Paul watched Cross devour his food, rubbing his hands cautiously, and asked softly, "Esteemed Commander Cross, are you satisfied?"
"Mmph mmph... food... pretty good... grape... juice... nice... overall... satisfied..." Cross mumbled in reply, stuffing food into his mouth.
"That's good! That's good!" Paul nodded repeatedly, his ingratiating smile unwavering, feeling a slight sense of relief. Then he carefully inquired, "By the way, Commander Cross, you must be here on a mission, right? Do you need our help?"
Gulp—
Cross glanced at Paul, quickly chewed the food in his mouth a few times, and swallowed it. He said, "I'm waiting for someone. He might arrive at Whiskey Peak today, or perhaps tomorrow... Since you've treated me to a meal, I'll give you a warning: if you see a guy about six or seven meters tall, looking like a demon, run as far away as you can. Don't even think about ambushing him, or don't blame me for not warning you when you end up dead!"
"Six or seven meters tall? Looks like a demon?" Paul looked bewildered, chuckling awkwardly. "Haha~ Commander Cross must be joking. How could there be such a person in the world? It can't be a giant, can it?"
Cross's lips curled into a sarcastic smile. "Are you sure you're a bounty hunter? Haven't you heard of Gecko Moria?"
"Gecko Moria? That name sounds familiar... Wait, are you talking about Gecko Moria, the one with a bounty of 320,000,000 Berries?!" Paul's eyes widened, his voice becoming much sharper.
As a bounty hunter, how could he not have heard of a great pirate of Gecko Moria's caliber?
But he was just a third-rate bounty hunter. Even if all the bounty hunters on Whiskey Peak teamed up, they could only deal with pirates with bounties of a few million or ten million. If they encountered pirates with bounties of more than ten million, they'd have to feign weakness and use strategy to succeed.
If they ran into a great pirate with a bounty of several hundred million like Gecko Moria, it was clear without guessing that the entire Whiskey Peak would likely be destroyed!
"Good that you know!" Cross said casually, then ignored the other man and continued to eat and drink.
At this moment, Paul was frantic, even feeling a bit at a loss. When had Whiskey Peak, this edge of the Grand Line, ever had such high-level figures arrive?
First, there was the Marine's Star who could capture great pirates with bounties over a hundred million, and next, a great pirate with a bounty of several hundred million would arrive. Was this good fortune or bad luck?
Rumble—
Suddenly, just as Cross was happily eating, preparing for another twenty servings of food, a thunderous boom came from outside. The brick houses and the ground faintly trembled, and dust sifted down from the ceiling, dirtying the food on the table.
"Damn it!" Cross's face darkened as he frowned, unable to help but curse under his breath.
"What's going on?!" Paul's heart jumped, and he quickly turned around, yelling furiously at the door, "Did you bastards light the gunpowder barrels?!"
The bounty hunters secretly watching Cross from outside the room were also shocked and angry. They all stood up, fuming, and walked towards the direction of the loud noise.
"Wait..."
Suddenly, Cross stopped Paul, who was about to go out, and said in a deep voice, "I sense a powerful presence. The person I'm waiting for has probably arrived!"
Paul's face changed. He said in disbelief, "You... you mean... Gecko Moria?!"
"Such a powerful sound couldn't be a coincidence!" Cross narrowed his eyes, calmly put down his silver knife and fork, and slowly stood up.
Paul didn't quite understand Cross's words, but he saw Cross walking outside and quickly followed suit.
Bang bang bang bang... bang bang bang bang...
As soon as the two stepped out, dense gunshots suddenly erupted, continuous like popping beans, as if a fierce gun battle was taking place.
"Ahhhhhhh—"
"Mo-monster!"
"Run! Escape Whiskey Peak!"
"..."
Immediately following, large groups of bounty hunters fled in panic towards the town, letting out heart-wrenching screams of terror, running for their lives like stray dogs.
Paul stared blankly at the scene before him, quickly grabbed a fleeing man, and asked, "Don't run, what happened?"
"Devil... monster..." The man was so terrified he was incoherent, unable to complete a single sentence.
Cross expressionlessly glanced at the man, then shifted his gaze forward, staring at the port obscured by thick fog.
"Kishishishi~ Hand over your treasures and your shadows!"
Suddenly, a massive, demon-like figure emerged from the thick fog, accompanied by strange, wild laughter and an unbridled declaration.
Boom—
Another explosive boom. Intense flames rose, and a roaring strong wind swept through, dispersing the thick fog over the port.
Cross saw from a distance a monstrous figure, large and demon-like in appearance, standing on the open ground by the shore.
This person had two horns on the sides of his forehead, sharp ears and teeth, and cross-shaped stitches resembling surgical wounds from his head down to his neck. He wore a shirt with a bat-shaped collar and Gothic-style clothing.
"Gecko Moria." Cross's expression subtly hardened, and he softly uttered the other's name.
At the same time, a three-masted pirate ship, nearly eighty meters long, was moored in the river channel. Its bow was bat-shaped, its hull had black and purple patterns, and it had castle-shaped deck structures. A skull with a flaming mohawk and three pairs of flaming bat wings was painted on its tattered sails.
Next to this pirate ship, there was also a fifty-meter-long sailing battleship, but it was already engulfed in flames, half its hull submerged in the water.
"All of you, stand down. What's happening next is not for you to be involved in!"
Cross waved his hand and strode towards Moria, leaving Paul and over a dozen other bewildered bounty hunters standing rooted to the spot.
At this moment, on the open ground by the shore, Moria chuckled as he looked around. The area was already a mess, strewn with heavily wounded and dead bounty hunters. Some had already become corpses, while others were still wailing on the ground.
"Kishishishi~ A bunch of third-rate bounty hunters, still trying to trick me..."
"Eh, Marine?!"
Moria suddenly froze, looking surprised at the young kid approaching him. If he remembered correctly, that familiar attire and the fluttering coat definitely had the word 'Justice' written on them.
"Gecko Moria, I represent the Marines and the World Government to extend an invitation to you!" Cross looked directly at Moria, unafraid, and said in a deep voice.
"As long as you become a member of the Warlords of the Sea, the Marines will cease your bounty and will no longer pursue you!"
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