Originally, Onix had dug holes everywhere. Although they filled the tunnels again after digging in the wrong place, the areas that had been dug open were no longer intact rock. Naturally, this left behind small hollows, providing Tiger with a chance to catch his breath.
After a brief rest, he continued climbing upward. Time was of the essence; if daylight arrived, he would be discovered soon. He had to take advantage of the cover of night to accomplish his goal.
Even though it seemed like an almost impossible goal, the years of torture had instilled a sense of belief in him. In the end, he successfully reached the top.
Relying on his familiarity with Mariejois, he infiltrated it through the sewer. The Celestial Dragons, in their desire to showcase their distinctiveness, had even built their sewers very wide, providing Tiger with an opportunity.
He had been preparing for today’s operation for a long time. In his backpack were the tools he had prepared, and Kojiro’s department store had been a great help. For example, the Water Dial he was currently holding.
In Skypiea, it was merely a tool for storing liquids, but now it was filled with highly flammable fuel. The plan was to set fire to attract attention and then rescue the slaves which were imprisoned together.
Today was carefully chosen for the operation because it was the day of a gathering among the Celestial Dragons. In their eyes, lowly slaves didn’t deserve to be present at such an occasion, so all slaves were imprisoned together.
It was the Celestial Dragon Slave Bank, where slaves were equivalent to currency. To Celestial Dragons, they were just commodities and consumables.
He had heard from Otohime that Kojiro had asked Otohime if she needed arms orders. Thus, he acquired many useful items from him. At this moment, some timed fuses had already been set up by him.
As time passed, the fuses detonated on time, and a massive fire swiftly engulfed the entire Mariejois. Chaos ensued, and everyone was focused on moving Celestial Dragons and rescuing Celestial Dragon’s assets.
The rescuing of assets was entirely Celestial Dragons’ demand. Despite the houses being ablaze, in Celestial Dragons’ eyes, human lives were far less important than their beloved toys.
Under the threat of firearms, some people working for the Celestial Dragons had to risk their lives entering the inferno.
From the beginning, the purpose of the fire was to attract most people’s attention and Tiger achieved his purpose, diverting a considerable number of personnel to escort Celestial Dragons to safety.
Most guards had been drawn away by the fire, and Tiger’s opportunity arrived. As a powerful expert of the Fish-Men race, the remaining guards were no match for him. After defeating them, he successfully obtained the needed keys.
“You are all free! But you are not safe yet! This is Mariejois; you all know the consequences of staying here. If you don’t want to be pushed out on a corpse cart, follow me!”
Armed with weapons taken from the guards, Tiger began freeing the slaves. He prioritized freeing adult males capable of combat. Guards outside, alerted by the commotion, were already surrounding them. Tiger needed people to resist them.
Celestial Dragons has many slaves, including Giants. Two Giants were now the most powerful force. With CP0 agents guarding the Celestial Dragons, these people couldn’t stop the giants.
Tiger, appearing like a savior, became their backbone. Most of the people who were at a loss followed his commands, especially the Fish-Men and Merfolk slaves.
“Brother Tiger, the chains are all unlocked. What should we do next?”
“Our goal is Red Port. After seizing a Bondola, we’ll leave from there.”
Although he could climb up alone, it didn’t mean everyone could return the same way. Even he wasn’t sure if he could do it. Going up the mountain was easy, but going down was difficult. Leaving this place was much harder than coming up.
Red Port undoubtedly had defenders, but for freedom and survival, they had to take this desperate gamble.
After the incident at Mariejois, Marineford, the nearest to this location, would undoubtedly be notified. At this moment, the warships which received orders had already started sending reinforcements to Red Port. Levely had long ended, and the Marine Admiral stationed here had naturally withdrawn.
On both sides of Mariejois were Marine’s two strongest branches, coupled with their own armed forces, there was no need to keep an Admiral stationed here all the time.
The reinforcements would reach Mariejois soon, but until then, they had to rely on the defenders here to hold on.
“Rear Admiral, according to intelligence, a group of slaves has taken over Bondola, and they are about to descend!”
“And there are also Giants. Rear Admiral, they are already in sight!”
This information came from higher-ups. They couldn’t directly destroy the Bondola, as it would cause the transportation here to come to a standstill.
It would result in significant losses for the World Government, and the Celestial Dragons didn’t want these slaves killed; they wanted them captured.
So, the few defenders didn’t resist. Instead, they let the slaves go because they didn’t want to bear the responsibility. They knew that even if they let the slaves go, they would still face the defenders of Red Port. Hence, they made this decision.
Faced with the approaching Bondola, the soldiers guarding here didn’t know what to do.
“Raise your guns, lower the muzzles, and fire at will.”
“Lower the muzzles?!” The Bondola was still too high, and it is naturally impossible to hit the target if they held them horizontally.
“Just do it.”
“Yes!”
Gunshots continuously rang out, but not a single slave fell. This was the decision made by the Marines, who guarded the place. He knew exactly what the situation was. He didn’t have the strength to interfere with the Celestial Dragon, but he could make his own choice at this moment.
However, after they landed, he still pointed his weapon at Tiger.
“Humans, step aside. We just want freedom.”
“Impossible. This is my duty. I won’t tell you that the two warships to the east are full of supplies and ready to set sail at any time.”
“I won’t tell you that the place behind me is the ammunition storehouse. If you detonate it, it will cause big trouble here, and we won’t have time to deal with you.”
“I won’t tell you; at most, there are only 5 minutes left until reinforcements from headquarters arrive.”
“Attack!”
With the Red Port’s defenders intentionally letting them go, Fisher Tiger successfully escaped with Mariejois’ slaves. When the reinforcements arrived, all they saw was the burning Red Port.
The next day, Tiger became a wanted criminal with a bounty of 230 million Berries, and his name became known to various major forces.
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