There was a man in a soldier's uniform, with blue hair, no weapons, sleeves rolled to his elbows. He was small and slender, but his entire presence was radiating an extremely troublesome aura.
"Oh..."
He shook his legs and looked across, "You're 'Demon Man' Gin, right?"
Gin tightly gripped his staff hammer, his expression tense. That earlier strike, even if it only hit his weapon, the force made his arm go numb.
It wasn't like Captain Sage's, just pure power... extremely immense.
This shorty is a tricky guy!
"Who are you?"
"I'm Tonya, the Defense Commander of this city."
The petite man sneered, "Disaster Pirates, quite famous... I've always been wondering if they would come here. Once they do, and I defeat you all, my fame will grow even more. I never expected you to actually come. Where is your captain Norton Sage? My target is him."
"You're not qualified to meet Captain Sage yet."
Gin twirled his twin staff hammers into a circle, staring coldly at the short man, "I'll defeat you."
Tonya chuckled disdainfully, glancing around, "Just this handful of people, and you think you can defeat my five thousand defense soldiers?"
Besides those four who had the upper hand, the others were being tied down by the ever-increasing soldiers and gradually losing their advantage.
Only those black-eyed ones were somewhat formidable, able to hold their own against the ever-increasing soldiers, while the remaining pirates were steadily weakening.
In terms of numbers, the pirates were at a disadvantage. Most of the pirates could only manage to deal with two or three defense soldiers at most, and the more soldiers there were, the fewer they could handle.
One against two, perhaps they could win. One against three, maybe they wouldn't fall behind. But one against five, they might only be able to defeat one. One against ten, they wouldn't be able to beat even one.
Even the high-ranking officers, no matter how good they were, could only defeat twenty or thirty at a time. In terms of physical strength, each could defeat one or two thousand soldiers individually at most.
The sea wasn't an easy place to conquer.
Over time, even if they were strong and defeated five thousand people, there wouldn't be many pirates left, and moreover...
"The Navy will arrive in an hour, but I don't want them to share the glory. Only if I defeat you will my fame grow..."
Tonya's sinister smile widened, "The battle will be over within an hour!"
He took out a small Radio Snail and began speaking, his voice echoed through the city's loudspeakers.
"I am Defense Commander Tonya! Hear me, you lowlifes, your chance for advancement has come! A group of pirates are at the harbor, kill them!"
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
Gin said coldly, "A bunch of civilians, how would they follow your orders? The Captain's robbery plans have never targeted civilians, they won't get involved!"
Not robbing civilians was Captain Sage's will, besides, after numerous raids, Gin found there was an advantage to this.
In the past, when pirates looted towns, they would rob everything, inciting too much hatred. A single mistake could lead to civilians seeking revenge, with a high risk of casualties. But ever since following Captain Sage's robbery strategy, they found raiding became simpler.
Despite the battles, there was less interference from civilians, because they only robbed the rich, having little to do with civilians.
Pirates and civilians generally kept to themselves, you go your way, I go mine.
Similarly, civilians wouldn't be swayed easily.
As the Captain puts it, 'wretched ones don't target wretched ones.'
Everyone's in misery, so we just live like this.
Command these civilians?
Based on what?
They're afraid of pirates, they wouldn't easily risk their lives, and no one would pay them, since the money has already been taken by us.
"Not involved? Only the citizens aren't involved!"
Tonya laughed aloud, continuing into the microphone, "Third-level villagers who kill a pirate will be promoted to second-level commoners. Kill ten pirates, and you'll become a citizen of the Kingdom! If you take down one with a bounty, the bounty will be yours!"
"Furthermore, if you die in battle, you can still exchange! If a villager dies, they can designate a villager to be promoted to a second-level commoner. If ten die, one can be designated as a citizen! If a hundred die... I'll even reward the designee with a hundred thousand Belly!"
Tonya's eyes narrowed like needlepoints, full of ferocity, "Go kill, go die! For your status, for your future! Hahaha!"
The loudspeaker's voice was extremely loud, echoing across the city of high-rises and... the nearby low roofs.
On the rooftop of a building, Kaku watched the battling crowd below, a peculiar expression in his eyes.
"So that's how it is... I wondered why it seemed so strange." He sighed, saying.
"We found you, aren't we stepping in? Hohoho."
At the rooftop location, Owl suddenly appeared, looking at the gathered CP9 members.
"No need."
Lucci spoke coldly, "Cooperation is just a transition, we will eventually take revenge on Spandam, before that, don't get yourself a bounty."