After lunch, Nos sent someone to find Pons, saying that they were about to set out.
Thus, Pons boarded the warship alongside Nos, ready to go and subdue the Glide Pirates.
For this operation, Nos dispatched a total of three warships carrying roughly two hundred sailors.
They appeared fully intent on crushing the Glide Pirates in one decisive blow.
Two hours later, the warship responsible for transporting the bounty funds had reached a point about one hundred fifty kilometers from the N-6 Branch, only to be intercepted head-on by the Glide Pirates.
The Glide Pirates also had three ships.
Robert, Fogg, and Winnie each commanded one vessel.
The bounty transport, however, consisted of only a single warship, carrying fifty sailors and led by a Marine lieutenant commander named Hughes.
Upon sighting three pirate ships approaching, their sails emblazoned with the Glide Pirates’ insignia, Hughes frowned deeply.
He had naturally heard of the Glide Pirates’ fearsome reputation…
they were a formidable enemy, and he might very well meet his end here today.
Nevertheless, duty compelled him to fight.
He issued a loud command: “Adjust our angle!
Open fire on the enemy ships!” Unlike the dilapidated, outdated warships of Reg’s N-23 Branch, the vessel Hughes commanded was equipped with substantial long-range firepower, with three cannons mounted on each side of the hull to repel aggressors.
Upon receiving Hughes’s command, the helmsman and gunners sprang into action.
The helmsman adjusted the ship’s angle, and once the vessel was positioned properly, the three gunners on one side fired upon the enemy ships.
Under normal circumstances, such firepower would be sufficient to intimidate or even destroy the target…
but that held true only against ordinary foes.
The Glide Pirates were far from ordinary pirates.
In response to the warship’s bombardment, Robert and his officers directed their helmsmen to evade while simultaneously closing in on the warship.
The helmsmen on all three pirate ships were quite skilled at their craft.
Under their guidance, the vessels successfully dodged the incoming cannonballs one after another.
The three pirate ships then rapidly dispersed, approaching the Marine warship from different directions.
This left the gunners aboard the warship scrambling, unsure which enemy ship to target.
Eventually, the pirate vessel commanded by Fogg drew slightly closer to the warship.
Fogg, a Devil Fruit user, transformed into a “vulture-man” on the spot, with a pair of wings sprouting from his back.
Once transformed, he took to the air, flew directly onto the warship’s deck, drew his saber, and cut down several gunners in quick succession.
With no more cannon fire to fear, Fogg’s ship accelerated without restraint and quickly drew alongside the warship.
The pirates swiftly laid down boarding planks and completed the grapple with the Marine vessel.
The pirates then swarmed aboard, attacking the Marines in close combat.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Winnie’s ship moved to the other side of the warship and also completed its grapple.
Pirates leaped aboard to engage the sailors in battle.
Robert, however, did not have his flagship approach the warship further.
Instead, he stood on its deck, observing the overall flow of the battle from a distance.
Robert had been wounded earlier by X.
Drake, but his injuries had now healed.
Against enemies of this caliber, he did not even need to personally intervene.
The battle was progressing smoothly.
After all, his pirates greatly outnumbered the Marines on the opposite side, and Fogg and Winnie were both highly capable fighters.
There might have been some risk of being hit by cannon fire before boarding, but once the grapple was complete, with superior numbers and superior strength, there was virtually no chance of failure.
Robert believed this battle was firmly in his grasp…
but the situation turned out somewhat differently than he had anticipated.
A volley of gunfire rang out.
The pirates who had boarded the warship were struck by bullets one after another, some collapsing on the deck, others plunging into the sea.
To protect the shipment, Lieutenant Commander Hughes had gone to great lengths.
Though he had only brought fifty sailors, each of them was carefully selected from among the finest.
Their combat skills might not match those of true powerhouses, but they were all exceptional among ordinary Marine sailors.
Thirty of them were equipped with flintlock rifles, allowing them to continue providing effective long-range fire support even after the enemy had boarded.
Fogg and Winnie naturally recognized the threat posed by the riflemen and charged toward them first.
Hughes attempted to intercept Fogg, but Fogg simply flapped his wings and flew past him, continuing toward the riflemen.
Left with no choice, Hughes turned to block Winnie instead.
Though Winnie was brutal and ruthless in nature, she had a young and attractive appearance.
Seeing Hughes, she flashed him a sweet smile and said: “Oh my, Marine boy…
would you really raise your hand against a fragile girl like me?” Hughes ignored her coy act.
This woman, whose hands were stained with countless lives, was anything but fragile!
He shouted at her sternly: “Vile pirate, prepare to die!” Seeing that her “seduction” had failed, Winnie’s expression instantly shifted, turning fierce and vicious: “If you won’t take the easy way, then the only one who dies is you!” With that, she pulled a long whip from her coat, flicked her wrist, and sent it cracking toward Hughes’s body.
