Chapter 5: There's Limits To This Shit
"What's all this about?" A nearly three-meter-tall man stood before Khoras. He still couldn't quite believe how tall people were in this world.
His voice was calm, but one could easily sense the aggression in it. He had very pale, short hair and a constantly angry expression, which, combined with a metal brace covering his jaw, gave him a rather intimidating appearance.
Khoras held Helmeppo in front of him casually. The armed Marine soldiers behind the man didn't worry him too much.
"This guy let his dogs loose, and one of them almost jumped on a little girl," he began to explain calmly. "I had to defend her, and this guy reacted by ordering his men to shoot me. I demand an explanation."
The large man didn't seem to react much to the information. Khoras knew this guy was probably Marine Captain Morgan.
"Dad, he hit me just because I tried to punish him after hurting my dog!" Helmeppo suddenly shouted. "You have to kill him, Dad!"
"Hey, you know you're still my hostage, right?" Khoras commented wearily.
Morgan, seeing this, seemed to relax a little. "Who are you? I don't think I've seen you on any wanted posters. Are you a pirate hunter?"
Khoras shook his head. "No, I..." However, he realized that he had, in fact, already hunted down a famous pirate. "Well, something like that. My name is Khoras."
"Dad!" Helmeppo insisted.
"Fine, Khoras. My son is an idiot. I know he must have done something stupid to end up in this situation." Morgan ignored his son without even blinking. "What do you want?"
Khoras shook his head. His expression was much more relaxed now, although he still looked angry... that was probably his standard look.
"I don't need anything for myself, but I'd prefer some control over this boy so these things don't happen again," he commented.
Having finished saying that, he let go of Helmeppo, who quickly ran towards Morgan.
"Dad, why don't you just kill him? Don't you see your beloved son has been humiliated?"
Morgan seemed to tremble for a second before raising his arm and... hitting Helmeppo so hard that he flew several meters.
"You idiot!" he exclaimed, his demeanor taking a radical turn in an instant. "Why the hell would I kill someone for you? You're old enough to fight your battles." As he said this, he approached his son on the ground and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "Don't fool yourself... you're nobody, I'm the one who's great here!"
Khoras observed this with some surprise, as he had considered the man to be much more serious. Suddenly, he had a bad feeling.
Indeed, Morgan turned to him.
"Listen to me carefully, kid." His voice became much more dangerous. "I don't care what you do to my stupid son, but you dared to disrespect me by demanding explanations."
"No... I really..." Khoras made one last attempt to appease the man, but was cut off before he could speak further.
"Such a sin is punished with death." Morgan made his final statement before raising his axe.
Just then, a short boy with pink hair emerged from the base. He had been trying to talk some officers into letting him join the Navy, but no one was listening and was even mocking him.
"Huh? Isn't that him...?" Koby was met with the sight of Morgan raising his axe as he charged at Khoras. He realized something might have gone wrong. Even in just a few hours, he had already noticed the corruption of this base.
"Wait, Captain Morgan! Khoras is..." Still, he knew Khoras's strength and realized this could end very badly.
His scream fell on deaf ears.
Khoras clenched his fist, which crunched horribly as scales invisible to everyone but him covered it.
"Again..."
Just as Morgan's axe was about to fall on him with a cry of "Die!" he raised his fist and used all his strength to strike the flat of the axe.
No, this wasn't a normal full-strength blow. This was a blow with the rage he'd been building up since coming into this world. His blow shattered the axe into pieces, which in turn caused the Marine Captain's arm to break and sag at an odd angle.
"Graaaah!" Morgan exclaimed in pain as he knelt and tried to hold his shattered arm.
"You all keep trying to kill me... where's your common sense?" Khoras growled with the fury of the seas.
First, it had been Alvida's pirates, then Alvida herself, then Helmeppo, then this supposedly famous Captain of what was considered justice in this world. Added to the stress of his transmigration, Khoras's patience had truly run out.
"You... bastard..." Morgan snarled, trying to get up, but was immediately knocked back by a kick to the jaw from Khoras.
Even with his iron jaw, Morgan felt the whole world shake, and he was lifted into the air, eventually landing on his back.
"You..." He tried to call out to the soldiers, but they were all frozen.
Another blow, this time a punch, connected with his head. The famous Axe-Hand Morgan felt like he might throw up at any moment; he had never experienced so much pain.
"Time and time again, I didn't even mess with anyone. I'm just a Sailor, damn it." Khoras kicked Morgan in the ribs while he was on the ground. He didn't move, which finally calmed him down.
He let out an anguished sigh, knowing this was going to bring him even more trouble. He looked at Morgan's unconscious body on the ground. There was quite a bit of blood, but he knew he was still alive.
"Well, at least I got some revenge." He glanced at the frozen Marine soldiers, prepared to escape if he had to.
What he didn't expect was...
"Hooray! Captain Morgan is down! We're free!" The soldiers suddenly began to cheer.
"I see, I guess this guy had them scared." Khoras caught on pretty quickly. His gaze fell on Koby, who shuddered. He realized he wasn't wearing a Marine uniform yet.
"This kid..." Khoras sighed inwardly.
While he was thinking about how to help him, a soldier approached him.
"Sir, we're really grateful to you." The soldier spoke with utmost seriousness. "However, we're going to have to explain this to Headquarters, and you'll most likely be considered a pirate."
Khoras nodded. "I expected something like that, but thanks for the warning."
He understood that while many Marines would internally side with him, they had to present a facade of perfect justice to the world.
The soldier looked a little embarrassed. "Do you need something to leave, sir?"
Khoras was grateful for the gesture and was about to ask for a boat, but then remembered he couldn't just go around with a Marine vessel.
"Hm... that kid over there." He pointed to Koby in the distance, who seemed unsure of where to hide since everyone was celebrating. "Seems like he's always wanted to be a Marine. I think he has potential, so I'd like you to give him a chance."
The man seemed speechless for a second at the boy's appearance, but eventually nodded. "We'll give him a chance."
Khoras scratched his chin and finally returned to his usual expression. He really did look like a pirate. "Well, if that's all, it's time for me to take my leave now."
"Yes, sorry, once again." The soldier apologized with a bow, and Khoras finally left the base and headed for the village.
He went to buy a basic map, to get an idea of where to go, and some food. That same afternoon, he left Shells Town.
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