"Stinking Marines, you still dare to bombard me, haha! Now you know who's stronger, don't you?"
A bald, burly man wearing a captain's hat laughed maniacally, his eyes filled with reverence as he looked up at the execution platform:
"Even a Marine Vice Admiral couldn't defeat you! Hey! Boss Xiano, take us in! From now on, we'll follow you!"
His voice instantly ignited the fervor among the pirates, and more voices chimed in one after another—
"That's right! With you leading us, who in the East Blue can stop us? It's all ours!"
"Don't be short-sighted! Forget the East Blue, we should follow Boss Xiano and plunder the entire Grand Line!"
"What are we waiting for, brothers? With Boss Xiano backing us, what do these Marines in this town matter? Let's loot this dump first!"
"Loot Loguetown! Kill all the Marines who dare to stand in our way! Offer all the treasures to Captain Xiano, charge!!"
At the edge of the square, many pirates laughed wildly, eagerly barging through the broken doors of the remaining shops. Screams of women and cries of children echoed from within.
How could this be?
The residents of Loguetown were instantly thrown into panic.
That man named Xiano—wasn't he known throughout the East Blue for his series of righteous deeds, punishing evil and upholding justice?
How could he have turned into a vicious pirate now?
—Boom!
The chaos had barely erupted for a few seconds when two crescent-shaped, dark blue shockwaves swept down from the execution platform. Dozens of pirates were sent flying like bowling pins, screaming in agony.
The unlucky ones who were directly hit by the Storm Leg's blade were instantly cut in half at the waist, blood mist spraying everywhere.
The deterrent effect of this strike was undoubtedly significant.
The pirates who had already broken into the houses were instantly drenched in cold sweat, not daring to continue their actions. They cautiously retreated back to the square, looking up in confusion at the execution platform.
"Boss Xiano…"
The pirate captain who had spoken earlier forced a nervous laugh, "We were planning to offer you the entire town as a gift for joining us. What… what do you mean by this?"
"I think you've misunderstood something."
Xiano retracted his right leg, coldly looking down at the pirates below:
"Before you lump me in with your kind, it seems you've forgotten why I became famous in the East Blue in the first place."
"To put it bluntly, up until now, the number of Marines I've killed is, what, one… no, two. But the number of pirates I've killed is thousands of times that."
What did he mean by that?
The pirates exchanged bewildered glances, suddenly realizing something. Their previously excited and fervent emotions were instantly doused like a bucket of cold water, leaving them chilled to the bone…
...
On the warship.
Smoker lay weakly against the wall, his gaze hazy as he looked into the distance through the rain.
He wasn't fully conscious yet, his mind still in a fog.
All he remembered was that after clashing with Vice Admiral Onigumo, he was knocked out in just a few moves. Later, when he groggily opened his eyes, he vaguely saw two figures on the towering execution platform in the distance.
One of the figures was pinned to the ground, struggling for a while before quickly falling silent.
That silhouette…
Was it Onigumo?
Was Onigumo dead?
How could it be... Smoker shook his head self-mockingly. Had he really come to hate the other person so much that he wished for their death?
There was no one in Loguetown capable of defeating him. It must have been an illusion.
Gripping the railing with difficulty, Smoker had just stood up when he heard a desperate scream not far away:
"Move! Are you all deaf? I told you to escort me away immediately, didn't you hear me?"
That voice sounded so familiar... He turned towards the source and, sure enough, it was the pig-like Altai, wildly beating a lieutenant colonel's head with his Golden Scepter.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. It's not the right time yet."
The tall, thin lieutenant colonel was bleeding profusely from the head but dared not move. "We still have many people on the island who are evacuating towards us. The enemy doesn't seem to be pursuing. We need to wait for our comrades—especially the rear admirals in charge of command—to board the ship before we can leave. Otherwise, I will definitely be held accountable by headquarters..."
"Wait my ass!"
Altai's expression suddenly turned ferocious. "So it's for such a ridiculous reason! What's the point of waiting for a bunch of lowlifes!"
"Don't forget, your primary mission is to safely escort me back to the country! If we stay here any longer, we'll be buried alongside that useless Vice Admiral Onigumo!!!"
Bang! Bang!
He pulled out a gilded pistol from somewhere and fired randomly in all directions. Several navy soldiers immediately clutched their chests and fell to the ground.
"See that! Set sail immediately!"
Altai then pointed the gun at the lieutenant colonel and roared, "For every second you delay, I'll kill one more person, starting with you! Let's see if you still dare..."
Thud!
With a dull thud, Altai's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed forward.
The tall, thin lieutenant colonel, who had been beaten bloody, stared in shock at the figure that had appeared behind Altai: "Col... Colonel Smoker, you, you, what is this?"
"All that screaming was so annoying, you fat pig..."
Smoker muttered as if he hadn't heard, his hands cuffed with Sea Stone Handcuffs raised high. "How did I ever tolerate such scum in the past..."
Thud!
His clenched fists slammed into Altai's head again and again.
Seeing that half of Altai's head was already caved in, Smoker still wasn't satisfied. He grabbed the Golden Scepter from the ground and, with all his strength, thrust it down—
Squelch!
A gush of blood sprayed out, splattering both of them. Only then did Smoker toss the scepter aside, gasping for breath, a long-lost expression of relief on his face.
"You..."
The tall, thin lieutenant colonel, trembling, touched the warm blood on his face. Unable to contain his fear any longer, he suddenly let out a high-pitched scream.
What are you screaming about now?
Smoker glared at him in annoyance: "Hey, tell me, what's the situation in Loguetown now?"
From the conversation he had just overheard, it seemed the navy had suffered a crushing defeat and fled. Could it be that what he had vaguely seen earlier wasn't an illusion?
"What situation?!!"
The lanky lieutenant colonel stumbled back in terror, pointing a trembling finger at Smoker. "You... you bastard! How dare you ask what's going on? Don't you realize you've caused a catastrophe?! Are you trying to drag us all down with you?!"
Not going to answer, huh?
Smoker sighed, too tired to bother with him any longer.
Gripping the railing for support, he limped up the dock, moving against the flow of panicked marines fleeing toward the shore as he made his way toward the plaza.
Just what the hell happened at the execution platform...
(End of Chapter)