October 12, 1497, Age of the Sea Circle
Orion sat in the large office, sipping coffee and reviewing the confidential files he had found in the barracks above the gigantic bridge, which served as the base of operations for the construction and administration of the site.
He had been here for six days now, and he had a clear idea of the workings of this gigantic architectural work. Basically, it was a large concentration camp where countless innocent people were sent each year to work as slaves.
The construction of this bridge had begun centuries ago, and it didn't look like it would be completed anytime soon. The number of people who had died during its construction was unimaginable. It was fitting to refer to this place as a blood-soaked bridge.
However, despite Orion's research for almost a week, he hadn't found any mention of the reason the World Government was building this gigantic bridge.
It was obvious, if you thought about it. In this place, people only had to follow orders and work, and there was no room for questioning, nor was a reason needed. This applied to both the slaves doing forced labor and the guards themselves, who were practically exiled in this place, with no real chance of returning to their homelands.
Knock Knock
Someone knocked on the office door, and Orion activated his Distorted Future ability and took on an appearance almost identical to that of the soldier in charge on this bridge.
"Come in," he said in a sullen, grumpy voice.
A soldier hurried in and saluted. Then he proceeded to give his report.
"Mr. Kaladis, Umit Shipping has requested an explanation for the murder of one of its senior executives during the materials' delivery this time. They say if we can't provide a reasonable answer, we'll have to pay a penalty as compensation for the inconvenience caused."
"Ha! At the end of the day, the only thing on their mind is money. Very well, tell them they'll receive their compensation," Orion said sarcastically, waving his hand, dismissively.
The soldier seemed somewhat hesitant, but ultimately said nothing. He simply nodded and saluted, intending to withdraw to comply with his superior's orders. However, Orion stopped him before he could leave.
"Wait a minute. We can't allow a small company to extort us like this, can we? I have a little surprise for them," Orion said with a sharp look, as he pulled a thick folder from a desk drawer.
"This is the information I was able to extract from the mouth of the very director of Umit Shipping. It clearly shows several of their shady dealings, as well as certain conflicts of interest with the World Government. It seems this company has gotten a bit carried away lately, and has forgotten who the true owner of this world is," Orion added, throwing the folder to the soldier, who grabbed it with some difficulty and held it tightly in his hands.
The look the soldier gave his superior changed slightly. He hadn't known his boss had such a calculating side!
"Make sure Headquarters receives that information, and then send money and apologies to Umit Shipping. We don't want to alert them before the time comes to act."
In the sturdy folder, there was true information that Orion had obtained during his days infiltrating the company.
He didn't think Cipher Pol wasn't aware of this information; after all, it hadn't been difficult for him to obtain it. Therefore, an experienced agent could probably dig much deeper than he had. Especially since Umit Shipping was a company that was growing at a monstrous rate, so it wouldn't escape the watchful eye of the World Government.
Regardless, corruption within the system, both within Cipher Pol and the Marines, was a huge problem, and perhaps information as basic as this would never be reported if enough bribes were involved.
This time, he had given this order with the intention of testing the waters. If he could get the World Government to antagonize Umit Shipping and annihilate them, that would be a good thing. Even if they might only cause the company a few problems, it would be worth a try.
After all, it cost him nothing to do it. He already had the information in his hands, and he was presenting it on behalf of this high-ranking soldier he was impersonating. Even if there were negative consequences, he would have left without a trace, and it would have nothing to do with him.
Orion thought that a company like Umit Shipping could prove very dangerous in the future, especially because of their uncontrolled methods. For example on this occasion, a relatively low-ranking officer of the company had kidnapped hundreds of innocent women to sell them into slavery.
Their activities weren't much different from those of pirates, but what made them dangerous was their sheer size. Pirates acted in a disorganized and isolated manner, while Umit Shipping was a growing colossus.
For this reason, he had decided to eliminate this company in the future, or at least cause enough damage to limit its power and prevent its growth.
If he could get the World Government to do his dirty work for him, it would be a very positive thing, as it would save him time and effort in the future.
In any case, Orion knew that the chances of the World Government taking action and suppressing Umit Shipping were slim.
The soldier gave a solemn salute and left the office. Orion undid his transformation to save energy and considered his immediate plans.
He had enough information about this place, and now he had to make a decision. Just as the mission indicated, there were several options to choose from:
He could try to free the people in this place, of which there were a massive number.
He could try to interfere with the bridge's construction in other ways, such as causing extensive damage, or attempting its complete destruction.
Or he could ignore what was happening here and simply save his grandfather and uncle, whom he had encountered over the past week, working as slaves on the bridge's construction.
Each option had its pros and cons, but if there was one thing he didn't want to do, it was ignore the people enslaved here. He knew he couldn't save them all, but he had to face reality, at the very least, and not look away.
The decision he arrived at was a compromise between the three options.
Currently, he didn't have the ability to free all the people being held here.
