Chapter 175: Chaos and Liberation in the Depths of Mariejois

After Karl left, furious roars erupted from the depths of the dungeon.

Tens of thousands of slaves surged forward, racing down the path Karl had carved out for them.

“What’s going on out there?”

“Someone, get over here—now!”

The commotion from Karl’s Doomsday Cannon was so massive that it drew the attention of the nearby guards.

The arriving guards saw waves of people pouring out from the dungeon and immediately tried to block their advance.

“Nobody is allowed to run!”

“All of you, stop right there!”

But no matter how the guards shouted, no one stopped.

“You bastards, think you can block my way?”

“Brothers, let’s fight them!”

The wildest assortment of ability users and guards clashed, throwing the corridor into chaos.

In an instant, the long corridor turned into a war zone as waves of flame surged and raged.

The uproar grew even louder, the sound carrying all the way to where the Five Elders resided.

“What’s happening outside?”

Hearing the noise from the next room, a nearby guard answered, “Reporting, Lord Elder, it’s a slave escape. We’ve sent men to handle it.”

“That’ll do. Stand down.”

Inside, the Five Elders didn’t treat the slave escape as anything significant.

Slaves try to run every year. What the elder didn’t expect was how massive the escape was this time, but the guard had only caught a few whispered details and didn’t pay much attention.

As for why the Five Elders didn’t just spread out Observation Haki to cover the area, it was because most of Mariejois was home to the Celestial Dragons. Not all Celestial Dragons were fools—many families among them had real powerhouses.

So even if there was no strict rule, there was a mutual understanding: no one would recklessly use Observation Haki throughout Mariejois to pry into others’ secrets.

But Karl wasn’t about to call it quits just yet.

“Who’s there?”

Karl could sense it—this guard in front of him was about at vice admiral level, just barely qualified.

“I’m your daddy, who do you think?”

Karl didn’t give him the slightest chance to fight back. With his current strength, if he couldn’t quietly take down a vice admiral, he’d really just be wasting his time.

“Still, kind of a waste,” he muttered.

He shoved the Rank Nine Waste Pill he drew from the System right into the guy’s mouth.

Lifting the man by his collar, Karl rose into the sky and waited just two or three minutes. He could feel heat billowing from the guard’s body, then, like hurling a javelin, he flung him straight toward the innermost part of Mariejois.

“There should be plenty of Celestial Dragon treasures waiting. My turn now.” He released his Observation Haki, locked onto the Celestial Dragon quarters, and took off.

Meanwhile, on the other side, twelve Lunarians stood frozen as they watched a massive attack slice past. Cold sweat beaded down their backs.

Before they could react, the sound of frantic footsteps echoed up from the gorge in front of them.

“Crack! Creak!” Suddenly, they noticed a slide of solid ice had appeared from the end of the chasm, stretching up into the clouds and dropping down to the sea far below.

“Chieftain, was that made by that lord too?”

“Should we leave now?”

Seeing their anxious faces, Albert slowly shook his head. “No. We wait.”

Just then, the first group sprinted toward them, not bothering with greetings. They dived right down the slide.

“Whoo-hoo, we’re free!”

“But I’m a Devil Fruit user! What do I do down there?”

As the crowd grew, Devil Fruit users started to appear. They reached the cliff’s edge, looking down at the sea below, hearts full of fear.

“Don’t worry, everyone! The Fishmen will get you safely to land! If you’re a Devil Fruit user, raise your hand!” Jin’er stood at the front, followed by several hundred Fishmen.

Seeing the Fishmen brothers, joy spread through the crowd. People rushed over, pairing off and hugging one another before jumping down the slide.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

As more and more people slid down, the sounds of battle in the distance moved ever closer—that was the rebels clashing with the guards.

They were the last barrier before escape, but luckily the news hadn’t spread too far yet, so there weren’t many guards in pursuit.

Back on Karl’s side, he reached the first Celestial Dragon mansion.

“There’s a powerhouse inside?”

“Looks like the Celestial Dragons hide deeper than I thought.” Even standing at the door, Karl could sense a faint, dangerous presence from within.

He knew the person inside was weaker than him, but if he fought a Celestial Dragon now, he’d have to drop his burglary plans.

“Boom!”

“Bang!”

At that moment, a deafening explosion thundered out from the heart of Mariejois.

Glancing around, Karl saw dozens of luxurious manors flash with shadows as several figures streaked toward the center.

Good thing he’d force-fed that Rank Nine Waste Pill to a guard—such chaos would pull all the strong opponents away.

Now, Karl unleashed his Observation Haki without restraint. He barged into vaults one by one, sweeping up mountains of gold and Devil Fruits.

“Who’s there?”

But even so much noise drew the attention of more guards.

“Bang!”

“Smack!”

Swinging a giant golden brick, Karl slammed down any enemies who dared approach.

“Awooo!” At the center of Mariejois, the guard fed the Rank Nine Waste Pill howled louder and louder as his power surged.

Under his might, grand palaces crumbled before everyone’s eyes. Golden flashes darted and danced—a sign that Mariejois’ real defenders had shown up.

But even Karl knew his time was running out.

“I really don’t want to go through that again.” Karl had no interest in another fight against overwhelming odds.

He knew when to quit while he was ahead.

By now, he’d cleaned out more than a dozen Celestial Dragon palaces. The rest could wait.

Leaving behind a clone made of pure energy, Karl’s real body shot off toward the spot where he’d first landed.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The energy clone didn’t have much juice left. After three or five minutes of fighting, it faded into thin air.

“Hurry, save Lord Celestial Dragon!”

“Get a doctor over here—fast!”

As soon as Karl’s clone was destroyed, squads of guards flooded into the palace, rushing to treat the fallen Celestial Dragons.

But all their efforts were useless. Karl hadn’t held back—and anyone who crossed him rarely lived to tell about it.

When Karl flew back to the old laboratory, he found Albert and the others already waiting.

“Follow me!”

He didn’t stop as he passed by, just slowed for a second. Albert and the rest quickly spread their wings, chasing after him.

At the end of the chute, Karl saw no one else was coming out. He stomped on the ice slide, shattering it, then shot out across the sea.

They’d escaped—but for the Celestial Dragons in Mariejois, the slaughter had only just begun.