However, when the whip struck Hughes, it produced only a sharp “crack” without any effect.
Hughes remained completely unfazed, stepped forward, and threw a punch at Winnie.
Winnie had not expected her whip attack to have no effect on Hughes at all.
Caught off guard, she was struck in the abdomen by his fist and sent flying several meters through the air.
After regaining her footing, a hint of wariness crept into Winnie’s heart.
Her whip strikes packed tremendous power…
an ordinary person hit by one would be torn open, and it was even possible to break bones or kill with a single lash.
Yet this Marine seemed entirely unaffected.
Why?
A sudden realization struck Winnie, ‘Could this man be using one of the Rokushiki techniques, like Tekkai?
Or perhaps he possessed the legendary Armament Haki?’ Winnie had only heard rumors about Haki and had never actually seen anyone use it.
Those rumored to possess Haki were invariably powerful figures who dominated their territories.
Even X.
Drake, whom she had encountered before…
though overwhelmingly strong…
had never displayed any Haki abilities.
However, Drake had demonstrated several Rokushiki techniques, forcing Robert to flee in disarray…
an impression that remained vividly etched in Winnie’s memory.
‘If this Marine truly possessed Haki or knew the Rokushiki, then today’s battle might very well be lost.’ In reality, what Hughes had used was neither Armament Haki nor Tekkai, but rather his Devil Fruit ability.
Hughes was a Paramecia-type Hard-Hard Fruit user.
Upon activating his power, his body became as hard as if he had used Tekkai.
However, Tekkai typically prevented movement, whereas Hughes’s fruit ability had no such limitation.
Winnie, now hesitant, dared not press her attack.
Hughes, meanwhile, seized the opportunity to go on the offensive.
Hughes carried no weapons.
With the Hard-Hard Fruit enhancing his body, his fists were the best weapons he could have.
He closed in on Winnie and unleashed a flurry of wild punches.
Winnie was quite agile, evading Hughes’s relentless barrage across the deck.
Occasionally, she managed to snap her whip, but it still had no effect whatsoever on Hughes.
As the saying goes, a prolonged defense inevitably falters.
Winnie grew increasingly anxious…
sooner or later, if she kept dodging, she would be struck.
Meanwhile, after cutting down several sailors, Fogg noticed that Winnie was at a disadvantage and immediately rushed over to support her.
Fogg had once had a full head of hair, but after consuming the Vulture Fruit, his hair had fallen out entirely…
perhaps as a side effect of the ability.
When he activated his fruit power, his face became vulture-like, feathers sprouted on his body, and wings emerged from his back.
His weapon was a katana, and his swordsmanship was reasonably competent.
Combined with his ability to fly, he posed a significant threat to most opponents.
However, when his katana struck Hughes, it too failed to inflict any damage.
But Fogg, being airborne, could easily evade Hughes’s punches.
For the moment, neither side could gain an advantage over the other.
After several ineffective slashes, Fogg changed his tactics.
The man’s body might be as hard as iron, but surely his eyes could not be protected as well.
Fogg made a few feigned slashes at Hughes’s body, and Hughes did not dodge.
Then, in the next instant, Fogg abruptly shifted his blade and thrust straight for Hughes’s right eye.
Having grown complacent from the enemy’s repeated ineffective attacks, Hughes was caught off guard.
Fogg’s thrust came with such ferocious speed that Hughes could not react in time…
his right eye was pierced directly by the blade’s tip.
“AAAARGH!” Hughes let out a scream of agony.
Fogg pressed his advantage, withdrawing the blade and thrusting again at Hughes’s left eye.
However, having lost his right eye, Hughes quickly realized that his left eye would be the next target.
He raised his arm to shield his eye, blocking Fogg’s attack.
Nevertheless, the injury to his right eye took a heavy toll.
Intense pain radiated from the damaged eye socket, and under its influence, Hughes could only focus on defense for the moment…
he was unable to launch further attacks against Fogg or Winnie.
The defensive power offered by the Hard-Hard Fruit was still formidable.
No matter how Fogg and Winnie attacked, Hughes remained as immovable as a mountain.
Though they could not defeat Hughes, the pirate grunts gradually gained the upper hand in their battle against the Marines.
Though the Marines had riflemen, the pirates’ numerical advantage was simply overwhelming.
After suffering some casualties, the successive waves of pirates killed nearly ten of the riflemen.
The remaining riflemen no longer had sufficient firepower to suppress the large number of pirates, and they too began to fall.
Just as the Marines were falling into a disadvantageous position, Lieutenant Commander Nos arrived on the scene with his forces.
“Reinforcements?” Robert, who had not yet entered the fight, spotted the three new Marine warships in the distance and narrowed his eyes.
‘Hmm?
Was not the leader of that group the same Marine Lieutenant Commander who had come to stop me during my attack on the Kingdom of Dolts?
At that time, he had been defeated by Fogg, and his forces had suffered considerable losses.
Now he dared to show his face again?’