Chapter 10: Bluejam
"Hehehe..."
As Axel and the others charged toward the next outpost, the pirates stationed there burst into scornful laughter.
They had already heard the rumors.
A few brats were rampaging through Gray Terminal.
A few children had beaten grown men.
A few little monsters were tearing through Bluejam's forces.
To them, it all sounded ridiculous.
So they grinned, drew their polished weapons, and rushed forward with the confidence of hunters about to carve up prey.
A moment later, they regretted everything.
The so called prey did not stop.
It broke them.
Steel clashed against iron pipes, and the pirates immediately realized something was wrong. Every impact sent a brutal force surging through their arms. Swords were knocked off line. Fingers numbed. Some nearly lost their grip on the hilt after the very first exchange.
And that was only the beginning.
Among the four children charging into them, only Luffy seemed relatively ordinary in raw technique and power.
The other three were monsters.
Ace fought like a blazing spear, aggressive and direct, each strike smashing through defense with frightening force.
Sabo was calmer, cleaner, more calculated, but no less dangerous. His blows were sharp and efficient, and his timing was vicious.
And Axel...
Axel was the most terrifying of all.
He did not even carry a weapon.
Yet anyone who got too close to him dropped inexplicably, as if struck by some invisible force. Every attack aimed at him either missed strangely, bounced away, or hit him only to achieve absolutely nothing. He moved through the crowd like a pale ghost among sheep, cold, effortless, and untouchable.
For a moment, the pirates could only stare in horror.
So the rumors were true.
Porchemy had not died because he angered Bluejam.
He had really been defeated by these brats.
That realization shattered the last traces of their confidence.
"Run!"
The first pirate to break shouted it out loud and threw himself aside without shame. Once one man moved, the others followed almost instantly, scrambling back in panic rather than continuing a fight they clearly could not win.
Sabo did not waste time watching them retreat.
"Don't stop," he ordered immediately. "Next outpost."
The four boys burst through the ruined defense line and kept running.
Only after they had put some distance between themselves and the outpost did a few of the "fallen" pirates slowly rise from the ground.
Not all of them had truly been beaten unconscious.
Some had only gone down to put on a convincing act.
It was not cowardice alone, either.
Axel and the others had not gone all out.
Even against men like these, they still had not crossed the final line.
They used pipes, fists, kicks, and blunt force.
They did not use blades.
They did not kill.
Especially Axel.
For all his power, he still carried the instincts of someone raised in a peaceful era. Even now, even knowing full well that the men of Gray Terminal were violent scum who ruined other people's lives for profit, he still could not casually take theirs.
He had only altered blood flow and impact enough to make enemies collapse or black out. He told himself that what they were doing here was to weaken Bluejam, train themselves, and shake his authority in Gray Terminal.
But he also knew the truth.
If he truly abandoned restraint, this would have been much easier.
Still, the result was enough.
If Bluejam's men could not even stop a few children from smashing their strongholds, how could they maintain fear and control over the rest of Gray Terminal?
The next outpost fell much the same way.
The pirates no longer rushed in eagerly. After seeing Axel and the others tear through multiple positions, they had already learned caution. Most chose to pull back, stall, or avoid direct confrontation.
That only made it easier for the four boys to crush the second stronghold.
But then everything changed.
Somewhere behind the chaos, an order spread through the pursuing crowd like poison.
It moved from mouth to mouth, carried by men running through alleyways, broken streets, and piles of trash.
"Captain Bluejam says he has no use for garbage!"
"If we can't catch those brats, we're finished!"
That single order lit a fire under the pirates.
Before, they had been chasing for reward.
For money.
For favor.
For status.
Now they were running for their lives.
Everyone in Gray Terminal knew what Bluejam was like.
Cruel.
Petty.
Unpredictable.
If his men failed him badly enough, someone would pay the price. Maybe not everyone. Maybe not every time.
But someone always paid.
And no one wanted that someone to be them.
The effect was immediate.
The pirates behind Axel's group became fiercer, louder, and far more desperate than before.
Sabo noticed it first.
His face tightened as he glanced back.
"They're different now," he said. "It feels like they all suddenly snapped."
Axel thought for only a moment before answering.
"It's Bluejam."
There was no other explanation.
"This bunch is greedy, lazy, selfish, and violent. They wouldn't suddenly become this motivated unless someone they feared pushed them." Axel's eyes narrowed slightly. "Only Bluejam could do that."
Sabo's heart sank a little.
"That's bad," he said. "If they're moving like this, there's a good chance Bluejam is already close."
And if Bluejam personally entered the chase, the entire situation would become dangerous.
Axel kept running, mind working quickly.
"He shouldn't know our exact route yet."
Den Den Mushi were far too valuable for ordinary thugs in Gray Terminal to casually use. Axel had never seen anything like that among Bluejam's men. Without one, Bluejam could only react based on delayed reports and noise. In theory, by the time he figured out where the boys were heading, they should have already disengaged.
