"Commander, that's at least forty or fifty warships!"
Standing beside Belo Betty, one Revolutionary Army member swept his eyes across the sea and said with obvious heartache, "If only those ships belonged to us instead!"
Another Revolutionary soldier took over, his expression grim.
"In East Blue, only one pirate fleet is that large."
"The Krieg Pirates."
He paused, then looked out at the wreckage-strewn sea.
"But from this day forward, I'm afraid the Krieg Pirates no longer exist."
Because the sea was packed with drifting wreckage, Belo Betty's ship had to alter course and circle around.
Only after passing through the debris field did Belo Betty's eyes suddenly brighten.
Her attention was drawn to a travel ship anchored near the shore.
On its deck, Pepper, Carrot, and Onion were staring at the countless corpses floating on the sea, all three of them pale as paper.
Earlier, from far away, they had only seen ships being torn apart under dense artillery fire.
They had not noticed that the sea was littered with more than wreckage.
It was also filled with bodies.
Kairo paid no attention to the three shell-shocked little boys.
After crushing Gin's skull and tossing the corpse into the sea, he simply walked over and took a seat opposite the Elegant Fox.
The moment he sat down, Green Rabbit immediately brought him a glass of red wine.
A heartbeat later, Jerry also jumped up onto his shoulder.
Compared to Green Rabbit and Jerry's enthusiasm, Droopy had already mentally gone home. Ever since Kairo stepped in and killed Pearl and Gin, Droopy had not once taken his eyes off the blonde beauty on the cover of his magazine.
As for the Elegant Fox, he remained as poised as always, drinking coffee with the grace of a noble lady.
At that moment, Pepper finally tore his gaze away from the horrifying blood-soaked seascape. He hurried over to Kairo and asked shakily,
"Mr. Kairo… were all of those people pirates?"
Kairo nodded with a smile.
"The Krieg Pirates. The largest pirate fleet in East Blue."
"About five thousand men, give or take."
"From the look of it, there shouldn't be any survivors."
"Five thousand…?"
Pepper's eyes widened.
"They all died?"
"I couldn't really help it." Kairo swirled his wine lightly. "They ruined the mood of my trip. If they hadn't shown up and started a war with my crew, I'd probably be enjoying Syrup Village's food by now."
Pepper wiped a cold sweat from his forehead.
Ruined his mood?
And for that alone, five thousand pirates had been wiped out?
That was… a little too outrageous.
"Mr. Kairo, um… may I ask you something?"
Pepper gathered his courage and stepped closer. First he glanced at Green Rabbit, who was quietly studying him, then at Jerry standing on Kairo's shoulder, and finally asked in a small voice,
"Do… do you hate pirates?"
"Not really."
Kairo narrowed his eyes slightly.
"But I can't say I like them either. As long as everyone can have a good time together, pirates, Marines, Revolutionaries, bounty hunters—it's all just a label to me."
Pepper immediately let out a quiet sigh of relief.
When he had first seen the sea covered in pirate corpses, he had honestly wondered whether Kairo simply despised pirates and had therefore slaughtered all five thousand without blinking.
And that worried him.
After all, his own identity right now was that of a member of the Usopp Pirates.
If Kairo turned out to really hate pirates, then a single wrong move might get all of them killed too.
"Mr. Kairo! Mr. Kairo!"
Suddenly, Carrot ran over and pointed toward the sea.
"There's another ship coming this way! Could it be pirates too?"
Kairo turned his head and looked.
The ship approaching quickly was none other than Belo Betty's.
The moment it drew alongside, Belo Betty leapt neatly onto the deck and strode over.
"What happened here? Why are there so many pirate ships and corpses?"
Kairo raised his glass and smiled faintly.
"We meet again so soon, Miss Betty. You really haven't given up, have you?"
Belo Betty's gaze first slid to Jerry standing on Kairo's shoulder, then to the Elegant Fox calmly holding his coffee.
A new crew member?
A fox and a fancy mouse—neither of which appeared in the intelligence her side had gathered before.
Her eyes flickered with confusion, though she quickly hid it and asked coolly,
"You still haven't answered me. Did you destroy all those pirate ships?"