It simply wasn't possible. Not only did his kingdom lack the capacity to accommodate so many people, but he also had no way to transport them. His Space Gate ability was still deactivated, with 8.9% recovery progress, so he had no choice but to transport the people he rescued using his Pocket Dimension.
Even if it had increased considerably in size, it still wasn't capable of containing all the prisoners on this bridge.
On the other hand, he couldn't handle all the soldiers present here alone, and he couldn't free so many people without attracting attention and coming into conflict with the World Government soldiers.
So he had decided to save as many people as he could without causing a full-scale conflict.
As for attempting to damage or destroy the bridge, he had decided it wasn't advisable, as the World Government placed great importance on this place.
Orion was certain that if he tried to destroy this bridge, the World Government would not rest until it found and annihilated him, which would endanger all his loved ones and subordinates.
He didn't yet have enough power to confront the World Government. Not only personally, but also the strength of his fledgling kingdom was completely useless in a battle against the colossus that dominated the world.
Actions that involved declaring war on the World Government had to be avoided at all costs, at least until he had enough power. After all, he wasn't a pirate roaming the world freely like his master Roger; he had his own faction that he had to protect.
There were certain responsibilities on his shoulders that reminded him not to act recklessly, even if he sometimes couldn't control his feelings and ended up causing trouble.
Once he decided what he would do, Orion wasted no time and set to work to accomplish his goals.
...........
October 13, 1497, Age of the Sea Circle
Orion approached the small village, which was one of the many locations where the slaves building this bridge resided.
The place was quite desolate, similar to the conditions Lucky Roux had experienced when he was a slave in the mines. The condition of the people working on the bridge was somewhat better, though, as the World Government's plan was to replace them as rarely as possible.
It wasn't unusual to find an elderly person who had spent their entire lives working at this site, although it was also true that a large number of people were disposed of every month. Ultimately, it all came down to individual luck.
Orion walked straight to a group of working slaves, and the soldiers standing guard around him saluted him solemnly. On this great bridge, the status of the soldier he was impersonating was at the top of the chain of command.
Orion didn't respond to the soldiers' salutes; he simply used Soru, moving at high speed and immediately knocking them out.
The workers working nearby stared at him in astonishment, fearing that he had gone mad and was planning to attack them.
Orion wasted no time trying to explain the situation to them. He simply opened doors beneath their feet, causing them to fall into his Pocket Dimension without being able to resist.
Once all the workers on site were inside his Pocket Dimension, Orion retreated without a trace.
This was already the fourth such settlement he had visited, and the number of people within his Pocket Dimension was already considerable. With its increased capacity, Orion could hold around 700 people within its small space. Of course, the conditions these people would be in weren't very comfortable, but at least they weren't packed like sardines, and they had enough room to move around a bit.
Orion reached one of the edges of the bridge and jumped into the void. Then, he used Geppo to descend smoothly to the sea and took out a small bag from his inventory. He put his hand in it, pulling out a small sphere, which he tossed into the air.
The small sphere fell toward the sea, and before it touched the water, it transformed into a boat, ready to sail!
Orion put the bag back into the system and descended onto the ship, beginning to sail at full speed toward home.
As for the bag he had taken out of his inventory, it was the new way he had found to store his items after his Art Coating skill had been improved, thanks to him designating Giolla as his secondary wife.
Now, there was no limit to the number of objects that could be affected simultaneously by this ability, which gave it much greater versatility and opened up a world of possibilities for Orion.
However, while in theory there were no limitations to the use of this ability, in practice there was a limit. As with the rest of the system's special abilities, Orion felt a great deal of exhaustion if he used them continuously.
This wasn't a problem with the abilities themselves, but rather a problem related to his current personal strength.
These abilities the system had given him were very powerful, and at his current skill level, there were limits to how much he could use them, but these limits would disappear as he increased his power.
To make better use of his inventory space, Orion had decided to group items together, but since each inventory slot only allowed one item, Orion couldn't just store all his ships together.
To solve this problem, he simply used his Art Coating skill to reduce the size of the ships and stored them all in a bag. Now he could carry an entire fleet of ships with him, which could be useful in some situations. Like the current situation, for example.
The good thing was that as long as the items transformed with his Art Coating remained in his inventory, he didn't feel any fatigue or strain from keeping the skill active. He was only affected when he was actively using the skill, whether to alter the shape of an object or to undo that transformation.
Orion sailed at full speed, moving away from the large Rum Wolf Bridge.
He had rescued around 700 people who were being exploited as slave labor, and he had done so without alerting the World Government soldiers.
His goal this time wasn't to engage in battle with the World Government, so he simply acted quietly and rescued as many people as he could.
In the future, he would return to rescue the rest, and then there would be no choice but to confront the World Government forces.
Meanwhile, inside the Pocket Dimension, the people who had been abducted by Orion were panicking. They had been kidnapped by him without any explanation, and now they feared the worst.
"Damn! What is this place?" one of the men said, pounding his fists on the transparent membrane that divided the small dimension from the normal plane of space.
