"Mor... Lord Morgan?!"
"What happened?!"
On the outskirts of the battlefield, several Marine soldiers discovered Morgan, who had been thrown into the middle of the courtyard. They surrounded him with expressions of shock and disbelief.
"Damn bastard...!"
After recovering his senses, Morgan scrambled to his feet. Showing such a pathetic state in front of so many subordinates made him feel even more humiliated and resentful. He gnashed his teeth and glared at Ellen.
"You bunch of idiots! What are you standing there for? Kill him immediately! Fire!!"
"Yes, sir!"
Hearing the command, the soldiers hurriedly and nervously raised their guns, aiming them at Ellen.
However, when they realized the figure standing on the rock pile was Lieutenant Ellen, they were all stunned.
"Lieutenant Ellen?!"
"Wait a moment, Lord Morgan, is there some kind of misunderstanding?"
"What misunderstanding! Are the injuries on my body fake?!"
Morgan shouted rebukingly, pointing an angry hand at Ellen.
"This guy openly defied orders! He even laid hands on me, his superior officer! This is a traitor! A blatant disgrace to the Marines!!"
"This...!"
"How could...?"
The Marines looked at each other with hesitant gazes. Even with Morgan's stern orders, they could not imagine that the usually gentle and quiet Lieutenant Ellen would do such a thing.
Seeing that they still hadn't acted, the veins on Morgan's forehead bulged. He threateningly raised the battle-axe on his right hand and roared at the subordinates beside him:
"Fire the guns now! Do you all want to betray the Marines as well?!"
Seeing this scene, Ellen rubbed his chin with interest. One couldn't say that the guns in the hands of ordinary Marines were useless, but they were close to it.
At least, they posed no threat to him. However...
He decided to play it a different way; perhaps he could gather some initial subordinates for his pirate crew.
Ellen's eyes narrowed slightly, a decision already formed in his heart...
"Brothers!!"
Before the soldiers could be forced into firing, they heard Ellen speak loudly, letting out a cry full of righteous indignation:
"How much longer are you going to endure! Wearing Marine uniforms but doing the work of pirates! Bearing the name of 'Justice' but carrying out the oppression of civilians!!"
"They are clearly the ones we should be protecting! Yet when they see us, they avoid us as if they were seeing pirates! Can you really not see their fear? Can you not see the look of loathing in their eyes!!"
"Tell me, brothers! Is this the reason you joined the Marines? Is this the meaning of your hard training every day!!"
Ellen's voice was filled with fury.
His stirring words echoed across the sky above the courtyard, like a long-suppressed volcano finally erupting, instantly threatening to set fire to a long-barren land.
Even the soldiers fighting Straw Hat Boy not far away had their attention drawn over. All the Marines on the field were cowed by Ellen's deafening outcry.
They asked themselves: was the current state of things truly what they had once yearned for?
Of course not!
They were human too; they had families living in the town.
Currently, this sea territory was filled with grievances and despair. How could this be what they once desired?
"Some of you joined the Marines because your families were killed by pirates, longing for the day you could slay your enemies!"
"Some were touched by acts of justice! Inspired by stories of heroes, dreaming of becoming someone others look up to!"
Ellen's voice continued, shouting at the top of his lungs, his tone becoming increasingly high-pitched and intense.
"Everyone has various reasons for joining the Marines! But it was definitely not to live under the shadow of a reign of terror! To be forced into this business of oppressing civilians!!"
"And now, all of this! Who exactly caused it? Who is the one oppressing us? Forcing us!"
As his voice fell, the air became as silent as death.
In the crowd, gazes began to focus on the same spot. It was obvious; their answer was only one—Axe-Hand Morgan!!
Seeing the gazes continuously focusing on him, Morgan's face began to panic. He instinctively took half a step back, which then turned into rage.
"What do you bunch of idiots want to do! I am the Base Commander here! Rebellion is a capital crime for a Marine!"
Hearing this, the surrounding Marines fearfully took a step back, bowing their heads and clenching their fists tightly, not daring to let their inner anger explode.
However, Ellen's next words shocked them once again.
"You think it's Morgan? Wrong! Dead wrong! What truly forced us to this point is our own inner weakness!!"
"Do you think changing the ruler will definitely make the situation better?"
Ellen used a powerful voice to issue the final question to everyone:
"Without Captain Morgan, there will still be Captain Rat, Captain Roach!"
"Tell me, brothers! What should we do then? Are we destined to sink deeper and deeper into the dark abyss for the rest of our lives!!"
"Of course not!!"
Suddenly, a cry of anger erupted from the crowd. Ellen and all the Marines were surprised and drawn to the source.
It was Lieutenant Commander Ripper. His thick black beard twitched as he panted heavily, his chest heaving violently, manifesting the indignation filling his heart.
By now, he naturally understood Ellen's intent to lead an uprising.
At this critical moment, he suppressed his inner weakness and decided to add the final flame to the prairie fire Ellen had ignited!
Ripper was the first to raise his gun, aiming the muzzle at the panicked Morgan, and shouted:
"Brothers! This is absolutely not what we want! We must resist!!"
"Well said!"
Seeing this, Ellen took a large stride forward. He clenched his right fist and held it high, shouting with blood-pumping passion:
"I! Francis Ellen! Today, I will be the first person to lead everyone in this resistance!!"
"Lieutenant Ellen..."
"And Lieutenant Commander Ripper..."
The soldiers below were deeply moved. Their long-held grievances were finally ignited by the words and actions of the two men.
"I'm going for it!"
"Me too! I can't stand this bastard Morgan anymore!"
"I'll listen to Big Brother Ripper!"
"Brothers! Let's follow in Lieutenant Ellen's footsteps together!"
Seeing the voices breaking out one after another in the crowd, the corner of Ellen's mouth turned up slightly.
The time had come!
"Brothers! Just like the oath from years ago, now! Raise your muzzles against evil!"
"Yes, sir!" x N
Click! Click! Click!
The uniform response was deafening. One after another, gun muzzles were leveled, all concentrated on Morgan!
"You...! You all...!!"
Morgan was truly terrified now. Looking at the black muzzles coming from all directions, he trembled so much his limbs shook.
"There is no need to fear! Even less need to feel guilt. Because!"
Ellen swung his arm and pointed boldly at Morgan, his gaze determined as he roared:
"Those are the Bullets of Justice!!"
"Execute him!!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Intense gunfire erupted, floating into the blue sky along with the wisps of white smoke rising from the barrels.
Blood trickled down and seeped into the yellow sand. The pupils of the riddled Morgan completely lost focus, and his body fell backward onto the ground with a "thud."