Chapter 140: Identity Chip
Ian’s situation this time was somewhat different from Fisher Tiger’s back then.
Fisher Tiger had originally relied on climbing bare-handed to quietly enter Mary Geoise. At that time, Mary Geoise was unprepared and had no Marines stationed there, so by the time the Marines arrived from Marineford, it was already too late. Nearly half of Mary Geoise had been engulfed in flames. After causing a huge commotion, Fisher Tiger had enough time to rescue several thousand slaves.
But Ian couldn’t do that now. His time was much tighter. Because of the World Conference, the Marines were currently stationed in Mary Geoise. Although they couldn’t spare too many personnel due to the need to protect the national leaders, the Marine Admirals arrived much faster.
The Celestial Dragons couldn’t directly order the Marines, so they conveyed their requests for troop deployment through the World Government. After making their demands to the World Government, the World Government then issued orders to the Marines. On the Marine side, Sengoku was in charge, and he decided who would be dispatched. So, back and forth, a considerable amount of time was wasted.
Even so, rescuing these five hundred or so slaves was already the limit. Any more, and there wouldn’t be enough time to escape.
Ian also knew that these Celestial Dragon slaves lived in a hell of brutal torture. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have become so devoted to him the moment he appeared as their liberator.
But even so, Ian couldn’t save everyone else. If he got himself trapped just to save others, Ian wouldn’t do it. As mentioned before, Ian never considered himself a saint, nor did he think he could be a hero. His anger toward the Celestial Dragons came from the conflict between this cruel slave system and his own values, so he was only helping some people along the way.
Beyond his capabilities, he could only apologize for his helplessness. Even though he knew there were many more slaves who might be eagerly waiting for rescue, Ian could only say sorry to them.
Still lacking strength, Ian sighed inwardly. If he were strong enough, what would it matter even if the Marine Admirals chased after him?
Leading the large group of slaves, Ian and his group began their escape.
At the same time, the Marines also pursued them into the city center. Although the wait for orders had delayed them a bit, once they acted, the Marines’ execution was still very efficient.
By now, the fire had spread to many blocks, burning fiercely. Many black-clad guards and armored soldiers were frantically trying to put out the fire. Seeing this, the Marine soldiers asked Aokiji, “Admiral Kuzan, what should we do? Please give the order!”
“You pursue them!” Aokiji said, his left hand in his pocket and his right hand holding his coat over his shoulder. Even while on duty, he looked relaxed.
After receiving the order, the Marine soldiers saluted and continued forward to chase the fleeing slaves. Meanwhile, Aokiji stopped, took his left hand out of his pocket, and spread his fingers toward the burning area ahead.
A chill emanated from his five fingers, and then a huge ice bullet shot out from his palm!
“Ice Time Capsule!!”
When the ice bullet hit a building, a burst of cold air exploded. With a cracking sound, the building instantly began to freeze. The ice spread upward, quickly encasing the entire structure.
Once isolated by the cold, the flames naturally couldn’t burn anymore.
The people trying to put out the fire stared dumbfounded at the building that had been blazing just moments ago, now turned into a block of ice!
“Ah, not good!” Aokiji slapped his forehead. “I wonder if there’s anyone inside…”
He scratched his head, then said lazily, “Forget it, I won’t worry about that!”
Then, from his palm, he fired a series of ice bullets at all the burning objects around him. With his intervention, the once scorching air quickly cooled down, replaced by a biting chill and a large number of frozen objects.
Aokiji walked slowly forward, continuing deeper ahead, leaving only a group of guards standing there, unsure of what to do.
In fact, when the fire started, the Celestial Dragon nobles had already been escorted away from their residences to take shelter.
As he walked forward, Aokiji encountered areas with raging fires and used his ability to freeze and extinguish them. Sengoku was right to send him. If it had been Kizaru, he would probably have kicked and blown up the burning buildings to stop the fire. If Akainu had come, his Magma Fruit would have only added fuel to the flames…
Just then, Aokiji heard commotion ahead. He went over and saw a group of Marine soldiers surrounding a young girl.
The girl was covered in blood, her clothes tattered. She lay on the ground, her ankle a bloody mess.
Needless to say, she was a Celestial Dragon’s slave.
