"Kehkehkeh," Byrnndi World laughed.
"Looks like the Marines aren't taking this seriously. See how their officers haven't even appeared on deck?" His face, despite the laughter, was twisted with a ferocity that made even his own crew flinch.
"I'm the captain of the World Pirates! These Marine scum actually look down on me like this? They send only one ship?" He roared, his voice booming over the crashing waves.
"Give me that—"
"Let them experience what it means to be World Destroyers!"
The pirates on the flagship immediately cleared a massive, forward-facing cannon for Byrnndi World.
They watched with bated breath, eyes wide with excitement and fear, as their powerful, domineering captain took position.
Many of the newly joined recruits had only heard the whispered tales of the World Destroyer, but this was their first time witnessing the monster in action.
Bryndy World gripped the cold iron of the cannon with both hands, aiming it directly at Zakri's Marine warship.
He didn't bother with careful calculation; he aimed with instinct and malice.
"Let me show you," he bellowed, "what the power to destroy the world truly looks like!"
"More-More [100-Fold Cannon]!"
BOOM!
The cannon fired.
But the moment the heavy iron ball left the barrel, World's power activated.
In a flash of distorting energy, the cannonball expanded.
It grew to the size of a small house, then a large house, then a meteor.
Simultaneously, its velocity multiplied by one hundred.
The air shrieked in protest, a sonic boom tearing the sky apart as the massively empowered projectile shot toward the Marine vessel like divine punishment.
...
On the Marine ship, Zakri had just stumbled out of his cabin, wine glass still in hand.
He looked up.
"What in the world... is that?" he squeaked.
A black sun was descending upon them.
"Quick!" Zakri screamed, his voice cracking. "Hard to starboard! TURN THE SHIP!"
Half of the Marine soldiers froze in sheer, primal terror at the sight of the colossal cannonball hurtling toward them.
Their legs gave out, and they went limp on the spot.
Only a handful, driven by the desperate will to survive, scrambled to the helm, fighting each other to spin the wheel.
CRASH-BOOM!!!
The massive cannonball missed the ship by mere meters, striking the deep sea just off the starboard bow.
The impact was cataclysmic. It erupted into a towering wall of water hundreds of meters high, displacing so much ocean that it formed a gigantic, swirling whirlpool.
Zakri's warship was tossed like a toy.
It avoided the blast's epicenter but was instantly sucked into the violent vortex, spinning helplessly, its masts cracking under the strain.
"I don't want to die! Someone save me!"
"I want to live! I still have so much money left to spend—I must survive!"
One by one, the Marine officers succumbed to despair.
The whirlpool was a death sentence.
The ship groaned, the wood screaming as it twisted.
Zakri had long since slumped to the deck, clutching a railing, his mind utterly blank.
As a spoiled noble who knew only indulgence and pleasure, he had never faced real danger.
Merely avoiding death from fright was already his limit.
As the warship spun down toward the dark center of the whirlpool, Zakri felt his first, sharp pang of regret.
Regret for leaving the Kingdom of Eryoku.
Though that detestable Raleigh had oppressed him there, he had never feared pirate attacks in Eryoku.
Under Raleigh, the waters were safe.
Now, he realized too late that safety wasn't natural; it was enforced by monsters like Raleigh.
And he had just sailed away from his protector.
...
Setting aside the dying Marines, Byrnndi World was far from satisfied.
He slammed his fist onto the railing, denting the wood.
"Damn it! Those Marine dogs dodged the killing blow! Lucky bastards!" He reached back for another cannonball, ready to fire again and finish the job.
"World," a weak voice coughed from behind him.
Byojack, trembling in his chair, spoke up.
"Don't waste your energy. Our target isn't that Marine crew—they're finished. It's the Fine Iron aboard the World Government transport ship."
"Those Marine soldiers are already caught in the ocean's vortex. They're beyond saving. Focus on the prize."
Byojack saw the situation clearly: rather than wasting time and ammo on a sinking ship, it was better to plunder the Fine Iron and make a swift escape before reinforcements arrived.
Bryndy World, who had just loaded the second cannonball, paused.
He slapped his own forehead with a meaty hand.
"Hah! Almost forgot our real mission! You're always the clever one, brother!" He turned away from the dying Marines without a second thought.
