"Holy—!"
Hearing the commotion, Arashi turned toward the sound and instantly widened his eyes.
A Marine warship engulfed in flames was barreling across the sea toward the Traveler in utter disarray. On the deck, Marines were screaming and scrambling in panic, looking unbelievably miserable.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Before Arashi could even react, a barrage of cannon shells exploded across the sea around the warship. Two of them struck the ship directly, blasting the Marines onboard into anguished screams.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Seeing a Marine warship being beaten into such a sorry state, Arashi blinked in confusion.
"Since when did pirates in the West Blue become this fierce? Quick, Robin, take the helm! This place is way too dangerous—we're heading back to Ohara to lay low for now!"
"It's too late!"
Perona floated above the mast and shouted excitedly,
"We've already been spotted!"
"If we've been spotted, why are you so excited?!"
Arashi pressed a hand to his forehead, then decisively turned to Robin beside him.
"Fine. If disaster's coming, there's no dodging it. Robin, head back into the cabin first!"
Meanwhile—
On the Marine warship that had been ambushed and separated from the rest of the fleet before being picked off one by one, Colonel Bell stood amid the chaos in a thoroughly battered state. While directing the remaining soldiers to return fire at the pirate ships pursuing them, he scanned the surrounding sea through a telescope.
"Colonel! The warship's heavily damaged—we're about to be overtaken!"
Before Bell could get a clear read on the surrounding waters, a soldier rushed up to him, his face filled with grim resolve.
"Colonel, let's fight them head-on! Even if we die, so be it!"
"Damn it…"
Bell continued calmly surveying the sea through his telescope. Visibility was terrible, but it was still better than fleeing blindly.
Then suddenly, his pupils contracted.
Less than several dozen meters ahead, the Traveler was rapidly being pushed toward the warship by towering waves.
In his urgency, Bell failed to notice the words Traveler painted on the ship. More importantly, he never imagined he would encounter that vessel here. So the moment he saw its silhouette, he assumed it was another pirate ambush.
"It's over…!"
Watching the ship rapidly approach, despair flashed through Bell's eyes.
Blocked in front, enemies behind.
There was no escape.
At that thought, Bell suddenly relaxed. He handed the telescope to a nearby soldier and said in a low voice,
"Contact Vice Admiral Momousagi immediately—"
"We can't reach her! The fleet's been completely scattered!"
Before Bell could finish, another soldier rushed over anxiously.
"Colonel, stop hesitating! Fight! If this keeps going, all the brothers will die! Rather than dying like cowards, we'd rather fight to the bitter end!"
Bell remained silent and turned toward the Traveler instead.
It wasn't that he feared death.
He simply didn't want his soldiers to die meaninglessly.
His original plan had been to lead them out of this devilish sea region before making a final stand against the pirates. But he had clearly underestimated just how terrifying these waters were.
And those lawless pirates had come prepared from the start, leaving them no chance to escape.
After a long silence, Bell suddenly spoke.
"Pass down my orders!"
Killing intent surged from him as he roared:
"Stop advancing! We will defend the honor of the Marines to the death! Fight to the very end!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Marines shouted in unison.
The warship, which had been charging forward through the waves moments earlier, abruptly slowed before gradually coming to a halt.
The instant it stopped, shrill sounds tore through the sky—
Then a dense rain of cannon shells descended from above.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
Explosions thundered endlessly across the sea. Shockwaves spread outward one after another while massive walls of water surged into the air, instantly swallowing the warship whole.
Yet facing the nonstop bombardment, the Marines standing on deck displayed astonishing calm.
No panic.
No fear.
They lined up neatly before Bell like warriors facing certain death.
At the same time, the pursuing pirate ships charged in from three different directions.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several earth-shaking collisions rang out as the pirate ships slammed into the Marine warship before grinding to a stop.
Immediately afterward, swarms of pirates leaped aboard.
"Kill the Marines!"
"Charge!!!"
The pirates flooded onto the warship like a tidal wave and rushed straight toward Bell and the remaining Marines on deck.
"Kill!!!"
Bell took the lead personally, raising his saber as he charged directly into the enemy.
The two forces crashed into each other instantly, and the battle reached a fever pitch the moment it began.
The pirates' morale was soaring after sinking two Marine warships in succession. Combined with their overwhelming numerical advantage, they didn't take the Marines seriously at all.
In their eyes, these Marines were already dead men.
But they had underestimated the courage of this Marine unit.
Despite being vastly outnumbered, the Marines under Bell's command managed to hold back the pirates' first assault.
Although they lost more than a dozen soldiers in that first clash alone, the surviving Marines had already gone completely blood-red with fury.
Every single one of them fought even more viciously than the pirates.
Even after suffering multiple wounds—some with arms or legs severed—they still refused to stop fighting, dragging pirates down with them even in death.
Close-quarters combat was always the cruelest.
In just a few short minutes, dozens of corpses littered the deck of the warship.
Though nearly half belonged to pirates, the Marines' numbers were shrinking rapidly as well.
As the battle intensified further, only Colonel Bell and seven or eight soldiers remained, desperately fighting for their lives.
Meanwhile—
Aboard the Traveler, Arashi—who had originally thought the two ships were about to collide—managed to steady the vessel and bring it to a smooth stop after the Marine warship halted first.
"Close one, close one…"
After stopping the Traveler, Arashi looked up at the massive warship only twenty to thirty meters away and shouted toward Perona atop the mast:
"Ghost girl, you can come down now!"
"Arashi, Arashi, hurry and look!"
Perona didn't come down. Sitting atop the mast, she stared at the warship with surprise.
"Those Marines are getting slaughtered! The pirates are almost wiping them out!"
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