Volume 2 Chapter 2

Getting to the top of the Red Line was not too difficult. No matter how physically endowed Ezra was, he was still out of breath after making it all the way to the top of the cliff face. The other 3 fish-men only broke a little sweat, clearly, their physique was a lot better than Ezra's.

Ezra was in awe, the top of the Red Line was like a different world. Up here there were properly constructed roads and mechanical vehicles which were moving on them. The buildings were large and security was different. Each house they went past was about the size of a small island. 'Is this where the nobles who formed the world government are?" Ezra was intrigued, 'Money, power and influence, they had it all. No wonder their behaviours are rotten' he thought.

Soon they arrived at a deteriorated, underdeveloped, densely packed, impoverished area, known as The Slums. There was an outright contrast between the overly large beautiful areas they had snuck past and this dump.

Just from a glance, Ezra could tell that the number of Slaves scattered over this area was about a thousand. 'I hope the rescue ship is big enough or this will be very difficult' Ezra thought as he scouted the area.

During Ezra's 3 years working as a Lieutenant on Vice-Admiral Tsuru's ship, He had made a lot of improvements. The wise and gentle Tsuru was like a big sister to all the ladies on the ship and Ezra was like an adopted son. Ezra and his team of 20 officers were the only males on the grand vessel, because of the inconvenience a smaller vessel was acquired for them, along with a Seaman instructor and a personal navigator. It was not just Ezra that improved but all the officers from the previous Blue team had improved leap bounds, even though Ezra was not yet a captain he already had his own ship and his crew, in the grand armada of Vice-Admiral Tsuru.

A major improvement for Ezra was, he could now create seawater from his body. Unlike other Logia powers, Ezra felt that he could not create enough water to fully transform his body, although it sounded troublesome, he had not fully tested the effects on land until today.

'I don't need to create a lot of water, I just need to create enough drops to shoot out as many water darts as I like,' he thought as water slowly formed on the top of his palm

The Slum covered a large area, if not for Fisher's previous time as a slave. The team of 4 would have found it difficult in making their way into and around the slums.

"The security, although it looks tight, will be very relaxed as the thought of someone being crazy enough to attack this place will never have crossed the guard's minds," Fisher said confidently. "I suggest we start from the West gate, Ezra, you clear out the guards as we proceed. The taskmasters building is in the middle of The Slums, we need to get to that point undetected. After that, we will freely cause havoc when we have secured the keys to the collars." he added.

"Fisher, you guys just go ahead. Take Marco with you, just in case. I will snipe out the guards. When you have the keys, we need to move the slaves as quickly as possible. We will need a distraction, an explosion or fire to create some gaps between us and the arriving reinforcement. Marco if you can locate the explosives warehouse, then that would be great." Ezra said.

Everyone tacitly agreed to the start of the mission as the group split into 3 running in different directions.

Ezra had never practised using a rifle but his aim and accuracy with his water bullets could put even the best of snipers to shame. He had an unreasonable range and his amount of ammunition was not limited to one bullet per shot. Ezra's dedicated practice along with his team's shooting practice really made them into a sniping unit.

On the West gate, there were 16 guards present. 10 on the battlements, while 6 were standing on the doorless gateway.

"Water Darts"

In a second, the 16 stationary guards were now, 16 lifeless corpses on the floor. Jinbe could not hide his shock, it was not difficult for him to avoid those water darts but he knew it would not be as easy or silent for him to take out 16 of the slum guards. He finally has some ideas about why their captain was so keen on waiting for the Human boy.

"Let's not waste any time," Fisher said before making his way through the gates in a sprint towards the shadows, with Jinbe right behind him.

The rest of the journey to the centre was like a magic show. All guards spotted either patrolling, manning a position or even taking a piss were sniped with absolute precision, the water darts were so tiny that there was no blood leak. 'This was going to be a nightmare for the investigation team. An autopsy will only show liquid in the brain, who doesn't have liquid in their brain?' Jinbe could only let his thought run wild.

The centre building was a large factory looking building, Various guards were placed in different locations making it the most secure building in the slum. Unlike the other deteriorating buildings, although it looked in bad shape it was in better condition when compared to the slaves' accommodation.

Fisher and Jinbe made their way past the dead guards who looked no different from people taking a nap, some even remained standing after they died. The surrounding was very quiet, it was a different kind of quiet. Previously this place was also quiet, but the thoughts the slaves had of guards waiting in the shadows, made them feel uncomfortable. but right now, if a slave was to come here, they probably will be thinking it was a prank.

Inside a large room on the bottom floor of the building, an overly large fat man could be seen on a mechanical chair. He was so big that his legs could not carry the weight of his own body. This was clearly a sign of him having a better life than the slaves. inside the room, the dining table was covered in all types of delicacy as the aroma radiated out into the open air.

Fisher could only think back to his time here, how much of a torment it was for him to smell such delicious food every day while kept in cages like animals. The rage of the past could no longer be hidden. it was because of people like this that many had died and remained enslaved. people who believed that they were better than others and had the freedom to do as they pleased.

Fisher and Jinbe kicked down the door to the dining room. The fat man who initially had a sophisticated appearance was now sweating buckets.

"Fish-men what do you want?" he asked frightened

"Your Life" Fisher replied in anger as his eyes turned red.

"Come on let's discuss this, who sent you here? Is this a test of loyalty? tell me"

"Fat Joe, you don't remember me, it has only been 3 years," Fisher said as he stepped into the light.

"You…" Fat Joe could no longer speak, he knew of all the horrors he had put the fish-men through in order to break their wills. He knew begging was pointless, he only had to light the handle of the fixed den den mushi and the alarm will be activated.

Fisher did not wait for Fat Joe to make his move, he stood at the front of the mechanical chair as he placed a fist on the fat bulging belly of Fat Joe.

"Fish-man Karate"

Fisher threw a punch.