Chapter 96: Rain of Freedom Falls on the Red Earth
The next day, at twilight.
Today's sun was exceptionally dazzling. Even as it was about to set, the blood-red afterglow still illuminated the sea surface in a crimson hue.
In the Red Port on the side of the Red Line facing the first half of the Grand Line (Paradise), besides a small number of Marines, there were a large number of soldiers wearing pointed helmets and standard heavy armor. They obeyed only the World Government and were responsible for protecting the Celestial Dragons.
Compared to ordinary Marines, these soldiers were more elite, and the recruitment conditions were stricter.
After all, as the gateway to the Red Line, the World Government needed such defensive power.
Soldiers on duty were directing the bubble elevator to move upward. This was the normal way to ascend the Red Line. Giant bubbles provided sufficient buoyancy, and with the help of winches, the elevator car could be raised and lowered more conveniently.
As for other areas of the Red Line... there was no such equipment.
Although the Red Line was vast, encircling the entire planet, in reality, only Mary Geoise was inhabited. Other areas were desolate red earth.
The Celestial Dragons also did not allow anyone to live on the same level of land as them.
As for crossing the Red Line from other locations...
Both sides of this red land formed by unnatural forces were precipitous cliffs. If one didn't use the area where the World Government had built elevators, one could only climb barehanded. That was no longer something that could be achieved with just effort.
For the vast majority of people, this was impossible. Therefore, Mary Geoise and Fish-man Island below became the only two passages between the New World and Paradise.
Retracting the elevator to high ground was also part of the defense procedure here. After all, most people couldn't shake these towering cliffs.
But neither the guards nor the Marines stationed here realized that in the distant sky, a cloud was burping while its body emitted green smoke.
"Burp~ Matcha flavor, I like it..."
For humans, Dance Powder was hard to swallow; even Luffy would yell that it tasted bad.
But for a cloud Homie, this powder that reacted with clouds was an excellent dessert.
Dance Powder took some time to take effect, so Hermes, acting as the vanguard of this operation, was preparing the venue in advance.
Twilight was brief. Night gradually fell. The cloud layer in the sky became thicker and thicker. Dense dark clouds blocked the moon and starlight, plunging the entire Red Port into darkness.
Boom!
Accompanied by a roar of thunder, a torrential downpour poured down. A large amount of water mist obstructed the vision of the watchtowers near the Red Port.
"What heavy rain. Now we can't see anything clearly."
"If you can't see, you can't see. Why be so serious? Marineford is in front of us, and Mary Geoise is behind us. Who would attack a place like this?"
Inside the sentry post, two Marines on duty were chatting idly. If they were on a mission at sea, this kind of stormy weather would indeed be torture.
But now, it was actually more suitable for slacking off.
Boom!
Another flash of lightning cut across the sky. As the thunder reached his ears, the more serious soldier rubbed his eyes.
"Hey... is there something on the shore?"
"Why are you so jumpy? Isn't there nothing there?"
Hearing this, the slacking soldier stood up and looked in the direction he pointed. Except for the empty steps, there was still nothing.
"There really is something. It seems like more than one figure. Could it be the unwilling spirits of those slaves above..."
"What nonsense are you talking about? Where are there ghosts in this world? Becoming slaves is just their bad luck; it's not like we did it."
Buzz!
In the center of the Red Port, an unknown aura suddenly erupted. Amidst the roar of thunder and rainstorms, a gale appeared abruptly.
The dense curtain of rain was wrapped by the gale, frantically beating against the surrounding walls and windows. The observation windows of the watchtowers and houses seemed overwhelmed, creaking, and finally shattering directly under the impact.
Even walls made of bricks and stones showed faint cracks. The wooden barriers on the warships docked in the Red Port were directly snapped by this unknown force.
Soldiers stationed in the Red Port and on the warships lost consciousness one after another, falling to the ground.
In an instant, the Red Port, which could have been considered tightly defended just a moment ago, was left wide open.
"Con... Conqueror's Haki?! Enemy attack?! Who... dares to attack here..."
On a warship, a Marine wearing the rank of Colonel was already kneeling on the ground, barely supporting his body with the saber in his hand.
Except for him, there were no conscious soldiers left on the entire warship. And his confusion was soon answered.
Amidst the noise of wind and rain, subtle footsteps reached his ears. A long sword on the weapon rack floated up out of thin air and, while he was immobilized by the intimidation of Conqueror's Haki, severed his neck.
Similar bizarre situations were not happening in just this one place, but throughout the entire Red Port. The few officers who could remain conscious under the Conqueror's intimidation all suffered this kind of beheading attack.
The actors were the assassination squad led by Sebastian. Members included but were not limited to Carpet Shark, Bearded Shark and other types of Fish-men. They had the ability to change body color or even become transparent to achieve optical invisibility.
Under the cover of the heavy rain, they had silently infiltrated near the locations of the officers and launched their attacks simultaneously with the release of Nereus's Conqueror's Haki.
However, their abilities only worked on themselves; the weapons in their hands couldn't enter an invisible state like the Clear-Clear Fruit ability.
"Big Bro, Red Port is under control."
"Very good. I've also secured control of the bubble elevator. Action team, prepare. Activate shielding equipment. After that, proceed according to plan."
Nereus's voice came from the Transponder Snail. To clear out the defenders of the entire Red Port in an instant without making too much noise, Conqueror's Haki was the most direct method.
