Next Bonus, 100!!
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Night fell.
At the port, the red lights of the bars still glowed.
Scantily clad women beckoned to customers from the doorways, occasionally drawing the attention of passing crewmen or local Marine soldiers.
"Colonel Lambert is a regular here."
Inside an alley, Kuro met with a local "old friend"—a man who had often helped him fence stolen goods in the past.
"Is the information solid?" Kuro asked.
"Yeah. It's his day off. He always comes here to see his mistress. Heard she's got a twin sister, too."
"What a waste," the middle-aged man lamented. "Pearls before swine."
"Speaking of which," he continued, "I never thought I'd see you again. I thought you were..."
"I'm a fast runner."
Kuro's tone was dismissive. He adjusted his glasses, his eyes scanning the surroundings, ever cautious.
He knew this was his one chance to graduate from being a labor camp "foreman" and step back into the light.
"Is he with anyone?"
"No. Around here, he's a god. Who would dare to cross him?" the man added. "Nothing's happened in years. Even the most careful man lets his guard down eventually."
"How long has he been inside?"
"About half an hour."
"Kuro," the man asked, his curiosity piqued, "what are you planning?"
A cold glint flashed behind Kuro's glasses. He clamped a hand over the man's mouth as a dagger pierced his throat.
The man's eyes went wide with shock, then slowly glazed over.
Kuro let the body fall to the side. He blew a sharp whistle, and two figures emerged from the nearby shadows.
It was Gin and Jango—both had been captured on the Conomi Islands alongside him.
"Kuro," Jango said, "did you get what you needed?"
"Yes," Kuro replied. "Remember: I want him alive."
"Understood."
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Aboard his luxury liner, Vergo had gathered a number of East Blue's nobles and merchants to discuss the carving up of the East Blue Trade Association.
When he received the news of Colonel Lambert's disappearance, he frowned. The Marine soldiers who had been part of the setup had already been dealt with. But Lambert, with his noble birth and his rank, was a loose end that was proving difficult to tie up.
"Who did it?" Vergo demanded.
"We don't know."
Useless fool, Vergo thought. "Find him. I want him found, now."
"Sir!"
Vergo returned to his cabin and contacted Doflamingo, updating him on the situation.
"It has to be Jin's people," Doflamingo's voice crackled through the Den Den Mushi, a note of paranoia in his tone. "He's not just sitting back and waiting. You need to accelerate your plans."
"I've already made the arrangements," Vergo reported. "I have an inside man in the Association who has agreed to testify that they've been colluding with the Revolutionary Army."
"Good," Doflamingo said. "Move immediately. We have to dismantle his Association before he gets his hands on the evidence against Ron."
"We're near the Conomi Islands now."
Vergo hung up the Den Den Mushi and stepped out onto the deck. He gazed out at the horizon, where the faint silhouette of an island was just beginning to emerge.
"For Machvise, Buffalo, and Sugar," Vergo snarled, his voice a low growl. "For the Donquixote Family—the time for revenge is now!"
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Cocoyasi Village.
A patrol plane spotted the approaching fleet and sent back a warning.
DONG! DONG! DONG!
The piercing, urgent clang of the alarm bell echoed through the air.
The local security team mobilized, evacuating the civilians, who cooperated calmly, retreating toward the inner parts of the island.
A patrol boat approached the fleet and began a broadcast.
"You are approaching the territory of the Winter Blossom Kingdom. Please state your intentions or present the relevant documentation. Otherwise, you will be treated as pirates and invaders. We reserve the right to open fire. You will be held solely responsible for any and all consequences."
The crew of the fleet grew restless.
"Hey! Are you blind?? Can't you see the 'CIU' on our sails?"
"The Counter-Terrorism Special forces! Ever heard of us?"
"Get out of the way!"
"Tell them," Vergo ordered, "that the CIU has tracked the East Blue Trade Association's collusion with the Revolutionary Army to this location. I am here under official orders to shut them down. Anyone who obstructs this mission will be considered an accomplice of the Revolutionary Army and will be executed on the spot."
The patrol boat relayed the message back.
"After consulting with the mayor, we have been instructed to inform you that this matter requires verification with a higher authority. Alternatively, you may present your evidence."
A vicious glint entered Vergo's eyes. He let out a cold snort. "Ignore them. Push through. This mission cannot fail."
BOOM! BOOM!
With Vergo's command, the already-impatient CIU members opened fire on the patrol boat.
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"They're firing!"
In the temporary command center at King's Park, Jango stood near the entrance, craning his neck to see the distant battle. He swallowed hard. The CIU was known for being even more ruthless than the Marines. Were they really going to fight them?
