The moment Yoriichi Tsugikuni unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, it swept over all three pirate ships.
The pirates charging toward the warship's deck stood no chance. Their eyes rolled back as they collapsed en masse.
Some of the less fortunate ones, standing midway on the gangplanks, lost consciousness and plunged straight into the sea, swallowed by the waves.
Originally, both Kuzan and Yoriichi had planned to let the Marines gain field experience. But when the pirate assault immediately overwhelmed their new recruits, Yoriichi abandoned that idea and decisively took control of the battlefield.
"What… what just happened? The pirates dropped like flies!"
"What the hell is going on?!"
The sudden collapse of the pirates shocked the Marines on deck, who cried out in astonishment. Watching Yoriichi suppress the invaders with sheer Conqueror's Haki, Kuzan raised an eyebrow, letting out a sigh of admiration.
"In just over a year, you've already gained this level of control over Conqueror's Haki."
"You can even direct it precisely like Vice Admiral Garp does."
"Yoriichi, how strong are you now?"
Yoriichi didn't answer. In truth, even he wasn't certain of his own exact power level. After a rough internal assessment, he figured he was at least at admiral-candidate level.
But-
If an admiral relied purely on Devil Fruit powers and lacked strong Haki, and if he could land the first strike, Yoriichi believed he could take them down.
He hadn't fought any true top-tier opponents in recent times, so he preferred to keep his self-assessment modest and conservative.
Seeing Yoriichi only respond with a faint smile, Kuzan didn't press further. Strong or not, Yoriichi was still his adjutant.
Kuzan began reorganizing the troops, ordering the Marines to clear the battlefield.
The three pirate ships that had ambushed them appeared to belong to the same pirate crew. After the fighting stopped, the Marines boarded the ships and discovered the same pirate flag on each vessel.
"Throw all the pirates overboard. We're on a schedule and don't have time to send them to Impel Down."
"Transfer all food and fresh water into our ship's storage. Gather the gold and treasure into a central inventory and record everything properly."
"Don't worry—everyone will receive a reward for this victory. But don't even think about pocketing anything!"
"Carefully sweep the lower decks. Make sure no pirates are hiding and check if there are any captured civilians."
"Now move!"
Kuzan stood on deck, issuing loud, clear commands as the crew carried out the post-battle cleanup.
A few Marines who had taken the brunt of the pirate assault were seriously injured. After assigning caretakers to them, the rest of the crew quickly followed Kuzan's orders and got to work.
Yoriichi didn't just stand idly by. He helped move supplies from the pirate ships, working alongside the others. Kuzan watched from the deck, and seeing the crew working in an orderly fashion, he relaxed and vaulted up the main mast to the crow's nest to scan the sea.
Splash!
Splash!
One by one, the unconscious pirates were thrown into the sea. For these young Marines, many of whom had never faced real combat, the task came with heavy emotional weight.
A few of them were even vomiting while cleaning up the headless corpses on the deck.
The warship was soon filled with the "thick stench" of blood and battle.
Soon, all the supplies had been transferred to the Marine ship. Then, Yoriichi calmly unsheathed his blade and cleaved the three pirate ships apart with a few swift slashes. With the enemy vessels sinking behind them, the warship sailed away from the battlefield.
The crashing waves erased all traces of the chaos that had occurred here.
This first battle in the New World was enough to make Kuzan realize the full extent of his crew's weakness. Having come to terms with that, he resolved to change.
From then on, whenever they encountered pirate ships, he refrained from intervening directly.
After a few rounds of cannon fire, Kuzan would simply freeze the pirate ships with his Devil Fruit powers and then order the Marines to board and engage in close-quarters combat.
The goal was simple: to give them real combat experience.
However, the Marines under Kuzan's command were still too green. The pirates of the New World were just too powerful in comparison. In most battles, the Marines were quickly overwhelmed once boarding began.
That was when Yoriichi and Kuzan would step in to clean up.
After sailing through the New World for a week, their ship's storage was nearly full from all the loot. They had already experienced more than a dozen engagements.
Even though they had technically lost most of those fights, the Marines were no longer the same fresh-faced recruits who had set out a week ago. Their aura, their posture—everything had changed.
This time, they had just defeated a pirate crew whose captain had a bounty of 20 million Berries—the first "high-bounty" target they'd encountered so far.
Yet the fight had ended quickly. That "big-shot" pirate had crumbled just like the rest under Yoriichi's Conqueror's Haki.
After spending some time together, the Marines had begun to understand Yoriichi's abilities. They now knew about Conqueror's Haki, and their young adjutant had earned a deep sense of respect—and fear.
"Pirates really are everywhere in the New World. We've only been out here for a week, and we've already run into over ten different pirate crews," Kuzan remarked as he stood beside Yoriichi, watching the crew clean up another battlefield.
"And every one of them just happened to 'cross paths' with us."
"This world… it really is falling into chaos."
Yoriichi glanced at Kuzan and replied casually, "Didn't you already know that?"
"Isn't that why you joined the Marines in the first place?"
Kuzan nodded silently.
Just then, a Marine burst out from below deck, clutching a Den Den Mushi that was urgently crackling and bubbling.
"Vice Admiral Kuzan! Captain Tsugikuni Yoriichi! We've got a situation!"
"This is our emergency communication line—and it's active!"
The Marine hurried over and handed the Den Den Mushi to Kuzan. Exchanging a glance with Yoriichi, Kuzan quickly picked up the receiver.
Before he could speak, a panicked voice exploded from the other end.
"Thank goodness!!! Finally, someone picked up!"
"Please help us! Anyone! Just help us!"
"This is Dongwu Island! I'm a Marine from Branch E-64, and—AAHHHH!!!"
A scream ripped through the speaker, then the line went eerily silent.
Kuzan's face tensed. He called into the receiver a few times, but there was no response.
Just as he was about to hang up and head to the navigation room to check the location of Dongwu Island, a sinister voice suddenly oozed through the line.
"Hehehehehe~"
"Marines, is it?"
"Let me warn you, stay out of my way. Or this is what'll happen to you."
As the voice finished, the sound of more agonized screams followed. The screams lasted only a few seconds before being abruptly cut off, replaced once more by that chilling laughter… and then, only static.
The Marine holding the receiver stood stiff as a board, the color drained from his face. He had heard the entire transmission and was clearly rattled to the bone.
Kuzan's face darkened. The joy of their recent victory vanished completely.
"This… was a direct challenge to the Marines."
"Yoriichi, we can't just ignore this."
He clenched his fists, a fire building in his chest. He tried to control his emotions, forcing himself to remain calm.
Yoriichi looked at him and gave a slight nod.
"Of course not."
They were of one mind.
Without another word, Kuzan headed straight for the navigation room.
He had to find the coordinates of Dongwu Island.
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