While Cass and Wilbur were talking, the two warships arrived at Matrouh Harbor, and the sounds they heard grew louder as they drew closer.
Through the window, Wilbur saw the brightly lit port city.
"Go down and see what's going on."
Cass stood up, a cigarette dangling from his lips, and walked out.
Cass doesn't actually smoke much, but his boss, Mr. Kuro, is a chain smoker. As his subordinates, they naturally have to cater to his tastes. It's not like they don't smoke at all, so hanging around a couple of cigarettes isn't a big deal.
Cass smokes cigarettes, Wilbur smokes cigars, and when they have nothing to do, they often smoke during meetings in Dressrosa.
The two men walked out of the office, and at that moment the warships were docked. The naval personnel of both ships had already disembarked and were waiting in the harbor. The two men walked down the steps that extended from the warships.
boom!
As soon as they went down, they saw a loud bang ahead and a burst of fire, as if the building had exploded.
"Organize a rescue operation!"
Cass shouted, "Send everyone out and do everything you can to search and rescue!"
"Yes, sir!" The naval captains leading the team saluted and charged forward with their men.
Even without them demonstrating, the majority of the crew on board were from Douglas Squadron, with only a few being former G-3 naval personnel. As soon as Cass gave the order, Douglas Squadron's naval forces began to charge forward.
Two large warships, carrying about a thousand men, rushed directly into the area of the fire and explosion. They quickly dragged out a group of wounded men, some of whom were still alive, while others were completely dead. The men wore different clothes, some with civilian attire and others with royal army uniforms.
The royal army of the Kingdom of Maturu wore round steel helmets, armor, and carried weapons, while the civilians were thinly dressed, and the only weapons they had left were wooden sticks, bricks, and pitchforks.
"Something's not right..."
Wilbur stared intently at several of the corpses, frowning as he asked, "Why are the marks on the corpses like this?"
These corpses were not caused by the explosion, but rather by a real fight that had taken place before. Wilbur noticed that the fully armed Kingdom soldiers had fatal wounds from wooden sticks and bricks, which made him suspicious. Soldiers' combat strength was definitely superior to that of civilians. It wasn't that civilians couldn't produce strong individuals, but these civilians were clearly just ordinary people.
But why would ordinary people like these inflict fatal injuries on soldiers? This wasn't a death caused by accumulated damage. Judging from the injuries, it was clear that these civilians were evenly matched with the soldiers, and even had the upper hand.
This wasn't just one or two; judging from the corpses, everyone was like that. But if these ordinary people were stronger than soldiers, then they should be soldiers. Moreover... judging from the current situation, the strength of their bodies and the outline of their muscles are very weak, so they can't exert the power to cause serious injury to soldiers.
"It's like they've overdrawn their physical strength beforehand." Wilbur frowned. "A Devil Fruit ability? Are there any Devil Fruit users here?"
“This looks familiar…” Cass frowned as well: “I feel like I’ve seen this situation somewhere before.”
"The navy has come to help the Kingdom's army suppress us!!"
Suddenly, a loud roar came from ahead. In the firelight, a group of figures gradually gathered together and approached in a dark mass.
"Kill them!"
"Rebel! We must rebel! We've had enough!"
"After we wipe out the navy, we'll storm Matru City and bring down that tyrannical king!"
As the crowd grew more excited, the figures gradually came into Cass and Wilbur's view.
They were a group of civilians, wielding ordinary weapons and shouting. Their faces were resolute, which made Wilbur's expression somewhat serious, because the sense of power these people exuded was indeed not low.
"navy!"
From the crowd emerged a woman in red, wearing sunglasses and a red top hat, with short purple hair and a cigarette dangling from her lips. She wore nothing but a skirt, a red vest, and a tie. This woman carried a flag and called out:
"Are you going to help the evil kingdom's army? I will never allow it! Rebel! Cowardly and weak civilians, if we resist, they will not underestimate us!"
As she was speaking, she suddenly froze, looked at the bearded man in front of her, stopped her hand that was about to raise the flag, and bit the cigarette holder. "Cas?!"
“Bello Betty?” Cass frowned. “As expected, in this situation, your Revolutionary Army is involved.”
“Bello Betty?” Wilbur was taken aback. “One of the Revolutionary Army’s officers?”
He looked Bello Betty up and down, and asked suspiciously, "I heard that the four major officers of the Revolutionary Army and Chief of Staff Sabo were buried in Mary Geoise. Why are you here?"
“Sabo won’t die, shut up!” Betty snapped.
Bello Beatty was not among those who stormed Mary Geoise; it was Sabo and three other executives who went. Beatty was active elsewhere at the time, and her abilities were not suited for any covert operations.
"It seems the intelligence was flawed..."
Cass nodded and said, "Ignore her, continue the rescue and see if there are any survivors."
“But, Vice Admiral Cass, this is the Revolutionary Army…” A naval captain was about to say something.
The Revolutionary Army is an enemy of the World Government!
"What is the Navy's duty?!" Cass glared at the colonel.
The colonel pursed his lips, didn't answer, but simply saluted before leading his men around the civilian group.
Now, only Cass and Wilbur remain in the entire port.
Cass seemed completely unafraid of the large crowd surrounding him. With a glance, he noticed that the civilians carrying sticks, pitchforks, and even rolled-up newspapers instinctively took a step back when their eyes met his, some even lowering their heads as if they had done something wrong.
"What kind of behavior is this?!"
Cass let out a loud shout, which even sent chills down Betty's spine. This man... was a major enemy of their revolutionary ideals. The last time they encountered him, it directly caused her plan to fail. And now they've run into him again. What bad luck!
However, the revolutionary army's ideology is not wrong.
“What’s wrong with us resisting? The common people have suffered enough! This time we’re not dealing with pirates, so it’s none of your business, right?” Betty retorted instinctively.
"No, I mean, why are you still dressed like this!"
Cass pointed at Betty's attire and said with dismay, "Why are you dressed like this! Does the Revolutionary Army have no clothes for you to wear?! Or do you have to dress like this to attract people to the revolution? Hmm? I warned you last time, at least dress more neatly!"
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