The bombardment from the Demon Slayer Order had ended, and the entire Ohara had been reduced to rubble.
A few Navy soldiers were searching the island for any possible survivors.
"Heavens, look over there! What is that?" One of the soldiers pointed at a massive humanoid ice sculpture.
"It looks like a person." Another soldier responded.
"Isn't this the work of Vice Admiral Kuzan?"
"What should we do now?"
"This isn't something we can decide, but we should at least move it back and follow the superior's orders." A slightly older soldier said.
"Right, you're right."
---
On the warship.
"Vice Admiral, what should we do with this person?" A Navy officer saluted Kuzan, who was lounging on a recliner, soaking up the sun with his sunglasses on.
"Damn it! You're bothering me over something this trivial?!" Kuzan, disturbed from his rest, became furious.
"Sorry... sorry..." The Navy officer was extremely apologetic.
"Forget it," Kuzan glanced at the ice sculpture of Shanter, noticing that it had shrunk quite a bit, "Just hand him over to the nearby Navy, I don't want to take this guy back to Marineford."
With that, Kuzan comfortably reclined again.
"This kid... his life sure is tough!"
---
Major Farin hadn't been in a good mood lately.
As the highest-ranking officer at a Navy base in the West Sea, Farin had been repeatedly frustrated in recent times.
First, six months ago, his transfer order to the Navy Headquarters had been inexplicably canceled, causing him to lose a great opportunity for promotion. It wasn't just that they didn't give him the promotion, they even transferred a useless 12-year-old private named Cardot from his base. It was infuriating.
Second, his operation to hunt down the Tewist Sea Pirate Group had failed last month. He had a perfect plan set up, but due to a small oversight, the whole thing fell apart, leading to heavy losses. The Tewist Sea Pirate Group had been wreaking havoc in the West Sea for years. In the past few years alone, this pirate group, which had returned from the Grand Line, had overthrown four or five small countries, among other numerous heinous acts. They were infamous. His nearly flawless plan was meant to wipe them out, but due to a sudden storm, they managed to escape, wasting yet another great promotion opportunity.
Finally, there was that damn Kuzan, who sent a "frozen sculpture" to his base and told him to guard it. What did Kuzan think of him? A warehouse guard? The kid trapped inside the ice was clearly no older than ten, so what was the big deal? And yet, Kuzan expected him to guard it? Although Farin wasn't as powerful as Kuzan, he was still a Navy major!
While Major Farin was sulking in his office, a messenger hurriedly ran in.
"Report, sir…"
"Damn it!" Farin angrily threw a cup at the messenger's face, venting his frustration. "Didn't I tell you to knock before entering my office?!"
"Sorry... sorry, sir..." The messenger, who had been knocked down, struggled to stand up. "Report, sir…"
"Spit it out!" Farin snapped.
"Report, sir, the ice sculpture that Vice Admiral Kuzan sent yesterday has cracked. The kid inside is about to break free! What should we do, sir...?"
"Idiot! Why are you even asking me about this? Just lock him up!" Major Farin was furious about this issue and felt disrespected. Unfortunately for the poor messenger, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Another cup flew through the air.
At that moment, sounds of chaos came from the training grounds below.
"What's going on?" Major Farin stood up from his chair and stuck his head out the window.
He saw the training grounds in utter disarray, with several Navy soldiers trying to subdue a child. The child was fighting back, and several soldiers had already been knocked to the ground.
"A bunch of useless fools!" Major Farin was enraged, grabbed a battle sword from the wall, and stormed out of the office.
---
There were at least twenty Navy soldiers surrounding Shanter, but he couldn't help but feel a little pleased: At least I wasn't taken to Marineford. Escaping from this Navy division is definitely much easier than escaping from the Headquarters. What a stroke of luck, considering the circumstances.
Shanter was well aware of the Navy's structure and knew that a division like this had at most 500 soldiers, with the highest-ranking officer being a major. A major was nothing compared to someone like Kuzan, who was on a whole different level.
Gurgle— At that moment, Shanter's stomach growled loudly.
It made sense. Since being frozen into an ice sculpture by Kuzan, Shanter had gone without food or water for 3 or 4 days. Additionally, fighting off the freezing cold was an enormous strain on his body. If not for his strong physical constitution, Shanter would have collapsed by now.
But Shanter wasn't like Luffy, whose strength was fueled by food. Luffy would become weak when hungry, but Shanter had a much larger mental capacity (he personally thought that Luffy's brain capacity was much lower than normal due to the Rubber Fruit). He was well aware of the consequences if he got caught. Even though he was hungry and weak, Shanter could still fight.
In fact, Shanter had the chance to escape because of the Navy's negligence. When they saw the frozen sculpture, no one took it seriously. Major Farin, who was in charge, also didn't care about the task, which gave Shanter the opportunity to flee.
With more and more soldiers closing in on him, Shanter knocked out two more soldiers before deciding that running was the best option to lay low for a while.
As soon as he started running, he heard a voice from behind.
"Everyone, open fire!"
"But sir, the orders from above were to detain him," a captain objected.
Smack! The captain received a slap across the face, followed by Major Farin's angry roar.
"Remember, I'm the highest-ranking officer here! Open fire, don't let him get away!"
At that moment, Shanter had already scaled a high wall and entered a residential area.
"Chase after him!"
A large group of Navy soldiers chased after him, bursting out of the base.
"Everyone, open fire!"
"But sir... there are many civilians near the criminal…"
Smack! Another slap rang out, and Major Farin's voice boomed.
"I don't care about the civilians! They're just lowly scum. What matters is catching the criminal!"
Shanter, who was running ahead, skillfully dodged the bullets while hearing the conversation behind him.
Don't care about the lives of the civilians? Lowly scum?
A bitter smile spread across Shanter's face.
In truth, if Major Farin were a person like Smoker, someone who upheld justice (though Smoker was still young at this time), Shanter might have had a different view of the Navy. But now, with Sakazuki at the Headquarters and Farin at the division, Shanter had completely lost hope in the Navy.
Although, it's clear that there was significant bias involved.
Whatever, Shanter thought, shaking his head to dismiss his thoughts. His body instinctively ran forward while continuing to dodge the bullets. The priority now is to find that girl!
---
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