Behind the island was a hidden cave, passable by only one ship.
Inside the cave was a gigantic dock, where countless people were rapidly boarding several warships and dozens of sailing vessels of various sizes docked in the harbor.
These people were all dark-skinned and thin. Through the holes in their tattered clothes, one could see pockmarked scars.
Some of these wounds were still oozing blood streaked with yellow and red.
It was clear they had long endured the lash, with new wounds piling on old, never healing.
Yet, in their eyes, there was no despair; instead, they shone with hope.
Because…
Because their king, the king of their Bass Kingdom, "Bass. Bada," had come to save them and welcome them.
They rushed forward excitedly, the brilliance in their eyes outshining even the golden hues of the setting sun.
Bada stood on the dock beside the Freedom, watching his Bass Kingdom citizens pass by. Seeing their condition, a deep self-reproach flickered in his eyes.
These citizens were entirely a result of his impulsive actions three years ago.
But he didn't know that even if he hadn't tried to save Liya, the World Government would have found an excuse to annihilate the Bass Kingdom.
It was simply because the Bass Kingdom was the closest.
On one of the Navy warships, Melasen and his副官 stood quietly at the bow, their gazes somber as they looked down at the civilians on the dock.
They were silent, while the Navy soldiers behind them quickly maintained order, providing food and water to everyone boarding.
One could imagine that after this incident, their sense of justice would be shaken.
It was uncertain how many of them, after facing the darkness of the world for the first time, would truly uphold the justice of the Navy and the justice in their own hearts.
They glanced at Melasen standing at the bow, and none of them felt as calm as they appeared.
Publicly defying the World Government and assisting in transporting these civilians and slaves would surely result in punishment from Marine Headquarters and the World Government.
However, it didn't matter. If their base commander wasn't afraid, why should they be?
With this thought, they looked at the thin civilians filling the deck, and the flicker of hesitation about future punishment vanished instantly.
What was justice?
What they were doing right now was justice, to them.
Once everyone was on board, the ships at the hidden dock lined up and swiftly departed in an orderly fashion, setting sail on the sea outside the cave, heading towards Bass Island.
Just then, everyone was drawn by a tremendous sound.
They all looked up at the sky, witnessing a sight they would never forget in their lives.
In the far distance, the entire sky was suddenly torn open by a massive rift. Clouds were pouring into this rift like seawater.
Through the rift, they could even see the starry sky, invisible during the day.
The setting sun pierced through the rift, casting a not-too-bright golden light downwards.
This ray of light was like the hope in the eyes of the civilians and slaves on the ships; though it was the afterglow, it was warm enough.
"They actually went this far."
Melasen, at the bow of the warship, held a cigar in his mouth, looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with astonishment.
"Was it Silver Hair who did it?"
Dai Wei, standing beside Melasen, looked at the rift in the sky, his face full of shock.
Although he knew that only Silver Hair on the island could unleash such a slash, he couldn't help but ask.
Melasen didn't answer, as they all knew who had done it.
At the bow of the Freedom, Bada and the others also heard the sound and looked up simultaneously.
Indigo was used to such things.
But Hua and the other two looked at the sky with excitement.
They had seen such scenes more than once, but every time they saw it, they couldn't help but feel thrilled.
These three were wrapped in bandages and insisted on coming out to watch the spectacle instead of resting in the infirmary.
It seemed the fight with CP wasn't completely draining their spirit yet!
Compared to Hua and the other two, Bada was much better off.
They hadn't encountered much resistance during the rescue; they only faced some miners with moderate strength.
Although he couldn't go all out, it was easy for him to deal with those guards.
It took them half a day to rescue everyone, mainly because the mine on the island was too complex.
Despite the island not being large and having few mines, the passages inside were like countless ant holes, sprawling in all directions.
This caused them to take many detours. If they hadn't searched thoroughly and received help from the civilians and slaves within the mine, they might not have finished exploring the entire mine yet.
Bada looked up at the sky, then turned his gaze to the right. The ships had already sailed a considerable distance, and they could now see the beach where they had landed earlier.
"Buster Call?"
Although he already knew everything about the dock from Indigo, seeing ten massive warships beached in the shallow waters outside the sand still sent a shiver of fear down his spine.
If he and his subordinates had come alone, they would likely have been annihilated along with this small island by now!
These weren't ordinary warships; they were giant vessels built specifically for destruction. Two or three could destroy a small country, and now there were ten.
Thinking of this, he looked at the two battlefields on the distant beach, and his gratitude deepened.
"Thank you, thank you."
"Alright, stop looking, our challenge isn't over yet!"
Indigo chuckled heartily, patted Bada's shoulder. "Sailing the Grand Line at night is quite a challenge!"
Bada turned to look at Indigo, his expression serious and his eyes determined. "The hardest part was held off by Kong. Now, it's up to us!"
"Well, no need to be so tense. We have a world-class navigator on our ship!"
"Kekeke!!"
Indigo let out a loud laugh, then turned to look at Alol, "Alol, it's up to you now."
Alol heard Indigo calling him and quickly turned to look at Indigo, then met Bada's gaze, a spark of confidence in his eyes.
"Don't worry, I'm an ant-man who ate the Ant-Ant Fruit, I can sense changes in the weather within a certain range."
Bada looked at Alol with gratitude. No ship sailing the Grand Line was unafraid of its weather.
He believed in Alol, no, he believed in everyone in the Silver Hair Pirates.
Because they had not only saved him but also the entire Bass Kingdom.
"Thank you, Alol."
"Hahaha!!"
Alol extended his hand and patted Bada's shoulder. "What are you thanking me for! Hahaha..."
He then burst into proud laughter.
"Hmph~ What's so great about it!"
Seeing Alol's smug face, Hua couldn't help but retort.
"What did you say, you brat."
Alol's laughter stopped as he turned to look at Hua, his brow furrowed.
"What? So you can sense the weather? If it weren't for my 'Radish' (A'hua's nickname), you would have fallen on the battlefield long ago."
"You want to fight?"
"Bring it on!"
...
As they spoke, their heads bumped together.
Bada looked at Alol and Hua in surprise, wanting to break them up. But as he moved, A'tao stopped him.
A'tao, smoking his pipe, calmly watched the distant beach. "Ignore them, these two have always had clashing personalities. They've been fighting since they were kids."
He then waved his hand. "It's nothing."
"Oh..."
Bada watched with curiosity as Alol and Hua started exchanging blows, a smile gradually forming on his lips.
He had almost forgotten that besides Indigo, everyone else in Silver Hair's crew was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old lad.
"Youth is wonderful!"