Chapter 21 Surveillance
"Colonel...Colonel...wake up..."
At the nervous calls of the navy, Smoker finally woke up from his coma.
When he regained consciousness, he immediately straightened up and looked around warily, then his eyes showed surprise.
The surrounding scene was very familiar to him. This was the Navy Medical Room in Rogue Town.
He was lying on the hospital bed, surrounded by a circle of nervous and anxious navy soldiers.
He is still alive?
The man didn't kill them.
"What's going on?"
Smoker asked with a frown, raising his hand to cover his head which was aching dully from some unknown impact.
The sailors immediately started explaining.
Smoker's expression grew uglier as he listened.
"Respected Captain Yale has occupied Rogue Town. The townspeople are now gathering in the square to line up for their ID cards!"
"Yes, Colonel, I'm glad you're awake. We were all worried that you would miss the issuance of your ID card."
"How do you feel? If everything is ok, shall we go to the square now?"
Looking at the pairs of earnest and enthusiastic eyes and the familiar faces, Smoker clenched his fists, feeling a complex emotion of anger and weirdness surging in his chest.
"You surrendered?" He suppressed his emotions and asked tentatively, "What's an ID card?"
The sailors looked at each other and lowered their heads in guilt.
"I'm sorry, Colonel, we failed you, but I assure you, that man didn't hurt anyone in this town!"
"That's right, he's not the bad guy the rumors say he is. He's just... a little tough."
"Come on, Colonel, you'll find out if you go out and take a look."
Smoker really wanted to go out and take a look.
He didn't believe the man, nor did he believe the statements of his colleagues who seemed to be clearly abnormal.
After getting off the hospital bed, Smoker refused the support of the navy officer next to him and walked quickly out of the infirmary and out of the naval base.
Lighting a cigar, he climbed on his Biroa bicycle and rode it towards the square, leaving the shouts of the sailors far behind.
The feeling of not being able to transform into an element made him feel as if his body was filled with lead.
But compared to the lost ability of the fruit, he cared more about the safety of the townspeople and the man's subsequent intentions.
The other party is indeed different from the image in the rumors.
At least Rogue Town didn't disappear, and he was still actually sailing on the familiar streets.
Biroa was very fast. In just a few minutes, Smoker arrived at the outskirts of Rogue Town Square.
The square was crowded with people, as if all the townspeople of Rogge had come here to line up.
Floating in the air were metal balls diligently scanning and producing ID cards.
Policemen in black uniforms were maintaining order, the townspeople were moving forward in an orderly manner, and everything seemed so well organized.
Smoker was relieved that the townspeople were still alive.
This may be the only good news the man has received since he came to Rogue Town.
"Ah, Colonel Smoker!" A policeman who knew Smoker ran over happily.
"Are you here to apply for an ID card as well? Please queue up here. It will be processed quickly and won't take you too long."
Smoker's breath, which had just been relieved for a moment, came back again.
He had an impression of this policeman: young, hardworking, and a man who hated evil.
He had previously invited the other party to join the navy, but was rejected.
The young policeman said that he loved his job as a police officer in Rogue Town and that he would protect Rogue Town for the rest of his life.
"Where is that man?" Smoker asked in a deep voice.
"Ed, does it matter even if Rogue Town is ruled by that man?"
The young policeman was slightly stunned, then looked around nervously for a while, and pulled Smoker to a corner outside the square.
Ed smiled bitterly, "Colonel, you must know that no one can match the respected Captain Yale. We can't defeat him, but we can't rush forward and sacrifice ourselves in vain."
These words softened Smoker's expression slightly.
It's not that he doesn't understand this principle. His seriousness and questioning just now were largely a test.
He wondered if the townspeople were all under the mind control of that man.
If the worst happens, his only option is to escape from the island as quickly as possible without trusting anyone.
Fortunately, the situation has not reached its worst point yet. At least the Ed in front of him can still give reasons for obedience instead of mindlessly offering fanatical loyalty to that man.
After thinking for a moment, Smoker asked again, "What happened before? Why did he ask you to get an ID card? What is the use of this ID card?"
"Well, I'm not too sure, but it's a new form of identification."
Ed explained, "He said he ruled us, and if we didn't want to die, we had to obey him. He even sent those metal balls to register us and stuff. He also said that after we get our ID cards today, we'll have the mayor elected tomorrow—that's right! He also said that Rogue Town will be renamed Rogue City from now on."
Smoker listened carefully, but became more and more confused. What on earth was going on?
He had seen many pirates who acted tyrannically after ruling an island, but this was the first time he had seen this kind of pirate... In short, this was a pirate who did many inexplicable and incomprehensible things.