They had no choice.
Nami opened her eyes, her expression resolute. "The King's orders were clear. The moment they open fire, we counter-attack. If we win, nothing else matters."
"Our forces are up against more than a dozen warships," Kuro pointed out, "and a large number of non-military vessels from the Association..." He estimated the attacking force to be around twenty thousand men. In the East Blue, it was an invincible armada.
"Reinforcements are on the way," Nami said simply.
Kuro said no more.
From the airbase, fighter jets began to take off. Ichiji's squadron was the first to reach the airspace above the battle. After years of training, they were a force of seasoned pilots.
"Hey! What's that??"
"Are those... planes?"
"I saw some in the North Blue, but they didn't look like that!"
The CIU members were stunned. They raised their rifles and fired, but it was useless.
Their primary weapon was still the flintlock, with only a few 98ks and rocket launchers purchased from the black market.
The Marine and World Government bureaucracies were so massive that even knowing the superiority of modern rifles, it would take years to re-arm their forces. Too many backroom deals, too many vested interests. The CIU was no exception.
The Winter Blossom Kingdom, on the other hand, had built its military from scratch. It was a blank slate, much easier to equip with modern weaponry.
Vergo watched, unimpressed. His intelligence reports had mentioned "planes," but he hadn't paid them much mind. In the history of naval warfare, there had never been a case of a fleet being bombed by aircraft.
"Let's show them the meaning of air superiority!" Ichiji roared with laughter.
He banked his fighter, leading the charge. He did a graceful barrel roll, dodging a screaming cannonball.
The plane's 30mm cannon rounds raked across the unarmored wooden deck of a CIU ship, sending a shower of splinters into the air. Anyone grazed by the bullets simply exploded.
A single strafing run, and dozens of men were dead or wounded, a plume of smoke rising from the warship.
"What??" Vergo was shocked.
Before they could even catch their breath, a whistling sound filled the air. A payload of bombs dropped from the bellies of the planes.
The bombs screamed as they fell, and the sea erupted in a series of massive explosions.
The two squadrons took turns, a relentless barrage of fire that rained down on the fleet.
"We're hit! We're hit!"
"Take them down! Take them down!"
"I'm wounded! Somebody help me!"
The CIU fleet was in chaos.
In the current era, the seas were ruled by battleships. Steam-powered vessels were still a novelty. The concept of "air defense" simply didn't exist.
The men and the ships were completely exposed.
Cannonballs crashed into the sea, sending up columns of water a dozen meters high, the waves rocking the ships violently.
The missed shots were one thing. The ones that found their mark were another.
A single direct hit, and a ship was torn apart like paper, its crew sent to a watery grave.
"Hold the line!" a captain at the front of the fleet roared, waving his cutlass. "Push forward! If we can just make it to the shore, we've won!"
"Port side is hit! We're taking on water!"
"Plug it! Plug the hole!"
"Look out! Bombs!"
The crew scrambled, a chaotic mix of sailors and shipwrights, using barrels and rags to patch the holes in their ship.
Before the advanced air power of the fighter jets, the entire fleet had become a shooting gallery.
One after another, ships began to sink.
They hadn't even "started" the battle, and they had already suffered heavy losses.
Vergo's eyes were red with fury. He saw his chance, leaped into the air, and using Moonwalk, kicked out a long, thin blade of wind that sliced off the wing of a fighter jet.
"Five is hit! Left wing is gone! I'm losing control! Bailing out!"
The pilot ejected, and the plane plummeted down, crashing into a ship in a massive fireball. The plane's power core, equipped with a self-destruct mechanism, detonated, the flames engulfing the vessel.
"BASTARD..." Vergo roared in fury. "CHARGE! PUSH FORWARD!"
Without any anti-air weaponry, the fleet was a sitting duck.
The cannons on most of the ships were bow-chasers or broadside cannons, with a few stern-chasers. They were mostly 8-pounders or 12-pounders, with a maximum range of less than five hundred meters. Against an aerial target, they were useless.
The bow-chasers were more powerful and had a longer range, but they couldn't be moved.
Vergo's judgment was sound. It was better to push for the shore than to waste time trying to fight back.
After two bombing runs, the jets pulled back, giving the fleet a moment's respite. The remaining ships all pushed forward at full speed.
"Full sail! Full speed ahead!"
"GET THEM!"
"I'M GOING TO SLAUGHTER EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!"
The CIU had never fought such a humiliating battle. In every other engagement, their enemies had been on their knees, begging for mercy.
And now, these peasants dared to fight back.
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