"We're in the stomach of a creature?" a woman said, her voice trembling with fear.
"Shit! Maybe you're right. This place feels like a big bag. Will we be consumed?"
People looked around in trepidation. From inside the sphere, it was possible to observe the outside, although the real world seemed to be seen through red-frosted glass, which greatly distorted the landscape.
Still, it was possible to see that they were moving across the sea, and that the large bridge where they had been held captive was receding on the horizon.
Amidst all the confusion, a loud voice sounded in the small dimension.
"Silence! Don't despair! You're not in danger," said the woman, who had stood on a chest and was trying to get the attention of the people around her by clanking a pot and ladle.
The Pocket Dimension wasn't completely empty, as Orion used it as a storage unit to store various minor items he didn't want taking up space in his limited inventory.
The people turned to look at this woman, and she immediately took the opportunity to explain the situation.
"I know you're scared, but you have nothing to worry about. We're being rescued from the hands of our captors."
The people listened to the woman's words and looked at each other in confusion. Murmurs began to echo in the air, forming a hubbub.
"Who are you? How could you know that?!" said one of the men who had previously been banging on the walls of the Pocket Dimension.
"Like you, I too was captured and brought to this place against my will, but it was that man who saved us and prevented us from being humiliated by the soldiers on that bridge," the woman replied with great emotion, pointing at Orion, who was controlling the sailboat, trying to put as much distance between them and the bridge as possible.
The people inside the Pocket Dimension looked at the figure always in front of them, and just at that moment, Orion stuck a finger in his ear, causing his image as a savior to be slightly ruined.
The woman standing on the chest blushed slightly at the strange look the people were giving her, who weren't entirely sure that Orion was this magnificent savior she claimed him to be.
"Ahem," the woman cleared her throat and continued.
"In any case, our savior told us he had to get away from the bridge quickly, before the soldiers noticed the disappearance of a large number of workers. As soon as we were a safe distance away, he would explain everything to you."
This woman was the de facto leader of the group of women who had been in the hold of the Umit Shipping cargo ship and were to be handed over to the soldier in charge of the bridge.
After Orion interrogated the soldier, gathering all the information he could about the bridge and the individual himself, he had the necessary information to successfully impersonate the soldier by using his 'Distorted Future' ability.
After finishing off the soldier, Orion brought this group of women into the Pocket Dimension and explained the situation to them.
Over the next week, Orion had interacted with them several times, reassuring them and sharing his plan to free the prisoners on the bridge.
Over time, they believed in him more and more, placing their hopes in the hands of this mysterious savior.
Eventually, these women had developed a kind of fanaticism toward Orion, seeing him as a sort of divine savior. This was due to his timely appearance to save them, his mysterious powers, but above all, his handsome appearance.
Whenever Orion appeared before them, he did so in his normal adult form, which was the one that emerged when he used his Age Change ability. He tried not to use Distorted Future as much, as it was too tiring.
Several of these women had even fallen in love with Orion and decided to follow him wherever he went in the future.
"How can we know if what you're saying is true?" said one of the men rescued from the bridge.
"Does it matter? Are you in a position to question things so much?" the woman said, somewhat exasperated at these people's insistence.
Clearly, they had been prisoners, slaves without any rights. Shouldn't they be happy to have been freed from such an ordeal?!
The woman couldn't understand these people's attitude, which seemed totally irrational to her.
But people were irrational beings to begin with.
It was true that these people were slaves without rights, but they had never dreamed of escaping; they were trapped in a mental prison.
Now that they were in an unfamiliar situation beyond their understanding, panic was taking hold of them, and their attitude had become somewhat illogical in the eyes of a person who hadn't gone through the same kind of conditioning as them.
These people were simply terrified of something they didn't understand, and they were venting their emotions in any way they could.
"You damn bitch! Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?!" the man responded vehemently after hearing the woman's words, and several of those present supported him.
However, before the situation could become more complicated, a tired but powerful voice echoed throughout the room.
"Enough! What will we gain by fighting amongst ourselves?"
The old man who had spoken had a certain air of majesty, which was difficult to find in an ordinary person. He seemed to possess a sense of nobility in his bones, despite his humble and austere appearance.
"Mr. Mario, I just—" the man began, trying to excuse himself, but the old man raised his hand and said.
"Don't worry, Pete. I know you're just a little nervous about the situation. Let's calm down and analyze the situation, shall we?"
The man nodded, and tempers calmed within the Pocket Dimension.
The woman standing on the chest looked at the old man appreciatively and tapped the pot in her hand with a ladle to get the people's attention once more.
"Our savior said to be patient. In the meantime, you can enjoy a good meal!"
The women in their group took out all kinds of delicacies they had been storing in various chests and presented them to the former slaves, who began to salivate uncontrollably at the sight.
They began to distribute the food among everyone present, and the atmosphere relaxed greatly. Little by little, smiles began to appear on the faces of the people within this small dimension, and their emotions stabilized.
In the distance, the great bridge that stood like a mountain disappeared over the horizon.