Combined with the assassination unit capable of executing beheading operations, they had completely taken the Red Port within a few minutes.
After the Conqueror's intimidation ended, Nereus, possessing the ability to fly, took the lead in occupying the bubble elevator that had been retracted to the top of the Red Line and lowered the elevator car again.
Most of the manpower stayed below to continue guarding the Red Port and blocking potential Marine reinforcements.
A small number of more agile individuals stepped onto the descended elevator and reached the top of the Red Line together.
"Ah Pan (Big Pan), have you memorized these locations?"
"Memorized, Big Bro."
Big Pan carried a huge package on him, filled with a large amount of accelerants and explosives, including quite a bit of gasoline.
Even in this stormy weather, it could still be ignited.
"Repeat it to me again."
"The Celestial Dragons' armory, granary, and..."
Big Pan counted on his fingers several times, finally confirming he hadn't missed a single one.
"Correct. After igniting these places, your mission is over. Swim directly along the Red Line back to the Red Port and have the people below prepare to receive you.
Remember, do not engage in prolonged combat with any enemy. Even if you are targeted, it doesn't matter; I will deal with them."
"Mhm."
Big Pan nodded, then dove underground with the package, swimming in following the locations in his memory.
(Note: This ability to swim in the ground is characteristic of the Swim-Swim Fruit / Sui Sui no Mi, eaten by Senor Pink in canon. In this fic, Big Pan seems to have it.)
"Slaves are just consumables in the eyes of the Celestial Dragons. As long as Mary Geoise falls into chaos, the agents staying here will prioritize escorting the Celestial Dragons to retreat.
Mary Geoise will briefly become an empty city. Take advantage of this time to release those slaves and take them away.
Again, I will deal with the enemies. You just need to execute the things within the scope of your mission."
The rainstorm continued. The slaves had been locked back into the prisons of Mary Geoise.
Although they were used for amusement during the day, in the eyes of the Celestial Dragons, lowly slaves were not worthy of living in the same house as them; they were only locked in cages outside.
Some high-quality rare slaves in their eyes were even rotated for rental and sharing, so in the open, slaves were mostly concentrated in the same area.
At the same time, in the granary of Mary Geoise, Big Pan was splashing gasoline very seriously and leaving explosives in some places.
The guards outside never imagined that someone would swim in from below into this seemingly heavily guarded place.
"What a pity... it's all... very precious food..."
Big Pan felt pity from the bottom of his heart, but he still executed Nereus's orders. Before this, Big Pan had already completed preparations in other places and left time-delayed fuses.
Feeling the time was about right, his two fingers were coated in pitch-black Armament Haki, and then he snapped his fingers in front of the gasoline drum before him.
Snap!
Between the collision of fingers, a spark appeared. In an instant, the entire granary was swallowed by flames, while Big Pan calmly swam downward into the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Simultaneously, a burst of violent explosions came from the direction of the armory. Accompanied by the previously planted items, Mary Geoise turned into a sea of fire almost instantly.
"What happened? With such heavy rain, how could it catch fire!"
"The Transponder Snails aren't connecting! We can't reach the armory or the granary! We don't know what's going on!"
The jammer began to take effect. The guards who lost contact had no idea what happened in other directions.
But working in Mary Geoise for years, they also knew what to do at this moment.
"Forget it! Go rescue the Celestial Dragons! If anything happens to them, we're all done for!"
In Mary Geoise, the most important thing was the Celestial Dragons. No matter what happened, moving these Celestial Dragons to a safe place was the priority.
But rescuing these Celestial Dragons was no easy task.
"Saint Macro, please follow us to a safe place for refuge..."
"Bastard, with such heavy rain, how do you expect me to go out? Go prepare a canopy! If a single drop of rain falls on this young master, I'll kill you!"
"Palace Myokolan (Lady Myokolan), you..."
"My puppy is missing! You guys scared it! Go find it! Otherwise, no one is allowed to leave!"
Looking at the sea of fire in front of them, the group of guards and agents looked at each other. Yet under the orders of the Celestial Dragons, they had to risk breaking into it to find dogs whose whereabouts were completely unknown.
Similar situations were everywhere. Even when such things happened, the nature of the Celestial Dragons remained unchanged.
As for the lives of the slaves, absolutely no one cared.
In a slave prison, watching the flames approaching outside the window, the people in the cage had no fear, only a sense of relief.
"So warm... dying like this... isn't bad either..."
"Is this divine punishment? If it could burn a Celestial Dragon to death, that would be great. On the road to hell, having that kind of bastard as company wouldn't be bad."
Bang!
The door was suddenly kicked open. A strange figure appeared before them. Immediately thrown over was a bunch of keys, as well as a large number of weapons.
Those were part of what Big Pan took out before blowing up the armory.
"What are you all staring blankly for? We are here to save you. Do you want to be kept here in captivity for a lifetime, to be slaves of the Celestial Dragons forever?!
Open your shackles, pick up the weapons beside you, liberate more enslaved slaves, and then... run towards freedom!"
Boom!
Lightning cut across the night sky again, briefly illuminating the face of the person at the prison entrance.
It was a Fish-man. In the eyes of many, his face couldn't be called handsome. But in this situation, he was the angel in everyone's hearts...
☆☆☆
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