The waters of the Grand Line had never been peaceful. Even when the surface was calm and tranquil, it could not conceal the turbulent undercurrents surging through the depths.
This was even more true beneath the waters surrounding the Sabaody Archipelago. The light provided by Eve and the pirate ships descending through the sea made these waters even livelier.
And the fragments of ships that occasionally floated to the surface bore witness to the brutality of this sea.
“What are those people going to do? Don’t tell me some idiot offended that monster again?”
A merchant ship had only recently left Fishman Island when its crew spotted large groups of Fish-Men and Merfolk in Neptune Army uniforms departing together. The merchants, who were familiar with Fishman Island’s situation, immediately sensed that something was amiss.
They were clearly different from the Neptune Army troops patrolling nearby.
“Just let them go. What does it have to do with us?”
“What does it have to do with us? You’re still young. You didn’t experience what happened more than ten years ago. Remember this: in our line of work, it’s better to be wanted by the World Government than to offend that monster Nereus.
The rules of the deep sea are set by him now. If someone truly enrages that madman and he issues another sea ban, none of us will be able to endure it.”
“Isn’t that a bit exaggerated?”
“Exaggerated? You wouldn’t want to see what he looks like when he goes mad. Whoever offended him is as good as dead.”
Seemingly recalling his experiences from many years ago, the middle-aged man who had just spoken shuddered.
This was the absolute deterrence brought by the strong. In these seas, an individual’s martial prowess was enough to turn the tide of an entire battlefield. It was also why some powerful lone wolves could live so freely.
As long as they were willing to compromise a little, even the World Government had no desire to clash with such people.
For major powers, however, ordinary fighting forces were equally important. Soldiers against soldiers, kings against kings—this was a tradition of the sea.
But when the strongest fought, everyone else was not merely a group of cheerleaders who only needed to shout encouragement. They would clash as well.
If the difference in military strength was too great, the boss might emerge victorious after a grueling battle, only to find every last one of his subordinates slaughtered.
Improving the Neptune Army’s overall strength would help improve the broader situation.
Only by using small groups of ordinary troops to pose a sufficient threat to organized fleets could they make better use of their racial talents.
The Neptune Army soldiers paid little attention to the gazes of those around them. They simply carried out Nereus’s orders.
For countless years, Fishman Island had suffered deeply from the slave trade. It was only after Nereus came to power that the situation saw its greatest improvement.
But the hatred toward human traffickers had not faded as a result. The victims from those years still lived on Fishman Island, and neither public sentiment nor the political stance of the upper ranks had any tolerance for slavers.
“Area A has been searched. No sign of the target.”
“Nothing in Area B.”
“No abnormalities in Area C.”
“Area D…”
As time passed, reports arrived at Fishman Island one after another, yet none of them contained any trace of the ship they were looking for.
Whenever they occasionally discovered a vessel, Fish-Man warriors capable of turning invisible would infiltrate it and investigate, but each time they confirmed that it was not a slave ship.
“His Majesty’s orders are never wrong. There must have been a slave ship operating nearby, otherwise he wouldn’t have issued an order like this…”
“Shyarly’s divination also said that a careful search of this area would produce results, but there isn’t a single ship on the nearby surface.”
Several squads within the key patrolling area had failed to find any trace of a ship. They had not even spotted a single sampan floating on the sea.
“Was the divination wrong?”
“Shyarly’s divinations haven’t failed once in all these years. Slave ships were found in other areas, but none of them had the target His Majesty is looking for aboard.
“The squad near Red Port hasn’t seen any slave ships approaching either. Did these b*stards fly away through the sky?”
Karma crossed several of his arms over his chest, feeling that the current situation was somewhat unreasonable. He even raised his head and glanced at the sky.
Very few forces possessed aerial troops. Fishman Island’s flying Fish-Type citizens happened to form a special corps of their own, but this possibility was still unrealistic.
If there really were a force flying through the sky and capturing slaves, the news would have spread far and wide long ago, rather than there being absolutely no word of it like now.
Just then, a string of bubbles drifted up from the sea, causing Karma to think of something.
“Search the previous areas again. This time, don’t just search the surface, search underwater as well!”
The teams that had already regrouped scattered once more and began extending their attention beneath the water. Before long, Karma actually received a report.
“New discovery! There’s a submarine underwater in Area C! Those people are abducting people and loading them into the submarine! It’s them!”
After spotting several people in diving suits stuffing an unconscious person wearing an oxygen mask into the submarine beneath the water, an excited voice came through the Den Den Mushi.
Compared to aircraft, which were rarely seen, submarines occasionally appeared on the seas. Some islands even possessed technology advanced enough to give these submarines exceptional performance.
“Heh, these b*stards have gotten smarter. Trying to hide right under our noses… Show these fools who the true rulers of the ocean are!”
Ships on the surface already struggled to deal with Fishman Island’s elite warriors, let alone underwater. This group had taken advantage of that very mentality, keeping their submarine close to the seabed throughout their journey. By doing so, they had actually evaded several rounds of searches by Fishman Island.
Switching to a submarine did make things somewhat more troublesome for Fishman Island. When a ship was on the surface, it was easier to rescue the captives after sinking it. But if they directly destroyed a vessel in the deep sea, the abducted slaves, bound in shackles, would be much more likely to sink to the bottom along with it.
“Come to think of it… how are we supposed to make a hole in a submarine? They never taught us that at school… And if we sink it here… what about the slaves?”
“This isn’t really the deep sea, so it won’t have much impact. Cleanup team, check how much Bubbly Coral we have and prepare to move!”
Submarines were unconventional means of transportation on the seas, and human traffickers capable of using one were even rarer.
But after the Great Pirate Era began, intensifying competition further accelerated the upgrading of transportation technology.
Thud!
A dull impact came from the hull. In the silent ocean, the sound spread throughout the entire submarine in an instant, causing the people who had just been celebrating the capture of high-quality merchandise to fall silent.
“What happened?”
“Sonar only shows schools of fish…”
“The periscope is blocked by seaweed! We can’t see anything!”
“Boss! The hull’s damaged! Seawater is leaking in!”
“It’s Fish-Men! Those b*stards from Fishman Island found us!”
The inside of the submarine immediately descended into chaos. Under the captain’s orders, a group of armed men in diving suits prepared to head outside and meet the enemy. They knew very well that unless they resisted, this submarine would become their iron coffin.
But when the Neptune Army soldiers saw a group of people relying on diving equipment to come out and confront them, they burst out laughing…
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