Hearing this…
Even Morton’s expression changed!
The other Marines on the ship all paled, immediately looking in the direction pointed out by the man on the mast!
Right there, they saw the ship!
The massive galleon featured a black panther figurehead, and flying high on the mast was a Jolly Roger with an hourglass drawn on either side of the skull!
The Krieg Pirates!
The most powerful pirate crew in the entire East Blue.
Their captain, Krieg, was known as [Don] Krieg, and his bounty was a staggering 17 million Berries!
In the entire East Blue!
They were a terrifying existence.
Many lone pirate ships that encountered the Krieg Pirates ended up with their entire crews slaughtered by Krieg himself!
And this fact…
Every Marine present knew it clearly, which was exactly why fear was currently written all over their faces.
“Everyone, prepare for battle immediately!!
Don’t forget who we are, or what these pirates just did!!
And definitely don’t forget why you became Marines!!”
Morton didn’t even need to look to feel the fear of the Marines around him.
But he wouldn’t blame his subordinates, because he knew exactly how infamous the name Krieg was in the East Blue!
But right now…
They could only fight.
They had to face the pirate ship sailing straight toward them!!
Andrew gulped, standing on the deck.
Hearing Morton’s words, the surrounding Marines were more or less encouraged.
More importantly, they knew they had to fight!
But this was Andrew’s first time seeing dead bodies, and his first time encountering pirates.
Worse yet, his very first encounter was with the overlord of the East Blue, Krieg!
Elliot looked at Andrew beside him, then at the other Marines on the ship.
Pushing up his glasses with his index finger, he watched the massive galleon drawing closer and closer.
“A-Are you…
not scared…?” Andrew asked quietly, noticing Elliot’s calm demeanor.
“Are you going to fight?” Elliot asked in return, looking at Andrew’s slightly trembling body.
“O-Of course!
Don’t forget, I’m a Marine too.
I became a Marine to wipe out pirates.
W-When facing pirates…
how could I be scared!” Andrew’s body was already trembling, and even his words stuttered, but his eyes were exceptionally resolute.
“Is that so.” Elliot gently took off his glasses and slipped them into his shirt pocket.
“But since those pirates killed people who were pretty nice to me, I’m sorry, Andrew, but I probably won’t give you guys the chance to fight.
Besides…”
Elliot’s expression was indifferent, completely unchanged from before.
His pitch-black eyes, framed by heavy dark circles now that his glasses were off, stared at the pirate ship.
“It’s working hours right now, so I need to do what I’m supposed to do.”
Seeing Elliot take off his glasses, Andrew couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.
And in the next instant…
Elliot vanished.
Suddenly, Andrew subconsciously looked toward the Krieg pirate ship!
Elliot’s back was already in midair, charging straight toward the Krieg pirate ship!
And it wasn’t just Andrew who saw it.
All the Marines on the warship, especially Morton, saw Elliot rushing out.
Subconsciously, Morton thought he had seen wrong.
He hurriedly looked toward where Andrew was, and upon seeing the empty space, he immediately confirmed that it really was that slender, frail recruit he hadn’t thought highly of!
But just as he was about to shout for him to come back, it was already too late.
Meanwhile, aboard the Dreadnaught Sabre, the Krieg Pirates had naturally noticed the Marine charging toward them.
Especially the man standing on the deck, wearing a suit of golden armor and a large cape—Krieg!
“Hmph!
Overestimating your own strength!” Krieg sneered at Elliot charging toward him, the corners of his mouth curling up as he ordered, “Destroy that warship for me!!
Slaughter all the Marines!”
“Yeah!!!”
As soon as the words fell, the pirates on the ship cheered in unison and prepared to fire the cannons immediately!!
And the strange man beside Krieg, whose entire body was wrapped in shields, smashed his fists together, staring intently at the incoming Elliot.
But…
Everyone froze for a moment.
Whether it was the pirates or the Marines, they all froze.
Because they saw Elliot in midair suddenly make a kicking motion toward the ship.
And then…
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion rang out, accompanied by the sound of seawater churning as the ship was kicked completely over.
“…”
All the Marines watched the pirate ship fly high into the air, watched the pirates flying just as high, and listened to their screams.
Without exception, the Marines’ minds went blank, utterly dumbfounded.
Especially Andrew!
And Captain Morton!
SPLASH!!!
Immediately after!
The massive galleon plummeted from the heights, crashing heavily onto the surface of the sea.
Not only did the giant masts snap instantly, but massive cracks also appeared across the hull.
All around it, countless members of the Krieg Pirates splashed into the ocean.
Thud!
Elliot landed on the ruined pirate ship, watching Krieg climb up.
“You…
you bastard!!” Krieg, having climbed onto the hull, glared furiously at Elliot.
Already possessing an extremely violent temper, seeing his ship reduced to this state made his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Elliot.
He clearly wanted nothing more than to murder him!
Right then!
Krieg directly grabbed his massive battle spear!
But…
The moment Krieg picked up his battle spear, he realized Elliot had vanished from his spot!
“!!!”
In the next instant, Krieg abruptly looked right in front of him.
But at this moment…
BOOM!!!!
Elliot threw a punch directly into Krieg’s golden armor!
A fan-shaped shockwave swept across the ocean behind Krieg, instantly kicking up a hundred-meter-tall tidal wave!
Accompanying it was the explosive shattering of Krieg’s golden armor!
However, Krieg didn’t go flying.
