Since he could not dodge it, he would settle for mutual destruction!
Narut swung his large chopping blade, slashing toward Pons.
Earlier, his “Rushing Water Blade: Fish Leap Assault” had inexplicably passed right through this monster’s body.
But now that he was making an offensive move against him, he should not be able to maintain that strange intangible state while simultaneously attacking… or so Narut speculated.
Unfortunately for Narut, his guess was entirely wrong.
The large chopping blade swept through Pons’s form once again, feeling exactly as if it were cutting through thin air…
there was no sensation of making contact whatsoever.
Meanwhile, the Shadow Ball in Pons’s hands struck Narut’s cheek without any deviation whatsoever.
The Shadow Ball exploded upon impact.
Narut felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, and his balance became unsteady.
Reg, who had been kicked away moments earlier, seized the opportunity.
Gripping his iron rod tightly, he rushed forward and delivered a series of fierce, rapid blows to Narut’s midsection.
Narut had no room to evade.
Struck repeatedly by Reg’s iron rod, he howled in agony.
However, as a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user, Narut possessed an exceptionally robust physique and was highly durable.
Even after taking hits from both Pons and Reg, he still showed no signs of being on the verge of collapse.
Reg then unleashed his ultimate technique: “Wisdom King Rod: Falling Star Strike!” Though the name sounded impressively grand, in reality, it was merely a charged attack that packed slightly more power than an ordinary rod strike.
After a brief moment of gathering his strength, Reg swung his rod and drove it with tremendous force into Narut’s chest.
Under normal circumstances, Reg’s technique would have posed little threat to Narut.
But now, hampered by his injuries and slowed reactions, Narut was struck squarely in the chest by Reg’s rod.
Narut let out a low grunt and was about to retaliate when Pons’s second Shadow Ball was already prepared…
and it once again slammed into Narut’s face.
This time, Narut could no longer hold on.
His entire body toppled backward, crashing heavily onto the deck, and he fell unconscious.
His body reverted from its fruit-enhanced form back to a regular human shape.
Upon reverting, Narut’s height dropped sharply to only about one meter and seventy centimeters.
Reg quickly stepped forward, pulled a pair of Seastone handcuffs from his pocket, and secured them around the unconscious Narut’s wrists.
Upon seeing their captain captured, the remaining pirates either lost all will to fight or descended into a frenzy of desperate resistance.
Regardless, without Narut, the Swordfish Pirates were no longer a threat.
They were quickly overwhelmed…
some killed, others captured.
On the Marine side, over ten sailors had been killed in action, with another dozen or so wounded.
The merchant ship’s operator came forward to express gratitude to Reg and offered to pay a certain amount of reward money, but Reg politely declined.
With the combined captures from the Swordfish Pirates and the Hammer Pirates, the total number of prisoners exceeded one hundred.
Yet the Marines now had fewer than twenty able-bodied sailors left.
Transporting such a large number of prisoners posed a significant challenge…
they had to remain constantly vigilant against any unrest.
The Marine warship simply did not have enough space to hold so many prisoners.
Reg was therefore forced to transfer some of the captives onto one of the captured pirate vessels.
He then assigned ten of his sailors to pilot that pirate ship, following behind the warship as they sailed toward Marine N-6 Branch.
Reg contacted the N-6 Branch once more, informing them that they would be bringing along a pirate vessel.
This was to prevent the Marines at the N-6 Branch from misidentifying the captured ship and accidentally opening fire on it.
The Marine sailors maintained heightened vigilance over their prisoners, with at least half of their number remaining on watch even after nightfall.
Reg himself stayed constantly by Narut’s side to prevent any trouble.
Even Pons could not help but feel somewhat tense.
Another issue arose concerning food supplies.
With so many additional prisoners, the warship’s provisions suddenly became insufficient.
Although Reg only allowed the captured pirates the bare minimum of rations, the sailors’ portions were also noticeably reduced, and many went hungry.
Nevertheless, Pons, as the greatest contributor who had killed Zodyl and captured Narut alive, was guaranteed proper treatment and received full meals each time.
Throughout the remainder of the voyage, every sailor remained on edge.
Fortunately, no major incidents occurred along the way.
After another two days, the group arrived safely at the N-6 Branch.
Lieutenant Commander Nos, the commanding officer of the N-6 Branch, was waiting at the branch’s harbor with several Marines to receive Reg and his party.
Nos appeared to be three or four years older than Reg and stood a few centimeters shorter.
However, from the commanding presence he exuded, it seemed his combat ability was considerably greater than Reg’s.
In contrast to Reg’s somewhat disheveled appearance, Nos was rather neatly groomed, with a clean-shaven face.
After Reg disembarked, Lieutenant Commander Nos strode quickly over to him, reached out, and patted Reg on the shoulder with a hearty laugh.
“Well done, Reg!
You’ve taken care of both the Hammer Pirates and the Swordfish Pirates!
Once this achievement is reported, you should at least be promoted to Lieutenant Commander…
maybe even Commander, putting you on equal footing with me!” Reg offered a wry smile.
“This wasn’t my doing.
I just got lucky and happened to meet a formidable fighter who could defeat Zodyl and Narut.” Regarding Pons, Reg had only briefly mentioned him during his Den Den Mushi communications and had not gone into detail.
