ARGH!

All the slaves screamed out all the air in their lungs, their eyes bulging and their jaws were hanging loose. They were currently witnessing the most shocking and terrifying event of their lives. Some weak slaves laid on the ground having fainted from the turn of events.

The ship plummeted off the cliff edge.

Back on the top, the guards also had their faces frozen in shock

AYE!

No one expected that the slaves would choose to rather die from the fall than to be captured. Initially, they could not understand how the devil fruit user was amongst the slaves and how he managed to harness the river as his power. Fish-men were spotted amongst the slaves but that was not a new occurrence here at the slums. ‘Why did they jump, will they rather die their own way, than to be killed by us’ they all thought 

“We are going to die!”

Veins popped out of Ezra’s head, the strain of the skill he used was noticeable as his body grew weaker. Jinbe had to use his large body as support just to keep him upright.

“Fisher please destroy the masts and any structure above the deck level, we need to reduce the surface area of the ship,” Ezra said, barely keeping his eyes open. He had pushed his focus to the limit, he did not notice any of the crying and screaming on the deck, he was concentrating on gathering the excess water that fell off the cliff with the ship. Combining the watery dome and this excess water, a watery membrane was created to surround the ship. The membrane slowly took the shape of a spearhead with the aim of piercing into the sea below.

Falling… this felt like a long time as people were coming to terms with their deaths as free men and women.

Splash

The spearhead ship pierced through the sea as it dived into the depths. With the last bit of strength Ezra could muster, he shot the ship like a torpedo out of the sea as it floated aimlessly above the water before fainting himself.

Back at the slums.

“Captain, what do we report, No one could survive that fall,” a guard asked.

“Report that they all died.” The captain said as he put this event at the back of his mind. The outcome was still the same, they tried to escape and died, the result could not be any better.

*****

Ezra was now waking up after having fainted during the rescue.

“Ezra, you are awake” an excited voice could be heard as the speaker walked into the room.

“Aladine, I am glad to see that you are ok too” Ezra replied. “How long was I out for?”

“You have been comatose for the past 3 days,” Aladine replied.

Hearing this, Ezra's stomach could not help but rumble.

“Here is our hero” Fisher announced as Ezra walked to the deck with a steamy cut of meat in his hand.

Looking around Ezra could only see a quarter of the slaves on the ship. ‘What happened when I was out, Where did everyone go?’ he thought as he made his way towards the fish-men.

Arlong had already heard the tales of how the rescue operation went from the other fish-men and the human slaves. Although he now had a little respect for Ezra he still could not change his ways overnight. As soon as some of the now free human slaves noticed they were in the North Blue, bit by bit they left the main group until only a quarter remained. ‘Humans are so selfish, where is their gratitude, they should be bowing and thanking us for saving their lives’ he thought.

“I see, that is what happened. Honestly, I already expected it. We just need to hope that they can lay low and not get caught again. We can only pull this off once” Ezra said with a sigh. 

“So what is your plan now, Fisher. I need to get back to my fleet as soon as possible” Ezra added.

“Some of the people here have requested a drop off at the next island, the only people left will be the 3 sisters as they refused every option of dropping them off here in North Blue” Jinbe replied, he could not help but look at the 3 sisters as the smartest amongst all the humans saved today.

Ring Ring

“Hatchan, You came up to the surface?” Fisher cried out loud as he answered his den den mushi.

“Ask your friend, if it will be possible to drop off 3 former sl… no 3 young ladies with him?”

“That's good, I will see you soon, tell the others to pack up, we are going to Fish-man Island when I return” Fisher ended the call.

“The situation of the girls has been resolved by a friend of Hatchan. Ezra, do you remember the Octopus-man on that ship 3 years ago. Hatchan is his son. Anyways, he saved a human a few years back from the sea. The human confirmed that he knows of a place hidden from the rest of the world, where the girls can stay.” Fisher said.

“If that is the case, I am entrusting them to you,” Ezra said before turning to the girls, “My name is Rose D. Ezra, what are your names?” He asked.

The black hair beauty replied “ My name is Boa Hancock, and these are my sisters. The green-haired girl is Boa Sandersonia and the ginger-haired girl is Boa Marigold. We are all sisters.”

“Thank you for saving us” They bowed towards Ezra.

Ezra felt uncomfortable, he did not expect that the girls would actually see him as their saviour. He could only reply “Don't get caught, live your lives to the fullest. We will meet again if fate allows it.”

“Bye Fisher, Jinbe, Marco, Aladine, Kurobi and Arlong. Arlong, try to stay out of trouble. Till we meet again” These were Ezra’s last words before diving into the sea.

Crazibrains

This brings us to the end of this arc. Who is this friend of Hatchan?