"You're gonna get me demoted or thrown out of the Marines!"
"Huh? Why would you get in trouble for attacking slavers?" Yamato asked in confusion as she glanced at the large building in the distance.
Nicholas pointed towards one of the large pirate symbols painted on the building as he said, "That building is affiliated with Doflamingo, so it's protected under the Warlord system set up by the World Government. If we attack it we are basically declaring we are enemies with them."
"It's not that serious, I've attacked it twice before and there was never any issue." Marcus said without a second thought.
"He almost killed you."
"No one cares about the details." Marcus said as he waved off the statement and added, "Besides, we're all in disguise so no one will know it was us."
Nicholas glanced down again at the black clothes he was wearing before he glanced at everyone else who was dressed the same. The only difference between each of them was the different masks that each wore. There was also a plain black ski mask that hid their entire face in case the mask was removed or damaged. Underneath the ski mask each of them also wore a wig to hide their natural hair color. The last thing Marcus forced everyone to do was not bring anything with them including weapons and reminded them to never use their devil fruit powers.
Nicholas let out a helpless sigh as he thought, 'If this ever gets out my career is ruined.'
Marcus studied the building for another minute before he finally said, "They're supposed to have an auction in a few days, so the place should be packed with people we need to rescue."
Marcus glanced over everyone for a moment before he said, "So don't be reckless and only target the guards, don't damage the building needlessly. I don't want someone to be thrown through a wall and injure innocent people."
"What about all the people here for the auction?"
"Anyone here to buy slaves must have brought a decent bit of money, so we'll gladly take it off their hands." Marcus said with anticipation in his voice.
"I'm not going to rob people, I'm a marine!"
"I know, that's why you're with Yamato and Jasmine. Your group is responsible for freeing the slaves. If you can't find the keys for the slave collars then I'll remove them myself before we leave."
Uta bounced up and down on her toes next to Marcus as she excitedly said, "This is gonna be so much fun!"
"Just remember what I said about changing your voice, make it sound completely different then normal."
"Of course sweetheart!" Uta said in a much lower and almost masculine tone as she mockingly saluted Marcus.
Marcus smacked the back of her head as he said in a serious tone, "Don't call me that and especially not in that voice."
Marcus glanced at the building in the distance again as he said, "Once they finish letting people inside we move."
Once the large main doors closed, Marcus stood up as he said, "Alright, let's go."
The group split apart and instead of charging directly at the building moved using cover. It took longer but when each group arrived the outside guards couldn't even raise the alarm. Marcus rushed towards the smaller door built for the guards as Uta and Baby Five dropped their opponents. Marcus slipped through the door at almost the same time and grabbed two men by the head and slapped them together. Before the third member in the small guard area could react, Marcus landed a kick to his chest and he hit the wall where he slumped to the ground.
The two girls stepped in a moment later and moved towards the door that led into the main auction house. They waited by the door for a minute before Uta opened it and bolted towards the first guard she saw. Baby Five was a step behind her while Marcus moved towards the doors to block any escape. Only a handful of people caught the two girls actions at first since the auction just started and the bidding was ongoing.
Uta and Baby Five made quick work as they dashed from each guard and moved deeper towards the auction stage before the auctioneer finally noticed and yelled, "Guards! Capture those two!"
The audience barely reacted to the disturbance besides a handful nervously getting up from their seats but no one ran as the auctioneer calmly stated, "Everyone relax, the guards will handle this shortly and we'll have two more items for auction."
Marcus watched from the main doors as the two girls easily knocked out every guard that appeared until they stopped appearing. The auctioneer frowned deeply as he took in the scene before he said in a threatening tone, "Do you have any idea who you're messing with!?!"
"Just a bunch of slave traders, now shut up." Uta said in her disguised voice as she jumped onto the stage and sent the man flying into a wall where he ended up imprinted.
At that point part of the audience started to panic and some even bolted for the door. The few that made it that far were quickly laid out at Marcus's feet before his altered voice filled the whole place, "If you want to leave, drop all the money you are carrying at my feet and I'll let you out the door."
Marcus cracked each of his fists and they rang out through the silent building for a moment before he added with excitement in his voice, "Otherwise I'll beat anyone who refuses to cooperate until money comes out of their bodies."
To make his point Marcus grabbed a briefcase from a man he knocked out and checked it. Inside he found it filled with money, so he set it to the side, grabbed the man by his belt and jumped up to kick one of the large doors dead center. Even though the door was easily twenty feet tall and extremely heavy, Marcus's kick caused the whole thing to explode off its hinges. It flew into the distance and crashed to the ground a few moments later which caused the building to tremble as Marcus landed before he tossed the man outside the door.
Framed by the bright light flooding in from the open door behind him, Marcus looked like an eerie black demon to everyone in the room as he said, "Now make a line!"
