Rumble, rumble.
A harsh screeching sound of friction echoed from around them, and clouds of dust blew toward the crowd with the wind. This normally wouldn't be considered a big deal as the commotion Jack was causing in the central area was just as big.
But the source of these sounds was actually the surrounding houses. A member of the Beasts Pirates rubbed his eyes and looked several times before confirming that he wasn't hallucinating.
"Hey, why are those houses moving? Is it an Ability User?"
"Don't worry about stuff like that. What Fullalead turns into isn't our concern, we just need to get the client."
"Yeah, good point. Then I'll leave this place to you. Brothers! Come with me, let's get that client out!"
The other pirates didn't question it further and instead charged in the direction where the hostages were held. During their charge, Drake opened his massive jaws and bit toward the clay giant ahead.
The body formed from clay shattered under the Allosaurus's bite force, and the other clay giants also began to converge on Drake.
A dozen clay fists came crashing down on Drake with no intention of holding back. Some clay-formed soldiers even began attacking the Beasts Pirates, but they were easily taken care of by the pirates covering the rear.
"Red Flag! Be careful! We'll be back once the mission's done!"
Ordinary pirate combatants didn't think too deeply, matters like undercover traitors were for higher-ups to worry about. All they had to do was follow orders and trade their contributions for their own rewards.
The fact that Drake used to be a prisoner of war didn't matter much. Some of the members of the Beasts Pirates had similar backgrounds. To them, Drake was just someone they drank and fought alongside, some even thought he was a decent guy.
Now that the strongest among them had volunteered to stay behind to cover their retreat, they had no intention of abandoning him.
Drake didn't say anything to this. He just forcefully flung away one of the clay giants and used it to help the pirates eliminate some potential enemies.
As more and more members of Beasts Pirates broke through the encirclement, the difficulty of Drake's battle also decreased. When the surrounding buildings completely closed in and formed a wall, the clay giants also came to a stop.
"Are you sure? Prince."
"Don't worry, Captain Drake. The surroundings have already been checked. The Beasts Pirates have left, heading for the hostage area. As for the pirates of Fullalead, they've all been wiped out."
A man wearing a fur-collared coat and a long-billed version of the Marine cap stepped out from behind several clay figures. He was still fiddling with a tiny clay doll with his fingertips. Those clay soldiers just now were his handiwork, and he was also an old acquaintance of Drake.
Marine Rear Admiral and member of the SWORD squad — Prince Grus. It's said he was once a prince of a certain country, but after that nation suffered a disaster, he joined the Marines.
He is the user of Paramecia-type • Glorp-Glorp Fruit, capable of freely manipulating clay and creating giants, golems, soldiers, and a whole array of clay constructs with it.
"Kujaku has already sealed this place. There aren't any other pirates around. Isn't that right, Kujaku?"
"Yes. Those houses have already obediently completed their task."
A tall woman also stepped out from behind Drake. She wore a round shell-shaped hat adorned with a seagull and held a long whip in her hand.
Kujaku, also a Marine Rear Admiral of Marine, and the granddaughter of Marines' Great Staff Officer Tsuru. She is a Training Human who has eaten the Paramecia-type • Whip-Whip Fruit.
Her ability allows her to control anything she has whipped, buildings included. The moving houses were Kujaku's handiwork.
"Captain, even though Grandma told me you were out on a special mission, disappearing without any message for a whole year was way too scary."
Only the Marines top brass and a very select few knew about Drake's mission. That "very select few" referred to members of SWORD.
Although SWORD members were technically Marines, they no longer belonged to the official Marine chain of command.
In a sense, SWORD members were either "deserters" or Marines who had already resigned. Their Marine registration number had been returned to the organization.
As such, they were not bound by any orders. They were a free-acting "guerrilla force", who were allowed to go to war with an Emperor of the Sea even without higher-ups' approval.
But correspondingly, this kind of freedom also comes with a price. Marines and the World Government will not take responsibility for the actions of SWORD members. Everything they do is considered their personal behavior.
If they threaten the rule of the World Government, the World Government may even directly erase their existence.
Most of the time, SWORD members are also carrying out missions assigned by Marine Headquarters, so they don't act too recklessly. To be able to enter this squad, more or less, one must have some connections with the Marine higher-ups, so they won't do anything too outrageous.
Even if they are very special, Drake's disappearance was still rather strange. Before carrying out the rescue mission, Kujaku and Grus didn't expect to encounter Drake here.
"This was an accident. I've already infiltrated their ranks, but I still need some time. You've shown up just in time to help."
