"Calm down? How am I supposed to calm down!"
Arlong thrashed in Jinbei's grip, his voice thick with helpless rage, his eyes bloodshot. "Jinbei, if you'd stayed here and not sailed off with Shiro, how could Elder Brother Tiger have been caught by those animals? This is all your fault!"
"Get to the point. What exactly happened?"
Jinbei's patience was nearly gone. His tone turned sharp and impatient, and his grip tightened.
Standing off to the side, Jabal Shiro watched the deadlock between them, his gaze turning icy as he spoke in a voice utterly devoid of warmth. "Arlong, I suggest you spit it out honestly and stop wasting time. I don't have Jinbei's patience. If I lose mine… you won't survive the consequences."
Arlong had still been struggling, but the moment he heard Shiro's voice, his body went rigid. He slowly turned his head and, seeing exactly who was speaking, felt his earlier fury instantly drown beneath a wave of fear. He began to tremble uncontrollably, stammering, "C-Captain Shiro… y-you're here too! I-I'll talk, I'll talk right now! Please don't be angry!"
Seeing Arlong finally soften, Jinbei let go of him, though his eyes remained locked on the fish-man, waiting for an explanation.
Arlong rubbed his aching arm, took a deep breath, and began to speak in a halting voice. "Five days ago… a group of slave traders suddenly came to Fishman Island. They weren't ordinary traffickers—they were directly under the Celestial Dragons. There were several powerful fighters among them, all heavily armed, and they started grabbing fish-men and merfolk the moment they arrived.
"Elder Brother Tiger saw this and immediately led the guard to stop them, but those people were too crafty. Even so, dozens of fish-men and merfolk were captured and thrown onto the slave ship.
"Elder Brother Tiger couldn't stand watching his own people being dragged off as slaves, so under cover of night, he boarded the slave ship alone, hoping to free them in secret.
"But he was discovered. The slave traders swarmed him and trapped him.
"With his strength, Elder Brother Tiger could have escaped easily. But those slavers were vicious. They dragged the captured fish-men and merfolk out onto the deck and used their lives to threaten him, saying that if he dared to run, they'd kill every last one of them.
"Elder Brother Tiger looked at the fear in his people's eyes… and in the end, he stopped fighting back. He let them bind him and take him away like a criminal…"
"Elder Brother Tiger, you really…"
Jinbei clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles whitened. His eyes reddened and tears gathered at the corners as pain and fury twisted in his voice.
"Jinbei, don't lose yourself in grief."
Shiro stepped forward, speaking softly but with a certainty that left no room for doubt. "This is a trial Tiger has to face. There's no avoiding it. What we need to do now isn't stand here mourning—we need to think of a way to help him overcome it."
Jinbei quickly wiped his eyes and lifted his head, new hope blazing in them as he stared at Shiro. "Captain, what should we do? As long as we can save Elder Brother Tiger, I'll do anything!"
Hands in his pockets, Shiro's expression turned grave. He fixed his gaze in the direction of Mary Geoise, his voice ringing out clear and firm. "What else? We go straight to the Celestial Dragons' nest and get Tiger out."
"You mean… we're going straight to the Holy Land, Mary Geoise?"
Jinbei's eyes widened at once, disbelief flooding his face. Even his breath seemed to catch. Mary Geoise was the home of the Celestial Dragons—the holiest and most dangerous place in the world. Aside from Rocks back in the day, no one had ever dared to charge in, let alone to rescue someone.
"Of course. Enough talk, time's ticking—we're going now."
Without giving Jinbei time to argue, Shiro activated the power of the Paw-Paw Fruit. He pressed his palms lightly against himself and Jinbei, and in an instant the two of them vanished from sight.
Arlong, who had heard every word, collapsed to the floor, shaking all over. Staring at the empty space where they had stood, he muttered over and over, "They're insane… completely insane… That's the Holy Land! That's where the Celestial Dragons live! Going there is suicide!"
Shiro, however, was not familiar with the exact layout of Mary Geoise, so this teleportation drop point was especially random.
When the world snapped back into focus, they found themselves standing in a luxurious villa room. The space was broad and bright; a pure white wool carpet covered the floor, expensive paintings hung from the walls, and a crystal chandelier cast a soft glow from above. Every piece of furniture was polished rare hardwood, every detail dripping with opulence. It was clearly the residence of a Celestial Dragon.
As they were still taking in their surroundings, a greasy, leering male voice drifted in from outside the room, thick with lust. "Tonight, this saint is going to have some real fun with the little slave I paid so much for. Not for nothing did I feed you that Devil Fruit. Heh heh… you'd better serve me well!"
A girl's voice followed, cracking with sobs and terror. "No! Help! Please, don't do this to me!"
"She's small, sure… but this saint likes them young. They're more obedient. Heh heh… hahahahaha!"
The disgusting, perverse laughter slithered through the air, making one's skin crawl.
The door slammed open. A bloated figure in something like a spacesuit waddled inside. It was a Celestial Dragon, his body buried under layers of fat, his features squeezed together until he looked like a grotesque pig. In one hand he gripped a heavy chain, the other end locked around a collar on a young girl's neck.
The girl looked to be only twelve or thirteen. Her features were delicate and beautiful, her large eyes brimming with fear as tears streamed down her cheeks. Even at such a young age, there was already a faint hint of alluring charm about her.
Shiro's heart jolted the moment he saw her. A thought flashed across his mind: "Isn't that Boa Hancock, back when she was still a girl?"
The "swine Celestial Dragon" wore a jewel-studded white robe and diamond-encrusted sandals. The thick chain in his hand scraped across the floor with a harsh clatter, each step sounding like it was grinding down Boa Hancock's dignity. He strolled leisurely toward the bed, his fat face twisted into a revolting grin, as if savoring his prey's final, desperate struggles.
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