Instead, his eyes simply rolled back into his head.
With a crisp crackling sound, the bones throughout his entire body completely shattered, and he collapsed onto the deck with a thud, motionless.
Looking down at Krieg, who was kneeling before him, Elliot blinked.
“Since you had such a big reputation, I even went out of my way to take off my glasses.
Turns out you’re only at this level.”
“…”
Silence…
Even though Elliot looked down at Krieg and said such a thing.
The surrounding pirates were completely stunned!
Those who hadn’t even climbed back onto the ship yet were dumbstruck, staring at their unconscious boss on the deck.
And staring at the seemingly frail Marine standing there.
What…
…just happened.
This was the exact sentiment of every pirate present!
Because to them, all of this had happened way too fast!!
And the Marines were just as thoroughly bewildered!
Right now, the Marines were standing on the warship, looking at the dilapidated pirate ship before them, looking at the incapacitated pirates in the sea, and looking at Elliot standing on the ship alongside the unconscious Krieg…
What was that whole sequence just now…?
Such a massive ship was flipped over.
And then…
Krieg…
*the* Krieg was defeated in a single strike!
Almost every Marine had these questions running through their minds.
Because to them as well, it had all happened way too fast!!
Just a moment ago, they were preparing for battle!
But now…
The battle was over!
The pirate leader Krieg had been knocked out cold.
Dumbfounded…
Completely and utterly dumbfounded!
Even Morton’s mind was blank at this moment.
Even as a Captain, this was his first time witnessing a battle like this!
Especially since he knew full well that the one who did this was just a newly recruited Marine!!
A gentle-looking recruit who didn’t seem like a warrior at all!!
But…
After a brief silence.
“A-Amazing.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me, you’ve gotta be kidding me!!”
“Give me a break, what just happened didn’t look like something a human could do at all.”
“That guy is a recruit, right?
I think his name is Elliot.”
…
Voices of disbelief rang out across the warship.
At the same time, all the Marines’ eyes turned toward Elliot, who had returned to the warship.
Elliot, having just landed on the deck, noticed the Marines staring at him.
“Even though they’ve lost their combat ability, if we don’t arrest them now, they can still swim away.”
Elliot offered a friendly reminder as he looked at Captain Morton, who was staring at him in disbelief.
Hearing this, Morton immediately snapped out of it and quickly looked out at the sea.
Sure enough, just as Elliot had said, although many pirates were still frozen in disbelief, some had already started swimming outward or climbing into small boats to escape.
“Everyone!
Arrest the pirates in the sea immediately!
Remember, make absolutely sure they’ve lost their combat ability before getting close!” Morton loudly ordered at once.
With that!
The Marines suddenly snapped awake.
After a brief startle, they hurriedly got to work.
But even so, the Marines kept glancing at Elliot, their eyes still full of incredulity!
Especially Andrew, who was still standing in his original spot!
He stared blankly at Elliot.
If there was anyone among them who was the most dumbfounded and disbelieving, it was him!
Because he had known Elliot for over a month.
After all, the town was only so big; a stranger arriving would become known instantly.
And over this past month, his impression of Elliot…
or rather, the whole town’s impression of Elliot, was that of a gentle, cold-faced but kind-hearted young man.
Most importantly, it seemed like a slightly strong gust of wind could blow him over!
But…
Just now…
What was that!
“Aren’t you going to help?” Elliot asked, looking at Andrew, who had been staring at him.
Andrew gulped.
“No, you…
just now…”
In a flash!
Andrew remembered Elliot saying he wanted to become an Admiral, and he remembered Elliot asking him, ‘Only those with strength can talk about dreams?’ and his own reply…
As well as Elliot saying, ‘I’m pretty good at fighting.’
All of a sudden!
Looking at Elliot again, Andrew inexplicably had a feeling that this guy standing right in front of him might actually become a Marine Admiral!!!
…
Several hours later, at the East Blue Marine Branch 76 Base.
“You captured Krieg!?
And a recruit did it??”
The base commander of Branch 76, Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Hood, abruptly sat up from his chair.
Listening to Morton’s detailed report from the other end of the Den Den Mushi in his hand, he wore an expression of sheer astonishment.
Finally, with shock still lingering on his face, Hood said, “Understood!
Leave the transport of Krieg to the prison to the backup forces.
You bring that recruit back to the base.”
“Yes, sir!”
Following the response from the other end of the Den Den Mushi.
Hood hung up the phone.
“Looks like you’ve discovered a pretty good rookie, Hood,” an old man with short white hair and a scar on his face said with a smile, sitting directly across from Hood’s desk.
“It still needs to be confirmed…” Hood looked at the old man in front of him, but then, as if suddenly realizing something, he immediately blurted out, “Don’t even think about getting any ideas about him, Garp!!
If he’s a recruit, don’t even think about sending him straight to the Marine Academy!
Don’t forget, you just wandered over here to slack off!”
This Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral, who held the title of ‘Hero’ within the Marines and whose name resounded across the entire sea, Garp, immediately burst into loud laughter.
“Bwahahahaha!
It’s exactly because I’m slacking off that I need to bring something back!
Otherwise, Sengoku is going to nag me again.
And don’t talk about the Marine Academy like there’s something wrong with it.
If Zephyr heard you, he might get so mad he’d fight you on the spot.
Besides…”
At this point, Garp paused and bit down hard on the rice cracker in his hand.
“Don’t I still need to test him?”