Chapter 36: Sakazuki's Appreciation and Satisfaction!
The entire Pirate Ship, with over a hundred people from top to bottom, fell into a Pool of Blood within just ten seconds, clutching their Necks. Shiryu stood amidst the corpses with a look of satisfaction, his Gaze full of Killing Intent sweeping towards the remaining Pirate Ships.
[Boom! Boom! Boom!]
The Warship where Sakazuki was located began exchanging Bombardment with the seven Pirate Ships. Red-hot black Cannonballs whistled and shot through the air, either landing in the Sea and raising tall Water Spouts, or smashing into the hulls, exploding into large bursts of Gunfire Flash.
Especially the Triple-barreled Turret at the bow of the Warship completely overwhelmed the opposing Pirate Ships in terms of Range, firing speed, and accuracy. The Ship Deck's Defense was even more vastly different; even taking a few Cannonball hits only left shallow marks, causing no impact whatsoever on the Marines aboard the Ship.
At this moment, Sakazuki maintained his Posture with his arms crossed over his chest. He appeared to be gazing at the struggling Pirates, but in reality, his sight was fixed on Shiryu's figure.
In his eyes, Shiryu had just leaped from the first Pirate Ship, then skimmed across the Sea Surface at an extremely fast Speed, leaving trails of Afterimages behind him. Every time his Body showed a tendency to drop, he would lightly step on a Wave Crest, using the Force generated by blasting the Wave open with his foot to continue moving forward at high Speed.
Sakazuki was also an Expert proficient in Six Powers. He could tell at a glance that this was Shiryu's Moonwalk technique, just adapted from stepping on air to stepping on sea waves.
Compared to air, stepping on sea waves was actually a bit easier.
Immediately after, he saw Shiryu jump onto the second Pirate Ship and begin a new round of bloody Slaughter, which made Sakazuki frown slightly.
It wasn't that he was dissatisfied with killing Pirates, but rather that he felt Shiryu's method was too inefficient.
If it were him, he would have long ago used a Great Eruption to engulf and destroy all the Pirate Ships!
Shiryu's Strength clearly reached the level of a Sword Master. Logically, he should also be able to unleash Flying Slash Attacks to quickly cut ships in half. Even if he couldn't cut seven ships with one strike, cutting one ship with one strike should be no problem, right?
From the current Situation, if Shiryu continued killing one Ship after another like this, he would end up letting one or two ships of Pirates escape.
However, before those Pirate Ships sailed out of Sakazuki's attack Range, he didn't want to intervene prematurely.
Anyway, it was just a Matter of one or two High-Angle Lava Bombs. With the Perception Prediction from Observation Haki, he could achieve precise strikes when dealing with Large Targets like Seaships.
In this regard, even the Warship beneath his feet was far inferior to himself!
But sometimes, as a Commander, one couldn't personally act in every Situation. The Military Principle, "Soldiers against soldiers, Commanders against commanders," had its reasons. As a Commander, one shouldn't carelessly snatch Military Merit from their subordinates.
On Shiryu's side, he cut through the Pirate charging at him, slicing both the person and their sword in half. He watched with Excitement as the head slid down behind the broken sword, and a column of blood shot into the sky.
Awesome!!
Looking back, the ground behind him was already covered in corpses and a Pool of Blood.
"Vice Admiral Akainu, CP5 hidden in Madair Kingdom has sent detailed Intelligence!" a Headquarters Major on the Warship ran over and reported loudly.
He had to raise his voice, otherwise the whistling sound of flying Cannonballs and the subsequent explosions could easily drown out a person's voice.
"Tell me," Sakazuki said in a deep voice.
"Most of these Pirates are Civilians from that Nation. Their leader is named Cass, originally a mid-level Commander in the Royal Army. Two weeks ago, his wife and daughter were taken by Viscount Gadwell of that Nation, and a week ago, they were sold to a Slave Company by him."
