'Thud...'
One by one, the pirates suddenly collapsed to the deck.
Some lay prone, straining their arms in a desperate attempt to push themselves up; others simply lost consciousness instantly. This scene was playing out across every single pirate warship.
Even Don Krieg found his knees buckling, a flicker of panic crossing his face.
For reasons he couldn't understand, he felt a tremor emanating from the very depths of his soul, accompanied by a crushing weight, as if his body had suddenly become several times heavier.
'What on earth is this?'
He didn't know. But he did know one thing: if this continued, his entire crew would be wiped out before they even engaged the Marines in hand-to-hand combat.
He could feel it—this strange, oppressive force was gradually intensifying. As it grew, more and more of his subordinates succumbed to the pressure, slipping into unconsciousness.
But in the next second, Don Krieg suddenly felt the weight vanish.
The pressure disappeared as abruptly as it had arrived, as if it had never existed at all.
Looking around, he saw that nearly half of the two hundred men on the main ship were currently sprawled across the deck. He was unaware that the casualties were even higher on the other warships. After all, the pirates on the flagship were his most elite soldiers, and Sean had intentionally controlled the release of his Reiatsu, increasing it slowly.
In essence, it was a filter. The weakest were naturally eliminated first.
With the opening created, Sean began his move.
"First and Second Squads, attack the main ship! Lucci, you're on cover. Third and Fourth Squads, clear the pirates from the surrounding warships!"
"Move out!"
The Marines sprang into action.
Lucci leaped over ten meters into the air, landing squarely on Don Krieg's flagship. Following behind him, the Marines of the two squads began scaling the ship's hull using rope ladders.
The main ship was gargantuan; in terms of sheer size, Sean felt it was even larger than Garp's dog-headed warship. Garp's ship was one of the Marine's super-warships, a class typically reserved for an Admiral. It was only because of Garp's unique status that he possessed one despite being a Vice Admiral.
"The Marines are attacking! Everyone, get out there and kill them!"
"Yes, Captain Krieg!"
A crowd of pirates, armed with guns and blades, rushed toward the railings to intercept the climbing Marines.
However, before they could reach the edge, a figure wearing a black suit draped in a white "Justice" coat suddenly shot up from below the hull. He landed steadily on the deck, blocking the pirates' path.
"He's alone and unarmed! Kill him!"
"Charge!"
'Bang! Bang! Bang!'
In a mere instant—so fast that no one even saw Lucci move—the three pirates leading the charge were sent flying backward, soaring clean over the opposite railing and into the sea.
"Don't be afraid! Use your guns! Turn him into a pincushion!"
Immediately, at least twenty pirates leveled their firearms and unleashed a concentrated volley of fire at Lucci.
"Tekkai!"
'Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!'
The pirates were stunned.
'What the hell?'
'Is this guy wearing steel plates under his clothes? Otherwise, why does it sound like bullets hitting metal?'
"Out of the way!"
At the shout, the pirates scrambled to clear a path.
A lean-looking man stepped forward slowly, wielding a pair of strange weapons: crutches connected to massive iron balls.
"Interesting. You're the 'Demon' Gin the Commodore mentioned?"
Looking at the man, Lucci recalled the conversation he had with Sean before leaving the 16th Branch.
"Lucci, are you sure these are the only people in the Don Krieg Pirates with bounties?" Sean had asked, sounding surprised after Lucci briefed him on the crew.
Aside from Don Krieg himself, the highest bounty in the crew was only 1.8 million. Of course, that wasn't the main point—this was over three years before the original story began, and even Don Krieg's bounty was only 12 million at the time.
The point was, someone was missing. The man whose bounty was second only to Krieg's in the original timeline.
The Demon, Gin!
Sean had wondered if it was simply too early for Gin to have joined the crew, or if he had just joined and hadn't made a name for himself yet.
"Lucci, if you find a man using special crutch-weapons while raiding the Don Krieg Pirates, try to capture him alive."
"Commodore, is there something special about him?"
"His talent for physical combat is excellent. If he were to systematically learn the Six Powers, he wouldn't be inferior to your former colleagues in CP9."
Lucci had frowned slightly. "And the Commodore wants to recruit him as a Marine?"
"I'm considering it. But it depends on whether his hands are already stained with the blood of civilians or Marines. If not, we can give him a chance to redeem himself. Talent is hard to come by..."
"I see. Understood."
That was the conversation they had shared before departure.
"Gin, go! Take him down!"
"That's right! When you joined the day before yesterday, you beat everyone in sight! I've got faith in you!"
"Show these damn Marines the power of the Don Krieg Pirates!!"
The pirates on the main ship grew excited at the sight of Gin, their cheers echoing across the deck.
Although Gin had only joined the crew three days ago, he had made an immediate impression by defeating ten pirates in a row—including Hasul, one of Krieg's core officers in charge of martial arts instruction. Don Krieg had even declared that if Gin earned enough merit, he could eventually become the General Captain of the crew.
"Marine, you look pretty strong. I hope you can keep me entertained for a while!"
Despite sensing the man's strength, the twenty-three-year-old Gin felt no fear. He was immensely confident in his own abilities.
With a powerful stomp, he lunged forward at incredible speed. Seeing that Lucci didn't seem to react, Gin swung his crutches with full force.
In the next instant, the two blackened iron balls at the ends of the crutches slammed directly toward Lucci's chest.
In the original story, Gin had a habit of targeting the chest—perhaps a strange quirk of his. But against Lucci, it was a delusional ambition.
"Tekkai!"
'BOOM!!'
It could only be said that Gin was still too green. He didn't possess anywhere near the power required to break through Lucci's Tekkai.
Instead, the recoil left his hands feeling slightly numb.
His expression grew considerably more grim.
"Your strength and speed are impressive!" Gin shouted.
"Do I really need you to tell me that?" Lucci replied coldly.
Gin, who had been pushed back two steps by the impact, steadied himself and charged once more, a look of madness flashing across his face.
Seeing this, Lucci shook his head slightly.
'The Commodore gave me specific instructions, but...'
'It's not as if we're evenly matched. Why waste time dragging this out?'
"Soru!"
'Boom!'
The speed was so extreme that Gin couldn't even react. The last thing he registered was a sharp pain in the back of his neck, and then...
There was no then.
It was an instantaneous kill.
Still frozen in a leaping pose, Gin's body began to tilt, eventually slamming violently onto the deck.
The pirates, who had been screaming just moments before, fell into a dead silence, their eyes wide with utter disbelief.
Meanwhile, along the side of the hull, the Marines following behind Lucci finally climbed aboard.
"Leave Don Krieg to me. The rest of you handle the other pirates!"
"Yes, Captain Lucci!"