The third day after Vane arrived at Rose Island.
The weather today wasn't very good. Dark clouds were densely packed, yet they were the kind that wouldn't easily let rain fall.
Most of the people on Rose Island were at home at this moment, setting up tense and dense defensive works—nailing wooden boards over the entrances of their house windows so that no one could easily get in.
Or simply blocking doors and windows with sand and soil.
They did this to stop pirates from easily entering their homes. Of course, although many people made their defenses look quite proper, in reality they had no intention of hiding inside.
Many times, a pirate invasion relies on catching people off guard. If you already know the enemy is coming, those who value their lives won't foolishly face the pirates head-on.
Knowing the enemy was coming, they packed up their important valuables and ran to places where pirates could be avoided—for example, deep into the mountains and forests.
Rose Island wasn't small; it still had mountains and forests. Hiding inside them really could avoid the pirates. Pirates were after money, after all, especially this time, when the target clearly pointed toward the royal family.
So a portion of the civilians had already begun hiding deep in the mountains early on.
Of course, only a portion. Another group stayed behind for various reasons. Rose City was quite large, and there were many places to hide, especially after some people had already fled.
It was afternoon, close to dusk, when a series of urgent bell tolls came from the direction of the docks.
Many island cities were built along the coast, and Rose City was no exception. So stopping pirates from landing was the first battle in defending the city.
"Quick, quick, quick—the pirates are coming!"
"Everyone check your weapons! Load the cannonballs into the cannons!"
The Thorn Rose Kingdom's army began moving around the docks. Most of the residents who were still in the city hid in their concealed locations at this time, though some braver ones still dared to come out and take a look.
They saw the flustered kingdom army, and they also saw two people standing atop a four-story-tall building behind the docks.
Standing on the building were naturally Vane and Tant.
"Six pirate ships? That's a bit fewer than I imagined."
Standing on the tallest building at the docks, Vane looked at the six pirate ships appearing on the sea with a bold and heroic air.
Once a guy stands at the highest point, it's easy to imagine himself as a backlit silhouette, surrounded by the Tyndall effect.
Mysterious and powerful.
Only Tant remained by Vane's side; everyone else had other assignments.
Electabuzz and the ordinary crew stayed on the Black Panther. With pirates attacking now, those guys would definitely come up and smash your ship to pieces, so someone had to stay behind. And the Black Panther wasn't at the front docks anyway—those main docks were under concentrated cannon fire, and leaving just a few people there would never hold.
Bonez and Lena went to carry out other missions.
The main force against the pirates consisted of just Vane and Tant, along with the kingdom army and gang enforcers.
Tant looked at the six pirate ships drawing closer and asked, "Six ships isn't many?"
"With the Suit Pirates' influence, and with Rose Island being the wealthiest place in this sea area as the target, even ten pirate ships would be normal."
"And haven't you noticed? The Suit Pirates haven't shown up yet."
As they spoke, both sides had already entered firing range, and the prepared cannons on the docks began to fire.
Bang! Boom! Bang…
A round of cannon fire went out with average results. Only one shot successfully hit a pirate ship. The damage wasn't great, but the humiliation was immense. Vane could already imagine the pirate captain on that ship cursing furiously.
The pirates' counterattack quickly began. Their ships also had cannons.
The kingdom army's gunnery skills were terrible, and the pirates weren't much better—hardly any shots followed a proper parabolic arc.
But the pirate ships had one advantage: they were moving. The cannons on the docks were clearly far less flexible than ships at sea.
In this mutual exchange between amateurs, the dock artillery would soon suffer heavier blows.
Just as Vane was considering stepping in with Tant to block the cannonballs, his Den Den Mushi rang.
The voice of Rose Princess Martha immediately sounded out: "Mr. Vane! The Suit Pirates and a large number of other pirates have already landed on Rose Island from the west. The pirates on the front are just bait to draw attention."
Vane was somewhat surprised. No wonder the pirates in front were so mediocre—turns out the elites had gone elsewhere.
Pirates knew how to use tactics too; they couldn't be underestimated. Knowing full well that Rose Island was prepared and still charging head-on—that would just be serving themselves up otherwise.
When Whitebeard stormed the Marine headquarters base, he also hid one ship.
"Let's go. No matter how fierce the fighting is here, they won't be able to land anytime soon."
A large number of pirates landed from the other side. More than half of the original arrangements were rendered useless, and the kingdom army and gang enforcers began moving again to intercept the pirates' advance.
...
The western side of Rose City was relatively flat and open terrain. The pirates chose this place so that after landing, they could push straight through.
Most of the kingdom army had focused their defenses on the docks. Fortunately, they weren't foolish enough to leave this side completely undefended—once the pirates appeared, it was immediately reported.
It was just a pity they couldn't wear the enemy down before they landed. Now they could only fight a land battle.
The landing pirates numbered around five to six hundred. There seemed to be ten pirate captains. Fifteen or sixteen had bounties over ten million Belly, and six or seven were over twenty million.
Two were over thirty million.
One was the Suit Pirates' captain, Jane Erkoya, with a bounty of seventy million Belly.
He looked like a weathered middle-aged man. He wore a black suit, impeccably straight. Among the many pirates, his build was average. He walked with elegant steps, even slower than the other pirates who were charging ahead.
The other was also from the Suit Pirates—Mad Dog Gutt, with a bounty of thirty million Belly.
He was extremely strong, three meters tall, with a massive build. Around his neck was a spiked iron collar, just like a fighting dog. His nickname, Mad Dog, was well deserved.
"Whoever is the first to charge into Rose City gets a bigger share of the loot."
"Boys, whether you get rich today depends on how fast your hands are."
"Move! Before the kingdom army finishes assembling, rush in now and catch them off guard!"
No matter their motives, most of the captains led their subordinates at the front, wanting to get into the city as quickly as possible.
On the kingdom army's side, their formation truly hadn't been set yet. Their advantage was firepower suppression. If it really came down to close combat, they had some numerical advantage—but under the leadership of so many ferocious pirate captains, that advantage became precarious.
When the two sides were less than two hundred meters apart, scattered musket fire began to trade back and forth. Rose Island's muskets were mediocre—firing once required a long reload. Without organized firing squads or three-rank formations, the threat to pirates was limited.
"Foolish kingdom army."
The Spider Pirate captain had a bounty of eighteen million Belly. He knocked aside a bullet with his broadsword, bent at the waist, and was about to rush to the very front to slaughter his way through.
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