"N-not good!"
"The—The Marines are here!"
Several villagers who had returned home earlier suddenly sprinted back toward the mansion at full speed, shouting anxiously as they ran, "Quick, tell Mr. Xia Yu—the Marines are here!"
"What?!"
"How are they here so fast?!"
The villagers standing at the mansion gate turned pale in shock upon hearing the distant shouts, their eyes widening in fear.
Immediately, a young man rushed into the courtyard and called out to Xia Yu, who was already seated in Kaya's living room, "Mr. Xia Yu! Mr. Xia Yu! The Marines are here!"
"Hm?"
Hearing this, Xia Yu—who had been casually chatting with Kaya's now-calmer father—paused in surprise. "That fast?"
"Mr. Xia Yu, you need to hide quickly!"
Kaya's father instantly turned pale with fright upon hearing the news. He stood up in a panic and said anxiously, "Why are they here so soon? Mr. Xia Yu, w-what should we do?!"
Xia Yu didn't respond immediately. Instead, he turned his head to look at little Kaya sitting quietly beside him.
Seeing that she was also a bit nervous, he smiled gently and said softly, "No need to worry."
"Mhm…"
Little Kaya nodded firmly, trying her best to calm herself. But no matter how brave she was—she was still just a child.
And what she worried about most… was Xia Yu.
She didn't want to see him get taken away by the Marines just because he had helped Syrup Village!
Meanwhile—
Garp, along with Swick and the other five newly empowered Devil Fruit users, entered Syrup Village at top speed.
Walking into the village, Garp scanned the surroundings. Seeing how eerily quiet everything was, he frowned slightly. "Could it be… the pirates have already left?"
"No… that's impossible!"
Garp immediately rejected that thought. From the moment he received the report, he had rushed straight here at full speed, keeping a close watch on the surrounding seas. He was certain no ships had appeared.
Which meant—
The "pirates" mentioned in the report were still in Syrup Village.
"Vice Admiral Garp, we found a villager ahead!"
At that moment, Bot ran over. "But he says there are no pirates here… and no marines have come either."
"No pirates… and no marines?"
Garp paused briefly, then issued an order decisively, "Bring all the villagers here!"
"Yes, sir!"
Bot immediately carried out the order.
Ten minutes later—
A dozen or so villagers, who had failed to hide in time after returning home, were brought before Garp.
"What is this?"
Looking at the small group of villagers, Garp was puzzled. "Such a big village, and only this many people?"
"M-Marine sir… what are you planning to do…?"
The villager at the front still carried visible fear—clearly left over from the previous group of marines.
But despite that fear, he pretended as if nothing had happened.
"There's no need to be afraid."
Garp forced a smile and said, "I am a Vice Admiral from Marine Headquarters. We received a report that pirates attacked marines here—"
"N-no, nothing like that happened!"
Before Garp could finish, another slightly older villager quickly interrupted, "Vice Admiral, you must have received incorrect information. Everything is fine here. There was no pirate attack at all…"
Clearly, these villagers didn't really understand marine ranks—whether colonel or vice admiral, it all meant the same to them.
Someone they couldn't afford to offend.
"Is that so?"
Garp was an experienced veteran. Even though only a dozen villagers stood before him, he could clearly see the fear in their eyes.
But what surprised him was—
Their fear wasn't directed at pirates.
It was directed at him and the Marines.
What was going on here?
Why would villagers fear the Marines?
At that moment, Swick hurried over with a grave expression. "Vice Admiral Garp."
After a brief pause, he leaned in and lowered his voice. "While searching, I found traces of blood that weren't fully cleaned. Following those traces, we discovered a pile of buried bodies outside the village… all of them marines."
"Damn it!"
Garp's eyes widened instantly. He immediately turned to look at the villagers before him.
With years of experience, he could tell—they were lying.
And he was certain these villagers couldn't possibly have attacked the marines. Which meant—
There really had been "pirates" in this village.
But judging by the villagers' reactions…
They seemed more afraid of the Marines than of the pirates.
"Go. Bring every villager here. I want to know exactly what happened!"
"No need."
Just as Garp finished speaking, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.
Turning toward the voice, Garp froze for a moment before speaking in surprise, "Xia Yu, what are you doing here?!"
Before Xia Yu could reply, the villagers who had been brought over immediately ran toward him, calling out in unison, "Mr. Xia Yu!"
"Mm."
Xia Yu nodded slightly. "It's alright now. You can all go back."
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