That group of pirates… the ship they'd docked with was a standard Marine Headquarters warship.
On the beach beside it, a huge bonfire roared.
A dozen pirates sat around it, all of them injured and exhausted, tearing into half-cooked chunks of meat like beasts that hadn't eaten in three days, washing it down with big gulps of rum.
At their head was a towering brute nearly three meters tall. One of his arms was wrapped in thick bandages, still seeping blood.
"Damn… we actually survived."
A one-eyed pirate swallowed the meat in his mouth in one big gulp and said shakily, "We got fucking lucky. Running into a Marine ship out here of all places—if we hadn't, our wreck would've sunk in another half hour."
"No kidding." Another pirate took a long pull of liquor and picked up the story.
"No idea if that woman with the sword is still chasing us… that bitch is a real monster."
At the mention of her, everyone's hands paused. The air got even heavier.
"Don't bring her up!" one pirate roared as he wrapped his wounds. "The boss—she cut the boss in half, man and sword together, in one stroke! My legs are still shaking!"
At the word "boss," all of them froze again. The mood sank further.
The big brute slammed his barrel down into the sand, shouting, "Shut the hell up! The boss is dead, I'm the boss now! Once we've recovered, we're heading back out. We'll pay that debt back someday!"
But the fear in his eyes, hidden under the anger, had already betrayed him.
Rain's gaze slowly shifted from the partying pirates to the warship they'd taken as a prize.
The hull was covered in battle scars and streaked with dark-red blood that stood stark against the Marine white.
The Marine flag had been ripped down and was now being used by a pirate to wipe mud off his boots.
Rain set down his telescope and closed his eyes, funneling his Observation Haki to its limit as he swept across the warship.
There wasn't a single living presence aboard. Only silence.
Hidden in the cliffside shadows, his mind raced, connecting the dots in a heartbeat.
I see… he thought, calmly laying it out in his head. A pirate crew fleeing a Marine pursuit, desperate enough to rush into this zone.
"Then, at the edge of this uninhabited island's waters, they found a Marine ship on outer patrol—one assigned to protect a bunch of rookies like us. After that… they slaughtered everyone on board and stole the ship."
Rain instantly understood why the Marines on that ship had fought to the death—they'd been protecting the recruits on the island.
He looked at the warship and felt a sour pang of regret.
He let out a quiet sigh.
Then his expression smoothed over. There were more pressing things to handle.
He still didn't move. Instead, he ran one last risk assessment in his head based on what he'd overheard.
They were driven this far by a powerful female Marine. There aren't any female admirals at HQ right now. That means the one chasing them is, at best, vice admiral-level.
If she could one-shot their captain, even if they slipped away, it means this crew isn't all that. This self-proclaimed new boss is probably only around HQ field officer level.
With the enemy's strength assessed, Rain made his decision.
Risk acceptable. Target's viable.
Once he decided, he didn't hesitate.
He slid down the cliff like a shadow, disappearing into the jungle's darkness without a sound.
The pirates had set up a few sentries around the beach, but under Rain's radar-like Observation Haki, their "watch" was a complete joke.
He'd originally considered using his custom handgun to snipe the sentries, but after a moment's thought, he abandoned the idea.
Instead, he picked a few pebbles off the ground and weighed them between his fingers.
With a thought, a layer of inky-black Armament Haki spread from his fingertips, wrapping around the ordinary stones.
Pfft.
There was only a faint noise. The lookout hiding in the treetop never even got the chance to cry out—by the time he realized something was wrong, a stone had already punched through his eye socket and shredded his brain.
[Judgment Complete!]
[Prisoner: Miro]
[Overall Rank: R4]
…
Pfft. Pfft.
Two more soft sounds. Two more sentries hidden in the bushes collapsed silently, taken out the same way.
[Judgment Complete!] ×2
…
Once the perimeter was clear, Rain moved in like a reaper in the night, appearing behind the pirates at the campfire without a sound.
They were still stuffing meat in their mouths and guzzling rum, completely unaware death was standing behind them.
"Hey."
A calm voice drifted up from behind them.
"Hm?" Every pirate stiffened, turning around by reflex.
They saw a tall, broad-shouldered young Marine standing there, wearing a mild, harmless smile.
"Marine?!" The giant brute was the first to react. He grabbed the huge axe at his side with a cruel grin. "You've got some balls, brat. Heaven has a road and you refuse to walk it, hell has no gate and you break right in! Boys, tear him—"
He never finished.
A crescent of blue sword aura flashed out from Rain's scabbard at a speed no eye could follow, sweeping across the entire beach in an instant.
Fast. Too fast.
So fast they saw only a streak of brilliant light and never even got the chance to draw their weapons.
When Rain slid his blade fully back into the scabbard with a soft click, the pirates behind him were still frozen in place—one mid-drink, one halfway to standing, some with cruel smiles still on their faces.
A heartbeat later, their bodies all split apart cleanly at the waist, like carved wooden statues cut by a master craftsman.
Blood erupted like fountains, painting the sand red in an instant.
Only one pirate was still hanging on by a thread.
The self-declared new boss.
He stared in horror at his lower half falling away from him, then at the young Marine in front of him—unable to tell if the sword had fully left the sheath or not. His voice shook with the madness and disbelief of a man at the edge of death.
"Y-you… what are you…"
In his mind, he saw again the pink-haired woman who had sliced his old captain—man and weapon—in two days ago.
"E-even… scarier than that woman…"
Those were the last words he left behind in this world.