The civilians heard the Marine officers shouting reminders.
"No killing allowed! Only use tranquilizer dartss and Slave-catching Nets! Tie up anyone who complies! These people are 'points' for the Competition. If the points are low, the lords above will be very displeased!"
Points.
tranquilizer dartss.
Slave-catching Nets.
Competition.
Words that the civilians couldn't understand, yet were incredibly cold and filled them with dread, came from the mouths of the Marine officers, making the people of God Valley feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.
A massive wave of panic quickly spread throughout the entire country.
At the entrance of the town.
A young Marine carrying a backpack looked at the chaotic scene before him and turned in confusion to his immediate superior, a portly Marine Headquarters Major.
"Major! What is the objective of this operation?"
The Major barked impatiently, "It's a simulation training for capturing criminals! A question like that isn't for you to ask for another ten years! You green recruit! Execute your orders immediately and get out of my sight!"
"But..." Seventeen-year-old Dragon watched as civilians were tackled by Marines. Hearing the cries ringing in his ears, he gripped his rifle tightly, refusing to raise it, standing completely frozen in place.
He saw an honest-looking old man facing the recruits who had enlisted at the same time as him, looking bewildered and asking cautiously:
"Respected Marine officers, may I ask what has happened? Have you... caught the wrong person? The one who was just taken... is my son. He's just an honest fisherman who has never committed a crime. And my grandson, he's only five years old. What... what is going on?"
By the end, the old man's voice was trembling with panic.
However, the Marine in front of him simply raised his rifle, aimed it at the old man, and shouted, "Don't resist! We won't do anything! This is an exercise!"
"An exercise?" The old man watched his son being roughly dragged away in heavy shackles.
He watched his five-year-old grandson, who understood nothing, also being shackled and crying out in fear.
The old man opened his mouth and finally broke down in terror, wailing, "What kind of exercise is this? Please, Marine officers... don't play this kind of joke on us!"
Seeing that the old man was still uncooperative, the Marine barked impatiently, "Stubborn fool! Fire! Use the tranquilizer dartss!"
"Yes, sir!"
A Marine pulled the trigger.
"Bang!"
The rifle recoiled as an tranquilizer darts shot from the muzzle and hit the old man in the chest.
The old man was quickly anesthetized and collapsed.
Then, two Marines rushed forward, shackles in hand, to bind the old man.
Behind the old man, a woman held a wailing child tightly, watching everything unfold in panic, fear, and confusion.
Further away, some civilians began to realize what was happening and started to flee, shouting to warn others.
"Everyone, run! These Marines are here to catch us! They're bad people!"
Dragon watched everything in a daze.
He felt that the scenes unfolding before his eyes were rapidly overturning all his past experiences as a Marine in Marineford, training and being taught at Headquarters.
"What on earth is going on?" he muttered to himself, unable to move his feet even an inch forward.
The fat Major nearby saw his dazed state and flew into a rage.
"What is wrong with this arrogant brat?! Ensign! How on earth are you training your men?!"
Dragon's direct superior, a Headquarters Ensign, immediately ran over to apologize. "Sorry, sir! It's my fault for not educating him well. I'll deal with him!"
With that, he grabbed Dragon's arm and said angrily, "Dragon! What's wrong with you? Why aren't you following orders?"
Dragon pointed at the elderly, women, and children fleeing in panic. "But... these people, no matter how you look at them, they're just ordinary civilians!!"
"I told you, it's just a simulation exercise!"
"But the way everyone looks, it's not like an exercise at all! It's more like... the slave catchers and pirates described in those cautionary tales!" Dragon pointed at his former colleagues and officers, who were acting like vicious predators, his eyes filled with confusion.
The Ensign sighed inwardly but still shouted, "Don't think so much! Individual thinking only hinders the will of the army! As a soldier, just focus all your thoughts on executing orders! Only those who obey orders are qualified soldiers!"
"Only those who obey orders are qualified soldiers..." Dragon repeated the words, staring blankly ahead.
There, two men were fleeing in panic and running toward them.
Agitated, the two saw Dragon blocking their path and shouted, "Get out of the way! I don't know what's going on, but I can't just let myself be caught. We're going to sea!"
Dragon snapped out of it and quickly raised his anesthetic gun. "Please stop! If you surrender, I won't fire! These are just anesthetic bullets; they won't hurt you. Please stop—"
"Get lost!"
Seeing the two men charging despite his warnings, Dragon gritted his teeth and pulled the trigger.
Two tranquilizer dartss shot from the muzzle, hitting the two men and knocking them unconscious.
A few drops of sweat trickled down Dragon's forehead.
In the sky above, an alarm blared from the warships.
"All Marines, put on your gas masks! Release the Smoke Hypnotic Bombs immediately! Clear everyone from the town, leave no corner unchecked!"
Elsewhere.
On a Prison Ship heading toward God Valley somewhere at sea.
Communication room.
"This is Ginny! This is the Prison Ship heading to the West Blue. I've obtained... secret information from the World Government.
They are going to escort all of us slaves to a place called God Valley.
There, we will be treated as prey for some Competition, hunted by the Celestial Dragons for sport.
To any 'good people' listening to this channel, please help us! If you can come and rescue us, we would be eternally grateful.
But I hope you act within your means. Do not harm yourselves in an attempt to save us.
We are just slaves. Although we... really want to live, we don't want to hurt anyone else. Big brother, is it okay for me to say it like this?"
"Hee-haw! No problem at all! Everything went smoothly! Now we just wait for the information to be received by the outside world!"
"Marines are coming! Get back to the hold!"
Two ragged figures, one large and one small, dodged the Marine patrols in the corridor and sneaked back to the hold where the prisoners were kept.
Back in the hold.
Because the communication was successful, the two children's faces lit up with joy, and they hopped around happily in the hold filled with prisoners.
A slave sitting in the corner couldn't take it anymore and said gloomily, "So noisy! Stop your little tricks. Don't get us all in trouble!"
The child with the large head grew angry upon hearing this and leaned in with his massive face to scold them.
"Idiot! We're about to lose our lives! Do you have any idea where this ship is going?"
"You don't even think about surviving, just going with the flow and waiting here for the judgment of fate. You dull-witted fools—don't underestimate miracles!!"
In the corner, a child much larger than normal but covered in scars sat alone, watching the scene with curiosity.
"Even though they're slaves, they're so lively..."