The pirates were stunned. After a while, a burly pirate with an ugly face roared loudly,
"It's... it's... it's Marine Taro!"
The pirates immediately erupted in a commotion.
"Taro? That Navy Grand Staff Officer?"
"How could he appear here?"
"This... how is this possible?"
"..."
The laboring civilians were also dumbfounded.
"Marines? Are they here to save us?"
"It... it really is Taro, I've seen him in the newspapers!"
Then, they immediately burst into tears and knelt on the ground.
"Mr. Taro, please save us!"
"I... I want to go home. I have an 80-year-old mother at home and children waiting to be fed..."
"..."
After the initial panic, the pirates quickly gathered together. The one who recognized Taro's identity earlier was clearly the leader of this group.
He was clearly panicked upon seeing Taro, his expression changing for a while.
The wailing of the civilians made him even more frustrated.
"Shut up! Keep wailing and I'll kill you all!"
Then, he looked at Taro, forcing himself to be brave.
"Taro, if you dare do anything reckless, I'll kill—"
Before he could finish, Taro's figure turned into an afterimage and appeared before him, grabbing him by the throat.
"You know who I am yet you still dare to threaten me? You've got quite the nerve!"
Then his hand gradually applied pressure, his face cold.
"Now, tell me, where is Blackbeard?"
The pirates were all terrified. Their leader, the one Taro was holding by the throat, was the great pirate with a bounty of 90 million, "Blood Hand" Dakmon.
Although Dakmon couldn't reach the threshold of the pirate Supernovas, he was still a standout among many pirates.
However, in front of Taro, he was actually like a child, instantly suppressed with no ability to resist.
Dakmon's face turned red as his throat was gripped. His lips moved a few times as if to speak, but Taro didn't give him an easy chance.
"I'm warning you, you only get one chance to speak. Don't provoke me!"
A few tears flowed from the corners of Dakmon's eyes, and he blinked with difficulty.
Only then did Taro release his neck.
"Big Brother Teach... no, it's Blackbeard, he's still on Fullalead Island, Hachinosu!"
Dakmon gasped for breath a few times and spoke quickly.
Taro frowned. "You weren't assigned combat missions? Also, what are you building here?"
Blackbeard and the Whitebeard Pirates Remnants were determined to fight. How could he still be at Fullalead!
This pirate was either lying to him or was too low-level to know anything at all!
"Combat? No, our mission is just to build this Altar!" Dakmon shook his head quickly.
"What is this Altar for?"
"Ah, I don't know either. Blackbeard always just has us follow orders!"
"Narikude Island, do you know where it is?"
"No, I don't kn— ugh!"
Before Dakmon could finish, Taro grabbed his neck again and, with a flick of his wrist, crushed his cervical spine.
"You... you..." Dakmon struggled to grab Taro's arm, the light in his eyes gradually fading.
"You know nothing at all. What's the use of trash like you staying alive?"
Taro's gaze was cold, and his tone was even more ruthless.
"Ah!"
The surrounding pirates were all stunned. Taro's ruthlessness exceeded their imagination.
Although Marines and pirates are enemies, when had they ever seen such a violent Marine?
This style of doing things was even more heartless than Akainu!
Taro tossed Dakmon's corpse aside and turned his gaze toward the pirate lackeys.
One of the pirate lackeys swallowed hard and hissed,
"He... he wants to kill us all! Quick, attack, or we'll all—"
Clang—
Before the words could fall, Taro drew thunderstorm and unleashed a horizontal sweep. The sharp Sword Qi instantly sliced the gathered pirates in half!
"I said long ago that I would slaughter every single member of the Blackbeard Pirates one by one. You've got quite the nerve, actually daring to join them!"
Taro's extremely cold tone made the civilians watching from the edges hushed in fear.
They had been tormented by these pirates for days. Now, being rescued by Taro, they should have been celebrating their survival, but Taro's ruthless methods still terrified them.
Taro didn't care what these ordinary civilians thought. Failing to get any useful information made him very angry.
"Go back to your homes!"
Taro waved his hand, said a word, and prepared to leave.
However, from the crowd, a middle-aged man pushed his way out.
"Mr. Marine, please wait!"
Taro came back to his senses, frowned, and glanced at him. "Hmm?"
The middle-aged man hesitated. "The Narikude Island you asked about... I know where it is."
Taro appeared before the man in a single stride. "Where?"
The man was startled by Taro's Aura and shrunk his neck.
"It's in the Misty Sea a few dozen kilometers away, in the southwest direction. However, it's very dangerous there..."
"Misty Sea?"
"How do you know about that place?" Taro asked with a frown. He could see that the man in front of him was just an ordinary person with slightly better physical fitness.
"When I was young, I thought about going out to sea for adventure. I accidentally entered that place and barely escaped with my life," the middle-aged man said, reminiscing about the past.
"Are you sure it's called Narikude?"
The man nodded heavily. "Yes, it's very special. The name of the island is carved on a giant mountain peak; you can see it from far away!"
Taro gave the man a deep look and smiled. "Thanks for the information. Go home."
Half an hour later, Taro arrived at the Misty Sea the man spoke of.
From far away, one could see low, dense clouds, with purple lightning like swimming dragons pouring down constantly.
Taro lowered his altitude, observed the perimeter for a while, and then dove straight in.
The sky inside was still dark, and it emitted a rotten stench.
There was indeed a giant mountain peak in the center of the island as the man said. The shape of the peak was very strange, looking like it had been cut on four sides, a rectangular pillar.
Unlike the surrounding gloomy environment, this mountain peak was silver-white!
On the smooth cut surface, the characters for Narikude flickered with light!
This is the place!
Taro activated his Internal Energy, speeding up and charging straight toward the center of the island.
Getting closer to the peak, he felt even more strange. This thing's style didn't match the surrounding environment at all!
It was as if it had been artificially placed here!
Where did this thing come from, who put it here, and why was it placed here?
Taro hovered before the peak for a long time and finally couldn't help but reach out and touch it.
"Origin Factory identifies unauthorized access. Please enter the access password to enable permissions!"
Immediately after, light flashed across the surface of the peak again, and the peak rapidly lowered in height.
Finally, it gradually became only a few dozen meters high!
After the peak shrank, Taro finally saw its full appearance, and then, he was stunned.
The shape of this thing looked a bit familiar... Was it that Nutrient Chamber-like thing in Vegapunk's lab?!
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