Next Bonus, 100!!
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The concert came to a close.
Jin departed from the Gran Tesoro, making his way to the town at G-5 to meet with Chaton and the others.
He also met with Gion and Smoker.
After two days, he left them a shipment of munitions and departed with Suleiman, who had arrived earlier with the Happo Navy Sai naval force.
By the time he left the New World, it was mid-December of Sea Calendar 1520. Another year was drawing to a close.
The end of the year was always a busy time, and Jin needed to return to his kingdom to handle affairs of state.
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South Blue.
The Sorbet Kingdom.
The air screamed as cannonballs tore across the sky.
A deafening series of explosions rocked the landscape.
A raging inferno consumed everything.
The earth trembled, the ground split open, and flames, mingled with thick smoke, shot into the air, staining half the sky a bloody crimson.
This was the work of the Counter-Insurgency Unit—CIU for short. Its official commander was Saint Figarland Garling.
However, the true leader of the CIU was Saint Figarland Shamrock.
His resemblance to Shanks was uncanny.
Only their auras were different.
Shanks was gentle.
Shamrock, however, was pure arrogance—a man who saw others as little more than insects.
He stood at the prow of his ship, a cape billowing behind him, and gazed at the distant shore.
The CIU had been formed specifically to deal with the increasingly rampant "atrocities" and "terrorist activities" of the Revolutionary Army.
The reason for this escalation was that, over the past year, the Revolutionaries had begun to promote a new, more radical ideology—one that had angered Imu.
They now openly declared that their goal was to overthrow the World Government.
They proclaimed to the world that it was not just pirates who were causing turmoil, but also the corruption of the World Government and the crushing weight of the Heavenly Tribute.
They called on all nations to rise up against the old order and build a new one.
This was a direct assault on the World Government's authority.
It was a far cry from the passive philosophy Dragon had once espoused in the original timeline. The Revolutionaries were now on the offensive.
And naturally, they were met with a more brutal suppression.
Shamrock's expression was cold, the flames on the shore dancing in his eyes.
Houses burned. Civilians fled.
A symphony of hell on earth.
"Shamrock," a subordinate said, his brow furrowed with unease, "the shore is full of civilians. There are no Revolutionaries. Do we continue the bombardment?"
"In my eyes, there are only enemies."
"There is no mercy on the battlefield."
"The 'civilians' you see will shoot your soldiers in the back the moment you turn away. Continue the bombardment."
The artillery barrage scoured the earth, utterly annihilating the coastal town.
And Shamrock's orders were clear: leave no survivors.
This was all based on intelligence from Cipher Pol suggesting a link between Kuma, the Revolutionary Army, and the Sorbet Kingdom.
So he would create a massacre here. He would draw them out.
With his overwhelming firepower, Shamrock enforced a policy of total annihilation.
Tens of thousands of townspeople—men, women, and children—were slaughtered.
"Damn them..."
"The World Government is insane!"
"They're even killing innocent civilians?"
There were, in fact, Revolutionary Army cells operating within the Sorbet Kingdom.
They were enraged.
The Marine forces they had faced in the past had always shown some degree of restraint, some concern for civilian casualties.
Shamrock was different.
He was absolute.
First, the artillery barrage, indiscriminate and total.
Then, against the organized resistance of the Revolutionaries, he deployed his elite forces.
The Revolutionary Army's strength was inconsistent. They were quickly routed.
In just a few days, seven towns in the Sorbet Kingdom had been razed.
The news reports, of course, spun a different story. The World Government claimed the Sorbet Kingdom was a base for the Revolutionary Army, a supporter of their activities.
The evidence? Kuma.
And a few carefully selected photos of the Revolutionaries fighting back.
And so, the Sorbet Kingdom was stripped of its status as a member nation.
Shamrock's atrocities were, of course, framed as an "act of justice," a necessary measure to protect the world from the threat of the Revolutionaries.
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The royal capital was a ghost town.
The city was empty.
All the residents had fled. They had all heard of Shamrock's madness. Who would dare to stay?
Wherever the CIU went, nothing was left standing.
Not just the common folk, but even the royal family had vanished.
All that remained was an empty city.
With his hardline, brutal tactics, Shamrock sent a clear message to the Revolutionaries and the world: he did not consider common people to be human.
And his objective was achieved. To save the people of the Sorbet Kingdom, Dragon, Kuma, and the others had no choice but to risk returning.
A flock of crows descended from the sky and coalesced into a man in a black, feathered cloak. He looked at the figure standing on the city wall.
"Dragon, Shamrock's Scourge is 10 kilometers out."
"The Scourge."
That's what the Revolutionaries called the CIU, who committed acts of terror and massacred civilians in the name of "justice."
Even the Revolutionaries, who knew the depths of the World Government's evil, had underestimated just how low they would sink.
A complete and utter disregard for life. They weren't human.
But in the eyes of the Celestial Dragons, weren't all other races just ants, to be crushed at will?
Dragon's face was hidden by the hood of his cloak, his gaze deep and distant as he sensed the powerful aura approaching.
"Karasu," he said, "are Betty and the others on board?"
"Yes. Everyone is waiting for you," Karasu nodded.
"Kuma, you get them out of here first."
"Shamrock is no fool," Dragon said, his voice low. "He'll have a trap set. If we delay, we'll be in trouble."
He was telling Kuma to use his Devil Fruit ability to "paw" the civilians to safety. To leave them here would be a death sentence.
"And you...?" Kuma asked.
"The priority is to evacuate the people of the Sorbet Kingdom. Someone has to hold them off."
Dragon looked out at the approaching cloud of dust that was Shamrock's massive CIU force.
"You go first."
Kuma looked at him, then took a deep breath. "Alright. As you command."
Karasu dissolved into a flock of crows and flew off in another direction.
Kuma also departed.
The enemy was at the gates.
Dragon stood alone against the ten-thousand-strong elite force of the CIU. He showed no fear. He looked at Shamrock.
Shamrock looked back at him.
Their gazes met in mid-air.
"The leader of the Revolutionary Army, Dragon," Shamrock said, his eyes cold.
"The butcher, Shamrock," Dragon replied, his own eyes burning with rage.
"KILL!"
The elite soldiers of the CIU charged toward the city walls. Among them were agents from Cipher Pol, elite Marines, and even slave soldiers from the Celestial Dragons' private armies.
Suddenly, a terrifying wind erupted from within the city, a violent gale that blasted the advancing force, kicking up a storm of dust and stones, plunging the world into darkness.
Shamrock drew his sword.
"Cerberus!"
A roar echoed through the air.
His sword transformed into a giant, three-headed hound from hell, wreathed in dark flames, and lunged at Dragon.
Each of the hound's heads wore a spiked collar, and each held a sword in its mouth.
Its aura was terrifying.
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