Most of the people didn't react at first, but a few of the stronger pirates in the audience shared a look before a group of them stood up and moved towards Marcus. A few other people also stood up and moved behind the larger group as they looked for an opportunity to escape while Marcus dealt with the first group. Leading the first group was a short man with a saber on his hip and vicious eyes that were focused on Marcus.
"You have some balls trying to rob a place like this… But I guess that's easy to do when the owner isn't around." The pirate said in a confident tone as his hand moved towards his saber hilt.
"I'm not afraid of that blonde idiot, he's not even strong enough to kill me."
The pirate laughed as he stopped within a few feet of Marcus before he said, "Big talk when Doflamingo isn't here… Unfortunately you picked the worst people to rob, my bounty is-"
If Marcus's clothes didn't flutter from the speed, no one in the room would've known that he even moved. In fact only the people close to him were positive he moved because they felt the wind he generated. Everyone else had no idea what happened as the man was sent flying like a rocket mid speech before he cratered into a wall across the room near the stage and didn't get up.
Marcus glanced over the other pirates who were with the man as he asked in a bored tone, "Anyone else?"
The other pirates shared a couple of glances before they each stepped forward and dropped all of the money they carried next to the briefcase. Once finished a man nervously asked, "That's all we have, can we go now?"
Marcus pointed towards the other door next to him as he said, "Line up along the wall and wait for the others. Once everyone's generously contributed to our fundraising campaign, I'll let you go."
The pirates didn't complain as they all lined up in order while Marcus focused on the group that was behind them. The second group tried to push someone unwilling forward as their leader. The man only glanced over once at the pirate still embedded in the wall before he rushed forward and dropped the backpack he carried. A moment later he pulled out a wallet and threw it onto the backpack as he said, "That's all the money I have."
Marcus waved him towards the others as he watched the other members of the group. As each of them tried to force another person forward, Marcus narrowed his eyes and said, "Hurry up."
That snapped something in the group and they all rushed forward at once and started to empty their pockets. Once finished the group lined up and Marcus glanced over at the rest of the audience as he said, "I don't have all day, hurry up and get over here!"
A handful reluctantly started to move towards Marcus until Uta grabbed someone still seated and threw them towards the front of the building. The man slammed into the wall near the door with a crunch and slid down it without a sound before Uta said, "Now hurry up or I'll start motivating everyone to move faster!"
Uta's threat woke everyone up and people rushed towards Marcus who waited with his arms crossed. Not a word was said as each person dropped whatever money they carried before they joined the line. Within half an hour Marcus and a large pile of money next to him and a few hundred people lined up along the wall. Uta and Baby Five were next to him and in the process of condensing all of the loot into a handful of large bags Marcus brought with them.
Marcus glanced over the gathered people for a moment before he hit them all with a concentrated blast of conqueror's haki. Every person dropped to the floor in a boneless heap as Marcus turned towards the stage and saw Yamato who came out in disguise and glanced around. Marcus waved her over as he called out, "Did you guys finish yet?"
"We just finished and also emptied their safe." Yamato said in a proud tone.
"Good, grab a bag and tell the others to wait out back for us."
Yamato nodded, took one of the large bags and disappeared into the back. About five minutes later Marcus and the others packed up the rest of the loot and left the building through the backdoor. When they stepped outside they found almost two hundred people huddled together nervously looking at three people and one old man in a gray cloak with glasses calmly drinking from a flask.
Marcus glanced at Rayleigh for a moment before he called out, "I'll give all of you a choice. Come with us and we'll take you somewhere safe. Or you can leave alone and test your luck."
Rayleigh focused on Marcus in disguise and something flickered in his eyes for a moment as the rest of the group decided what to do. Marcus only gave them about a minute before he called out again, "Times up, anyone who is joining us keep up!"
Marcus quickly walked away and headed towards the closest dock where a ship waited. While a few hesitated at first, every single person ended up following them towards the dock. When they arrived they found the place empty besides a single ship and a group of people in black cloaks waiting on it. Marcus led them to the ship and ordered everyone on board as he moved towards a couple people with his own group.
"Give them the money from the auction safe." Marcus said as he glanced towards Nicholas and Jasmine who were both carrying large bags.
"No way, we earned this!" Jasmine instantly replied as Nicholas easily dropped the sack on the ground without a word.
Jasmine turned to glare at Nicholas before Marcus cut her off and said, "That money is for the slaves, it will help feed them while they get home or restart their lives."
Jasmine frowned under her mask but after she glanced at the former slaves who were being led onto the ship she sighed and dropped the bag she carried. Marcus talked to the person in charge for about a minute before his group left the ship and found Rayleigh on the dock. Rayleigh glanced over Marcus and the others before the hint of a smile touched his lips and he started to speak.
Marcus cut him off as he said, "Let's get somewhere safe before we talk."