Early the next morning, Enel was up and ready before dawn, standing at the door with barely contained impatience as he waited for Sakazuki.
Inside, Sakazuki let out a soft chuckle and stepped out.
"Let's go. We're headed to Red Tree No. 41."
On their way, Sakazuki pulled out a stack of bounty posters, selected one, and handed it to Enel.
The front listed the bounty; on the back, Sakazuki had scribbled a brief dossier.
Enel read the notes aloud in a low voice:
"Music Note Pirates, hailing from the South Blue.
A crew of musicians with impressive combat skills.
Their dream is to hold a world tour concert.
...
...
Recent activity:
Completely wiped out the Goya Pirates, who were looting Windflower Island."
After reading, Enel looked up, puzzled.
"These guys... are they really pirates?
Doesn't seem like they've done anything wrong."
Sakazuki was about to answer when his Observation Haki caught something. He pulled another poster from the stack and handed it over.
Enel took it, scanning the details.
This crew was a stark contrast—brutal, violent, with three recorded massacres and countless murders.
Then Sakazuki spoke:
"Tear it up.
Let's go see another kind of show first."
He grabbed Enel's shoulder. With a single step, the two vanished, leaving only scraps of bounty paper fluttering in the air...
Red Tree No. 10.
A hulking man, nearly four meters tall and dressed in a pirate captain's coat, was running for his life.
A thick collar clamped around his neck, heavy iron chains on his ankles—he was a slave.
Sakazuki and Enel stood high on a branch, gazing down with cold eyes.
Enel recognized the figure.
"That's the pirate from the wanted poster you just told me to tear up, isn't it?"
Sakazuki nodded.
"Keep watching."
The pirate looked half-starved, sweat pouring down his face as he sprinted through half the town.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out from afar.
A bullet struck near the slave pirate, sending bystanders scrambling in terror.
Desperate, the pirate tried to grab someone as a human shield—
But then—
Whoosh!
A black-clad CP agent appeared in a blur, slicing off the pirate's arm with a single stroke.
"Stupid slave," the agent sneered.
"Being chosen by Saint Tevias is the greatest fortune you'll ever have.
And you dare try to escape?
Now, by order of Saint Tevias, you're sentenced to death."
His tone was icy, devoid of any empathy.
The pirate captain screamed in terror,
"Please, let me go!
I have treasure—lots of it! Take it all!
I've given up being a pirate!
My wife and kid are waiting for me back home!
Please!
My child was just born when I left!
He doesn't even know what his father looks like!
Please!
Aaaaaaaah!"
The CP agent ignored his pleas, coldly severed the other arm, then—crack, crack—snapped both legs with brutal kicks, folding them forward at grotesque angles.
He stuffed the severed arm into the pirate's mouth, silencing his screams, and vanished—off to report to Saint Tevias.
Sakazuki spoke quietly to Enel:
"That's what happens to pirates who get caught by human traffickers.
The collar around his neck? Packed with explosives.
If he gets too far, he's blown to bits."
Enel nodded, eyes dark, and kept watching.
Soon, a tall, thin figure approached—head encased in a bubble helmet, face twisted in arrogant disdain.
A Celestial Dragon: Saint Tevias.
He glanced at the mutilated slave, then kicked him viciously.
"Trash! Useless scum!
You made me waste so much money buying you!
I wanted to show you off to Saint Villaomia, and now you've ruined everything!"
Furious, he drew his pistol and fired several shots into the pirate's body.
Watching the man writhe in agony, Saint Tevias's lips curled into a cruel smile.
He ordered the CP agent to yank the severed arm from the man's mouth, then produced a remote control.
"This little device—one press, and the collar around your neck will turn you into dust."
Worried the pirate might not believe him, he took another collar from an attendant, tossed it to a frail slave, and pointed to a spot several hundred meters away.
"You—take it and run over there."
The slave nodded and ran.
When he reached the spot, Saint Tevias pressed the button.
In the pirate captain's eyes, the distant slave exploded in a blinding flash—a mushroom cloud towering dozens of meters into the air.
A scorching shockwave swept through the street.
Terror filled the pirate's soul.
Saint Tevias leaned in, voice dripping with malice.
"I'll give you a chance.
If you can crawl to that shop over there,
I'll let you go home."
A flicker of hope ignited in the pirate's eyes as he stared at the storefront a hundred meters away.
Saint Tevias grinned like a demon.
"Begin."
The pirate captain twisted and dragged himself forward, broken legs flopping uselessly behind him.
His face contorted with pain, but he crawled, inch by inch, as Saint Tevias's shrill laughter echoed above.
Enel frowned, watching in silence.
Time crawled by. The pirate's consciousness faded, but the will to live kept him moving.
At last, he bumped into something—he'd reached the shop.
Even in agony, a faint smile tugged at his lips as he looked back.
But then Saint Tevias's voice cut through the air, cruel and mocking:
"I didn't mean THAT shop!
Kehahahahahahahaha!!!"
Despair and rage exploded in the pirate's heart.
The collar around his neck began to beep, faster and faster...
In his final moments, he whispered,
"I'm sorry... Dolly.
And Prus..."
BOOM!!!
The pirate captain—and the storefront—vanished in a cloud of ash.
Saint Tevias shrieked with laughter.
Enel stared at him, voice trembling with disgust.
"Disgusting...
These are the so-called World Nobles the Marines are supposed to protect?"
Sakazuki nodded.
"That's right.
They enjoy everything this world has to offer and call themselves gods.
To set themselves apart from everyone else, they wear those air helmets—isolating themselves from the world.
The Heavenly Tribute squeezes wealth from most nations on earth.
The whole world supports that handful of parasites.
Do you think that's fair?"
Enel shook his head.
"No. It's not fair."
Sakazuki said softly,
"It isn't.
But they hold the world's lifeblood in their hands.
They possess weapons that could wipe out entire nations.
Even the Marines' annual budget depends on their approval.
So, in a world like this...
What would you do?"
~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~
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