Although Ian and the five hundred or so slaves had escaped, there were too many of them. Some lagged behind and couldn’t keep up. This girl had stumbled and hit a stone while fleeing, injuring her ankle and slowing her down. The other slaves, focused on escaping, hadn’t noticed her, leading to her being caught by the Marines.
When encountering such runaway slaves, the Marines naturally had to capture them. However, unexpectedly, the girl fought back desperately.
A Marine soldier circled behind her and grabbed her from behind, but the girl bit his hand hard, drawing blood.
The Marine soldier screamed in pain as the girl pinned him to the ground. During the struggle, the girl somehow managed to grab the rifle strapped to the soldier’s back.
Seeing her armed, the Marines tensed up, raising their guns to surround her.
“Put down the weapon!” a Marine Rear Admiral shouted at the girl. “Stop resisting! Your resistance is futile! Come with us obediently!”
The girl stood up, panting, leaning on the rifle, and glared at the Marine Rear Admiral with hatred.
Her body was frail, and she trembled as she stood with the rifle. Her lips were cracked, as if she hadn’t had water or food for days. Yet, in a hoarse voice, she screamed at the Marine Rear Admiral, “Lackeys of the Celestial Dragons! You want me to go back with you, just to hand me over to the Celestial Dragons as a slave again!?”
The anger in her voice was so intense that the Marine Rear Admiral was momentarily speechless.
The girl looked around and realized she was surrounded with no way out. She glanced at the rifle in her hand, gritted her teeth, and pressed the muzzle against her chin, placing her other hand on the trigger.
Seeing this, the Marine Rear Admiral was shocked and waved his hands frantically, saying, “Don’t be impulsive! Let’s talk this out! If you don’t want to go back, we can let you go!”
But the girl said, “I’ll never trust you again! Where were the Marines when the Celestial Dragons tortured me!?”
Tears streamed from her eyes as the girl cried out her final words: “I… would rather die than be a slave again!”
Bang! A gunshot rang out. The girl pulled the trigger, and the bullet from the rifle pierced through her head.
Her body collapsed softly, blood seeping out from beneath her, like flowers of sacrifice…
The surrounding Marine soldiers stared blankly at this scene, silent for a long time. The girl looked only in her twenties, in the prime of her youth, yet she had ended her own life with a gunshot in front of everyone.
For the Marine soldiers, this scene was truly shocking.
“…” Aokiji stood behind, silently witnessing this. He could have saved the girl, but he sensed her resolute will to die, so he didn’t intervene.
For some reason, Aokiji suddenly felt a wave of apathy. He walked over, crouched down, and placed his hand on the girl’s body. Intense cold surged, instantly freezing her corpse, forming an ice coffin.
“Admiral Kuzan…” the Marine Rear Admiral said, his expression complex as he looked at Aokiji.
“You all continue the pursuit. I’m tired; I’ll rest here for a while,” Aokiji said, lying down on his side on the ground.
“…Yes, sir!” the Marine Rear Admiral replied, leading the other soldiers forward.
But perhaps it was an illusion, but the soldiers’ footsteps seemed to slow down considerably…
Aokiji lay alone on his side, staring at the ice coffin in front of him, his face expressionless, lost in thought.
Just then, a purupuru sound came. Aokiji was startled and pulled a small baby Den Den Mushi from his pocket.
“Admiral… Admiral Kuzan!” As soon as he answered, the voice of a Marine intelligence officer came through, anxious. “We’ve just received news that the World Noble, Mjosgard Saint, has been attacked. He just woke up from unconsciousness and immediately contacted the Five Elders, saying… saying…”
“Saying what?” Aokiji asked, frowning.
“Saying that the Mjosgard family is willing to offer a bounty of 500 million Berries for the mastermind behind this riot!” the Marine intelligence officer said. “That black-clothed man! But… but he demands that he be captured alive!”
“Huh? Captured alive? Why?” Aokiji asked curiously.
Attacking a Celestial Dragon was a grave crime. Normally, the perpetrator would be executed directly to deter the public, so Aokiji was puzzled as to why the Mjosgard family would make such a request.
“Because… because it’s said that the black-clothed man took the Mjosgard family’s identity chip!” (.)