Chapter 166: Pirates, Navy, Revolutionary Army, Civilians

Garp walked out of the Ghost Mansion slowly and laughed loudly, "I know that guy Dragon very well; he absolutely won't let this opportunity pass and will also go to the very center of the Ghost City to find the Tower Guardian Lord."

"It's always like this; he really doesn't let one worry."

Bogart looked hesitant and said, "Vice Admiral Garp, since all the Navy in the East Blue are participating in the capture anyway, why don't we just give up on this operation?"

Others might not know, but as his adjutant, he knew Dragon's identity.

That was Vice Admiral Garp's own son.

Even if it were to execute justice, letting a Marine Hero over half a century old personally apprehend his own son was too cruel.

Besides,

One cannot bring their full real-world strength into the Trial Tower; no matter how strong Dragon is, there is a limit, and it is impossible to defeat thousands of Navy soldiers.

"No need."

Garp said with a completely indifferent face, "One must bear the consequences of the mistakes one has made."

"He is a serious criminal wanted by the World Government, and I am a Marine Vice Admiral; even if he is my own son, I absolutely cannot show mercy!"

As he spoke, his two fists slammed fiercely into each other.

There was a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

He hadn't seen the rebellious brat in a long time, and he didn't know to what extent the other's strength had grown now.

If he hadn't defected from the Navy, the current three Admirals of the Navy might very well have become four.

What kind of nickname should he come up with?

For this capture, he must let the brat know the taste of his old father's Iron Fist, especially since his newly comprehended skill made his pair of iron fists several times stronger than before.

He wondered how many punches Dragon could take?

Most of the players on Death Island had already gathered within the central Ghost City.

The mansions of the red-clothed spirits were being breached one by one, the fog obscuring the streets was cleared away, and everyone was continuously pushing toward the core area.

The remaining small portion of players,

having understood during the clashes over this period that they simply lacked the strength and qualifications to compete for the Tower Guardian boss, did not continue deeper and just stayed in the peripheral areas to continue hunting spirits.

"Luffy, it's all your fault! My bounty is now eighty million!"

Nami was on the verge of tears.

Piecing it together from the fragments of the Navy's words, she was now the pirate with the highest bounty in the entire East Blue, the eighty-million-Beli Orange Devil.

She never wanted to be a pirate; she only wanted to eliminate Arlong and then stay peacefully in Cocoyasi Village to draw her navigation charts.

Now, she could only say she had boarded the wrong pirate ship.

Luffy's eyes shone, and he said enviously, "Hahahahaha, as expected of my navigator."

In his mind, the higher a pirate's bounty, the more face they had.

Bang!

A fist smashed onto Luffy's head.

Nami was full of anger and said, "Idiot Luffy, and you too, jerk Zoro, pay back the Reward Points you owe me first!"

Zoro turned his head, looking completely innocent.

I didn't beat up the pirate Buggy, so what does it have to do with me?

Besides, this shrew only borrowed five hundred Reward Points from her, yet she wanted one thousand back.

"It's fine, once we hunt the Tower Guardian Lord, you can be in charge of keeping the rewards, Nami."

Luffy was all smiles, very satisfied with the new skill he had just learned.

In his view, this was a brilliant and grand adventure; being able to continuously hunt monsters and also acquire new skills and equipment was simply much more interesting than boring sailing on the sea.

"Tower Guardian Lord."

Nami felt uneasy inside, but then her gaze became firm.

This is the Trial Tower; all players start at the same point. Even a great pirate who has traversed the Si Hai cannot easily defeat the Lord, so their Straw Hat Pirates also have a chance to win.

Jerk, who is in the Straw Hat Pirates with them!

Nami shook her head repeatedly, shaking this strange thought away.

"Don't kneel, stand up."

Dragon still had an expressionless face, staring at the group of slaves who wanted to beg the Navy for mercy.

Opposite them,

was the Loguetown Navy led by Smoker, along with the rest of the East Blue Branch following on both sides, a mighty force of at least six or seven hundred people.

And on the side of the slave group, the total number did not exceed fifty.

They were originally slaves being escorted to the Sabaody Archipelago auction house to be sold. Among them, someone found a Contract Fruit, broke free from the shackles, saved the entire ship of slaves, and began searching everywhere for Contract Fruits.

Until they entered the Trial Tower and were surrounded by the Navy.

Smoker narrowed his eyes, staring vigilantly at the tall figure not far away, and said, "Monkey D. Dragon, the world's most heinous criminal, the key capture target for the Navy in this Trial Tower, you actually dare to show yourself?"

Dragon ignored Smoker and looked at that group of slaves instead, saying, "You are slaves, not under the protection of the World Government's laws. Even if you break your heads bowing, the Navy will not help you; they will only capture you again and continue to brand you as slaves."

Smoker said angrily, "Dragon, are you slandering the Navy?"

"Is it slander?"

From beginning to end, Dragon's tone did not change in the slightest; there was no hint of incitement, just a calm statement of the facts.

Smoker fell silent.

It was indeed as Dragon said; slaves were a group that was not protected at all, belonging to property.

Let alone slaves, even in areas that were not member states of the World Government, the people there would not be protected by the Navy, because the Five Elders did not allow it.

"I am the Leader of the Revolutionary Army, Dragon."

Dragon walked to the side of the slaves who were surrounded and already close to despair, and said calmly, "If you still have courage, if you still want to continue being human rather than slaves, then stand up. No one can forgive or tolerate you; only by picking up your own weapons can you protect yourselves from being harmed."

"If you are only living to survive, the Revolutionary Army will stand behind you."

He did not force the slaves to become part of the Revolutionary Army; every time he liberated those slaves struggling in misery, he only took away the seeds who were willing to follow the Revolutionary Army.

Liberating and protecting slaves, and overturning the absurd world of the World Nobles, was their own choice; they were willing to do these things, and they were willing to pay the price for the consequences.

And this kind of crazy behavior of setting oneself against the whole world does not require coercion, but like-minded partners.

"Let's see who dares!"

Colonel Nezumi poked his head out and shouted with an ugly expression.

Having finally beaten these slaves into throwing away their armor and fleeing in panic, begging for mercy, he had not expected the Revolutionary Army to suddenly appear halfway and even try to incite these slaves to rebel.

"These are all important goods of the World Nobles, and the consequences of losing them are very serious. You are already just an ordinary Navy member; do you still want to be thrown into a prison cell, Smoker?"

Colonel Nezumi looked at Smoker, who had been frozen in place by just a few words from Dragon, his gaze gloomy.

Smoker's brows were tightly furrowed, and he hesitated: "But..."

His gaze swept over the exposed torsos of these slaves, covered in scars and skin and bones; even after becoming players, they had not had enough Reward Points to purchase potions for recovery.

They had stumbled all the way into Ghost City without even a decent piece of equipment.

It must have been the pressure of the Navy hunting down the Revolutionary Army that forced them to bite the bullet and run in from the outer edges, fearing they would be implicated.

Pirates deserve to die.

But do these people who are struggling to survive also deserve to die?

(End of this chapter)