If the Grand Line is paradise for pirates, then for ordinary people, the four great seas. East Blue, West Blue, South Blue, and North Blue. Those are the places where they can truly live in peace.
In terms of size, climate, and nearly every other aspect, the Four Seas are far gentler to ordinary people than the Grand Line.
Over the centuries, these four seas have produced countless heroes and given rise to countless legends.
And among them, East Blue is definitely not the weakest sea at this point in time. The name of the Pirate King Roger alone is enough to uphold East Blue's reputation, not to mention the legend of the Marine hero Garp.
If one had to name the true weakest sea among the four right now, it would actually be South Blue.
And precisely because of that, South Blue had become one of the most prosperous of the Four Seas. It was famous for all kinds of service industries and manufacturing. Compared with the chaos and bloodshed of the Grand Line, this sea might actually be the real paradise.
Baterilla Island was one such example. It was a huge island renowned for its tourism industry. Its mild climate, pleasant sunshine, and beautiful coastal scenery drew countless visitors.
Because of that, Baterilla Island had gathered a population of nearly a million.
But that was already history. Ever since World Government ships arrived six months ago and sealed off the entire island, Baterilla Island had become a completely isolated island in South Blue.
Four warships blocked the island's four ports of entry and exit, while two more continuously patrolled the waters around it.
CP agents, armed and dressed in black suits, stood on alert and patrolled every corner of the island.
A lockdown on this scale naturally affected the lives of the island's residents. In fact, many people on the island could barely survive under these conditions. Yet no matter how many times they tried to negotiate, they always received the same answer.
"As long as we find the Pirate King's bloodline, the blockade will naturally be lifted..."
That was obviously no easy task. With nearly a million people on the island, there were at least five or six thousand pregnant women alone. On top of that, there were newborn babies of the right age. Altogether, the total easily exceeded ten thousand.
Without direct evidence, trying to find the so-called bloodline of the Pirate King Roger among them was practically impossible.
What unsettled the islanders even more was this.
At first, the World Government personnel on the island would only take away pregnant women and newborn infants they suspected for questioning, and after the investigation they would release them.
But lately, more and more pregnant women and babies were being kept there.
At the very center of Baterilla Island's great city stood the Assembly Hall, the island's administrative center.
However, after the World Government's CP agents arrived six months ago, they had forcefully taken over the place and driven out the island's original officials.
Faced with the World Government's power, those officials could do nothing but swallow their anger, let alone the ordinary people.
At this moment, the area around the Assembly Hall, whose gates had once stood open, was surrounded by layers of iron fencing, and countless black-suited intelligence agents had sealed the place off completely.
At the entrance, countless men, women, and children had gathered there, calling out anxiously.
"Please, let my wife out. She's about to give birth, and she's very weak..."
"The baby in my sister's belly really has nothing to do with pirates. She just got pregnant by accident..."
"Mom... Mom... I'm hungry..."
As an island famous for tourism, there were many unmarried women here who had become pregnant and given birth. Since they had no way to explain who the father was, they had become the biggest victims.
At that moment, a commotion rose from the crowd.
Everyone turned to look, and amid the despair on their faces, a faint glimmer of hope appeared.
Two strangely distinctive figures, one man and one woman, stepped out from the crowd.
The man was tall and straight-backed, over two meters in height, and looked to be in his thirties. He had a mature, steady air about him, with blond hair, black-rimmed glasses, and a suit. In his hand was a short rod that looked like a balance beam.
The woman, by contrast, looked very petite, only about 1.6 meters tall. She was also very young, looking under twenty. She was thin, pale, and wore a blank expression on her face. In her hand she held a slender steel pipe, and at her waist were two flintlock pistols.
"Tadas Fes-sama! Aming-sama!"
When the crowd saw the two of them appear, the despair in their eyes carried a trace of pleading. They did not dare hope too much, because this was far from the first time.
Sensing the crowd's gaze, the man named Tadas Fes frowned slightly, then sighed and said to them,
"I'll do my best to try."
Even though they had heard those words countless times already, the only people they had left to place their hopes on were these two.
Since the World Government had sealed off the entire island, only these two had continued standing up for them and negotiating with the World Government all the way until now.
Under everyone's watchful gaze, the two of them walked to the entrance of the Assembly Hall.
The guards at the gate recognized them immediately and said with obvious displeasure,
"You two again...?"
The man named Fes acted as though he had heard nothing and formally announced himself according to etiquette.
"Tadas Fes, Financial Officer of Baterilla Island, and Sheriff Saranojo Minsen request an audience!"
The guard at the gate looked impatient, but in the end still said,
"Wait here. I'll report it."
"Thank you."
That report took nearly half an hour. The two of them stood under the blazing sun without moving.
The surrounding citizens watched them with hopeful eyes, and even the black-clothed guards on duty looked a little surprised.
Only after sweat had visibly begun to run down both their foreheads under the scorching sun did the man who had gone inside finally come back out. In a lazy tone, he said,
"The officer doesn't have time to see you. Come back next time."
"You bastard!!!"
As if she had finally reached the end of her patience, the girl named Aming let out a furious snort and swung the slender steel pipe in her hand, carrying immense force, straight at the guard. The black-clothed men around them all changed expression and instinctively raised their guns, while the guard about to be hit turned deathly pale on the spot.
But just as the steel pipe was about to come down, a slender hand caught it.
A wave of startled cries rose from the crowd.
"Calm down!!!"
The man named Fes shot the girl beside him a look and barked the order.
The anger on Aming's face slowly faded. She gave a cold snort, pulled back her weapon, turned around, and walked away.
Only then did Fes turn back to the guard with an apologetic expression.
"I'm sorry. This child has only just taken up the position of sheriff, so she still doesn't understand proper manners. I apologize to you for her rudeness..."
The guard, who had narrowly escaped disaster, was just about to lash out in retaliation, when he suddenly noticed the dangerous look in the corner of this gentleman's eye. Instantly, he was so frightened that he could not utter a single word...