"With these sorry excuses for soldiers, you think you can capture us? You're out of your mind."
Euristine walked up to the squad leader, who was already paralyzed on the ground with fear, staring up at Euristine with terror in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong! You're a big man—please don't hold a grudge against someone as small as me. I'm begging you, spare me!"
He shifted his position, kneeling before Euristine, his only thought now how to escape from these demons in human skin.
"Alright." The moment he heard Euristine's agreement, his face instantly broke into a beaming smile, crinkling up like a chrysanthemum.
"Go back and tell that marquis of yours—if he wants to make a move against us, he'd better weigh carefully whether he's got what it takes."
"Yes, yes! I'll go back and relay the message to that damn marquis right away!"
Now, for the sake of staying alive, the previously esteemed Marquis was nothing but a damnable man in his eyes.
"Fine. Then hurry back. If you're a moment later, I'm not sure I won't change my mind."
"Yes, yes! I'm leaving now!"
With that, he scrambled to his feet, turned, and fled without looking back. To move faster, he even threw away his weapons, armor, and every heavy item on his person.
At the sight of his miserable state, the surrounding crowd burst into delighted laughter. It seemed this marquis had done plenty of evil around here.
"Captain, the mission you gave us—we didn't disgrace ourselves in completing it."
"Mm, well done. Now we can have a proper bit of fun here."
Meanwhile, in the Alabasta palace, King Cobra also received the news, and it genuinely startled him. He hadn't expected Kuroor to have such audacity—daring to provoke absolutely anyone.
"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" A minister of internal affairs stood before Cobra, speaking with great deference.
"Ah." Cobra rubbed his head, as if suffering a headache. He hadn't expected that it would be his own people who started trouble first.
He had originally intended to issue a warning to the Silver Pirates, but now the warning should be for his own people instead.
"Send someone to warn Kuroor. Tell him not to act rashly. The Silver Pirates are not someone he can afford to provoke."
"But, my king, Marquis Kuroor is nothing but a wolf with wild ambitions. Why don't we use the Silver Pirates' hands to…" The minister trailed off, making a throat-slitting gesture. He didn't say the last words, but the gesture conveyed his meaning perfectly. Yes, this Marquis Kuroor already harbored thoughts of rebellion.
"No matter what, he is still my subject. And if the Silver Pirates kill Marquis Kuroor, how would we explain it to the people? Would we try to capture them? Do we even have the strength to do so?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I didn't think it through." The minister bowed slightly, showing his apology.
"Alright. First, convey my decree to Kuroor."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Watching the minister's retreating figure, Cobra wondered if he needed to replace the man in this position. How could he be so foolish? If the Silver Pirates went to war with their country now, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"Cobra, you really are a disgrace on that throne, so afraid of mere pirates."
At his residence, Marquis Kuroor naturally also received Cobra's decree, but he scoffed at the command. He believed their king had been scared senseless by these pirates.
"As expected, only I am the best candidate for king."
He drained the red wine in his glass and muttered to himself.
"Someone come!" Kuroor shouted toward the door, and a person pushed it open and entered.
"Marquis."
"Go assemble all my private soldiers. I want the heads of every member of the Silver Pirates as a wedding gift for Cobra's grand marriage."
"Yes, Marquis."
"Just wait, Cobra. I'm sure you'll love this gift of mine."
A wicked smile crept onto Kuroor's face, as if he could already see himself ascending the throne.
"Captain, what do you think that Marquis Kuroor will do next?" Walking through the rain-soaked streets, Jora stood beside Shirakawa and asked him.
"If I were him, I wouldn't make any more rash moves—unless he's an idiot."
"True. At this point, only a moron would dare lay a hand on us." Jora said it as if it were obvious. Now the name of their Silver Pirates alone was enough to terrify ordinary people. It worked even better than the big bad wolf for scaring children.
At that moment, the crowd ahead of them suddenly parted to both sides, and the crowd behind them did the same.
"Is this marquis really mentally retarded?"
Seeing this scene, they naturally knew what was about to happen. Jora said, a bit helplessly.
"I was just making an offhand comment earlier. I didn't expect he'd actually be a moron. How did he get to be a marquis? Is it hereditary?" Shirakawa's tone was also a bit resigned. He hadn't expected that his words would actually come true one day.
Then, a large group of soldiers appeared both in front of and behind the Silver Pirates. By rough count, there were about a thousand of them. It looked like they were planning to win by numbers.
"Are you the Silver Pirates?" At that moment, a man riding a white horse emerged from the midst of the soldiers, dressed in splendid attire. It seemed he must be that marquis.
"That's right, we are. If I'm not mistaken, you must be that retarded nobleman."
"Retarded?" Hearing these two words, veins bulged on Kuroor's forehead. Someone dared to call him retarded? Wasn't that suicide?
"You people are courting death."
"Aren't you the one courting death? How dare you come picking a fight with us? Who gave you the courage?"
"Hmph, enough talk. Capture them all. Remember, I want them alive."
"Yes, Marquis."
"I'll leave it to you, Kurokam, Euristine."
"Rest assured, Captain."
This time, the other crew members had no intention of stepping in, because Euristine had said earlier that they would handle this matter themselves.
"Kurokam, there are quite a lot of them. Shouldn't you take out a portion?" Euristine said to Kurokam. With so many to take down, even trash would take some time.
"I was thinking the same thing."
In the next instant, Conqueror's Haki burst forth from Kurokam. The soldiers charging toward them immediately collapsed, row after row.
"Holy crap, what is this?!" Wind, witnessing this for the first time, exclaimed in shock. He had already steeled himself for a big brawl.
"You'll understand later. For now, take care of the ones still standing."
"No problem."
"What's going on?" The still-conscious marquis wore a panicked expression. Why were his soldiers collapsing in rows? Were they putting on an act for him?
This was because Kurokam's Conqueror's Haki hadn't targeted him; otherwise, he'd share the same fate as those men. After this baptism of Haki, the soldiers still standing had all lost their will to fight.
"You've got to be joking. Fight a monster like this? We haven't lived long enough yet."
Then, the soldiers began to scatter in all directions. Soon, aside from the unconscious ones, only the marquis remained.
"This battle seems a bit farcical." Jora, watching this scene, truly didn't know what to say.
"It's because we're too strong."
/-\
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