In theory.
Sabo clearly understood that too, but theory had a nasty habit of failing at the worst possible moment.
"Let's hope so," he muttered.
Then he looked seriously at Ace.
"If Bluejam shows up, you take Luffy and run the moment I give the signal."
Ace's expression hardened.
Sabo continued before he could interrupt.
"I mean it. The two of you are the hardest to control once a fight starts. That's exactly why I'm saying it now."
Ace fell silent for a beat.
He knew exactly how strong Porchemy had been. He and Sabo had risked everything just to bring that man down. Bluejam was stronger than Porchemy. There was no room here for pointless pride.
Still, Ace was still Ace.
"If it turns into a real fight," he said quietly, "I'm not running from the front of it."
Sabo's jaw twitched.
That answer was infuriatingly predictable.
But there was no time to argue.
They pushed on.
Only two outposts remained on the route they had salvaged from disaster.
Sabo unconsciously increased the pace.
He noticed himself doing it and frowned.
Why am I rushing?
Part of him knew the answer.
Instinct.
Something deep inside him kept whispering that the net was tightening.
He shook off the thought.
Not now.
He had Ace, Luffy, and Axel with him. If he started second guessing himself in the middle of battle, that would only make things worse.
The third outpost fell after a slightly harder fight.
The pirates there, fueled by Bluejam's threat, actually held out longer. Their morale had risen sharply, and they fought with a desperation that was far uglier than bravery.
But desperation could not erase the gap in strength.
It only dragged the exchange out.
By the time Axel and the others smashed through and broke away again, the main pursuing force had closed the distance significantly. They were no longer far behind.
A few hundred meters at most.
Close enough to hear clearly.
Close enough to feel.
As they ran, Axel glanced toward the remaining target and asked the one person most likely to answer rationally.
"Sabo. One outpost left. If we hit it, we might not have enough time to disengage."
Ace and Luffy did not count for this sort of judgment.
Luffy would follow whatever sounded boldest in the moment.
Ace, for all his sharpness, had a dangerous streak of heroic stubbornness in battle.
Sabo was the only one who could consistently make the cold choice.
Sabo thought for several seconds while running, eyes fixed ahead.
Then he answered.
"I think it's risky."
He exhaled sharply.
"We've already achieved most of what we came for. We hit multiple strongholds, shook their morale, and proved we can strike Bluejam's territory. Pulling back now isn't a loss."
Ace's answer came immediately.
"No."
Sabo looked at him.
Ace's gaze was steady, and unusually fierce.
"This plan wasn't just about wrecking his hideouts," Ace said. "It was about proving something."
His voice was low, but every word carried weight.
"If we stop now, right before the end, then all of this becomes unfinished. We'll have turned back halfway. That would make the whole thing pointless."
Sabo stared at him.
That expression on Ace's face was dangerous.
Because once he looked like that, it meant his pride had already fused with the fight.
And once that happened, it was almost impossible to drag him away.
Sabo closed his eyes for a moment.
Then made his decision.
"Fine."
But when he opened them again, his voice had turned harder than before.
"If Bluejam appears, you do exactly what I say."
Ace did not reply right away.
Sabo continued.
"You take Luffy and retreat into the forest. Axel and I will hold him off."
This time, even Ace understood the seriousness in his tone.
There was no room for argument left in it.
After a moment, Ace nodded.
"...Alright."
He accepted it.
Not because he liked it, but because he knew this was where Sabo would not bend.
As his brother, Sabo would stand beside him in madness.
But as Sabo, he would also draw the line when Ace's life was at stake.
Not long after, they reached the final target of this attack route.
At the entrance stood Terao Kazu and several of his men.
Unlike the other outposts, Terao had not greeted the approaching chaos with arrogance. The noise from the earlier fighting had already made him uneasy. And now, watching the four figures racing toward his stronghold, his face was turning paler by the second.
Four children.
Three of them matched Bluejam's wanted brats.
The fourth...
Though he could not yet clearly see the face beneath the distance and motion, the build, the habits, and the fact that these children had chosen this exact route told him everything he needed to know.
That masked little bastard.
The same one who had traded with him.
The same one who bought the stronghold information from him.
The same one now using it to attack Bluejam's forces.
Terao's stomach dropped.
"That bastard..." he muttered through clenched teeth. "He really used the information for this..."
His mind raced.
He had sold intelligence out of greed.
If Bluejam ever found out, he was dead.
Absolutely dead.
There was only one way out.
Kill these kids.
Kill them here.
And then silence the men who knew about the deal.
They were already tied to him now anyway. Better dead and quiet than alive and capable of talking.
The thought had only just formed when a figure stepped beside him.
Terao froze.
The blood drained from his face.
Of all the people he least wanted to see right now, it had to be this one.
A blue shawl draped over broad shoulders.
A pistol hanging at the waist.
That distinctive, ugly hairstyle.
That sparse hairline.
That face.
Bluejam.
The captain himself had arrived.