Now that Reg brought him up, Nos naturally became curious and said, “Let me meet this fighter you mentioned.
I’d like to see who this remarkable person is.” Reg then dispatched a sailor to fetch Pons.
Before long, Pons, led by that sailor, came forward to meet Nos.
“What a young warrior!” Upon seeing Pons, Nos offered his sincere praise.
Though Pons was young and unremarkable in appearance, Reg had stated that he was the one who had defeated Zodyl and Narut…
proof enough of his formidable skill.
Therefore, Nos did not hold back his compliments.
In response to Nos’s praise, Pons smiled politely but did not offer much of a reply.
Reg then said to Nos: “Pons has successively defeated Oko, Zodyl, and Narut.
As per protocol, he is entitled to a total bounty of fifty-four million Berry… I would ask that you, Lieutenant Commander, assist in disbursing the payment.” Upon hearing this, Nos hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said: “Naturally, that is only right… However, you may not be aware, but our branch currently does not have that much reserve funding on hand.
A payment of ten to twenty million Berry, we could manage.
But fifty-four million Berry all at once…
that is quite difficult for us.
I will need to report this to my superiors and have them approve the release of funds before we can make the payment.” Reg’s expression flickered with doubt.
Fifty-four million Berry was indeed a considerable sum for an ordinary person.
But the N-6 Branch was a fairly large Marine branch…
surely they could produce that amount without much trouble.
In order to encourage bounty hunters and other skilled fighters across the world to hunt down pirates, Marine Headquarters maintained certain reserve bounty funds at major branches worldwide.
These funds were specifically designated for paying out bounties to hunters who brought in wanted criminals, thus avoiding the embarrassment of being unable to pay when claimants arrived.
By regulation, these funds could only be used for bounty payments and could not be diverted to other purposes.
His own N-23 Branch was a small, remote outpost with no authority to disburse bounties.
But the N-6 Branch, being a large branch authorized to make such payments, should certainly have been able to pay out over fifty million Berry.
Reg found it hard to believe that they could not.
Reg wondered, ‘Was Lieutenant Commander Nos trying to embezzle the bounty money?
But that did not seem right either.
From what I knew of Lieutenant Commander Nos, he was somewhat career-minded but not greedy…
at least not to that extent.’ Moreover, it would be impossible to embezzle the money anyway.
Even if he deliberately delayed, he would still have to pay eventually.
He could hardly kill Pons to silence him…
if word of that got out, who would ever dare work as a bounty hunter again?
Pons, unaware of the underlying circumstances, did not find anything unusual about Nos’s explanation.
After all, fifty-four million Berry was indeed a large sum, and it was only natural that time would be needed to arrange the funds.
At that moment, Nos gave an order to one of his subordinates: “Take a group of men and lock the captured pirates in the cells.” The subordinate acknowledged the order and departed.
Nos then said to Reg and his sailors: “You’ve endured a long journey and had to keep such strict watch over the prisoners…
you must be exhausted.
Come into the base and rest for a while.” These sailors had indeed been very tired over the past two days.
Though the wounded had received emergency treatment aboard the ship, the medical conditions had been less than ideal.
At the N-6 Branch, they could receive more proper care.
Thus, Reg led his men into the base to rest, while the wounded were sent to the infirmary for treatment.
As they walked, Reg quietly asked Nos: “Lieutenant Commander, I find it hard to believe that the N-6 Branch truly cannot disburse this fifty-four million berry bounty.
What exactly is going on…?” Nos smiled wryly and said: “I have my difficulties, my friend.
Please try to understand… By the way, have you heard of the Glide Pirates?” Reg was momentarily taken aback when Nos suddenly brought up the Glide Pirates, then said: “The Glide Pirates have a notorious reputation…
of course I know of them.” The Glide Pirates were a major pirate crew that had established their dominance in the Romon Sea to the southeast.
Their top three officers were all powerful pirates with high bounties.
Captain Robert, with a bounty of fifty-five million Berry, was a Paramecia-type Cold-Cold Fruit user who also possessed superb hand-to-hand combat skills.
He frequently led his crew in raids against nations within the Romon Sea and was rumored to have once killed a Marine lieutenant commander.
First Mate Fogg, with a bounty of thirty-two million Berry, was a Zoan-type Vulture Fruit user.
Besides his considerable combat ability, he also possessed a fair amount of cunning and served as the crew’s strategist.
Fellow First Mate Winnie was a vicious female pirate with a bounty of twenty-seven million Berry.
Her weapon was a whip that could extend up to four meters in length.
It was said that this whip was made from a special material…
one lash from it could split open even a highly durable, muscular man’s flesh.
Compared to the Hammer Pirates and Swordfish Pirates, who could only terrorize remote waters, the Glide Pirates could truly be considered a major pirate crew.
The Romon Sea was one of the more bustling regions in the entire North Blue, with many Marine experts stationed there.
The fact that the Glide Pirates could operate with impunity in the Romon Sea demonstrated the formidable strength of their crew.
Even Winnie, who had the lowest bounty among the top three, still surpassed Narut’s bounty.
But the Glide Pirates dominated the Romon Sea…
that was a headache for the Marines stationed there.
What did that have to do with the N-6 Branch?