After leaving Cocoyasi Village, Luo Chen summoned his Wood Dragon and flew toward the coast.
At a port, he found the warship belonging to Gal Locke and his men. On the deck, there were still some Marine soldiers from Headquarters.
Luo Chen controlled the Wood Dragon to circle above the warship, then leaped down onto the deck.
A dozen Marine soldiers instantly surrounded him warily. They seemed to recognize Luo Chen's face, their expressions filled with shock and suspicion.
"Criminal Luo Chen, surrender immediately with your hands up!" a dark-skinned, middle-aged Marine shouted sternly, raising his rifle.
Luo Chen's eyes lifted slightly. He reached out and made a grasping motion.
More than a dozen thick trees burst through the deck, binding all the Marines to their trunks.
Luo Chen walked up to the dark-skinned Marine and said flatly, "Which Vice Admiral is Gal Locke closest to?"
Although the dark-skinned Marine's face was filled with panic, he showed no intention of revealing any information. Instead, he threatened, "Captain Gal Locke will kill you."
Luo Chen shook his head. "He's already dead."
He placed one hand on the dark-skinned middle-aged Marine's left arm.
Wood Style: Cutting Technique activated.
In an instant, more than a dozen wooden spikes burst out from the man's left arm, with blood and flesh hanging from them. It was a terrifying and bloody sight.
The dark-skinned Marine let out a blood-curdling scream, which made the surrounding Marines turn pale, their faces unable to hide their terror.
Luo Chen said with a blank expression, "Everyone here, the first one to answer my question will not be tortured. Otherwise, I will let you slowly experience the agony of wooden spikes growing inside your bodies, piercing all of your organs and flesh."
With that, Luo Chen slapped the dark-skinned Marine's right arm.
Wooden spikes once again burst through his body. The screams were bone-chilling.
Immediately, a Marine, unable to withstand the psychological terror, shouted, "I know! It's Vice Admiral Onigumo!"
"Many people in the Marines know that Captain Gal Locke was promoted single-handedly by Vice Admiral Onigumo!"
Luo Chen's eyes narrowed as he scanned all the Marines. From their expressions, he could basically confirm that the Marine was not lying.
Vice Admiral Onigumo... An image of a middle-aged man with a sinister face and hair long enough to be braided appeared in Luo Chen's mind. He had some impression of this Vice Admiral. In the Enies Lobby arc, he appeared as one of the five Vice Admirals leading the Buster Call. He belonged to the war hawk faction of the Marines and showed complete disregard for the casualties of his subordinates or civilians when carrying out missions.
'Is it him?' Luo Chen muttered to himself, releasing the bindings on the Marine who had revealed the information.
"Help me contact Marine Headquarters," Luo Chen ordered.
The Marine gritted his teeth, ran back into the ship's cabin to get a Den Den Mushi, and made the call.
A moment later, the voice of a Marine Headquarters operator came from the Den Den Mushi.
Luo Chen took the Den Den Mushi, his voice icy. "Please connect me to Vice Admiral Onigumo."
The operator was taken aback and asked, "Who are you?"
"My name is Luo Chen. I killed one of Onigumo's subordinates, a Captain named Gal Locke," Luo Chen said flatly.
The other end of the Den Den Mushi went silent.
Several minutes passed before a voice finally came through. It was not the previous operator, but the sinister, murderous voice of a middle-aged man.
"Luo Chen of the 16th Branch?"
"Yes. Who are you? Onigumo?" Luo Chen asked.
The middle-aged man's gloomy voice rose several octaves, filled with rage.
"You have some nerve!"
"Gal Locke has already reported your crimes to me."
"Not only do you not submit to the law and confess, but you even kill a Headquarters Captain! Luo Chen, you are provoking the justice of the Marines!"
Hearing this, Luo Chen sneered. "Crimes? The justice of the Marines?"
"Gal Locke massacred the entire village of Cocoyasi, over five hundred people, with no survivors."
"He even framed me for the evil deeds of Branch Captain Nezumi. And you're telling me this is the justice of the Marines?"
"Onigumo, Gal Locke confessed before he died that you were the one pulling the strings behind the scenes..."
Before he could finish, Onigumo on the other end of the Den Den Mushi suddenly roared:
"Nonsense! Luo Chen, don't take the Marines for fools!"
"Colluding with pirates, massacring villagers, killing a Marine Captain—your body is covered in bloody crimes that can never be washed clean!"
"Don't you dare imagine that the Marines will be deceived and forgive a villain as heinous as you!"
Luo Chen said sarcastically, "Onigumo, you really have a knack for turning black into white. Gal Locke is worthy of being your subordinate. His fighting skills were nothing special, but he learned how to sling mud just like you."
Luo Chen's voice turned cold. "There are no secrets that can be kept forever, and no truth that can be buried for all time. Onigumo, you will regret the choice you made today."
