The deep-blue sea was stained crimson with blood.
Charred corpses floated on the surface, releasing a nauseating stench.
Greedy vultures circled overhead, waiting for the moment the battle ended.
"Forman! Joseph!
You dare attack the Marines openly?
Aren't you afraid Marine HQ will dispatch a fleet to wipe you out?
If you retreat now, I can pretend nothing happened!"
Rear Admiral Morgan caught a glimpse of the gruesome scene aboard his own ship—
the shredded bodies, the scorched steel—
and his heart twisted like a serpent gnawing at it.
Those young soldiers were the Marines' future.
They did not deserve to die so meaninglessly.
He had indeed underestimated them.
Because he never imagined someone would be insane enough to attack Marines
in the first half of the Grand Line.
Attacking Marines wasn't unheard of—
in the Four Seas and the New World, at least.
But here?
This was the first half of the Grand Line,
where the Marines held absolute dominance.
And unlike raiding towns, attacking a Marine warship was the gravest provocation.
Any pirate who challenged Marine authority would be wiped out as quickly as possible—
Morgan believed these two knew that well.
"Look! Look!
The same Rear Admiral Morgan who used to hunt us down like rats,
who didn't even consider us worth noticing—
is now begging us!"
Forman cackled, and the pirates around him roared with mocking laughter.
Watching a Marine—
once high and mighty—
reduced to such a pathetic state
was pure ecstasy for any pirate.
"Morgan, let us handle the rest.
This is our last job before heading to the New World."
Joseph taunted with a lazy grin.
"If you Marines are so capable, why not follow us to the sea of the strong?
Then we'll see who's catching who!"
Amidst the brutal chaos, none of them noticed—
A golden eagle circling silently overhead,
with a kneeling Marine on its back observing the battlefield below.
"Only one warship… yet it has a Rear Admiral aboard."
Longinus noted the massive 'G8' painted on the hull,
the elite Marine unit infamous for its strict discipline.
"So they're also heading to Marine HQ for advanced training—
just like us."
"Boss, are the enemies strong?
Can we handle this?"
Gregory asked excitedly beneath him in eagle form.
"There are ten pirate ships—three times the manpower of the single Marine vessel.
But they're a rabble, cobbled together.
Even triple numbers can only barely match the G-8 troops."
Longinus continued:
"The critical issue is Rear Admiral Morgan is already being overwhelmed.
If he collapses, and the two pirate captains join the sea battle,
the entire situation will flip instantly."
Gregory scratched his golden head.
"Boss, just tell me—can we punch them?"
"In simple terms…
this is free military merit."
Longinus brought out his Den-Den Mushi and connected.
"Where are you?"
"Boss, we're already at the edge of the battle zone.
We can see both sides fighting."
"Good. Attack.
Aim to annihilate every pirate."
He wasn't concerned.
Under his superior Observation Haki,
none of the enemies besides the two captains posed any threat at all.
Those ten pirate ships were clearly cannon fodder gathered last-minute.
If even the G-8 Marines could suppress them,
then the elite squad Longinus trained personally for two years
would crush them effortlessly.
"Great! Boss, we were waiting for you to say that!"
Abraham and the others trusted him without hesitation.
This trust was forged through Longinus's "heroic aura"
and endless victories over the past two years.
"Gyaaaaah! Free merit?!
This bird loves that best!"
Gregory let out an inhuman, raucous eagle-laugh,
then dove from the sky like a falling comet.
WHOOOOOOOOOOSH—
The sudden, violent wind pressure made the three battling men pause.
"A stupid bird looking for death?" Forman frowned.
Joseph's sharp eyes widened in horror.
"Be careful! There's someone on its back—a Marine!"
"Reinforcements!"
Morgan reacted instantly, unleashing a surge of power to bind the two pirates in place.
Using the momentum from the dive,
Longinus leaped off Gregory's back,
descending straight toward Forman—the Devil Fruit user.
"Bastard! You think I'm easy prey?!
Crimson Stinger!"
Forman, in his half-beast scorpion form,
lashed out with a long, scarlet-glowing tail needle—
lethal just by sight alone.
"Careful! Don't get hit by his—"
Morgan's warning cut off—
Because the Marine boy dodged effortlessly,
as if he had foreseen every movement.
Then—
BOOM!
Longinus's fist, packed with explosive power,
smashed directly into Forman's skull.
They had been fighting on the top deck of the Marine warship,
but Forman's body was smashed through the upper deck—
and the deck beneath—
and the next—
until he blasted out the bottom of the ship and plunged into the sea.
A Devil Fruit user falling into the ocean…
needless to say.
Gulp…
Joseph swallowed hard.
Even accounting for the element of surprise—
to knock Forman, who was not much weaker than himself,
off the ship and into the sea with one punch…
This Marine youth was a tyrannosaurus in human skin.
Morgan's predatory gaze slid toward him,
and Joseph snapped back to reality.
The 2v1 had become a 2v1 in the opposite direction.
And he couldn't beat either one of them.
Cold sweat drenched his back.
The pirate crews also panicked—
they never expected the battlefield to flip in a heartbeat.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
At that moment, several shells fired from the distance
landed precisely in the densest pirate clusters.
Dozens died instantly—
and not a single friendly casualty.
"What?! Another warship?!"
The already demoralized pirate alliance collapsed instantly.
Many pirates abandoned their captains and fled without hesitation.
Seeing his ten ships turn tail in seconds,
Joseph—still stuck on the Marine warship—roared in despair:
"GET BACK HERE, YOU BASTARDS!
I HAVEN'T EVEN BOARDED YET!"
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