The merchants of Loguetown had long paid their "management fees."
And when trouble came, they expected their boss to show up.
"Oi, oi, oi— what's all this whining about?"
Bartolomeo dug a finger in his ear, swaggering with his chest puffed out, whistling like he owned the place.
"Keep yappin' and I'll toss ya into the sea for the fish to chew on!"
He was every bit the image of a delinquent king.
Grass-green rooster hair, a tattoo under his right eye,
a metal ring through his nose,
a face like a demon out of a nightmare.
His bare chest bore black wing-shaped tattoos,
and over it, a purple coat emblazoned with a skull.
Plaid pants.
A dagger on his belt.
Pointed face. Sharp mouth.
Violence written in every line.
He didn't care what anyone said.
Strutting like he owned the world,
he led a growing mob — over a hundred at first,
soon swelling to hundreds more.
The street grew dark with their presence,
and terrified townsfolk scrambled aside to make way.
It was like that scene in Kung Fu —
"One signal arrow, and a thousand troops arrive."
An unstoppable wave of chaos.
They reached the docks.
The people there had already heard the rumor —
Bartolomeo was coming.
Everyone cleared out, hiding far away.
In the crowd, Deuce tugged at Ace's sleeve. "Come on, stay back."
Law raised his eyes slightly,
and Maya glanced toward the commotion.
Bartolomeo cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone.
"Oi! You on that ship!
Hand over everything you've got to your grandpa Bartolomeo, or else…"
He grinned wide, sharp teeth flashing.
"I'll just sink your damn ship!"
His dialect was thick, his words ending with a local slang drawl.
Maya frowned.
Local gangsters?
Rude ones, at that.
"I advise you to leave," Law said calmly. "Don't pick a fight you can't win, local boss."
Jin wasn't aboard — he'd gone to the Marine Base to visit Smoker,
carrying a gift in hand.
If he had been here…
there'd probably be a lot of new bodies to feed the ship's boilers.
That king might seem gentle,
but when it came to pirates, he was merciless.
Over twenty pirate crews had already perished at his hands.
"What was that?!"
Bartolomeo tilted his head, cupping one hand to his ear.
"Did I just hear you say… what? Pick a fight?"
Then he burst out laughing.
"Heh-heh-heh-hahaha!"
He turned his back to Law, shouting to his men:
"Smash their cargo! Wreck their ship!
Show 'em what happens when you piss off Lord Bartolomeo!"
"Yeah!"
His gang roared back.
They'd been itching for action anyway.
A ship that fine? Must be loaded with treasure.
How could they not take it?
"Kill them all!"
"Charge!"
And it wasn't just Bartolomeo's crew anymore —
hidden pirates and bounty hunters from the town joined in,
hungry for a share of the loot.
Four to five hundred men surged forward,
a black tide of greed and madness.
"Law! What do we do?" Maya's voice trembled.
The thunder of hundreds of feet made her scalp prickle.
Law remained calm, still holding his sword.
"Seems we've been underestimated."
Little Ai muttered to herself:
"Cue the background music."
🎵 Beethoven's War Symphony — Fourth Movement began to play.
"What's that sound?" Deuce blinked, confused.
"Music…? From that ship?"
Ace's eyes narrowed.
"There's a monster on that ship."
"A monster?" Deuce frowned. "What monster?"
Then he saw it —
on the ship's side facing the harbor,
dozens of hollow openings were silently forming,
large and small, like the cells of a hive.
Law reacted instantly.
He grabbed Maya by the back of her collar and leapt,
dragging her behind the barricades just in time.
The next moment—
Rat-tat-tat!
Gun muzzles flashed,
pouring out smoke and flame.
A rain of bullets filled the air,
swarming like angry bees.
Then came the cannons.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Thunderous blasts shook the port.
The air trembled.
The cannons fired shrapnel shells —
metal balls packed with gunpowder and fragments of iron.
The instant they left the barrel,
they exploded in a wide fan, tearing through everything ahead.
A storm of death.
Tens of thousands of bullets.
Hundreds of cannons.
All fired at once from within the "Fortress."
So close — so dense —
precision didn't even matter.
The moment the gunfire erupted,
everyone at the front of the mob
was torn apart, shredded into red mist.
There was no time to scream.
Their bodies burst like overripe melons,
blood spraying across the port in a crimson rain.
The smell of gunpowder mixed with iron and gore
filled the air.
Deuce's face was splattered warm and wet,
but he didn't even blink.
He was frozen in horror.
How terrifying was it?
In just one volley,
four to five hundred men were cut down like wheat.
The ones at the front— obliterated.
The ones behind— riddled with bullets.
Some writhed on the ground, half-dead,
screaming for mercy.
A few, those strong or cunning enough to use others as shields,
survived — barely.
But even they were broken, trembling,
too afraid to move.
Some had even pissed themselves.
The dock fell completely silent.
Only the triumphant music played on,
echoing through the haze of blood and smoke.
——
Maya's throat went dry,
goosebumps crawling across her skin.
Watching this massacre from the ship,
she trembled.
She suddenly felt grateful for her worth —
otherwise,
the four districts of her kingdom wouldn't have been enough to appease that wrath.
Law looked calm on the surface,
but sweat beaded down his forehead.
Maya, unable to stand the cries of the dying,
picked up her sniper rifle
and mercifully ended their suffering with single shots.
She had been with Jin for a long time.
She had seen both kindness and cruelty.
She knew that some people were born evil—
beyond saving.
And though some villains could change,
most never did.
"When you can't tell the difference," the king once said,
"the greatest mercy for monsters and thugs—
is to send them to their next life. Maybe they'll be reborn decent."
"Hey, idiots, get to work!"
Little Ai's voice came through the broadcast.
The cloned soldiers of Germa 66 began cleaning up the battlefield.
"YOU BASTARDS! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY CREW?!"
A furious roar echoed from the pile of corpses.
The bodies burst apart—
and Bartolomeo stood up, barrier shimmering around him.
Behind him, a few dozen of his men still lived,
protected within his shield.
The power of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit.
It was how Bartolomeo ruled 150 districts — unchallenged.
But now, seeing the carnage before him,
his eyes burned red with rage.
Everything had happened too suddenly.
Arrogant and overconfident,
he'd only raised his barrier after the first shots were already fired.
He'd been too late.
He'd only saved those behind him.
Watching the Germa 66 soldiers collect his comrades' bodies,
Bartolomeo's fury exploded.
"STOP!!!"
"SMASH THAT BARRIER!!!"
He roared,
charging forward like a beast unleashed,
rushing straight toward the ship—
determined to destroy it completely.
"Boss Bartolomeo!!"
his underlings screamed behind him.
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