In just over ten seconds, more than a hundred pirates on the entire ship fell to the ground, clutching their necks and lying in pools of blood. Shiryu stood amidst the corpses, a look of satisfaction on his face, his murderous gaze sweeping over the remaining pirate ships.
[Boom! Boom! Boom!]
The warship where Sakazuki was stationed began exchanging cannon fire with the seven pirate ships. Red-hot black cannonballs whistled through the air, some plunging into the sea and sending towering columns of water skyward, while others struck the ships, exploding into massive bursts of flame.
Especially the triple-barreled turrets at the bow of the warship—whether in terms of range, rate of fire, or accuracy—completely overwhelmed the pirate ships. The defensive capabilities of the warship's armor were also vastly superior. Even after taking several direct hits, the ship only bore shallow marks, and the Navy soldiers on board remained completely unharmed.
At this moment, Sakazuki still stood with his arms crossed, seemingly gazing at the struggling pirates. In reality, however, his eyes were fixed on Shiryu.
In his view, Shiryu had just leaped off the first pirate ship and was now skimming across the sea at an incredible speed, leaving behind a trail of afterimages. Every time his body showed signs of descending, he lightly stepped on the waves, using the force of the splashing water to propel himself forward at high speed.
Sakazuki, being a master of the Six Styles, immediately recognized that Shiryu was using the Moonwalk technique, but instead of stepping on air, he was stepping on waves.
Compared to air, stepping on waves was actually easier.
Soon after, Shiryu leaped onto the second pirate ship and began another round of bloody slaughter, which made Sakazuki frown slightly.
It wasn't that he disapproved of killing pirates, but he felt that Shiryu's method was too inefficient.
If it were him, he would have already unleashed a Great Eruption to engulf all the pirate ships in flames!
Shiryu's strength was clearly at the level of a swordsman, and in theory, he should be able to unleash Flying Slashes to swiftly cut the ships in half. Even if he couldn't cut all seven ships with one slash, he should at least be able to take down one ship per slash. From the current situation, if Shiryu continued killing ship by ship, one or two pirate ships would likely escape.
However, Sakazuki didn't want to intervene prematurely before those pirate ships sailed out of his attack range.
After all, it would only take one or two High-Angle Magma Shots. With the predictive abilities of Observation Haki, he could easily achieve precise strikes against large targets like ships.
In this regard, even the warship beneath his feet was far inferior to him! But as a commander, there were times when he couldn't always take matters into his own hands. Soldiers fought soldiers, and generals fought generals—there was a reason for this hierarchy. As a general, he couldn't recklessly steal the achievements of his subordinates.
On Shiryu's side, with a single slash, he cut through both the pirate and his sword, watching with excitement as the head behind the broken blade slid off, and a fountain of blood shot into the air.
So satisfying!!
Looking back, he saw that the ground behind him was already covered in corpses and pools of blood. "Admiral Akainu, CP5, who is hiding in the Kingdom of Midland, has sent detailed information!" A major on the warship ran over and reported loudly.
He had to raise his voice, as the whistling of cannonballs and the subsequent explosions could easily drown out human speech.
"Let's hear it," Sakazuki said in a deep voice.
"Most of these pirates are actually civilians from that country. Their leader, named Cass, was originally a mid-level officer in the King's Army. Two weeks ago, his wife and daughter were taken by Viscount Hiyoko of that country, and a week ago, they were sold to a slave company."
"Because of this, Cass led his loyal soldiers and incited the civilians, who were already discontent with the nobility, to rebel. They first seized the King's Army's warships at the dock, then hoisted the pirate flag they had prepared onto the mast. Under the name of the Cass Pirates, they attacked the King's Army, looted all the food and treasures from the dock warehouses, and bombarded the upper district where the royal family and nobles lived for nearly half an hour. It is said that the area is now in ruins, and the nobles have suffered heavy casualties."
After hearing yet another story of nobles driving soldiers and civilians to rebellion, Sakazuki remained silent for a moment before coldly uttering a word.
"Idiots!"
The Marine Headquarters major thought he was cursing the noble, which made him hesitant to say more.
"That idiot Cass not only got himself killed but also doomed everyone who followed him," Sakazuki said, gazing at the pirate ships being slaughtered by Shiryu in the distance.
"If he hadn't hoisted the pirate flag, this matter would have had little to do with us Marines."
The major suddenly realized and thought to himself, "Indeed, if Cass hadn't raised the pirate flag, they wouldn't be considered pirates. It would just be an internal conflict within the Kingdom of Midland, and naturally, it wouldn't have attracted the Marines' intervention."
According to the laws of the World Government, the Marines have no authority to interfere in the internal conflicts of its member nations unless the king of that country first requests assistance from the World Government. Then, based on the investigation reports from Cipher Pol, the Council of State would discuss and decide whether to provide aid.
If the decision is made to assist, the Marine Headquarters would be notified to dispatch troops. The Marine Fleet Admiral would then hand over the information of the main rebel leaders to the relevant departments to determine their bounties and issue wanted posters.
Finally, they would have to consider which level of officers to send and the scale of the fleet to deploy.
This entire process would take at least a day or two, and adding the travel time, it would require at least three to four days. For more distant countries, it would take even longer.
Clearly, the king of the Kingdom of Midland was well aware of these rules, so he directly called the Marines, claiming that a large number of pirates had attacked his country.
This way, it bypassed all the cumbersome procedures, and the Marines only needed to notify nearby warships to rush to the scene.
But in reality? Cass and his men had just hoisted the pirate flag; they weren't even on the Marines' wanted list yet.
So, could they be considered pirates? Yes.
Because they raised the pirate flag, according to Marine regulations, any ship flying a pirate flag or bearing a skull emblem on its sails is considered a pirate vessel. Even if they aren't on the wanted list, they can be captured, and the bounty can be issued later—or not at all, since they've already been caught.
Therefore, the massacre of Cass and his men by Shiryu can't be said to be entirely unjust, but as Sakazuki put it, they were just too foolish, and the king was too clever.
While the warship was getting all the details of the mission, Shiryu, wielding his famous sword Thunder Rain, had already slaughtered all the pirates on five ships.
Just as Sakazuki had previously speculated, two ships were gradually sailing away, or rather, frantically fleeing for their lives.
This caused his right arm to begin flowing with scorching magma, with thick black smoke billowing into the blue sky. As the fiery lava dripped onto the deck, a strong smell of sulfur filled the air.
[Buzz!!]
Just as Sakazuki was about to take action, a crimson, wide blade of light suddenly appeared, then swiftly swept across the sea at an astonishing speed, instantly severing the main masts and sails of the two pirate ships.
With the sails fallen into the sea, the ships could no longer harness the power of the wind to sail, and their speed quickly slowed down. Before long, they were drifting aimlessly with the waves, becoming nothing more than giant wooden coffins on the sea.
The more than two hundred people on board could only watch in despair as the bloodthirsty devil approached.
Not long after, a series of shrill screams and battle cries erupted, but they lasted only about half a minute before silence fell once again.
"Excellent!"
Sakazuki's eyes were filled with admiration. He had originally considered making 'Onigumo' his deputy, but now this Shiryu seemed like a very good choice as well.
Since they had hoisted the pirate flag and intended to form a pirate crew, they deserved to die and had no right to continue breathing the air.
Pirates are all a bunch of damned trash!