were adopted by our Revolutionary Army soldiers after their families were slaughtered by kingdoms or the World Government. Having experienced the pain of losing loved ones, most of them voluntarily joined us to overthrow this corrupt government."
The composition of the Revolutionary Army was diverse—mostly farmers bankrupted by corrupt nobles and orphans left behind after Celestial Dragons' massacres.
Ohara was not the only place the World Government had ordered to be slaughtered. It was just that Ohara became famous worldwide because the Buster Call dispatched five vice admirals. In reality, the Celestial Dragons had committed atrocities elsewhere as well.
If they took a liking to someone, regardless of who they were before, they had to become slaves of the Celestial Dragons.
Any resistance would be met with slaughter by the Cipher Pol organizations.
Therefore, as the Celestial Dragons continued to commit crimes, Dragon took in many of these hate-filled children.
Dragon had given them different choices, but every child who came here chose to fight against the World Government.
Dragon believed that Robin, having come here, would be no exception.
"Robin, let's go eat first."
The reason Dragon valued Robin was also because he had communicated with the scholars of Ohara and had some understanding of their ideas.
He knew that a new Joy Boy would eventually appear in this world, but Dragon didn't believe a new Joy Boy alone could change the world.
What he believed in more was that the power to change the world must be created with one's own hands—this was why he chose to establish the Revolutionary Army.
Perhaps one day, if Joy Boy appeared and confronted the World Government, Dragon's Revolutionary Army would choose to ally with Joy Boy against the World Government, rather than merely being spectators.
As for whether Joy Boy would appear, Dragon wasn't clear.
A revolutionary seeking to change the world wouldn't stake all his hopes on an elusive legend.