"Vasco Shot, just you wait. If I make it out of here alive, I'll personally put you on the priority wanted list."
Even among criminals of the same level, there were distinctions. A retired pirate like Dark King Rayleigh—his bounty still stood, but hardly anyone bothered to keep tabs on him. Active pirates like Kaido of the Beasts and Big Mom Linlin were the true priority targets.
For top-tier pirates, his opinion didn't matter much. But for pirates at Vasco Shot's level, a CP0 agent had the authority to make that call.
Vane had no intention of killing this agent. If one of the two had to stay alive, he would choose Vasco Shot. From the very beginning, he had planned to let the agent escape.
A fleeing agent would be far more useful. Once he returned, he might directly classify Fujitora as one of Vane's associates and issue a bounty for him.
If the World Government truly did that, Vane would have to thank them properly. Not only would they have helped him wipe out the "Mary Geoise talent market," they'd also force Fujitora onto his side, saving him a great deal of effort.
So this agent was more useful alive than dead.
"Frostfall!"
Vane's figure blurred. When he reappeared, his sword had already completed its arc. The agent's right arm flew into the air. If Vane had wished, that strike would have gone for his neck instead.
The agent's nerves hadn't even registered the pain before Vane followed up with a kick, blasting him away like a cannonball for over a hundred meters, crashing through two buildings in succession.
The force was just right—dazed, but no brain damage.
The CP0 agent clutched his severed arm and fled at full speed, terrified that even a moment's delay would mean a finishing blow from behind.
He certainly didn't think Vane had intentionally let him go.
Of the three leaders, two had fled, and one lay trapped in a pit, his life or death unknown.
Over two hundred men had collapsed with a single burst of Conqueror's Haki. The remaining hundred had completely lost their nerve and scattered in panic.
The more rational ones slipped away along the edges. Those frightened out of their wits didn't even dare approach the exits, instead scrambling deeper into the warehouse—only to find a dead end filled with empty cages.
At the very back were dozens of slaves who hadn't yet been transferred.
"Trash, trash! You're all damn trash!"
The Loan Shark King and the Slave King watched everything clearly through the Den Den Mushi. The force they had trusted had crumbled in moments before Vane and that blind man.
"I need to leave. I have to get far away from them."
The Loan Shark King feared being targeted next and immediately prepared to find the fastest ship off Octagon Island.
The Slave King, however, took out a button. "Even if we're running, we should at least see how this ends."
His warehouse had been carved out of a hollowed rock mountain. At its most fragile point in the ceiling, he had planted explosives. With a single press, the entire rock mountain would collapse.
Even if a cave-in couldn't crush an 1.1-billion-Belly pirate to death, it could certainly bury those slaves—and that blind man. He had to squeeze some benefit out of this operation.
Vane and Fujitora reached the innermost area. They ignored the thugs fleeing along the edges. Those who ran to the deepest corner and were seized by malicious courage, attempting to fight back, were pressed to the ground by an invisible force the moment they took two steps forward.
Some tried to seize slaves as hostages. Vane flicked out an ice crystal needle, instantly freezing them in place.
"What a dark place."
Fujitora gripped his blade and with a few swift slashes carved an opening in the cages.
"Thank you. We can finally leave this damned place."
"Many others were taken away—just minutes before you arrived."
Some of those freed expressed gratitude; others hurried to provide information.
Before Fujitora and Vane could respond, Fujitora's expression changed.
"Everyone, get down!"
It was future sight. Fujitora, who kept his Observation Haki active at all times, had reached the level of briefly glimpsing the future.
Vane immediately pushed his Observation Haki to its limit. In the next instant, he detected a high-energy reaction overhead.
Boom!!!
As the explosion erupted, he unleashed a freezing beam, suppressing the downward spread of the searing shockwave as much as possible—but he couldn't stop the entire mountain from collapsing.
The Cursed Sword instantly absorbed a massive amount of Vane's blood. Infused with immense ice energy, he stabbed it into the ground. Blood-red ice surged upward in a radius of over ten meters around him.
He could only provide protection.
The one who could truly save everyone was Fujitora.
He was the Press-Press Fruit user—the gravity man!
Clang! Clang!
"Gravity Pull!"
A surge of purple energy radiated outward. The falling rocks—and those already crashing against the Blood Ice Fortress—were all lifted into a floating state.
...
Not far from the warehouse, the battle at the small rock mountain had already drawn many eyes. Now that the mountain had collapsed, it attracted even more attention.
"The whole mountain's fallen. Must be someone incredibly powerful."
In the New World, people capable of bringing down a small mountain weren't unheard of.
Most merely sighed in awe—this wasn't quite a god descending from the heavens.
"I know! It's the 1.1-billion-Belly pirate Vane attacking the Slave King's warehouse. He smashed up the Loan Shark King's casino earlier too."
"Heh heh heh~ A pirate wanted by the World Government doing good deeds? Meddling in others' business? The World Government doesn't care, yet a pirate steps in."
"Hey, hey, look! The mountaintop's wriggling!"
The collapsed peak began to shift and undulate like mud.
At last, a massive chunk of red ice burst out. The ice shattered—revealing Vane, Fujitora, and the freed slaves.
"Your ability is incredibly useful, old man."
"Just happened to be the right moment."
What followed was straightforward. Those willing to leave with Vane were directed to the harbor where his ship was docked.
He and Fujitora wasted no time, immediately moving to intercept the other locations where slaves were being transferred.
...
At one of Octagon's ports, a slave transport ship was starting up. These slaves weren't meant to depart for some time, but today they had encountered two terrifying figures and were forced to flee early.
"Move it! Faster! If they catch up, we're done for!"
"Raise the sails!"
The crew scrambled in chaos. At last, the ship slowly pulled out of the harbor.
"As long as we get out—"
Before the crewman could finish, the entire ship lurched violently, nearly throwing everyone off their feet.
"What's happening?!"
A terrified voice cried out:
"The ship—the ship's flying!!"
Yes, the ship was flying.
The massive slave vessel, capable of carrying a thousand people, had lifted clear of the sea and risen into the air.