Pirate: It’s not a phantom beast, it’s a phantom god!

Chapter 298 Capture
Bang!
A gunshot shattered the tranquility of Mermaid Harbor.

clap clap ~
A series of chaotic footsteps were followed by a soldier's shout.

"Quick! I hit him!"

"Quickly chase after him, don't let him get away!"

"Haha, as expected of our team's sharpshooter! Well done!"

"You're definitely going to do something good again this time!"

Upon hearing the shout of the capable soldier, several burly naval men from his squad strode past their colleagues who were preparing to aim again and rushed toward the target ahead.

[He was shot but he's not badly hurt. These mermen are really as tough as the rumors say...]
With these thoughts in mind, the soldier once again raised his rifle horizontally... This renowned marksman from the fourth squad prepared to fire another shot at the enemy's leg.

[Let's see how you run now!]
He quickly completed the aiming with three points aligned, but just as the soldier put his finger on the trigger to pull it, he was suddenly kicked hard in the side.

Boom!
"Pfft!"

"who--"

The soldier, who had been kicked to the ground, clutched his ribs in excruciating pain. Just as he was about to get up and retaliate, the other man preemptively shouted:

"Damn it! Who told you to fire!"

The soldiers were stopped by CP agents who rushed over after hearing the commotion; their faces showed no remorse whatsoever.

“That belongs to the noble Celestial Dragons. You, a mere soldier, have no right to damage it.”

"If you accidentally kill him, your worthless life won't be enough to appease God's wrath!"

"I……"

Hearing the other party's cold words, the soldier with the gun froze on the spot... He couldn't understand why he was being treated this way.

He was simply following instructions to complete the task.

Is he, a naval soldier upholding justice, ultimately less important than a Celestial Dragon's slave?

The other party was a lowly merfolk slave...

Ignoring the ordinary soldier lying on the ground, still questioning his existence, the agents immediately joined the pursuit after reporting to their superiors.

Swah——

Swah——

Swah——

Their skillful use of the "Shave" move from the "Six Styles" allowed these professional agents to easily catch up with the burly soldiers ahead and the blond fish-man who was their target.

The two sides were now locked in a fight.

Several marines simultaneously pounced on the tall fishman, trying to pin him to the ground, but the fishman, because he was holding something in his hands, could only fight back with his legs.

However, due to his physical advantage, he still managed to kick those soldiers away one by one, knocking over many onlookers and vendors on the roadside.

"Get out of my way! All of you, get out of my way!"

The blond merman seemed to be in a hurry. After kicking aside the soldiers who were blocking his way, he stopped paying attention to them and tried to leave in the same direction.

But before he could take another step, several black figures appeared in front of him with a 'whoosh'.

"Varied--"

call out!
Before the fishman could react, an agent appeared behind him like a ghost and popped a syringe-like object out of his sleeve, stabbing it directly into the fishman's back!
? !
The merman, noticing something amiss behind him, turned around and simultaneously lashed out with one arm like a whip, but the opponent nimbly dodged it.

The sixth technique – 'Paper Drawing'.

Having missed his target, the blond fishman looked at the three men in black clothes and hats in front of him, whose faces he couldn't see, and his expression turned extremely ugly.

"You...you bunch of bastards!"

"The Celestial Dragons' lackeys!"

"What did you just do to me?!"

The three remained silent, coordinating in a specific formation to completely block the merfolk's retreat without launching another attack.

They seemed to be waiting for something...

Sure enough, after several attempts to break through were thwarted, and even after being injected with needles several times, the blond fishman gradually felt his body begin to lose sensation, and his consciousness began to blur.

"Truly worthy of being called a merman, they were able to withstand the special anesthetic for so long..."

"Or is this anesthetic only effective on humans, and not so effective on fish?"

Seeing that the situation was under control, the lead agent spoke contemptuously, mocking the fishman who was already kneeling on the ground.

As a race of fish-men who were not long ago classified as fish, discrimination against them by ordinary humans has almost become integrated into daily culture.

Rumors that fish-men are an inferior race, that their bodies constantly secrete a sticky, disgusting mucus, and that they carry unknown germs from the sea... have become almost universally accepted among humans.

Moreover, the higher the position, and the more someone is within the World Government, the more severe the discrimination against fish-people becomes.

However, if they were auctioned off as slaves, their starting price would be twice as high as that of ordinary humans, which is a kind of dark humor.

"Um……"

"No, I have to go back..."

Feeling his body gradually weakening, and his eyelids growing heavier despite his best efforts to keep them open, the blond merman didn't hesitate any longer... He suddenly opened his mouth and then bit his arm hard with his sharp teeth, as if tearing apart prey!

"Ugh—Ugh ugh ugh ugh!"

The intense pain finally forced his eyes to open fully, and the bloodshot veins around his pupils revealed the agony he was in.

But he suppressed that scream in his throat.

"Oh? Using pain to fight off drowsiness? That's quite a barbaric method."

Blood began to drip from the bitten arm, and the arm trembled so badly that it could no longer hold onto the items in its hands, causing a pile of jars and boxes to clatter and scatter all over the ground.

Seeing a can of milk roll down in front of him, the lead agent stomped it flat, then continued in a mocking tone:

Do you think self-harm will work?

"This is a special medicine that was specially developed to deal with slaves like you who escaped from the hands of God and brought back intact."

"Willpower alone is of no use."

Sure enough, as time went on, the blond fishman felt that the pain in his arm not only did not worsen, but became increasingly blurred...

"Tear!"

"Pfft!"

"Oh no! How could this be!"

Cornered, the mermaid bit her own arm repeatedly until it was a bloody mess, yet she felt nothing.

The darkness within his consciousness was gradually spreading, and at this point, the fishman could no longer feel the existence of his body...

“Aaaaaaah!”

"hateful!!!"

"How...how could I be here..."

bang~
The furious roar abruptly ceased, and the golden-haired fishman's massive body crashed to the ground.

"..."

"cut!"

Seeing the other person's bloodied and bruised arm, the lead agent frowned, then gave orders to the two beside him:

"Report to your superiors that the target has been captured and can be brought back immediately."

"Also, quickly find someone to bandage this fish's arm."

"Yes, team leader!" *2
Without any hesitation, the remaining two agents each took out a dedicated Den Den Mushi (a type of electric telephone) and prepared to dial.

The other was to directly order the few marines who had been kicked away earlier to drag the unconscious fishman to the island's infirmary...

……

"Damn it! You were kicking me so hard just now! How come you're like a dead pig now!"

A navy officer clutching his ribs looked at the tall fishman who had collapsed to the ground and kicked him hard in retaliation, cursing under his breath.

"Disgusting and despicable merfolk!"

"Alright, alright~ Stop cursing, anyway, this thing can't hear you now."

"Hey!"

"Quick, come lend a hand!"

"This thing is so heavy!"

"Here we go! Come on, one! Two! Let's go!"

Just as several naval soldiers were carrying the fishman on the ground, preparing to drag him to the merman clinic at the corner of the street, a shout filled with shock and anger suddenly stopped everyone present.

"stop!"

……

"Hmm?"
"What happened?"

The first person to ask a question was not anyone present, but the Den Den Mushi in the lead agent's hand.

"It's nothing, sir."

"It's just another murloc causing trouble. I'll take care of him right away."

"..."

"I'll be there soon, you'd better not make any mistakes."

"Yes, sir!"

The Den Den Mushi was disconnected. The lead agent looked at Bulfat, who was holding the child, and then waved to his two subordinates.

"Go, take him out."

(End of this chapter)