"No."
Kairo tilted his head toward Jerry.
"The little one did."
"Haven't I already told you? Fighting and killing isn't the way I like to live."
Before Belo Betty could respond, Jerry immediately stood up straight on Kairo's shoulder and gave a very formal little bow.
"Jerry. Pleased to meet you."
Even though she already knew Kairo's pets were all abnormal, Belo Betty still widened her eyes in surprise when she heard the mouse speak.
What shocked her, however, was not the talking.
It was the strength hidden inside that tiny body.
That little mouse had sunk forty or fifty pirate ships and wiped out the entire Krieg fleet.
What kind of terrifying power was hidden in such a small frame?
Still, she remained polite.
"Hello, Jerry. You may call me Miss Betty."
Then she suddenly remembered why she'd come and changed the subject at once.
"Kairo, you really are unbelievable. You said you wouldn't rescue Da Hong, and you truly meant it. Not only did you refuse to help, you even ran off to Syrup Village!"
"Do you have any idea what happened? After the failed execution at Loguetown, Da Hong has already been transferred to Impel Down!"
"And the worst part is, he seems to have no resistance at all to carrots, magazines, newspapers, and canvas sneakers. He clearly had the power to defeat Admiral Kizaru and break out, but the moment Kizaru brought out a carrot, he obediently let the Marines drag him back to prison."
"If nothing unexpected happened, the warship should already have entered the Calm Belt by now!"
Kairo listened to her long explanation with half-lidded eyes, then asked mildly,
"So you came all the way to Syrup Village just to tell me this?"
"What else?" Belo Betty glared at him. "Do you think I'm idle? I'm the commander of the Revolutionary Army's Eastern Army. I have to organize personnel, handle training, and travel everywhere gathering supplies. I'm busy."
"Tough life."
Kairo turned his head toward Green Rabbit.
"Green Rabbit, pour this beautiful Miss Betty a glass of whiskey."
"Who wants whiskey right now?!"
Belo Betty was almost driven mad by how calmly he was taking this. "I came here to discuss how to rescue Da Hong! Going after him now is already too late, but if we enter Impel Down by another route—"
She got halfway through the sentence before Green Rabbit arrived holding a glass.
"Miss Betty, your whiskey."
"Thank you."
Belo Betty took it automatically, drank a sip to wet her throat, then continued without breaking stride.
"The Revolutionary Army has an extremely important person imprisoned in Impel Down. When the time comes, we can coordinate from inside and outside and get Da Hong out together."
Kairo shook his head with a small smile.
"I think you've misunderstood something, Miss Betty."
"Since you know what happened at Loguetown, you should also know the Marines' methods simply can't kill Da Hong. The only reason he went with them is because he doesn't care where they take him."
"You can think of it this way: whether it's Marine Headquarters or Impel Down, to him it's all just another vacation spot."
"There's no need for us to run around exhausting ourselves trying to rescue him. The day he gets tired of staying there…"
"He'll come out on his own."
Belo Betty opened her mouth, then closed it again.
She wanted to argue.
But she suddenly realized that anything she said would sound weak.
At the same time—
Impel Down.
Having received notice early, Chief Warden Magellan stood at the entrance with a line of prison staff and guards wearing gas masks.
In the distance, a Marine warship was steadily approaching.
Magellan's face looked calm as a mountain.
Inside, however, he was panicking.
It wasn't because he feared Da Hong's reputation.
It was because as the user of the Venom-Venom Fruit, Magellan's very breath was poisonous. Even the food he ate became toxic after passing through his body. He had just finished dinner and was originally planning to head to the bathroom—
but because Da Hong was about to arrive, he had no choice but to hold it in.
And he was getting dangerously close to his limit.
So while he looked steady on the outside, inwardly he felt like he might collapse and "let it all out" at any second.
"Faster, faster…"
Watching the warship crawl closer, Magellan's face remained expressionless, but in his heart he was desperately willing it to dock quicker.
Finally, the ship came in.
Moments later, Da Hong, the red rabbit who had caused havoc at Loguetown, was brought up onto the deck.
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