"Where is he?" Smoker wanted to see the man again.
"I don't know how we could possibly know the whereabouts of the respected Captain Yale."
Ed thought for a moment and pointed sincerely at the metal balls floating in the air. "Maybe you could ask those metal balls. They seem to be thinking...living things?"
*
"Don't worry about it. As long as he doesn't leave the island, let him do whatever he wants. I'm really looking forward to what he'll do next."
In the mayor's office of Rogue Town, Yale, who was monitoring several places, gave orders to the ship-borne elves around him.
The elf turned in a circle and responded positively.
"As you command, respected Captain Yale."
Yale hummed and swung his feet leisurely on the desk.
In front of him, surveillance cameras from several places were floating in the void.
There are those who are concerned about the occupied islands, the World Economic Newspaper, the navy, and the ships that escaped from Rogue Town before.
The news of his arrival in Rogue Town had already been passed on by the navy to Garp, who was searching for the Goa Kingdom in the East China Sea.
At this time, the warship led by Garp was on the way to Rogue Town.
But they were destined not to find the town of Rogue.
The optical stealth technology, which has been tested in countless battles between interstellar civilizations, is impossible to be detected by the natives of the planet.
It was estimated that Garp's warships would meet up with the navy warships escaping from Rogue Town in half a day.
By then they will know that he not only captured Rogue Town, but also incapacitated the leader of the revolutionary army.
As for the leader of the revolutionary army, although he has lost his abilities, his physical condition is still there.
At this time, he had safely landed on a small island near Rogue Town and was trying to find a way to contact his fellow revolutionary soldiers.
And there's that sheep's head pirate ship.
The Straw Hat Luffy crew crossed the Upside Down Mountain and successfully entered the Grand Line.
At this moment, they were chatting with a strange old man named Kulokas at Gemini Cape.
The man named Buggy the Clown hugged Crocus and cried bitterly.
As for the old man Kulokas, his facial expression can be analyzed as 20% helplessness, 20% disgust, and 60% contemplation and solemnity.
This was analyzed by the ship-borne elves through the muscle movements of the natives' faces.
When Yale is unable to analyze brain waves up close, he usually uses intelligent AI to assist in identifying the complex emotions of intelligent creatures.
As he had told the dragon before, he could not quite understand the feelings of a single intelligent creature towards another intelligent creature.
Mixed emotions are also involved.
After scrolling through all the surveillance footage one by one, Yale called up the East China Sea nautical chart.
Unlike the paper maps sold, virtual nautical charts can be modified in real time.
For example, the islands he had dragged together before have moved away from their previous positions and pieced together to form a considerable piece of land in the East China Sea.
Although the indigenous people's construction efficiency was low and their cultural level was quite limited, after such a long period of hard work, the infrastructure project finally achieved some results.
The smooth and open roads facilitate transportation and personnel flow, and the harmonious and stable environment is suitable for the rapid development of productivity.
Schools, hospitals and other infrastructure were built by requisitioning the houses of the nobility.
The money currently spent on construction was all extorted from the homes of the nobles.
Of course, this money will run out one day, but the citizen taxes paid later will fill the gap.
The only regret is that these natives are too inefficient in all aspects.
Even with rote learning, it would take at least three years to quickly develop a talent who is proficient in a certain field.
Oh, forget it. There is no rush for this kind of thing anyway.
The thing that Yale lacks the least is time. His complaint just now was simply because he was fooled by the group of children studying in school.
Those kids studied for a week but still couldn't recognize all the characters.
This seemed incomprehensible to Yale.
"Forget it, forget it. As expected, no matter what level of civilization has developed, naughty children are always unreasonable."
After comforting himself, Yale pressed his finger on the island of Rogue City and dragged it to the edge of the huge archipelago in the center of the sea chart.
At the same time, the main control metal ball covering Rogue City received the order and established a special strong magnetic field connection with several other main control spheres in the distance in a flash of light.
At this moment, Rogue City, which was shrouded by the metal ball, was like an iron button, attracted by the strong magnet in the distance. It desperately broke free from the constraints of the seabed and quickly headed towards the islands that attracted it.
Rogue Town was raging on the sea.
Smoker almost popped his eyes out when he realized this fact.
After being rejected by Metal Ball for an interview with Yale, Smoker rushed to the port.
This was the only possibility he could think of to meet Yale - if the other party found out that he was trying to escape, he might come to meet him.
But no, no one intercepted him all the way to the port.
Just when Smoker was feeling puzzled, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to rumble and shake.
Then, he saw a scene he would never forget—why was Rogue Town raging on the sea?!
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