SWORD's operations are inherently secretive, and Drake had no obligation to explain his actions to them. Besides, even if it killed him, he wouldn't admit to his colleagues that he had been mining for an entire year.
While Grus and Kujaku were both expressing concern for Drake, another female Marine wearing headphones arrived with a custom sniper rifle.
"Koby-senpai, are you alright? What happened to your chest?!"
"I'm fine. I just ran into a bit of… unusual trouble."
Marine Commander — Hibari. She called Koby "senpai" because he had joined SWORD earlier than she did. The two had a fairly good relationship. The earlier "flower-blooming" gun barrels of the Beasts Pirates were her doing.
The weapon in her hands was a special creation of Vegapunk. The bullets inside were extremely unique and non-lethal. Their effect was to turn other gunpowder into flowers. It was a strange invention Vegapunk made during his travels, with the intention of eliminating war.
"That pink-haired guy… is he a newcomer?"
"Yes, he's a disciple of Vice Admiral Garp. He came along with someone named Helmeppo, who's currently on the ship coordinating mission intel."
"Koby, this is our captain. You've now officially met him."
"Yes, hello, Captain Drake."
Koby gave Drake a salute and then began explaining what Law had told him, and they started discussing their next steps. Their mission was to rescue a hostage with a powerful connection.
Originally, infiltrating Fullalead was an extremely dangerous task, but now that the pirates had drawn some of the firepower, it actually worked in their favor.
However, the members of SWORD all made one mistake; while they cleared the ground, they didn't pay attention to the sky.
This has always been a flaw of the Marines. Aside from Golden Lion's Flying Pirates, no pirates have ever stayed airborne for long periods. Even Kaido only used flight for travel; during battle, he still stayed on the ground.
It's just a habit formed over many years. The Marine handbook has regulations about guarding against underwater Fish-Men, but none for air defense.
At this moment, inside the cabin of the Steel Mammoth, Alcremie wasn't wandering around. Instead, it was holding a video game controller while sitting in front of a Rotom Phone.
The Rotom Phone's screen happened to be showing the area around Drake. As Alcremie pressed a button on the controller, a photo was immediately saved.
Jack had indeed been having someone monitor Drake's movements all along, but this "person" was not a person in the true sense — it was Alcremie.
The controller in its hand was the joystick of a Rotom Drone.
Although no Rotom resided inside it, the Rotom Phone could use its internal signals to connect with the drone, allowing others to control the drone through the screen feed.
The drone wasn't very large, and it was even painted in sky camouflage, constantly observing the situation below from midair.
"Ha~"
Alcremie pressed the drone's auto-return button, as the surveillance activity had now ended. Marines wouldn't salute a pirate, unless that pirate's identity was questionable to begin with.
Drake never imagined that his identity would be discovered by a drone controlled by an Alcremie, and that a newcomer would end up leaving behind such critical evidence.
However, this didn't affect the situation on Fullalead. Even if there was an undercover agent to be caught, that would be dealt with later. Moreover, with Drake's skills, he posed no threat to Jack anyway.
Moreover, Alcremie couldn't even contact Jack, who had left the Rotom Phone behind; it merely preserved the evidence.
While the Marines were busy rescuing hostages, Jack had already broken through to the central area of Fullalead. A massive skull-shaped structure stood before him, and pirates all around were on high alert.
"Jack! We don't recall offending you, do we? If you leave the island now, I can still let bygones be bygones!"
"What a joke. Do pirates need a reason to fight each other? If you really want a reason, then someone paid for your head."
"Then there's nothing more to talk about! Attack! I'll accept the 1.088 billion head!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground beneath Jack's feet suddenly exploded. Violent blasts erupted one after another, and thick smoke instantly engulfed Jack. This entire plaza had long been rigged with explosives by the pirates, all in anticipation of Jack stepping into it.
As they detonated the explosives, windows of nearby buildings also flung open. Rocket launchers, cannons, crossbows — all kinds of weapons were aimed directly at Jack in the center.
"Captain Jack has already started fighting! Boys! Quit dawdling, take those enemy's heads! The highest contribution belongs to us."
"Full assault! Don't let Sheepshead beat us to it!"
On both flanks, Ginrummy and Sheepshead simultaneously gave orders for their men to speed up the assault. Though the two had split up, not a single person was worried about Jack's condition; even with the powerful explosions, nothing could shake their confidence in him.
And facts proved Sheepshead right. After the smoke cleared, Jack patted his shoulder. Although the upper half of his clothes had been blasted to shreds, his body remained completely unharmed, only a few bits of copper had fallen off.
"My turn now. This time, I won't miss."
TN: This chapter and previous chapter are both 1.5x length. Next chapter will be 2x length
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