“What is he doing?” Marigold stared blankly as Ethan crouched in the middle of the prison corridor.
Hancock and Sandersonia looked just as confused.
Then— the floor cracked apart.
A violent tremor shook the underground prison as thick roots burst through the stone tiles.
Wood exploded upward.
Trees and vines surged through the dungeon like a living tidal wave, racing through the corridors with terrifying speed.
Iron prison doors that had seemed impossible to break were crushed apart instantly beneath the expanding forest.
The three sisters froze.
For one terrifying moment, it genuinely felt as though some ancient monster had awakened beneath Mary Geoise.
But under Ethan’s control, the raging forest split cleanly apart, opening pathways through the chaos.
Ethan stepped toward the shattered cell and shouted: “What are you waiting for?!
Run!” Hancock was the first to recover.
She hurried through the dense growth, staring at Ethan with open disbelief.
“You’re a Devil Fruit user?” “No time to explain.” Ethan avoided the question completely.
“Get everyone moving.” Hancock looked at him silently for a moment, as if trying to engrave his face into her memory forever.
“…Thank you.” Then she grabbed her sisters and ran.
Ethan turned back toward the prison depths.
Wood Release surged again.
One prison door after another exploded apart.
Cells opened across the underground complex.
Then the slaves began pouring out.
Hundreds.
Then thousands.
An endless flood of desperate humanity rushed through the corridors toward freedom.
Exactly as Ethan intended.
The greater the chaos became, the harder it would be for the Marines and World Government forces to contain it.
Once the last wave of slaves escaped the prison sector, Ethan ignited the dungeon itself.
With Wood Release spread throughout the underground halls, the flames exploded outward almost instantly.
Fire devoured the prison.
Smoke billowed upward through the foundations of Mary Geoise.
But Ethan didn’t stop there.
Under the cover of night, he moved through the Holy Land itself, spreading more fires wherever he went.
Thick wooden growths crawled through streets and buildings, feeding the inferno as entire districts began to burn.
What Ethan didn’t realize— was that elsewhere in the city, another man was doing the exact same thing.
Bathed in the glow of the growing inferno, a massive figure sprinted across the rooftops.
His towering frame and crimson skin immediately marked him as non-human.
Fisher Tiger.
A Fish-Man.
For most of his life, Tiger had dreamed of seeing the world freely.
But shortly after beginning his journey, he had been captured by traffickers and sold into slavery at Mary Geoise.
For three years, he endured torture, humiliation, and cruelty beyond imagination.
He witnessed the ugliest depths of human greed.
And he grew to despise humanity for it.
Yet even so— his hatred never outweighed his desire to save others suffering the same fate.
That was why, after escaping the Holy Land once already… he came back.
Tonight, Fisher Tiger intended to free every slave in Mary Geoise.
He had just finished setting another prison block ablaze when something caught his attention.
The opposite side of the city was already burning.
Tiger stopped cold.
“…What?” Someone else had started first?
And judging by the scale— the fire spreading across the Holy Land was rapidly spiraling out of control.
Tiger’s expression changed immediately.
If he didn’t move faster, countless slaves would burn alive before escaping.
“Who the hell started this fire?!” Tiger cursed loudly as he sprinted through the blazing streets.
Fortunately, his years as a slave meant he knew Mary Geoise’s layout intimately.
Even under immense pressure, he still managed to free huge numbers of prisoners.
And as panic spread throughout the city, many remaining slaves escaped on their own amid the confusion.
At last, Tiger prepared to leave the Holy Land— Only for Marines to block his path.
Soldiers flooded the streets ahead of him.
At their center stood a Marine captain draped in a justice coat.
“You’ve got nerve,” the captain snarled.
“Freeing this many slaves from Mary Geoise?” Tiger’s eyes hardened.
“They were innocent people stolen from their homes,” he replied coldly.
“You call yourselves Marines, yet you protect monsters instead of the weak.” “What a pathetic excuse for justice.” The captain sneered.
“Spare me the speech.” His face darkened.
“Freeing slaves was already unforgivable.
Setting the Holy Land on fire makes it even worse.” He drew his sword slightly.
“You’re dead either way.” “Surrender.” Tiger blinked.
“The fire wasn’t me.” “Still lying?” The captain waved his hand sharply.
“Take him down!” Gunfire erupted instantly.
Dozens of rifles fired at once.
But Tiger remained perfectly calm.
He raised one arm.
Fish-Man Karate exploded outward.
The air compressed violently before detonating into a roaring shockwave.
The incoming bullets instantly lost momentum, dropping harmlessly to the ground like scattered rain.
The captain’s expression stiffened.
Tiger was far stronger than expected.
“So you’re not just some ordinary fish-man…” Tiger ignored him entirely.
At this point, explanations were meaningless.
He had come here to free slaves regardless.
The captain quickly changed tactics.
“Close in!
Surround him!” Marines rushed forward from every direction.
Fish-Men possessed physical strength far beyond ordinary humans.
The captain understood perfectly well that normal soldiers couldn’t truly defeat Tiger.
But that didn’t matter.
Their role was simply to stall him.
Eventually, stronger Marine officers would arrive.
And when they did— Tiger would die.
The captain smirked safely behind his men, with no intention of risking his own life.
Tiger clearly understood the situation too.
“…Damn it.” He attempted to force a breakthrough, but every time he pushed forward, more Marines flooded in to block him.
Like sinking deeper into a swamp.
The captain laughed mockingly from the rear.
“Stop struggling.
You’re only making things harder on yourself.” Tiger’s expression darkened further.
The longer this continued, the worse the situation became.
The inferno consuming the city guaranteed that true Marine monsters would arrive soon.
Tiger slowly clenched his fists.
“If I’m going back to slavery…” Murderous intent flashed through his eyes.
“I’d rather die here.” And before he died— he intended to drag that captain straight into hell with him.
Just as Tiger prepared for a desperate final charge— the earth exploded.
Massive trees erupted from beneath the streets.
The Marine formation shattered instantly.
Soldiers screamed as they were thrown into the air.
The captain stared in horror as giant roots wrapped around his body.
“What the hell is this?!” A moment later, the forest swallowed him whole.
The sudden attack was so bizarre that even Tiger instinctively tensed.
Then a human teenager stepped out from the trees.
The boy glanced at Tiger briefly.
“…Why are you still standing there?” Then he immediately sprinted deeper into the burning city.
Tiger froze for half a second.
Then followed him without hesitation.
The two figures vanished into the rapidly spreading forest.
At the same time, deep within the chambers of the World Government— the Five Elders were furious.
“This is unacceptable!” One Elder slammed his fist onto the table hard enough to crack it.
“Someone actually dared murder people and set fire to Mary Geoise?!” Another Elder’s expression twisted with rage.
“This is a direct humiliation of the World Nobles!” “Have we identified the culprit yet?” A government official hurriedly answered: “According to reports from patrol units… a Fish-Man appears to be liberating slaves throughout the city.” “Those damned fish-men are becoming more arrogant by the year.” One Elder turned sharply.
“Where is Sakazuki?” “Deploy him immediately and crush these criminals!” Another Elder frowned.
“The city is already engulfed in flames.
Sending Sakazuki now would only worsen the destruction.” He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
“Have Kuzan handle it instead.”