Onigumo snapped, "Arrogant and conceited! Utterly senseless!"
"The seas are teeming with pirates and criminals with your level of strength! Make me regret it? Do you think you're one of the Four Emperors?!"
He said sharply, "I will immediately apply to Fleet Admiral Sengoku for a wanted poster for you. I hope that on the day you are captured, you will still be as arrogant as you are today."
"I'll be waiting for you," Luo Chen said, preparing to hang up.
But suddenly, a slightly aged yet powerful male voice came from the Den Den Mushi.
"Luo Chen, I am the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, Sengoku."
Luo Chen was slightly surprised.
It sounded as if Sengoku was right beside Onigumo. No wonder he had become so angry and cut him off so quickly when he said Onigumo was behind it all. He was probably worried Sengoku would become suspicious.
Luo Chen waited quietly for what would come next. He was curious how Sengoku, known as "The Resourceful General," would judge this matter.
Sengoku's voice came through. "You are also a Marine. You should be well aware of the crimes you have committed."
"Once a wanted poster is issued, the entire world will know you as a heinous criminal."
"I hope that you can turn yourself in. In that case, the matter will only ferment within the Marines, which would be a good thing for both you and the Marines."
Luo Chen couldn't help but frown. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, the matter in the East Blue involves hundreds of lives and a Marine Vice Admiral."
"Shouldn't you first investigate and gather evidence before making a judgment?"
"To blindly trust the words of Onigumo is far too arbitrary."
He hadn't expected to have the opportunity to communicate directly with Fleet Admiral Sengoku. If possible, Luo Chen hoped Sengoku would thoroughly investigate this matter. As long as there was a serious investigation, there would surely be clues leading to Onigumo. Unless absolutely necessary, Luo Chen did not want to be an enemy of the Marines; they were a behemoth that spanned the globe.
However, Sengoku's next words dashed Luo Chen's hopes.
"I have led the Marines for many years. I have my own judgment."
Sengoku's tone was majestic and powerful. "Vice Admiral Onigumo has risked his life for decades to protect justice. He is a subordinate I trust."
"You have no right whatsoever to question or slander his character."
"Sophistry is useless. The Marines will not allow any criminal to remain at large."
"I'm a criminal? Fleet Admiral Sengoku, you should investigate and gather evidence..." Luo Chen felt a sense of absurdity. Was the Marines' judgment of a criminal really based on nothing more than a few words?
Sengoku angrily cut him off. "Silence! Do you think I would be foolish enough to believe the words of a criminal? Massacring villagers, colluding with pirates—Luo Chen, your crimes are unforgivable! Urging you to turn yourself in is already my final act of tolerance!"
Anger rose in Luo Chen's heart. He said sarcastically, "The world calls you the Resourceful General. I think you're a retard."
Sengoku's blind confidence made Luo Chen feel that he was unbelievably foolish. From thousands of miles away at Marine Headquarters, he had already pronounced his guilt.
'Why don't you fucking come to Cocoyasi Village and see for yourself!'
"..."
"..."
The other side of the Den Den Mushi was quiet for a moment.
It seemed no one had expected Luo Chen to dare to insult Sengoku, the Fleet Admiral of the Marines.
"You bastard! You have no respect for your superiors! You are too insolent!" Onigumo's cursing came through.
Luo Chen said coldly, "Respect my ass. Onigumo, for the five hundred-plus lives in Cocoyasi Village, I will make you pay with your blood."
"Sengoku, as the Fleet Admiral of the Marines, you are blindly arbitrary, unable to distinguish right from wrong, and utterly foolish. You will surely regret this one day."
Sengoku's angry voice rang out. "You are beyond redemption!"
"Neither I, nor Vice Admiral Onigumo, nor the entire Marine force will ever regret for a single moment protecting justice and punishing villains."
"As a former Marine, you have greatly disappointed me."
"Effective immediately, I will issue a wanted poster for you in my capacity as Fleet Admiral."
"Do whatever you want, you retard," Luo Chen said and hung up.
At the last moment, Onigumo's furious voice came through. "I will catch you, Luo Chen!"
"The sea is never short of arrogant villains like you who don't know their place."
"The moment you kneel before me, you will understand just who will be the one to regret this!"
Hearing this, Luo Chen gave a cold smile.
The sea was indeed not short of arrogant villains.
But it was definitely short of arrogant villains with a cheat system.
He had originally wanted to be a Marine, make some money, level up, and become an idle Admiral. But the Marines insisted on making him a wanted criminal.
This was forcing him to go out to sea and become a pirate.
He hoped Onigumo would live to see the day he became one of the Four Emperors.
Luo Chen wanted to see with his own eyes whether Onigumo and Sengoku would regret this or not.