The battle was over.
On the boat, King was breathing heavily, his body and limbs firmly fixed to the wooden boat by iron chains.
This wooden boat was rowed over by Gangplank and his friends.
These iron chains were not made of Sea-Prism Stone, so theoretically they shouldn't be able to trap King, but King was in a very bad state. After the battle just now, his injuries were already severe, and without Marco's healing abilities, even with the physical resilience granted by his Zoan-type Devil Fruit powers, it was impossible to recover from such serious wounds quickly.
"Why did you take so long to get here?"
At the other end of the small wooden boat, Marco looked at Gangplank and his two companions with a look of mild reproach.
He had just gone all out to hold King back, waiting for them, but they came so slowly. If they hadn't rushed over at the last moment, King might have escaped.
"We rowed here, of course, it was slow," Rakuyo replied with a face that showed mock embarrassment.
Hearing Rakuyo's words, Marco's expression shifted to one of guilt.
The reason Gangplank and the others took so long was actually because he had flown too far from the initial point of battle. In truth, Marco didn't need to fly such a distance; with his speed, he could have intercepted King much sooner.
However, Marco had been toying with King at that time, so he hadn't acted promptly.
Gangplank and his friends looked at Marco with some resentment in their eyes; it was clear that they had all realized Marco's behavior earlier.
"Heh heh," Marco laughed. "Don't look at me like that, guys. Let's head back and regroup with everyone."
Gangplank and the other two didn't dwell on it. Thatch approached King, eyeing him bound by the iron chains, and remarked, "This guy is one of the ones who injured Gangplank back then."
He and Rakuyo had joined the crew relatively late, but Marco had recounted the story many times.
Gangplank nodded, his expression calm.
After all, a long time had passed since the incident, and he had finally avenged himself in the recent battle. The pain and hatred had long since faded.
"So, what should we do with him?"
Rakuyo squatted next to King.
King stared coldly at the four young men before him, snorted, and turned his head away.
Thatch wielded a kitchen knife and made a gesture towards King's body. "Should we take him back and hand him over to Pops, or should I perform a vivisection on him first?"
King's body shuddered, and his eyes widened in fear.
What kind of pirates are the Whitebeard Pirates?
Why are they talking about vivisection?
Marco looked intrigued. "We've eaten so many delicious dishes you've cooked, Thatch, but I don't think any of us know what human flesh tastes like."
Thatch grinned. "And considering he's a Zoan user, it must taste even better."
King scoffed. "Kill me if you want. Do you really think you can scare me with such tricks?"
He had already steeled himself. As the saying goes, a dead man feels no pain—this was King's mindset now.
Captured, and with no means to resist, there was no point in being afraid.
In this regard, King was much tougher than Queen. If Kaido were present, he would undoubtedly question why Queen got captured while King did not.
"Marco!"
At that moment, another small boat approached in the distance.
Marco turned and saw that it was Shanks and Buggy rowing over.
Marco looked surprised. "What are you two doing here?"
Buggy put his hands on his hips. "I was worried you couldn't handle this guy, so I came to back you up!"
"I don't recall you saying that earlier."
Behind him, Shanks, who had been rowing the boat, smirked. He had genuinely wanted to help Marco, but Buggy had been too scared to approach.
Buggy had only felt confident to come over after seeing that Marco and the others had already dealt with King.
Buggy glared at Shanks. "Hey, Shanks, don't contradict me!"
"Sure, sure."
Shanks wore a helpless expression, as if he'd get the blame no matter what he said.
"Hahaha, you're too late. We've already taken care of this guy!" Marco chuckled, seemingly taking Buggy at his word.
This only showed that Marco didn't yet fully understand Buggy.
Buggy feigned disappointment. "Ah, such a shame that I couldn't show that annoying crow just how strong I am."
Crow, crow???
Veins bulged on King's forehead. He could accept being beaten or even killed, but Buggy's use of the term "crow" truly struck a nerve.
"Hey, don't move," Rakuyo warned King.
King gritted his teeth. If he weren't restrained, he would have taken down the brat who called him a crow.
The two boats came together, and Buggy and Shanks jumped onto Marco's boat.
Marco looked at King with curiosity. "Did you guys take him down that easily?"
Gangplank smiled. "It wasn't hard at all!"
Wasn't hard? He'd barely broken a sweat fighting King, certainly less exhausting than rowing the boat over.
"Alright, let's head back."
Just as they were preparing to leave, the sea began to rumble violently, as if something massive was awakening below.
"What's happening? An earthquake?" Shanks asked in alarm.
Their boat rocked violently with the waves.
"It's a seaquake! Everyone, be careful!" Marco shouted, using his Devil Fruit powers to take to the sky.
He looked towards where Whitebeard's ship was anchored in the distance.
Is that pops doing...?
When Marco noticed a sea earthquake, the first thing he thought of was Whitebeard.
Not only him, but everyone present subconsciously believed that the seaquake was caused by Whitebeard.
Because it seems that only Whitebeard's Shock Fruit can cause sea earthquakes at will.
Marco's eyes were a little worried. His father even used Sea Shock. Are the enemies in that place very difficult to deal with?