In the dead of night, a group of bloodthirsty pirates silently infiltrated the 102nd Marine base.
Thud, thud—
The sickening sound of blades piercing flesh echoed through the dark barracks as soldier after soldier had their lives taken in their sleep.
But there was no pity to be found here. Because even if these corrupt men were alive, they were of no use to this world.
A light-sleeping Marine soldier seemed to sense the commotion.
He groggily opened his eyes and cursed into the dark, "Damn it, can't you even let a man sleep properly?"
The pirate standing over his bed froze momentarily, his steel blade still raised high in the air.
A cold glint of moonlight flashed across the steel right before the Marine soldier's eyes.
His nose twitched, finally catching the thick, metallic scent of blood filling the room.
"What is going on?!"
His sleep-addled brain hadn't even processed the situation when the pirate swung viciously at his head.
Acting purely on survival instinct, the Marine threw his arm up to block.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
The excruciating pain of his severed arm hitting the floor made him scream uncontrollably, instantly awakening the rest of the slumbering Marine soldiers.
Seeing that the screaming Marine had ruined their stealth approach, the pirate flew into a rage and grabbed the soldier by the hair!
He stabbed the dying man repeatedly in the chest before finally stopping.
"Damn it! You just had to wake up at the worst possible moment and ruin your granddaddy's stealth!" the pirate cursed angrily.
Several of his pirate companions, who had already dealt with the other men in the room, approached and spat on the fresh corpse.
"Whatever. Since we have been discovered, let's just charge in and kill them all!"
"These Marines are spineless cowards. After we finish them off, we'll be rolling in riches!"
The pirates showed absolutely no concern about being discovered.
They had already gauged the Marines' combat capability during their initial infiltration.
Truth be told, these fat, lazy soldiers were not much stronger than ordinary village youths.
WOO-WOO-WOO—!
Urgent alarm sirens finally began to blare through the Marine base.
Among the awakened soldiers, a few had kept their wits and immediately sounded the alarm.
Soon, dozens of half-dressed Marine soldiers rushed from their barracks gripping their weapons, looking around in absolute panic like headless flies.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Marine brats, your pirate granddaddies are here!!!"
The blood-soaked pirates' eyes gleamed with sadistic bloodlust, their long blades mercilessly cutting down the unprepared, terrified Marine soldiers.
Screams of agony echoed across the courtyard, making the remaining Marine soldiers turn pale with fear.
The total collapse of the 102nd Branch began at that exact moment.
Most of the Marine soldiers instantly abandoned any thought of fighting back. They were desperate only to escape the base and find safety in the hills.
The few low-ranking officers who actually tried to organize a resistance line were completely swept away by the fleeing crowd of their own men.
"Bastards, hold your ground! Or I will have you all executed by Military Law!" an officer cursed in frustration.
But the chaos was far too overwhelming, his voice completely lost in the terrified crowd.
High on the back mountain, Richard and his covert team had been observing the base through their binoculars.
Seeing the local Marines being slaughtered by pirates without putting up any organized resistance, they sighed inwardly.
Combat relies heavily on momentum. Once that momentum is established, a hundred savage pirates could easily chase down a thousand broken Marines.
And right now, the Marines were too terrified to even look back.
None of Richard's team had ever imagined seeing such a pathetic scene, wondering how a military base could have ever fallen this far.
Watching the Marines dying below, Richard and his companions tightly clenched their fists.
Logically, the death of these corrupt Marine scum shouldn't affect them—but seeing men wearing the same uniform die like dogs at the hands of pirates stirred an undeniable impulse to intervene.
"Can't handle watching it anymore, boys?"
A pale, thick mist had appeared directly behind Richard's group without warning.
Had the voice not spoken, the elite operatives might never have detected its presence.
Richard and his companions instantly tensed their muscles, immediately drawing their weapons and forming a tight, back-to-back circle facing all directions.
"Wait, that voice... it is Commodore Momonga!" A flicker of shock crossed Richard's eyes.
He only knew that Momonga had helped devise this purge plan, he never expected the Commodore would personally oversee its execution on-site.
Moments later, Momonga emerged from the thick, swirling fog in his crisp, full military uniform, his face etched with grim determination.
Surveying the devastation at the Marine base below, Momonga shook his head in profound disappointment.
"What use are these corrupt Marine troops if they cannot even handle a mere rookie pirate crew?"
He then turned to Richard and gave his orders. "When over half of the corrupt Marine soldiers have fallen, you and your team will intervene. Rally the surviving troops to counterattack the pirates. Behead every last one of the invaders."
"As for the pirate captain... I will handle him personally."
Richard and his team nodded sharply in acknowledgment.
They immediately readied their weapons and prepared to charge down the mountain into the naval base.
By now, most of the corrupt officers in the base had already been slaughtered by the pirates, with some even having been pushed into the blades by their own fleeing comrades.
Whoever could swoop in and save the survivors now would undoubtedly become the greatest hero of the 102nd Branch!
...
Meanwhile, Captain Macdonald Ogden of the Lone Wolf Pirates, along with his vice-captain and a squad of elite fighters, were not participating in the base massacre.
Under the guidance of a traitor, they were stealthily approaching the lavish, sprawling estate of Marine Captain Dyer Webb.
"Boss, see? I wasn't lying about how massive this place is!" A pirate whispered cautiously to the captain.
The Lone Wolf Pirate Crew had chosen this specific island precisely because of this man's tip-off.
After suffering setbacks on the Grand Line, this pirate recalled the insanely wealthy Marine presence in his hometown of Tei Island and voluntarily reported the intelligence to Captain Ogden.
Now, gazing upon Dyer Webb's opulent estate, Captain Ogden's eyes gleamed with insatiable greed.
"What a waste for this prime property to be occupied by a fat Marine pig," Ogden sneered. "A place like this rightfully belongs to me—Lone Wolf Macdonald Ogden!"
If this raid succeeded, he decided he would enjoy a prolonged stay in this mansion after eliminating the local Marine forces.
Similar to the naval base, the night guards at the estate had long vanished, likely off drinking somewhere in town.
After nearly a decade of tyrannical unchallenged rule, Dyer Webb never imagined anyone would dare infiltrate his home under the cover of darkness.
At this moment, Webb lay sprawled across his luxurious, silk-sheeted bed with a woman on each arm.
Click.
A mundane, metallic sound stirred him. From deep sleep, Dyer Webb suddenly sensed lethal danger.
Driven by his old, buried combat instincts, his eyes snapped open.
Huh?
Through his bleary vision, he saw a tall man approaching the bed with a raised blade.
Instantly, Dyer Webb's pupils dilated in terror.
Without a second of hesitation, he rolled the heavy blanket toward the assailant and propelled his obese, four-hundred-pound body straight through the glass window with unnatural speed.
Rip!
The heavy blanket was sliced apart effortlessly. Macdonald Ogden felt a flash of irritation at failing to kill the fat pig in his sleep.
Shouldn't such lazy prey have been easily dispatched? Why resist?
Why! Wouldn't it have been better to accept the blade meekly and let me take over everything?
Ogden's eyes burned with fury as he leaped out the shattered window, following Dyer Webb into the courtyard.