Chapter 119: The Admiral Arrives
The moment the cage opened, Theresa sprang out with the speed of a tiny arrow and landed lightly on Axel's shoulder.
She was no bigger than his palm. Her little hands grabbed at the fabric near his collar, and she bowed with complete sincerity.
"Thank you for saving me. I'll remember this kindness forever, and I'll definitely repay you!"
"Repay me?"
Axel turned his head and looked at the tiny girl perched on his shoulder, his tone carrying a hint of amusement.
Then, as if struck by a sudden wicked curiosity, he lifted one finger and gently stroked the top of her head.
Theresa froze.
A second later, she grabbed his finger with both arms and tried to push it away with all her strength.
"Even if you're my benefactor, you're not allowed to touch my head!" she said angrily. "My father said it'll make me shorter!"
Axel blinked.
"That's your father lying to you. Touching your head won't make you shorter."
"Really?" Theresa tilted her head, her anger vanishing at a speed that made Eli's eyelids twitch.
"Really."
"Oh. Then you can touch my head." Theresa nodded seriously, then frowned in thought. "But why would Father lie to me?"
"You'll have to ask him yourself."
Axel resumed stroking her hair with open interest.
This time, Theresa did not dodge. She only sat there obediently, convinced in less than three sentences.
Axel sighed inwardly.
The dwarves really were too easy to fool.
"Please!"
"It was our fault!"
"Please save us too!"
The sight of Theresa being freed shattered the last of the prisoners' hesitation. Hands reached through the bars. Faces pressed forward. The holding area erupted into pleading voices.
Eli stepped forward at once.
This was his battlefield.
He had no monster strength, no Devil Fruit, no sword that could pull meteors from the heavens, but if the matter was controlling a crowd, twisting words, and taking hold of a room before it fell into chaos, then he knew exactly what to do.
"Shut up!"
His sharp roar cut through the noise.
The slaves flinched and fell silent by instinct.
Eli seized that silence.
"I know what you were thinking," he said, sweeping his gaze over the cages. "You were afraid we were working with the auction house. You thought this might be a test. Fine. I understand that. In your position, suspicion isn't wrong."
No one spoke.
They could not deny it.
"But you'd better understand something else too." Eli's voice hardened. "Whether you get saved or not is not your decision. It's ours."
The words were cruel, but the truth usually was.
The prisoners lowered their heads.
They hated hearing it. They hated that he was right even more.
Eli folded his arms, then clicked his tongue.
"And to be honest? You lot were stupid. Painfully stupid. I've seen apes in cages with more sense."
A few of the more hot-blooded prisoners looked up sharply, anger flashing across their faces. But even they swallowed it down.
They had no ground to stand on.
Not now.
"Don't glare at me. Think about it," Eli continued. "Would the auction house really stage something this big just to test whether you still had rebellious thoughts? During an auction? With nobles sitting out there? What for? Entertainment? Are they that bored?"
His words made several people stiffen.
"And when you started shouting for help just now, wasn't that already enough to get you punished if this were a test? So where are the guards? Where are the handlers? Why hasn't anyone come in to beat you half to death?"
The cages became quieter.
Shame slowly replaced suspicion.
Many of them had simply been too afraid to think. Fear had dug a hole in their minds, and they had hidden inside it.
Eli knew very well that most of what he was saying had been pieced together after the fact. He was not some prophet. He was pushing them where he needed them to go. First, he forced them to accept their position. Then, he gave them a reason to accept Axel's authority.
People trapped beneath another's roof were always easier to steer.
Once the holding area settled, Axel spoke.
"I can rescue you."
Those words made every prisoner look up.
"But you'll accept my conditions."
No one objected.
Axel raised one finger.
"First. After I release you, you obey my orders absolutely. Anyone who disobeys and causes trouble dies."
The word dies was spoken calmly, but it slid through the air like a blade.
The prisoners shuddered.
They had lived among killers, nobles, pirates, and traffickers. They knew what real killing intent sounded like. This was not a child throwing a tantrum. This was a warning.
Axel raised a second finger.
"Second. You will be tested."
"Tested?" someone asked cautiously. "What kind of test?"
Axel's gaze swept across them.
"You'll understand soon enough. As long as you have no rotten intentions, you'll be fine."
The test was simple.
Issho.
His Observation Haki could sense the hearts of others. Not every slave was innocent. Some had become slaves because they were unlucky. Some had been kidnapped. Some had been framed.
But there were also murderers, pirates, traffickers, and worse among them—people who had simply lost their gamble against the underworld.
Axel would not release a wolf into a flock of sheep just because someone had put a collar around its neck.
Freedom was not the same thing as innocence.
And rescue did not mean stupidity.
At the same time, outside the auction house, tension was beginning to gather like storm clouds.
Rear Admiral DeWitt had arrived on Island 1.
