The following day.
In order to avoid Marine, Kaito summoned his younger brothers and ordered everyone to leave Happy Street. After returning to the port, he led the pirate fleet back out to sea.
"Captain, shall we head to the Capital of Seven Waters next?"
After they had sailed out, Lafayette, the navigator, approached Kaito.
"No rush. Let's go to Magic Valley Town first!" Kaito waved his hand.
"Magic Valley Town? Didn't you say we'd go there after we picked up the new ship?" Lafayette asked in surprise.
He was no stranger to Magic Valley Town. After entering the Grand Line, Kaito had instructed him to collect charts of the Grand Line as well as permanent pointers.
Magic Valley Town had been specifically mentioned among the destinations, and they had originally planned to go there after receiving the new ship.
"The situation has changed somewhat, so I plan to go to Magic Valley Town first and recruit someone with talent," Kaito said calmly.
Since Marine intended to ambush him at the Capital of Seven Waters, it was naturally impossible for him to go there without making preparations.
"Talent?"
The moment Lafayette heard that the captain intended to recruit someone in Magic Valley Town, he immediately became interested.
The main reason was that anyone capable of catching the captain's eye was definitely not an ordinary person.
Take Zoro, for example.
When Lafayette had first met Zoro, he had been nothing more than a swordsman who had not even grasped the ability to cut through steel. But after spending time with him, Lafayette had discovered that Zoro was indeed a rare swordsman.
"Understood, Captain. I'll have someone set a course for Magic Valley Town!" Lafayette, who was now very interested, performed a little tap dance before immediately making the necessary arrangements.
Soon, the fleet changed course and began sailing toward Magic Valley Town.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amid the deafening roar of artillery fire, groups of shells shaped like strange birds bombarded the pirate ships docked at the port.
Under the violent explosions, one pirate ship after another sank into the sea.
The people aboard those ships were swallowed by the raging flames, screaming as they were burned to death and became corpses floating on the water.
"My ship! Damn it! Who fired those cannons?"
"Look! There are a bunch of ships coming from the sea! They're the ones firing!"
"Damn you! You dare sink our ships?! I'll kill them!"
"Open fire! Destroy those ships for me!"
Although many of the pirates aboard the ships had failed to escape the bombardment, most of the people associated with those ships were in the small town connected to the port.
When the violent explosions rang out, the people in the town rushed outside to see what had happened. Many of them immediately changed expressions when they saw their pirate ships being bombarded in the harbor.
Obviously, these people were the owners and crews of those pirate ships.
Following the direction from which the shells had come, they saw a huge fleet approaching the town from the distant sea.
Amid their furious shouting, some people were intimidated by the enormous size of the enemy fleet and did not dare to act.
But more of them immediately grabbed their weapons and fought back.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several mobile cannons were quickly found, and the pirates began firing at the distant fleet.
Unfortunately, their firepower was nothing impressive.
More importantly, their aim was terrible.
Only a handful of shells even came close to hitting the distant ships.
The helmsman, Snakeskin, easily maneuvered the fleet and avoided the incoming shells.
At the same time, once the artillery crews detected the source of the counterattack, they immediately adjusted their aim and launched a second round of bombardment toward the people firing back.
"Ah!!!"
The incoming shells swept through the area.
Under the violent bombardment, those who had launched the counterattack and those unfortunate enough to be nearby were either killed on the spot or forced to flee, making it impossible for them to continue resisting.
"The people here seem pretty fired up!"
On the deck of the No. 1 main ship, Lafayette twirled his cane while looking at Magic Valley Town in the distance with great interest.
"I guess the pirate ships in the harbor belong to these people. Since we sank their ships, they're obviously going to be angry."
"It can only be said that they're unlucky. Who told them to leave their ships in the harbor? If we don't clear out the ships, how are ours supposed to dock?" Lafayette said with a chuckle.
That's right.
The reason the pirate ships in the harbor had been bombarded just now was simply because there wasn't enough room for the War Pirates' fleet to dock.
So they had carried out a little cleanup.
Sure enough, after all the pirate ships in the harbor had been bombarded and sunk, the War Pirates, who had been sailing for several days, were able to dock smoothly at the port near Magic Valley Town.
"Kill!"
"Get rid of these bastards!"
"You bastards dared to blow up our ships! I'll take your ships for myself!"
"Kill them!"
The moment the War Pirates' ships came to a stop, the pirates from the town rushed angrily toward the port.
These were the very people whose ships had just been bombarded by the War Pirates.
Although the fierce artillery fire had caused heavy casualties on their way over, many of them had survived.
Now that the War Pirates had landed, these pirates immediately came back for more, determined to engage them in close combat.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire erupted throughout the port.
There were quite a few pirates charging forward, but their numbers obviously did nothing to intimidate the members of the War Pirates.
Without hesitation, the various brigades stationed aboard each ship unleashed a concentrated barrage.
"AAAH!!!"
Terrifying screams echoed throughout the port.
One pirate after another was riddled with bullets and collapsed.
The very first volley had already wiped out more than half of the enemy force, resulting in devastating casualties.
And this was only the beginning.
Not everyone among the War Pirates relied on gunfire.
Quite a few members charged directly into the port and engaged the enemy in close combat.
The phrase "a tiger among a flock of sheep" could have been written for the scene unfolding before them.
The members of the War Pirates who had undergone the Munch-Munch Fruit transformation and become Beast Warriors displayed terrifying combat power, each one capable of fighting dozens, even hundreds, of ordinary pirates.
Some tore their enemies apart with razor-sharp claws.
Others blasted their opponents away with a single punch.
Their bestial appearances, combined with their brutal fighting styles, almost instantly shattered the remaining enemy formation.
The pirates who had rushed forward with such confidence were quickly overwhelmed.
"It's quite lively..."
When Kaito emerged from the cabin and stepped onto the deck, he watched the battle at the port with considerable interest.
"Captain, is the talent you're looking for here?"
Seeing their captain appear, Lafayette and the other cadres, who had been waiting on the deck, immediately gathered around him.
Lafayette first glanced toward the ongoing battle at the port before turning his attention back to Kaito.
"Is this the person you came all the way to Magic Valley Town to recruit, Captain?"
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