Until Bekori's cry of alarm rang out.
"Your Highness the Queen Mother! Your Majesty! These people… they're alive!"
Connie and Bulldog hurriedly looked over.
Sure enough, they saw figures rising and stepping out of the bear-paw-shaped craters.
Some wore bewildered expressions, glancing around in confusion.
Others were gripped by panic, calling out names in trembling, tear-choked voices.
Still others clambered from their pits and bolted heedlessly into the distance.
Suddenly a bear-paw-shaped air cannon came screaming down from the sky, slamming to earth directly in the path of one fleeing man.
A deafening boom tore through the air as the ground was cratered.
The blast hurled the runner aside; he crashed down, writhing in pain.
Only then did Connie jolt awake at the sound of his agony.
Realizing something, she swiftly ordered the royal guards behind her.
"Get those people out of there at once. Mark off a cordon and seal the area."
"Bring me some of the conscious ones—I need to question them."
"And… when you move them, avoid the untouched ground; stick to the craters already struck."
Connie's powers of observation were sharp.
She had watched for only a moment.
Yet she could tell the strange cannonballs never landed on the same spot twice.
They fell in staggered sequence.
The intervals between impacts varied—some long, some short.
It felt… deliberate, as though someone were aiming.
"Yes, ma'am!"
The guards obeyed at once, carefully skirting the intact ground and weaving through the existing pits to pull people free.
No one was hit by the incoming blasts; at worst they were buffeted by the shockwaves.
Once a large number had been evacuated.
Bekori brought a dozen still-lucid survivors to Connie and reported.
"Queen Mother, most are unconscious; only these few are awake, and they appear to have gone days without food."
Connie nodded, studying the ragged group.
Surrounded by armed soldiers and confronted by Connie and Bulldog in regal dress and gleaming crowns.
The refugees seemed to guess their fate; with terrified wails they dropped to their knees, begging in despair.
Though their cries were unintelligible.
Connie simply beckoned a nearby soldier. "Bring food."
Minutes later.
When the kneeling refugees saw bread and water offered, they froze.
Only after Connie spoke gently did they hesitantly accept the meal and devour it.
"Eat and drink your fill. When you're ready, answer some questions, all right?"
Perhaps it was the food.
Perhaps it was her kindness.
The terror on their faces finally eased.
After a while two men who had finished eating stepped forward, uneasy.
Connie smiled. "Can you tell me where you came from—and what happened here?"
She gestured toward the bear-paw craters.
The two exchanged glances, then asked cautiously, "Is this… the Sorbet Kingdom in the South Blue?"
"You know this is Sorbet?" Connie blinked.
The men exhaled in relief, brightening.
"Kuma didn't lie! We're really in the South Blue, really in Sorbet! He flung us all the way to his homeland!"
"Kuma?" Connie was lost.
"Yes! Kuma slapped us here. He said if anyone asks, tell them he's the son of Bartholomew Clapp—people in Sorbet might know the name."
"Bartholomew Clapp?"
Connie started, but Bekori murmured beside her.
"Your Highness, do you recall World Government agents coming years ago to seize several unusually tall, strong folk? They claimed the Bacania Tribe were criminals. The leader was Bartholomew Clapp, and he did have a son—Bartholomew Kuma."
At the reminder Connie remembered.
Yet she still could not grasp how these refugees were linked to a man seized by the World Government.
Only when the two excited men recounted their tale did the Queen Mother of Sorbet understand.
"They actually flew here from God Valley in the West Blue—Devil Fruit power? Astonishing."
She had read of the God Valley incident.
Infamous Rocks Pirates had supposedly raided the island for treasure, slaughtering all.
Fortunately Marine Vice Admiral Garp arrived in time to stop them.
Hence Garp was hailed as the Hero of the Marines.
But the newspaper account differed wildly from these men's story.
Hearing of the so-called "hunting Competition" darkened Connie's expression.
She said nothing.
Even Bulldog, coming to inquire, was sent away.
Anything involving the Celestial Dragons was best left uninvestigated.
Some truths were safer unknown.
Since the danger proved no pirate raid or neighbor's assault, she relaxed.
She posted guards to keep rescuing newcomers and sheltering them, then returned to the palace with Bulldog, planning to handle matters at dawn.
Yet before daybreak.
Bekori's frantic shouts again jolted them awake.
This time the matter was far graver.
"Pirates! Patrol ships report several pirate vessels heading straight for us—they show no sign of changing course!"
"What? How can this be?" Bulldog paled.
Connie stayed calm. "Which South Blue crew is it?"
But Bekori shook his head.
His face was white, lips trembling.
"Not from the South Blue."
"Then where?" Connie frowned.
Sweat beaded on Bekori's brow. "From the New World—the Sky Pirates."
"Sky Pirates? Are they notorious?" Connie searched her memory; the name meant nothing.
As Queen Mother she chiefly tracked local affairs.
Until Bekori drew a shaky breath and said.
"They're part of Rocks Pirates. Their Captain, Sorus Karlo, was Fourth Division Captain of the Rocks Pirates, nicknamed 'Heavenly King.' The World Government has placed a 2.9-billion-Berry bounty on him. Years ago he slew the king of Prodence Kingdom and an Admiral—one of the era's Great Pirates."
"What? A bounty of 2.9 billion Berries?"