Standing at the prow, he bellowed to his fleet.
"Everyone! Prepare to storm the World Government ships! Kill every last one of them and seize all their resources! LEAVE NO SURVIVORS!"
The pirates cheered in exhilaration.
Having just witnessed their captain's god-like power, their morale was through the roof.
They were invincible.
The grappling hooks flew. The gangplanks slammed down.
The pirates swarmed the undefended transport ship like locusts.
"Don't kill me! I have lots of Belly! Take it all!"
"I'm a World Government official! You can't kill me! Do you know who I am?!"
One by one, the World Government officials—fat, soft men who usually spoke with arrogant tones—now revealed their ugly, terrified faces under the pirates' blades.
They desperately declared their identities, pulling out pouches of gems and gold, attempting to buy their lives.
But they had encountered the World Pirates.
A crew of madmen led by a monster who hated the Government more than anything.
The slaughter didn't stop.
One official after another fell on the cold deck, their pleas cut short by steel.
Pirates greedily snatched the bloody treasures and stuffed them into their pockets, laughing.
"You damned pirates!" one official shouted, backing against the rail as his colleagues were butchered.
"Aren't you afraid of the World Government's retaliation?! They will hunt you to the ends of the earth!"
The pirates paused.
They looked at each other... then burst into raucous laughter.
"We're the World Pirates! What damn World Government? Once our Captain builds the giant cannon, you will be the ones afraid!"
Hidden under his trembling robes, the official tightly gripped a special Den Den Mushi.
This was an emergency transmitter, directly linked to the nearest Marine HQ.
It had been broadcasting the screams and the pirates' boasts for the last five minutes.
"Go to hell!" A gap-toothed old pirate noticed the official's strange posture.
He lunged, his cutlass flashing.
Slash.
The official fell.
As he hit the deck, the Den Den Mushi rolled from his hand.
"Damn!" the old pirate cursed, kicking the snail. "This guy notified the Marines!"
He looked around frantically. "Hurry! Inform Captain Bryndy! The Marines already knows about us!"
After half an hour of systematic slaughter, the World Government ship was a ghost ship, covered with flowing rivers of blood and corpses lying in all directions.
The pirates worked with surprising efficiency, moving crates of Fine Iron and chests of treasure from the transport to their own ships.
"Brother! We've struck it rich!" Byrnndi World shouted, his face splattered with blood. He watched his crew haul the heavy crates.
"Not only did we get the Fine Iron ore, but we also obtained a massive amount of treasure!" He turned to Byojack, who was sitting on his shoulder like a parrot.
Byojack forced a worried smile. "Is that so? Then we're quite lucky. Let's hurry, World. After we finish moving the resources, we must go to the Donquixote Family's base immediately. Forge the cannon, then enter the New World. We can't linger here."
Byojack understood clearly that the World Government would never let this go.
Killing officials and stealing tribute? That was a Buster Call-level offense.
What awaited them was a dual attack from the full might of the Government and the Marines.
If they didn't get that cannon built now, they would be buried in the North Blue.
"It's fine, brother," World said with full confidence, patting Binjack's leg. "Once we finish building the giant cannon, we won't need to fear the World Government anymore. We'll be the ones knocking on their door."
"Captain Bryndy!" Sebastian, the Fish-Man giant, lumbered over, carrying a massive, ornate wooden crate on his shoulder as if it were a feather.
"The Fine Iron and Belly on the ship have all been moved. We're heavy."
"What's that on your shoulder?" World asked, ignoring the report and focusing on the box.
"It's the personal tribute those officials were planning to transport to Mary Geoise," Sebastian grinned, his shark teeth flashing.
He set the crate down and kicked the lid open.
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
Piles of glittering gold coins, jewelry, and gemstones spilled out onto the bloody deck, sparkling in the sun.
Byrnndi World thrust his large hand into the crate, grabbed a hefty handful of gold, and scattered it into the crowd of cheering pirates.
"These are your spoils, my men!" he roared. "Create slaughter! Enjoy slaughter! Our World Pirates have no need for cowards or paupers!"
"Set sail for the Donquixote Base!"
World's words and the rain of gold sent the pirates into a collective frenzy.
They scrambled over each other, stuffing coins into their pockets, chanting his name.
They were rich. They were powerful.
And they were sailing towards their doom.
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