His route had been traced through fragmented footage collected from the surveillance Den Den Mushi around Sabaody. The images were unclear in places, broken by distance, blind spots, and panic in the streets, but they were enough to point him toward the human auction house.
A Marine hurried to his side and saluted.
"Rear Admiral DeWitt! According to the investigation, the group that appeared on Island 8 should be inside the auction house."
DeWitt's brow tightened.
The destroyed Island 8 still hung over his mind like a nightmare. A whole island had been smashed into a crater, yet a small section at the center had survived. Whether the people responsible had caused the destruction or merely survived it, neither possibility was comforting.
Both meant the same thing.
A monster was here.
The reporting Marine hesitated, then added, "But… the Celestial Dragons are also inside."
DeWitt's expression changed.
"Celestial Dragons?"
His voice sank.
"How did they get dragged into this too?"
No one answered.
On Sabaody, that was hardly a rare question. The Celestial Dragons went where they pleased. Trouble did not need to seek them out; they carried it with them.
DeWitt forced himself to remain calm.
"What about the Marine escort assigned to them? Have them report the situation."
The subordinate stiffened.
"They've lost contact."
DeWitt turned sharply.
"What?"
"The escort reports roughly every thirty minutes. Their last report was thirty minutes ago. Since then, no response."
"Why wasn't this reported sooner?"
The subordinate lowered his head.
"Because the reporting interval had only just passed. We confirmed the loss of contact moments ago."
DeWitt clenched his jaw.
Bad.
This was bad.
If this had only involved criminals, he could surround the building, investigate, negotiate, or attack depending on the situation.
But Celestial Dragons were inside.
And if the same people connected to Island 8 had clashed with them…
DeWitt could almost hear the gears of disaster grinding into motion.
He made his decision at once.
"Immediately contact Marine Headquarters. Request Admiral-level support."
The Marine beside him froze.
"Rear Admiral, shouldn't we investigate first?"
Under normal procedure, the local force assessed the situation before requesting assistance. Admiral deployment was not casual. It was reserved for the most extreme crises—devastation on a massive scale, threats beyond local control, or attacks involving Celestial Dragons.
DeWitt knew that.
He also knew they did not have time to be polite to procedure.
"No," he said. "There's no time."
He looked toward the auction house, his eyes sharp.
"If the Celestial Dragons have offended the same people who destroyed Island 8, then this base alone cannot contain the situation. We are already past the point of normal response."
"But—"
"I will bear the consequences."
The subordinate swallowed his remaining words.
DeWitt continued, "Mobilize all available Marine forces on Sabaody. Assemble around Island 1 and prepare for combat. At the same time, dispatch rescue teams. The Celestial Dragons' lives are the highest priority."
"Yes, sir!"
Orders spread quickly.
Den Den Mushi lines lit up one after another.
Marine units across the archipelago began moving toward Island 1. Boots struck wooden root roads. Rifles were loaded. Officers shouted commands. Medical teams were also dispatched, though everyone knew that once Celestial Dragons were involved, rescue and military response became tangled into one ugly knot.
DeWitt stared at the auction house in the distance.
He had never liked that place.
Everyone knew what happened there.
Everyone pretended not to.
That was Sabaody.
A shining island of bubbles floating over a swamp of filth.
Soon, the request reached Marine Headquarters.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku received the report directly.
"A distress call from DeWitt?"
Sengoku's brows furrowed.
He remembered DeWitt.
A conservative man. Careful. Steady. Not brilliant, not reckless. The kind of Marine who did not create unnecessary trouble and did not send exaggerated reports just to protect his own reputation.
That was exactly why he had been assigned to Sabaody.
The Celestial Dragons were not people any Marine could handle. Put a hot-blooded rookie there, and sooner or later, he would either offend them, indulge them too much, or cause a scandal large enough to make the entire headquarters suffer.
DeWitt was dull, perhaps, but reliable.
For a man like that to request Admiral support without even fully explaining the situation…
It meant he believed hesitation could be fatal.
Sengoku did not waste time.
He reached for the Den Den Mushi on his desk and dialed.
The snail's face shifted, its expression becoming lazy and long.
A drawling voice came from the other side.
"Moshi moshi… This is Borsalino…"
"Borsalino," Sengoku said sharply. "Depart immediately for the Sabaody Archipelago. Support the local Marines."
There was a short pause.
Then Borsalino's slow voice came back.
"Eh… right now? That sounds troublesome…"
Sengoku's forehead twitched.
"What nonsense are you spouting?! This is urgent!"
"But Sabaody is so close, and if I go too fast—"
"Go. Now."
"Fleet Admiral, you're really making an old man work hard…"
"Enough! This is important. Move immediately!"
Sengoku slammed the receiver down.
The Den Den Mushi shrank back into itself, looking aggrieved.
Sengoku leaned back in his chair and rubbed his brow.
First Kuzan.
Now Borsalino.
When had Borsalino started picking up Kuzan's bad habits?
.....
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