Rewinding the clock...
East Blue – Waters near Mohali Island.
A pirate ship, its mast shattered, was pressed tightly against a Marine battleship. Pirates swarmed aboard, clashing violently with the Marines.
The warship was a blood-soaked battlefield. Corpses littered the deck, severed limbs lay scattered, and broken blades and splintered guns were strewn across the planks. Both sides fought with wild intensity—fury and bloodlust in every blow.
"Slaughter them all!"
"Help me! Somebody help!"
A spurt of blood bloomed in midair. A pirate wielding a ring-hilted saber was run through the chest, blood leaking from his mouth and nose before he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Hold the line! Captain Mori will be here soon!"
A Marine officer, draped in a Justice coat, yanked his katana free from a pirate's chest. Blood soaked his blade and uniform. Judging by his position and the authority in his voice, he was likely the commanding officer of this battleship.
His face was grim, his heart heavy. These pirates were far more formidable than expected. Though outnumbered, they'd pushed the Marines into a corner. Over half of their forces were already down.
"Boys! Cut them down! This ship is ours!"
A hulking brute wielding a massive battle axe—nearly five feet long—charged through the Marines like a beast unleashed. His muscles bulged with every swing. In mere moments, seven or eight Marines had fallen beneath his blade. Blood dripped from his axe as if it had been dipped in a crimson tide. The weapon's edge, the haft—both soaked. Who knew how many men had died to it already?
The Marine officer's eyes blazed with fury. He recognized the attacker immediately: the infamous Captain of the Great Axe Pirates, a man with a 14 million Beli bounty—Bamos the Great Axe.
Under Bamos' lead, the Marines had been steadily beaten back. No one on board could stand against him. Every time the Marines managed to form a defensive formation, Bamos would barrel through, tearing it apart with bloodthirsty precision.
Just now, they'd finally rallied over twenty men to mount a resistance—only for Bamos to charge in and butcher nearly half of them, scattering the survivors.
"I have to stop him. If we wait for Captain Mori but lose the ship first... it'll be too late!"
Slashing down several pirates trying to ambush him, the officer made up his mind. Gritting his teeth, he stormed toward Bamos.
"Bamos the Battle Axe! 14 million beri bounty! I, Torod, hereby place you under arrest in the name of Justice! Surrender!"
Bamos, still riding high on the thrill of bloodshed, froze for a brief moment when someone dared call him out—demanding his surrender, no less.
He turned his head. Just five meters away stood a young man, early twenties, bloodied but defiant. His white shirt was stained crimson, the Marine Justice coat hanging from his shoulders tattered and torn. His katana dripped blood, its edge chipped and serrated like a saw. Yet he still stood tall, blade pointed directly at Bamos.
"Heh... I know you," Bamos sneered, swinging his axe lazily to behead a nearby wounded Marine. "You're the one who ordered the chain-shot that broke the mast of my ship. The commanding officer of this tub."
"You bastards won't escape. Once Captain Mori arrives, none of you will leave alive!"
Torod's voice trembled—not with fear, but rage. That slain Marine had only been eighteen, a new recruit he'd personally recruited. First real mission—and now dead at Bamos' feet.
"Maybe. But take a good look at the sky—do you think you'll last that long?"
A voice cut in from the side.
A flash of cold steel streaked toward Torod's neck.
He parried at the last second, his katana intercepting the hidden blade.
"Liorosa the Flying Blade. First Mate of the Great Axe Pirates. Bounty: 7.5 million Beli."
Torod glared daggers at the man in black—the one with glasses, clad in shadows. He knew this man: the Great Axe Pirates' strategist. It had to be Liorosa who orchestrated the ambush on the second Marine ship.
"Oho~ You know my name? What an honor!" Liorosa chuckled wickedly, flipping back several steps from the parry's recoil. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled three throwing knives.
Torod twisted his body—each knife thudded harmlessly into the wooden wall behind him.
Bamos charged again, his battle axe raised high.
Torod responded instantly, raising his sword to block. But he had underestimated Bamos' raw strength.
The impact nearly shattered his wrists. The shock ran through his bones, numbing his arms. He staggered back several paces, muscles trembling from the blow.
"Damn it... That power...!"
Torod gritted his teeth. He knew this was it—the turning point. If he could just hold Bamos off a little longer, they might survive. He lunged forward once more.
Marine and pirate, steel against steel—neither side able to interfere in their deadly duel.
"Damn it! Captain, hurry up and finish him! We don't have time!"
Liorosa was in a panic now. He hadn't expected this Marine commander to be so stubborn, willing to die just to buy time. Without Bamos suppressing the enemy's formation, there was no way to take this battleship before reinforcements arrived.
"Die—DIE—JUST DIE ALREADY!"
Bamos roared in frustration. If that Pirate Slayer—Nodori Mori showed up, they were all doomed.
Fueled by desperation, Bamos' axe strikes became more frenzied, carving gashes into Torod's body. Yet still, the man refused to fall.
"Ha... haha... HAHAHA!!"
Torod's shirt was in tatters, his Justice coat long discarded. His body was a mess of wounds, flesh split and bleeding, skin torn like paper—but he still laughed, defiantly.
"You're not going anywhere. Not while I still draw breath. You'll die here. Evil... will never triumph over justice!"
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