Chapter 358: The Old Marine, The New Pirate
Chapter 358: The Old Marine, The New Pirate
"Huff, huff."
On an island, a man with bronzed skin, donned in red armor, a black cape, and braided hair, was running for his life.
Bang, bang, bang!
Gunshots rang out from behind him, as bullets whizzed by, grazing his body, or hitting the ground where his feet had just been, sending up little clouds of dust.
"Get him!"
"Don't let him escape!"
A group of over a hundred pirates was in hot pursuit, their weapons drawn, and fingers pulling triggers.
Bang, bang!
A few more shots rang out, and the bronzed man running ahead had a red dot appear in his eye. He turned and threw out his elbow, a black coating appearing on it, causing the bullet to spark and fly away.
This man had long arms, with two joints, he was a member of the Longarm Tribe.
After deflecting the bullet, Longarms revealed a trace of impatience in his eyes. Normally, he would have killed these people by now, instead of running like this.
But at the moment, he really had no choice, he couldn't even stop to catch his breath.
However, the attacks from behind were relentless.
"Rasen!"
He turned swiftly, his foot lashing out with a vacuum-slicing kick. But before this kick could go far, two identical kicks appeared on its sides.
Bang!
The flying kicks collided, creating a wave of air.
Within this wave, several afterimages closed in on the Longarm man, revealing pairs of eyes as dark as night. One after another, they rapidly stomped the ground dozens of times, their bodies moving with agility.
'Rokushiki', 'Shave'!
The afterimages split into left and right, forming an arc as they rushed towards the Longarm man. He tried to turn his body, but it seemed too late, so he could only clench his fists and punch them away.
Bang!
His two fists were met by fists with black and gold stripes, and though the Longarm man's strength was not superior, his punches were clearly imbued with Haki. The standoff didn't last long, as his fists were soon pushed back.
But soon, more fists came, and more afterimages took advantage of his openings to attack his body.
Despite his Kenbunshoku allowing him to sense danger, he couldn't defend against so many attackers, no matter how hard he tried.
Bang!
The Longarm man used his hands and feet together, attacking and retreating at the same time. But in the end, he couldn't beat the sheer number of opponents, and a sudden fist struck his chest, sending him flying backward, where he fell heavily to the ground.
In that instant of falling, the afterimages surrounded him, forming a circle to prevent his escape.
"You guys!"
The Longarm man propped himself up with his arms, his chest heaving as he glared at the crowd of pitch-black eyes, and snarled, "Why do all of you know Rokushiki!"
"The Master taught us."
A child of eight or nine years old slowly walked out from the crowd, looking at the Longarm man, he said, "You are Xiu Zu, a Commodore of the Marine Headquarters. The Master said it would be a waste for someone of your position to come here and act as an assassin. We should strip your skin and let you die in a way that fits your identity."
"Tsk, I'm no longer a Commodore, I'm a free man now!" Xiu Zu laughed, "Don't think you can win just because you outnumber me!"
Lass shook his head, "We know you can use Haki, but that kind of power only works against one or two people. Now that we have three hundred of our tribe here, all trained in Rokushiki, you are no match for us. It wasn't easy to catch you here, and we won't let you go easily."
"So what if you catch me, I won't say anything."
Xiu Zu stood up, laughing loudly, "You damn pirates, one day you will all disappear!"
"We know who you are without you telling us," Lass said, "You are the squad captain of the Neo-Marine, under Captain Zefa. Also, the Master said that even if you are the son of the Five Elders, you must be captured and skinned this time!"
Capturing this man was not going to be easy.
Beyond Fix Island, they had also lost a neighboring island, with everyone stationed there slaughtered, and their possessions plundered.
Lass felt utterly humiliated.
In all his years of following the Boss, he had never experienced such humiliation. Thus, he specifically sought out Lily, had her draw up a marine chart of the area, and then sent out a notice to the nearby islands, warning them about a member of the Longarm Tribe.
Fortunately, although the previous subordinates had died, the nearby villagers had seen the perpetrator clearly, and they were finally able to confirm his appearance.
With this information, the matter became much easier to handle.
Although Sag may not have been as skilled as Big Mom in terms of intelligence gathering, when it came to investigating the navy, he was second to none.
Even if CP and the Navy did not share intelligence, it was still possible to gather information about a few naval personnel.
And so, they discovered Xiu Zu, a former Commodore of the Navy Headquarters.
To deal with this man, Lass assembled all his tribesmen and set out to capture him thoroughly!
Their opponent, Xiu Zu, was proficient in Rokushiki and could use both Kenbunshoku and Busoshoku Haki.
Their three hundred Demon Clan members were also experts in Rokushiki, some capable of using Busoshoku, and a few with Kenbunshoku. Although the number of those adept in Haki was limited, it was more than enough.
This Xiu Zu was quite powerful; if one were to go by strength alone, he could probably reach the rank of Vice Admiral, but his military achievements had not yet caught up.
However, even a Vice Admiral would ultimately fail against their three hundred elite subordinates of the Heavenly Disaster Pirate Group, the cream of the crop.
"Get him!" Lass waved his hand, and the three hundred Demon Clan members pounced.
...
Storm City.
Royal Palace.
Sag was currently in a luxurious room, lounging on a gem-studded sofa. He tapped his fingers, which were adorned with golden rings and bracelets, against the armrest.
He took a puff from his cigar, then turned his head to gaze out the window at the meticulously manicured garden, lush with greenery and vibrant flowers, before exhaling a cloud of smoke.
Standing before him was Lily.
"Las called; Xiu Zu has been captured and is on his way back. Sag, should we take some precautions? After all, he's under Zefa..." Lily said.
Sag waved his hand to stop her from continuing.
"There's no need for precautions against a newbie pirate like him. I'll handle it personally once we find his trail. No need to involve him," Sag replied.
With the culprit found, they had also discovered Xiu Zu's current identity and his leader.
According to the intelligence, after Zefa left the Navy, he led a group of defectors from the Navy and formed a 'New Navy' called the 'NEO Navy,' operating in the New World and engaging in piracy and assassinations.
This group did not prey on civilians or target the Navy; instead, they exclusively went after pirates, showing no mercy.
None of the pirates they encountered survived.
However, this was no different from the actions of other pirates.
Not preying on civilians?
Not targeting the Navy?
There were pirates in the New World who operated in a similar fashion.
And as for "black eating black", well, that was a specialty of pirates.
Stripped of his naval status, Zefa was, in essence, a newbie pirate in the New World, regardless of his age.
Otherwise, Ulqi would be considered a senior, and how could he be considered a peer of Sag and Hawkins?
"Hmph, this is truly intriguing."
Sag stubbed out his cigar in an ashtray and casually picked up a gem-encrusted wine glass, draining half of it in one go.
"Without that naval status, quite a few people would like to make things difficult for you. Yet, instead of them coming after you, you chose to provoke me first. Do you think I'm easy to bully?"
Sag swirled the wine in his glass, a smirk playing on his lips as he continued, "It seems you've truly fallen. Changing from 'not killing' to 'must kill' is not a change of heart but a sign of a weakened will, a will so weak that it has bottomed out and bounced back. Death might be a relief for you at this point."
(End of Chapter)
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