At that moment, both Laskey and the surrounding CP agents felt that something had gone very wrong.
As CP members, they knew Yemu's intelligence file well.
As unwilling as they were to admit it, the Sky Pirates were different from most pirate crews. They rarely harmed civilians, and ever since they set sail, every target they had acted against had been connected to the nobility.
Even so, they truly killed very few people, regardless of where those people stood.
Even at the Sabaody Archipelago, when they were surrounded and hunted down by the Marines and had taken so many World Nobles hostage, the number of deaths that resulted could still be counted on one hand.
That was exactly why Laskey still held onto a sliver of hope, believing he might somehow be able to escape.
But if this man really did make a move because of the cries of these commoners...
Then he was dead. Absolutely dead.
Laskey was genuinely panicking now.
"They've all gone mad. Completely mad... Didn't you hear what I just said? He is a pirate, a brute, a heinous villain wanted by the World Government and the Marines! Are you planning to betray the World Government too? If you do, then every one of you will be wanted, and there will be no place for you anywhere on this sea!"
"I don't care! I just want you to pay with your lives for my child!"
The men who had been hesitating were stirred once more by the woman's furious cry, and their anger hardened again.
At that moment, Laskey truly realized things were going bad.
He could only look up at the sky in hope, and then he saw that mysterious smile appear on Yemu's face once again.
Then Yemu, who had been sitting cross-legged, rose to his feet, looked at everyone below, and spoke.
"I came here because someone asked me to."
Everyone froze, then immediately thought of something.
"She told me that there were pregnant women and children on this island who were about to suffer a terrible fate, so she asked me, if possible, to save them. That was her request as a woman, and also her way of atoning for Roger..."
"That's right. The very Pirate King Roger you all hate. The Roger who brought this disaster upon all of Baterilla Island, the Roger who, in your eyes, caused your loved ones' deaths."
"Don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to excuse Roger. In fact, even I myself admit certain things. For example, the existence of pirates is wrong. Most pirates are villains, and they do harm this world."
The moment those words came out, the CP agents, including Laskey, all froze.
Yemu, a pirate himself, was actually belittling his own kind.
"But even so, I still chose to become a pirate rather than join the Marines and serve the so-called justice of the World Government. Do you know why?"
He did not wait for an answer. Under Laskey's horrified gaze, Yemu shouted out his own answer.
"Because I know their justice is wrong!"
"It's true that pirates are a wrongful existence. But neither the Marines nor the World Government has any right to represent justice."
"If the wrongness of pirates comes from the bottom up, if the moment someone at the lowest level becomes a pirate, that is already a mistake, then the Marines and the World Government are rotten from the top down. As long as the Celestial Dragons at the very top continue to exist, and as long as this way of thinking, this contempt for life in the name of so-called order and the rule of the World Government, continues to exist, then neither the World Government nor the Marines will ever have the right to call their cause justice."
At that moment, even Laskey could no longer keep his composure and roared angrily,
"Captain Yemu, do you even know what you're saying?"
"Of course I do. Otherwise, why do you think I'm here saying all this?"
"Huh?!"
Laskey froze for a second, then suddenly realized something, and his face turned pale with fear.
At that moment, Yemu's body slowly rose into the air. He lifted off from the fire dragon's head and hovered in midair, staring coldly at Laskey and the CP agents as he said,
"Take my words as an early declaration. The order of this world needs to be rewritten."
As those words fell, terror flooded Laskey's face, because he finally understood in that instant.
Yemu's true goal.
This bastard actually wanted to overthrow the World Government!
Right then, the enormous fire dragon behind Yemu let out a dragon's roar and soared across the heavens.
After reaching its highest point, flames spread outward from the dragon's head like surging waves.
In just a few seconds, the entire sky over Baterilla Island was covered in blazing red flames, layer upon layer like fire clouds, lighting up the heavens as brightly as day.
Seeing this miracle-like scene, the people of Baterilla Island once again felt the urge to worship.
Then Yemu clasped his hands together and spoke in a cold voice.
"I am not someone who delights in slaughter. So next, as long as you can escape the range of this attack, I can spare you..."
"Divine Fire. Fireflies!"
As soon as the words fell, tiny fireballs began forming inside the sea of flames overhead. Then, like crimson fireflies, they drifted down toward the densely packed CP agents below.
Ordinarily, the CP agents should have run at once. But when they saw those fireflies descending from the sky, they did not seem too concerned, because the fireflies were simply too small. They were only about the size of a thumb, as though a casual swat would be enough to knock them away.
Fes, Aming, and the people of Baterilla Island were just as puzzled as they watched the tiny fireballs fall from above.
An attack that looked this unimpressive seemed completely out of place with such a grand display.
But then, a sudden scream rang out.
One of the CP lackeys had looked at the falling firefly with complete disdain and casually swung the long gun in his hand at it.
But the instant the weapon touched the tiny firefly, the firefly was not scattered at all. Instead, as if it had touched something flammable, the flames instantly raced along the gun and spread onto the man's body.
In a single moment, the soldier was swallowed by flames and let out a horrible scream.
The lackey beside him tried to help put out the fire on his companion, but the moment he touched him, the flames instantly climbed onto his own body as well.
Seeing that, even an idiot would understand.
"Run... run, now..."
As cries of agony rang out one after another, clumps of fire began burning all over...
From Baterilla Island all the way to the harbor shore, fires ignited one after another, forming a road connected by flame...
The people of Baterilla Island watched the scene with all kinds of emotions. Some were afraid, some felt vindicated, and some were worried...
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