"Because of this, Cass led his trusted Soldiers, inciting the Civilians who were already dissatisfied with the Nobility to rebel. First, they seized the Royal Army Battleships at the Dock, then hoisted the Pirate Flag they had prepared onto the Mast, and subsequently attacked the Royal Army under the name of the Cass Pirates. They plundered all the Grain and Treasure from the Dock Warehouse and bombarded the Upper City where the Royalty and Nobility lived for nearly half an hour. It is said that the area is now a ruin, and the Nobility suffered heavy casualties."
After hearing about yet another incident where Nobility forced officials, Soldiers, and Civilians into rebellion, Sakazuki was silent for a moment, then coldly uttered a word.
"Fools!"
The Headquarters Major thought he was cursing the Viscount, which made him dare not say more.
"That fool named Cass not only killed himself but also everyone who followed him," Sakazuki said, looking at the Pirate Ships in the distance being attacked by Shiryu.
"If he hadn't raised the Pirate Flag, this Matter would have little to do with us Marines."
The Major suddenly understood, thinking to himself, "That's right, if that Cass hadn't raised the Pirate Flag, then they wouldn't be Pirates, but rather an Internal Strife within Madair Kingdom, and naturally wouldn't attract the Marines' capture."
According to World Government Law, the Marines have no Authority to arbitrarily interfere with the Internal Strife of their Affiliated Countries.
Unless the King of that Nation first applies for Aid from the World Government, and then the Political Affairs Department, based on the Intelligence investigated by Cipher Pol, discusses and decides whether or not to help that Nation.
If they decide to help, they must notify Marine Headquarters to Send Troops for rescue. Subsequently, the Fleet Admiral must also hand over the Data/Files of the main personnel of the Rebel Army to the relevant departments to determine their Bounty Amount and Wanted Poster.
Finally, they must also consider what level of Officers to dispatch and how large a Fleet to send.
This process, from start to finish, would take at least one or two days at the fastest. Adding the travel Time, it would take at least three or four days. For Nations further away, it would take even longer.
It was clear that the King of Madair Kingdom was well aware of these rules, so he directly called the Marines and said that a large number of Pirates had attacked his Nation.
This way, it bypassed the various cumbersome procedures upfront, and the Marines only needed to notify nearby Warships to rush over.
But what was the reality?
Cass and his group had only just raised the Pirate Flag; they themselves had not been given a Bounty by the Marines.
So, could they be considered Pirates?
Yes.
Because they raised the Pirate Flag. According to Marine regulations, as long as a Ship flies a Pirate Flag or has a Skeleton pattern painted on its Sail, it is a Pirate Ship. Even if they haven't been given a Bounty, they can still be captured. At most, a Bounty can be added later, or even not given at all since they've already been captured.
Therefore, Cass and the others being Slaughtered by Shiryu couldn't really be said to be wronged; it was just as Sakazuki said, they were too foolish, and that King was too clever.
While the Warship was learning the details of this Mission, Shiryu's Meito Rain had already killed the Pirates on five Ships.
But just as Sakazuki had predicted earlier, two Ships had gradually sailed away, or rather, were desperately fleeing.
This caused hot Magma to begin flowing from his right arm. Rolling Black Smoke curled up into the blue sky. As the fiery red Magma dripped onto the Deck, a strong smell of sulfur permeated the air.
[Buzz!!]
Just as Sakazuki was about to make a move, a wide, scarlet Blade Light suddenly flashed, then swiftly swept across the Sea Surface at an astonishing flying Speed, instantly cutting off the Main Mast and Sail of the two Pirate Ships.
With the Sail falling into the Sea, the Ships could no longer use the power of the Wind for Voyage, and their Speed quickly slowed down. Before long, they were just drifting with the sea waves, completely becoming giant wooden coffins on the sea.
The more than two hundred people on board could only watch in despair as the Bloodthirst demon approached.
Not long after, screams and Battle Cries rang out continuously, but they only lasted for about half a minute before falling silent again.
"Excellent!"
Sakazuki's eyes were filled with appreciation. He had originally planned to have Onigumo as his Adjutant, but this Shiryu was also very good.
Since they raised the Pirate Flag and intended to form a Pirate Crew, they deserved to die and had no right to continue Breathing the air.
Pirates are all damned trash!
(End of Chapter)