"Not necessary." Robin smiled gently, "On this ship, if you're going to thank anyone, it should be our captain."
The slaves looked gratefully at Shano, but he merely waved his hand casually and turned towards the dining table.
"Uncle Zeff, prepare some food for them as well." He said without turning his head, "It's hard to talk properly on an empty stomach."
"Understood, Captain."
Zeff grinned and headed to the kitchen. Before long, he brought out several large pots of steaming stew and bread.
The survivors exchanged glances, finding it hard to believe their eyes for a moment.
"This...sir, can we really eat this?" One of the sailors swallowed and asked cautiously.
"Nonsense."
Smoker, chewing on his cigar, urged impatiently, "If you don't dare to eat, then stay hungry."
This left no room for hesitation; the survivors rushed forward and devoured the food ravenously, while the aristocrats and wealthy merchants initially maintained their composure but soon couldn't resist joining the scramble.
"Hey, slow down, don't choke yourself." Nami couldn't help but remind them.
"Thank you..." someone mumbled in response.
Shano sat at the dining table, propping his chin with one hand, his gaze lightly sweeping over the crowd.
"Where are you all from?" He asked.
"S-sir..."
One wealthy merchant wiped his mouth, responding fearfully, "We run entertainment venues in Water Seven, and we were originally heading to Carnival City, but we encountered a storm halfway..."
"Water Seven?"
Shano showed interest, raising an eyebrow, "That place is the world's leading shipbuilding island with good technology, yet your ship couldn't withstand it?"
He quickly estimated the timeline in his mind.
At this point, Iceberg should have just integrated the seven shipyards and hasn't been mayor for long, while Rob Lucci and the CP9 group had only recently infiltrated Water Seven a few months ago.
"Well..."
The merchant hesitated, unable to speak.
"Sir!"
A burly man suddenly spoke, grinding his teeth, his voice filled with barely contained anger, "He's deceiving you! Claiming to be from Water Seven, this ship isn't an ordinary passenger vessel at all but a disguised slave transport ship!"
His voice echoed across the deck, and the survivors who were devouring food suddenly became quiet.
Some people were bewildered, exchanging glances, while the faces of the aristocrats and merchants suddenly changed dramatically.
"What are you talking about!"
The middle-aged noble named Jade stood up abruptly, sweat oozing from his forehead, "Sir, don't listen to this ruffian's nonsense, we are just—"
"Shut your mouth."
Shano's voice was gentle but made Jade choke, freezing him in place, unable to move.
"Continue."
"Yes, Sir, the reason the ship didn't last long in the storm is because it was severely overloaded!"
The burly man took a deep breath and continued:
"This ship originally carried over four hundred slaves. The lower decks were filled with iron cages, and when the storm hit in the morning, they were locked below with no chance to escape!"
"Only we strong and healthy prime goods were brought to that noble lord to be inspected before becoming the lucky ones and surviving."
His voice became choked, "They were just like us, originally villagers from the same small island. When the ship broke apart, the seawater immediately filled the lower deck. I watched them struggle in the iron cages, eventually swallowed by the whirlpool..."
The burly man finally couldn't hold back, tears streaming down his face as he cried bitterly to the sky.
The sea breeze moved softly, settling the silence on deck.
"Hey, what's going on, that's over four hundred people..." Smoker said coldly, staring at the middle-aged noble, "Just gone like that?"
"If they hadn't been locked in iron cages, it wouldn't have ended this way." Robin sighed softly.
"Wahhhhhh!"
Nami was trembling with anger, her hair suddenly burst into flames, and she clenched her fist, "Scum! Don't stop me, I'm going to burn these bastards to ashes!"
"No one's stopping you."
Nojiko's expression was icy as cold air surged around her, her eyebrows and hair turning frosty white, "But I'll take half."
Damn, these two girls are monsters too!
The merchants and nobles were startled, fearfully retreating a few steps.
The middle-aged noble named Jade turned back, frantically signaling to the surviving guards and bodyguards.
"..."
But the bodyguards exchanged a glance, smiled awkwardly at him, and squatted back down, pretending to know nothing and continued to nibble on bread.
Useless bastards!
Jade cursed furiously in his heart. If only his loyal head guard, who was a Devil Fruit Ability User, hadn't fallen into the sea during the storm, with his fate unknown...
He wouldn't have needed to rely on these guys!
With the orange-haired girl blazing with flames approaching step by step, Jade was terrified when suddenly a merchant beside him shouted:
"Look, to the southwest, there's a warship! It's approaching us!"
A warship?
Everyone on deck was stunned, turning their heads to look.
Sure enough, on the distant horizon.
With the aid of moonlight, a large warship flying the Navy flag was rushing towards them at full speed.
"Thank goodness! It's the Navy!"
"With a warship of this size, the commander is at least a Rear Admiral, maybe even a Major General!"
The aristocrats and merchants, who were previously in despair, suddenly became elated beyond belief, and Jade, in excitement, jumped up and waved frantically at the warship:
"I recognize this warship; it's the flagship of Major General Allen of the G-2 branch. I've even exchanged words with him at a tea party, help! Mr. Allen, I'm here! Save us!"
…
Meanwhile, on the Navy warship opposite.
"Major General Allen!" A Navy soldier rushed into the command room, "Ahead, there's a pirate ship! It's...it's the Endgame!"
"What ship?"
The Navy Major General, who was drinking tea, turned pale and stood up abruptly, unaware of the spilled tea on him, "Endgame, are you sure you didn't missee?"
"Absolutely positive!"
The soldier was visibly excited, "The emblem on the sails is exactly like the one on the warrant, and we've already confirmed it, the person standing at the bow is none other than Great Sword Hero Shano himself!"
Major General Allen swallowed hard, his face instantly turning ghostly pale.
Shano!
A Great Pirate with a bounty of ten billion Belly!
He killed two of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and even Grand Admiral Akainu couldn't take him down in person, the legendary monster!
Me fighting Shano?
That's simply dreaming; an opponent of this caliber is not someone a mere Major General can handle!
"Quick! Turn around!"
Major General Allen shouted orders, "Full retreat! Immediately! Now!"
"But, Major General!" The Navy soldier hesitated, "There seem to be survivors from a stranded ship calling for help..."
"We can't worry about that now, you fool!"
Major General Allen's forehead was drenched in cold sweat, "Do you want to die! Even if I go personally, I'd be no different than an ordinary Marine in front of that man! Going up there would be suicide, turn around immediately!"
"Yes!"
Though many Navy soldiers felt compassion, military orders are absolute, and they could only comply quickly.
Shortly thereafter, under the incredulous gazes of Jade and the merchants.
The warship that was originally advancing aggressively suddenly made a sharp turn, creating huge waves before fleeing towards the distance without a glance back...
"..."
Deck fell into strange silence once more.
Jade and a few merchants, moments earlier smiling, were now frozen in place, the fire of hope in their eyes gradually extinguishing, replaced by deeper fear.
Those were elite Marines from the G-branch… weren't they even willing to come aboard for a glimpse, just fleeing directly like that?
Also useless bastards!
Abandoned their duties just like that?!!
"It seems your saviors aren't quite reliable, huh."
The cold laughter of two girls came from behind.
Jade's body trembled like a sieve. Turning around, he saw an ice-and-fire duo advancing step by step.
Clearly lovely girls, but their disdainful expressions at this moment, in his eyes, were scarier than demons from Hell:
"Now it's our turn to settle accounts for those poor souls lost beneath the sea..."