The streets, bathed in the glow of lanterns and the fading orange of the sunset, felt unusually desolate despite the vibrant lights.
Amidst a sea of corpses and blood, A Tao retracted his ability, his pupils shifting from yellow to black.
With a wave of his right hand, he flicked the blood from his blade. Then, with a flash of his saber, a *ding* echoed as it was sheathed.
"I don't know what gave them the courage to try and steal from us like this, so unafraid of death."
Not far from A Tao, in a pool of blood, A Hua rubbed his hands, now entirely red, straightened up, and chuckled towards A Tao, who was sheathing his sword.
The reflected blood light painted his blood-stained face, making the current A Hua appear exceptionally demonic.
Though he was a chef, though he was a胖子 (fat man), he was also a demon who killed, like a berserk behemoth, a grim reaper harvesting lives.
And the blood on him was not his own, but that of the pirates littering the ground.
"Alright, let's hurry along!"
A Tao pulled a cigarette pack from his pocket, extracted a cigarette, put it in his mouth, lit it, and took a deep drag. He then raised his head, looking at the desolate street, a flicker of exhaustion from the recent battle in his eyes.
From the Central Hotel to here, they had encountered many pirates.
Some they actively hunted down, while others, unknowingly courting death, had come seeking them.
The group before them were the latter, the ones who courted death.
In this world, there were always those whose strength did not match their rampant ambition. They were arrogant and impulsive.
For money, for the immense wealth that could rival a nation, they dared to push past their fear, thinking that gathering a bunch of equally mad individuals would allow them to overcome stronger foes through sheer numbers?
Ridiculous.
"Mm!" A Hua tidied his slightly messy hair, then quickly left the scene with A Tao.
A gentle breeze swept through the street, carrying the nauseating scent of blood from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
In a small building, a group of young pirates peered through the crack in the door, their faces filled with terror as they looked outside.
The last rays of the setting sun, filtering through the narrow gap, cast a glow upon them, making them appear exceptionally small in this seemingly marginal existence.
*Stomp, stomp, stomp!*
Just then, the sound of synchronized marching quickly approached from the other side of the street, accompanied by the resolute voice of a Marine general, which to the pirates' ears, sounded like divine music.
"Tesoro has surrendered. We are the Marines. Those who wish to leave here and return to normal society, please come and register with me quickly."
Not everyone was willing to leave with the Marines. While the Marines represented justice in the New World, not everyone trusted them.
Therefore, the work of the Marines was not as easy as they imagined.
A considerable portion of these individuals, forced to remain here, working for Tesoro generation after generation, apart from the children, included those who had no other choice but to trust the Marines. A significant number of them preferred to stay here rather than follow the Marines.
*Creak—!*
The dim room suddenly opened from within. The orange sunlight shone upon these pirates, bringing a hint of blood and warmth to their pale faces.
The child at the forefront, having come from the Four Seas, naturally believed in the Marines. Upon hearing their name and seeing the familiar white uniforms, his heart, which had fallen into an abyss, came back to life.
"Uncle, we're here."
The child's clear voice was like a gust of wind, dispelling the stench of blood from the street and clearing the dust from the Marines' hearts, clouded by their failures thus far.
This scene was happening in many places on the ship.
But all of this no longer concerned Kong Tai and the others.
Regarding Kake and Gion, Kong Tai's understanding was limited to brief appearances in the original story, not enough to truly know them.
However, judging by Gion's attitude towards Garp and their relationship, it wasn't difficult to guess which faction they belonged to.
While he might have cleared out the pirates on the ship before leaving for Kizaru's slacker faction or Akainu's hawk faction, he had no reservations about the moderates.
Furthermore, the moment he first saw Kake and Gion, he knew clearly that these two were not cold-blooded individuals.
Therefore, regarding the civilians on the island, they would surely not stand idly by after knowing Tesoro was dead.
As for those unwilling to leave with the Marines, even if he were to intervene, he wouldn't fare any better than the Marines.
After all, he was a pirate, and his reputation, or lack thereof, was not as good as the Marines.
At least in the hearts of most people, the standard white of the Marines' uniforms was more trustworthy than his own.
Thus, Kong Tai did not bother to create trouble and insist on taking this ship.
At the dock, he glanced at Kake and Gion standing at the highest point of the pier.
As they looked back, Kong Tai's lips curved upwards. He nodded at them, then averted his gaze and reached into his dimensional bag, retrieving the spatial sphere containing the Freedom.
He tossed it forward. The spatial sphere expanded with the wind, and with a *bang*, the massive hull of the Freedom materialized next to the warship.
Just then, A Hua and A Tao arrived from behind.
The group quickly boarded the ship, hoisted the sails, and departed.
"We're leaving."
"Mm! Leaving."
Kake retracted his gaze and exchanged a look with Gion, both seeing a sense of relief in each other's eyes.
Although they hadn't felt any malice from the silver-haired group, the two sides were, in essence, naturally antagonistic.
With enemies before them, and far more powerful ones at that, it was only natural for them to be tense.
"Many civilians are unwilling to leave with us."
Setting aside their tension regarding the silver-haired group, Gion looked up at the brightly lit city and said seriously, "Whether they are willing or not, we can only do our best. After all, this is not the Four Seas, nor is it the first half of the Grand Line. Here, it is destined to be much more difficult for the Marines' actions to achieve their desired results."
"Mm!" Kake nodded, his gaze falling on a group of children rapidly approaching the dock with a detachment of Marines. A smile appeared on his lips, "The adults have their concerns, I understand and can sympathize. But at least these children still trust us very much."
"Not trust," Gion's brow furrowed slightly. She looked towards the deeper parts of the city. She could clearly feel that as the Marines' actions progressed, the city was slowly reviving, becoming chaotic.
"Yes, not trust."
Shifting his gaze from the children, Kake also looked up towards the depths of the city. The smile on his face disappeared with the movement of his gaze.
He had only said that to seek some self-comfort.
In the New World, the Marines had no significant areas of actual control, and thus little power. Situated in this incredibly chaotic sea, the children here were born with an additional burden compared to those in the first half of the Grand Line and the Four Seas.
Therefore, these children were more mature. Of course, maturity also meant more misfortune.
Rather than saying they trusted the Marines, it was more accurate to say it was the most sensible choice they made out of necessity.
And that was all.