"They really are getting massacred…"
Sitting beside Perona atop the mast, Arashi watched the battle unfolding on the Marine warship. Seeing that only four or five Marines remained fighting while the pirates still numbered in the dozens, he was completely baffled.
Were these Marines seriously this weak?
How had they been beaten into such a miserable state by a bunch of small-time pirates?
Arashi almost couldn't bear to watch anymore.
Although a few Marines were still resisting, the outcome was already obvious.
What puzzled him most was that none of the pirates fighting onboard appeared to be particularly powerful Devil Fruit users. Meanwhile, the Marine officer in the colonel's uniform was clearly fairly strong.
And yet a pirate crew with no notable heavy hitters had not only chased a Marine warship into fleeing, but had even boarded it and overwhelmed the crew?
Well…
Even a strong fighter couldn't withstand being swarmed.
"Let's go, let's go."
The situation aboard the warship would soon be settled, and Arashi had already lost interest in watching.
"You raise the sails, I'll steer."
"So boring…"
Perona clearly didn't want to leave just yet.
After training on Ohara for half a year, her hands were itching for a real fight. She practically wanted to charge over there and test the power of the Rankyaku and Paper Arts she had learned from the Six Powers.
Seeing Arashi already jump down onto the deck, Perona suddenly had an idea.
"Arashi, why don't we help those Marines? They look so pitiful."
"No."
Arashi rejected her unrealistic suggestion without hesitation.
"Raise the sails immediately. Right now."
Hearing that, Perona puffed out her cheeks in grievance, tears nearly welling up in her eyes.
Just then, the battle aboard the warship suddenly changed.
The last two Marine soldiers abruptly charged into the middle of the pirates and shouted at the top of their lungs:
"For justice!!!"
BOOM—
As their voices rang out, a thunderous explosion erupted instantly.
"No!!!"
Hearing the explosion behind him, Bell cut down the two pirates in front of him with a single slash before immediately turning around.
When he saw that he was now the only Marine left standing aboard the entire warship—and that the two soldiers had chosen to die together with several pirates—his eyes instantly turned bloodshot.
Then, gripping his saber tightly, he charged at the pirates like a madman.
"Hahahaha! So the Marines have their day too!"
Seeing Bell rush forward, one of the Strollo Pirates' officers stepped out from the crowd, baring a bloodthirsty grin.
"Despair, Marine! Today, this sea will become your graveyard!"
Bell said nothing.
Red-eyed, he charged straight at him.
Seeing this, the pirate officer wisely chose not to clash head-on and instead leaped aside.
Because Bell was charging too quickly, he failed to stop himself in time and rushed all the way to the edge of the deck.
"Hm?"
The moment he reached the railing, Bell's pupils suddenly expanded.
Then he stared in utter disbelief at the Traveler appearing ahead of him.
"Th-this…"
Thinking he was hallucinating, Bell rubbed his eyes hard.
But after confirming that it truly was the same Traveler he had encountered near Sieg Town before, he didn't hesitate for even a second.
He jumped directly off the warship.
Although he had only met Arashi once, he had heard from Smoker in Loguetown about everything Arashi had done in the East Blue.
And thanks to Smoker's extremely exaggerated storytelling, Bell had become firmly convinced that Arashi was some mysterious and extraordinarily important figure.
After becoming separated from Vice Admiral Momousagi's warship during the battle against the Strollo Pirates, Bell had completely lost contact with the fleet.
Under those circumstances, he had no choice but to fight alone until the very end.
But now—
After seeing the Traveler, the despair in his heart reignited into hope.
Bell's sudden leap off the ship caught all the pirates completely off guard.
By the time they reacted, he had already plunged into the sea and was desperately swimming toward the Traveler.
"Where the hell did that ship come from? Traveler?!"
Standing aboard the captured warship, the pirate officer stared blankly at the Traveler that had suddenly appeared in his field of vision, momentarily forgetting to pursue Bell.
"It—it's that Traveler!!!"
No sooner had the officer spoken than one of the pirate lackeys suddenly cried out in alarm.
"It's him! It's him! It's him!!"
Bang!
Annoyed by the exaggerated shouting, the pirate officer smacked the man to the deck with a slap and snarled:
"Damn idiot, is that all you can say?! Who the hell is he?!"
"The legendary Traveler of the West Blue—Arashi!"
The pirate lackey raised his head pitifully and stammered:
"H-half a year ago, he appeared in the Ilusia Kingdom and single-handedly saved Constantine City from the great pirate Moria!"
The pirate officer still looked utterly confused.
He genuinely had never heard of what happened in the Ilusia Kingdom, nor had he heard of this so-called Traveler Arashi.
But even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.
Because in his heart, Captain Strollo was the strongest!
After blinking blankly for a moment, the pirate officer suddenly grinned viciously.
"The legendary Traveler of the West Blue, Arashi?"
"Your journey ends here!"
Meanwhile—
Aboard the Traveler, Arashi had already taken the helm while Perona reluctantly raised the sails.
"Mr. Arashi! Mister!!!"
Just as Arashi was about to turn the ship around and leave this troublesome area, Bell—who had been rapidly swimming over—was suddenly swept high into the air by a massive wave.
Taking advantage of the moment, Bell hurriedly shouted:
"H-help me!"
The instant he finished speaking, he plunged back into the sea and was swallowed once more by the waves.
"Huh?"
Hearing the voice, Arashi looked up at Perona atop the mast.
"Ghost girl, did someone just call me?"
"It was one of the Marines from that warship. He seems to know you! But he's not on the ship anymore—he fell into the sea."
Standing atop the mast, Perona looked at Bell bobbing back up to the surface with confusion.
"This Marine is so weak. Doesn't he know the Six Powers?"
"He fell into the sea?"
Arashi walked to the edge of the deck just in time to see Bell being tossed into the air again by another giant wave.
"Whoa… you're…"
Looking at Bell suspended in midair, Arashi blinked in surprise.
"You're… you're that… uh… that guy?"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Before Arashi could finish speaking, a deafening series of explosions suddenly erupted without warning.
Immediately afterward, two pirate ships beside the Marine warship were struck head-on by incoming cannon fire.
Before anyone present could react, an undamaged Marine warship charged rapidly into the battlefield and unleashed a ferocious bombardment on the remaining pirate ships.
"Damn it! How did this warship get here?!"
The pirate officer aboard Bell's warship was completely caught off guard by the sudden arrival of reinforcements.
Watching his fleet get blown apart into wreckage within moments, rage exploded inside him.
He instantly abandoned any plans of attacking the Traveler and shouted at his subordinates:
"Start this warship immediately! Move!"
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