"You bastard, Burs! Are you insane?!" Bartley was just as stunned as Hemmie had been when he was sent flying. Eyes wide in disbelief, he shouted at Burs.
"You're the one who's insane. I'm with this side now!" Burs sneered as he hefted his giant axe. "Hohahaha! Burs Pirates, listen up—assist the Jack Pirates and take down all other crews!"
His sudden command left his own crew completely confused. But there was no time for questions—other pirates were already charging at them with blades drawn, forcing them to act fast or die.
Jack glanced at the Silence Seal mark on Burs's body and let out a cold, knowing smile. Without wasting a breath, he rushed once again at Bartley.
Boom! Boom! Several sharp slashes tore open the ship's cabin. Out walked Hemmie, his face colder than ice.
"Igor Burs! I'll tear you to pieces!" Hemmie's voice was low and venomous. A moment ago, he had truly felt death looming. The near-death experience left his rage boiling.
"Hohahaha! Perfect! I was just thinking of smashing you to pulp! Let's see what wins—your sharp blade or my mighty axe!" Burs responded with equal chill, voice thick with battle lust.
The next instant, both men charged. One brute force, the other blinding speed. Their clash was explosive, every strike peeling the ship apart bit by bit.
"Kill them! Charge in! Take all the treasure!" shouted Bins, a pirate captain with a bounty of 190 million Berries. He led a wild charge toward the royal treasure ships of the Joromia Kingdom within the Mammoth Fleet.
"That treasure's mine! You're not getting your filthy hands on it!" came a calm, eerie voice.
A figure appeared beside Bins without warning. Before anyone could react, blades flashed—and blood sprayed in silent arcs. Bins barely noticed the dozen slashes across his body before he dropped to his knees.
"What… how…?" His eyes were wide with disbelief. Who had struck? How did they appear? How did they draw their blade? He hadn't seen a thing. It was as if death had touched him in silence.
Just as Bins believed his time was up, a hand pressed down gently on his shoulder.
A strange energy coursed through him, and then a glowing rune slowly etched itself onto his body. Miraculously, the wounds on his flesh vanished, like nothing had ever happened.
"Now choose: death—or submission?" Rosinante looked down at him and said quietly.
"…!" Bins stared, speechless.
Clang! Bartley was sent sliding backward by one of Jack's blows.
His breathing had grown ragged. The constant clash was taking a toll. Even with his arms hardened in Haki, his hands were trembling slightly. Against Jack's monstrous power, even Bartley was beginning to falter.
Suddenly, Bartley noticed something strange—aside from him and Hemmie, the rest of the battlefield had gone still.
"What the hell?!" he cursed, fury twisting his expression.
Following his line of sight, he saw a massive lounge chair placed in plain view. On it, a young man sat leisurely, one leg crossed over the other, watching the fight unfold like a play. Behind him stood seven powerful-looking figures—each one a pirate captain who had arrived with him.
"You're still distracted while fighting me? I'm honestly shocked you've lived this long," Jack said flatly, bringing his blade down again.
"Damn it!" Bartley's face froze in panic, but it was too late.
Jack's slash tore into his chest, leaving behind a gruesome wound.
"I should've killed you with that strike," Jack muttered. "But someone clearly wants you alive."
He let go of his scythe and instead sent a brutal punch into Bartley's gut, causing him to vomit blood. But Jack didn't stop there—his fists fell like a storm, raining blows on Bartley's body until he was nothing more than a bloodied, broken mess.
"This is getting boring," Jack said with disgust, flinging the half-dead Bartley before Rosinante.
Without emotion, Rosinante reached down, grabbed him by the collar, and spoke, "Now choose: death—or submission?"
Soon after, the blood-blade Hemmie also fell, battered near to death by the combined assault of Jack and Burs. Rosinante placed the Silence Seal on him as well.
"I have a mission for you all," Rosinante said as he turned to face Jack, Burs, Hemmie, and Bartley. "Clear the surrounding seas of pirates. Capture anyone with potential—or those whose bounty exceeds 100 million Berries. Bring them back alive."
"Can we rough them up?" Jack asked coldly.
"Rough them up all you want," Rosinante nodded, "as long as they're still breathing. Try to avoid permanent damage—we need them as future strength."
"Understood," Jack said, then led his crew out.
The four of them—Jack, Burs, Hemmie, and Bartley—departed with their men, leaving behind the other seven bounty-over-100-million pirate captains. Those seven, along with some of their subordinates, were tasked with escorting the treasure-laden ships of Joromia back to the kingdom.
When Rosinante returned with the convoy to Joromia, the kingdom fell into chaos.
Having just suffered a massacre at the hands of pirates, the kingdom was like a frightened bird. Seeing a fleet of pirate ships drawing near again, panic exploded. Especially since Rosinante was nowhere in sight at first.
But when they saw him stepping off the lead ship, the collective sigh of relief was audible.
"Your Majesty, this is—?" Felost hurried over after being alerted by the royal guard. Seeing Rosinante safe, his anxiety faded.
"These are my new subordinates," Rosinante explained. "From now on, they'll form a new guard force to protect the Joromia Kingdom."
Gasps erupted from all around. People stared in disbelief—every one of these pirates was infamous in the surrounding seas, each with a bounty over 100 million. And now, they were his men?
Then again, after seeing Jack fall under Rosinante's command, nothing really surprised Felost anymore.
Next, Rosinante ordered Felost to unload all the Berries and treasure from the ships, then took two Devil Fruits back with him to the royal palace.
With this sudden influx of wealth, he tasked Bins with organizing a fleet to purchase desperately needed supplies from nearby kingdoms. The kingdom of Joromia, which had been teetering on collapse, began to run smoothly again. The chaos and unrest faded into order.
Everything was finally falling into place.
Until—
"Your Majesty! The Big Mom Pirates—they're coming!" Felost burst into the palace, his face twisted in panic, tears nearly spilling from his eyes.