Walking through the messy crowd of Pearl town, Pate and others look at the chaotic spectacle that resulted from the attacks of the bandits.

Many homes were shattered to rubble, you can even see many families' sorrow as they cry their hearts out to the guards that tried to tend to their wounds.

Pate's expression was starting to darken, Jic looked around and asked "What the heck happened here?"

Raffa pat Jic to silence him and they walk through their way to the woods where the hills could be found.

Sighing, Pate tried to calm himself as they ventured through he said "All of the explosions and attack of the bandits earlier were premeditated by someone, all of it was an act to target the organization of that woman."

Raffa nodded while reckoning the scene when the white-haired girl answered the Den Den Mushi, the attack at their Headquarters, and her little sister went missing were clues that all of this was planned.

"It's just that their plan didn't fall into place." Pate smiles while pushing a shrub of plants to the side, revealing a teenage short black-haired man in black robes, both cheeks have three lines of whisker that have a resemblance to that of a cat.

The young man lifted his head and looked at them with his black eyes pupils, seeing them he frowned with dissatisfaction as it's two slightly much larger fangs peeked out of the edges of its lips.

"Bastard, they almost killed me back there if not for me having the ability to fight back with this new form of our Runes Pact. You wouldn't be able to see me again!" and in its embrace, a young white-haired loli was sleeping quietly.

"T-this familiar nagging, don't t-tell me!" Jic and Raffa were surprised and looked intently at the young man.

"Yeah, ahahaha it's PB in human form!" Pate tried to weaken his laughter and pointed at PB who angrily looked at him "Ahahaha, being a babysitter for hundreds of years didn't let you down huh!"

"Shut up, you'll wake her up!" PB shushed them but a series of cluttering noises sounded in their surroundings as a bunch of bandits showed, encircling the whole area.

And the suspected leader of the group unsheaths a long knife as it swung it in the air threatening them "Hand over the kid or all of you will be buried here!"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Raffa didn't look at them and just sat down while patting his stomach "Jeez, I'm super hungry. Could you spare some food PB?"

Jic squatted in front of PB, giving a hopeful look that gave PB a shiver in his spine.

Pate tilts his head slightly, scanning them and slowly his face darkens as he remembered the wreckage they did at the town earlier "Buried? we'll see who will be buried here!"

***

Stepping down from the ladder from the deck, Lieutenant Curio looks at the young lady in front of him 'I didn't expect that the famous Subjugator would be this young and gorgeous.'

Giving his best amicable smile that he could muster, he said "It is nice to meet a gor-"

"Cut the formalities, who gave you the authority to dock here on our island?" Belle didn't give him face and ask him right away.

Lieutenant Curio didn't expect that this woman would be this kind of hard to deal with, still smiling he said "We are just sailing when my crew see the dozen rising smoke and immediately rush here to help the people, as you know we marine are the ju-"

"Get out of this island, right away!" like earlier, Belle started to let out a heavy pressure that both of their parties felt the growing tension between their leader.

"Heh, you are quite a fierce one aren't you?" the smiling lips of the Lieutenant turn to a smirk as he lets out the same intensity of pressure that collides between them.

"One last warning, marines!" the pupils of Belle shrink, letting a little pressure of her Haoshoku Haki that she herself didn't even know but know how to utilize it.

The little pressure that she let out was enough to dominate the invisible battle between them that let the Lieutenant be shocked at the heavy aura that held him down "H-how come!?"

"Still not moving?" Belle unsheaths her greatsword from her back as the pressure that she lets out starts to rise making the marines sweat a lot.

Sound of unsheathing swords rang out from the dock that even the vendor stalls and people who were idling around walked away, distancing themselves from this conflict.

Lieutenant Curio smiled again as he used his hand gesturing to one of the marines which gave to him a wanted poster "We can talk this out, you see we are here to capture these two men. A wanted pirate and bandit that is currently here, making havoc on this peaceful island."

Unfurling the two wanted posters, a poster of Raffa and an unknown man was uncovered at them that made Belle frown in thinking.

"They aren't here!" Belle said firmly, denying their reason to stay here.

But to her surprise, one of her guards shouts out without her order "They are here, big boss. The Raffa Slasher just escaped with a young man and that bandit wreck havoc here earl-"

"Bastard!" Bug Goof angrily rammed the guard that spoke and pin him down.

"What is the meaning of this!?" a gleaming cunningness shone in the eyes of the Lieutenant as he tried to frown in dissatisfaction.

'A planted spy, huh!' Belle now knew how the other party could plan meticulously and execute it while she was dealing with the three pirates.

"I'll let you marines do your job but that four warships must stay away from our island!" ignoring the questioning look of the lieutenant, she put down her bottom line in which the lieutenant nodded in consent.

"Let's go!" Belle sheaths her greatsword and turns around, the guard that pinned down shouted "I wanted to become a mari-" but was punched down hard by Big Goof.

Lieutenant Curio did not intend to intervene and let the guard be dragged by Big Goof. After all, he won this confrontation and the planted spy doesn't have any use for him anymore.

"Lieutenant, a report from the secret group that you dispatched arrived!" a marine walks beside him with a report in its hand.

Reading the encrypted report, Lieutenant Curio frowned a little then smiled 'It didn't matter if the little sister of the subjugator was not in my hands, the important thing is the time of the meeting of the two.'

"By then I can reap the whole of them there!" Lieutenant Curio's eyes flash as he thinks of a fitting scheme that he could use, eyeing the four battleships "Steer the ships around and distance it from afar but still look out for possible signal flare here for an emergency!"