By the time Sammy, Marcus, Kaheiro, and the other officers arrived at the auxiliary dock on rented fish mounts, together with Prince Neptune, who had rushed over at top speed leading a squad of Ryugu Kingdom's elite guards after receiving the urgent report, the battle had already ended.
What greeted them was a scene of utter devastation.
The dock was littered with shattered crates and overturned barrels. Splintered wood and scattered cargo covered the ground. Even more horrifying were the bodies strewn everywhere and the thick scent of blood that still hung heavily in the air.
Yes.
The fight was over.
A large crowd had already gathered near the edge of the dock, drawn by the tremendous commotion.
There were passing human merchants, sailors from docked ships, but the majority were Fish-Man Island residents from the nearby area.
Standing at a distance, they pointed toward the battlefield, their faces filled with fear, disgust, and confusion.
"My Sea God... what happened here?"
"How brutal... Look at all that blood."
"I heard those two humans attacked first. They came here and picked a fight with the people on that ship."
"Why? Did they have some kind of grudge?"
"Who knows... Humans are a race that thrives on conflict. They always bring trouble to our homeland."
"What an unnecessary disaster! How could something like this happen at the harbor?"
As whispers spread through the crowd, they noticed Neptune's towering figure approaching with the guards behind him.
"Look! It's the kingdom's guards! Prince Neptune is here!"
"Make way! Everyone, make way! His Highness has arrived!"
Someone shouted, and the tightly packed crowd immediately parted, creating a passage while respectfully bowing toward Neptune.
Neptune frowned deeply and waved his hand.
"Everyone, stand back! Don't crowd this area."
"Guards, maintain order!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The guards immediately began pushing the onlookers farther away.
Following closely behind Neptune, Sammy and his crew stepped onto the dock.
The first thing they saw was the ship.
Gillian's vessel—the Golden Dice.
Since the ship was still here...
Gillian couldn't have escaped.
"Gade! Buck!"
Marcus shouted.
Moments later, they spotted a large figure kneeling motionless in the open space directly in front of the Golden Dice.
It was Gade.
"Gade!"
Sammy's expression changed as he hurried over.
When everyone reached his front, they couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
Gade's shirt had been shredded into little more than strips of cloth.
His exposed body was covered with more than a dozen crisscrossing wounds.
Most of them weren't particularly deep, but the sight alone was shocking.
The most horrifying injury, however, was in his lower abdomen.
A slender sword had pierced straight through his body, its tip protruding from his back as blood slowly trickled along the fuller of the blade.
"Gade! How are you?!"
Kaheiro immediately crouched beside him, his face grave as he examined the wounds.
Cold sweat covered Gade's forehead.
His face had turned pale from blood loss, yet he still shook his head weakly.
"D-Don't... worry about me first..."
"Go..."
"Go check on Buck..."
"Buck?"
Everyone's hearts tightened once again.
"Captain Buck is over here!"
A nearby crewmember shouted while searching through the bodies.
Everyone hurried over.
Buck lay flat on his back in a pool of blood among a heap of corpses.
His injuries looked even worse than Gade's.
At least three deep sword wounds cut across his chest, abdomen, and arm, each so severe that bone was visible.
His eyes were tightly shut.
His face was deathly pale.
His breathing was so faint it was almost imperceptible.
The ground beneath him had been dyed crimson.
"Buck—!!"
Marcus's eyes instantly reddened as he rushed forward.
"Medic! Save them!"
Neptune roared.
The Ryugu Kingdom physician accompanying the guards, along with several soldiers trained in first aid, immediately rushed over to administer emergency treatment to Gade and Buck.
Sammy's expression was terrifyingly dark.
After one glance at his two gravely wounded companions, he slowly raised his head and swept his gaze across the devastated dock.
Soon, he spotted Gillian.
The former slave trader looked equally miserable.
His right arm bent at an unnatural angle.
His left leg was twisted grotesquely.
Covered in blood, he sat slumped against a pile of shattered crates, obviously suffering from severe injuries.
Sammy walked over and stopped before him, looking down upon his former business partner.
"I have to admit..."
Sammy's voice was so calm that no emotion could be heard within it.
"...I didn't expect you to be this capable."
"You actually managed to injure two of my officers this badly."
"Cough... cough..."
Gillian spat out a mouthful of bloody foam before forcing a twisted smile.
"Boss Sammy..."
"Why... interfere with me?"
"Is it... really just because of that phone call?"
Sammy slowly crouched until they were at eye level.
"Why would you think that?"
he asked softly.
"Do I seem that petty?"
"If you had simply stayed out of my sight..."
"...for the sake of all the years we've worked together..."
"...I might not even have bothered looking for you."
His expression instantly turned cold.
"But unfortunately..."
"...you came here."
His eyes swept across the bloodstains covering the dock before returning to Gillian's face.
"So tell me."
"Where are the people you kidnapped?"
Gillian's pupils contracted slightly.
Still refusing to admit anything, he struggled to defend himself.
"Cough..."
"W-What kidnapped people...?"
"Boss Sammy..."
"You've misunderstood..."
"We're just an ordinary merchant company..."
"We only came here to trade..."
"Oh?"
"So you won't talk?"
"Even if you don't, I already know."
"They're on the ship, aren't they?"
The color immediately drained from Gillian's face.
"Come."
"Let's go take a look."
With a wave of his massive hand, Neptune led a squad of guards aboard the Golden Dice, charging straight into the cargo hold.
However...
After thoroughly searching the ship, he came back down with a frown.
Lowering his voice, he said to Sammy,
"Sammy..."
"Are you sure?"
"There aren't any cages up there."
"No imprisoned Fish-Men or merfolk either."
Hearing that, Sammy boarded the ship himself.
He carefully surveyed the cargo hold.
Although numerous crates were stacked inside, there were indeed no cages or shackles like those normally found aboard a slave ship.
Rather than easing his suspicions...
It only deepened them.
Gillian...
A slave trader.
He had risked everything to sneak all the way to Fish-Man Island.
There was no way he'd leave empty-handed.
That simply wasn't how he operated.
In a flash, a possibility surfaced in Sammy's mind.
He didn't even bother activating Observation Haki.
Instead, he crouched down and knocked on the wooden floor beneath his feet.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
A hollow echo answered him.
"There's empty space underneath."
Sammy spoke without even lifting his head.
As for searching for the hidden mechanism that opened the compartment...
He had no patience for that.
His eyes turned cold.
Clenching his right fist without the slightest hesitation, he slammed it directly into the section of flooring that had produced the hollow sound.
BOOM—!!
Wood exploded in every direction.
The thick floor shattered beneath the overwhelmingly powerful punch, leaving behind a massive jagged hole.
Beneath it lay a hidden compartment, expertly concealed in the ship's structure.
The sight inside instantly caused Prince Neptune's pupils to shrink.
The cramped, oppressive space was packed with bodies.
More than a hundred Fish-Men...
And over a dozen merfolk...
All of them were crammed together, their wrists bound by cold iron shackles.
Most of them were frail Fish-Man teenagers.
Many still had tear streaks on their faces and bruises that had yet to fade.
Silence.
The only sounds were the faint clinking of chains...
...and quiet sobbing.
Neptune's chest rose and fell violently.
He spun around and unleashed a thunderous roar toward the outside of the ship.
"Guards—!!"
"Everyone, get over here!"
"Rescue them immediately!!"
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