"Why is the Navy here?!"
Ethan Sugawa and Gloriosa exchanged glances, both filled with confusion.
They had been extremely cautious in covering their tracks, rarely stopping at nearby islands to resupply, and had kept contact with outsiders to a minimum.
By all logic, the Navy shouldn't have been able to track them down.
Yet not only had they come, but it was Marine Hero Garp himself who was leading the fleet.
That left only one possibility, Ethan's identity had been exposed, and the Navy was here to arrest him.
But the more Ethan thought about it, the more he shook his head and rejected that conclusion.
"If my true identity had been exposed, the Navy wouldn't bother issuing a new bounty under 'Four-Armed Asura.' They would've just updated my original bounty. Creating a new wanted poster would be pointless."
Gloriosa thought for a moment and then offered her own guess.
"Maybe Garp isn't here for us. We might've just gotten caught in the crossfire."
"In that case, who is Garp here to capture?"
A flash of realization struck Ethan. "Roger!"
Garp and Gol D. Roger had been both enemies and rivals for years. The Navy wouldn't send Garp to deal with just any pirate.
Only Roger would make Garp personally mobilize his fleet.
As soon as the words left Ethan's mouth, a loud, hearty laugh rang out behind them.
"Haha! Even after the God Valley Incident, Garp, you're still just a Vice Admiral?"
At that moment, a pirate ship with twin mermaid statues on its prow slowly sailed into view.
Standing at the front of the ship was a man wearing a pirate hat, sporting a signature mustache, a black sword at his waist, and arcs of black lightning crackling faintly around him.
There was no mistaking him.
It was Gol D. Roger.
Garp took a step forward, the sheer force of his presence causing some of the weaker Marines to nearly collapse from the pressure.
He looked at Roger with a grim expression and growled, "I couldn't care less about becoming an Admiral. This position suits me just fine."
"If the Navy doesn't work out for you, come join me. Be a pirate with me, Garp!" Roger grinned, issuing a half-joking invitation.
But Garp refused without hesitation. "I'm not here to reminisce. I'm here to take you in!"
"Roger, take my fist!"
As soon as he spoke, Garp coated both fists with Armament Haki, then layered them with Conqueror's Haki. Black lightning crackled and exploded around his fists.
With a thunderous stomp, he launched himself like a cannonball toward Roger.
Soaring into the air above Roger's ship, Garp swung his fist without a shred of hesitation.
"Fist Bone Impact!"
"Divine Departure!"
Roger's aura erupted in full force. His Conqueror's Haki surged wildly, black lightning dancing around his blade.
He swung his sword in a mighty slash to meet Garp's monstrous punch head-on.
Boom!
The collision of their attacks was cataclysmic.
The sky itself was torn open by black lightning, and the shockwave sent seawater surging violently in all directions.
Seeing Garp locked in battle with Roger, the Marines charged forward, raising their swords as they shouted:
"Charge! Today we bring justice to the seas by capturing the Roger Pirates!"
"Vice Admiral Garp is pushing Roger back. We can't fall behind!"
"Rayleigh! Face me!"
As the Roger Pirates' second-in-command, Silvers Rayleigh's strength was unquestionable. Without hesitation, he met the advancing Marines head-on.
"Brothers, with me!"
Rayleigh's sword clashed with the Marines as the Roger Pirates rallied behind him.
A fierce battle erupted in full force.
…
On the other side of the battlefield.
Ethan and Gloriosa had been caught in the middle of the chaos, swept up in a battle that had nothing to do with them.
They were automatically classified as pirates and immediately targeted by the Navy.
"Damn pirates! Prepare to die!"
Facing the blade of an aggressive Marine, Ethan casually swung his sword and cut him down.
Almost instinctively, he absorbed the Marine's soul and blood.
The other Marines who witnessed this paled in terror and shouted, "He's a monster!" before more rushed at him in waves.
Within moments, the deck was swarming with Marines.
Each one wore a grim expression and carried murderous intent in their eyes.
After kicking away an attacking Marine, Gloriosa turned to Ethan and asked in a low voice, "What do we do now? We weren't their original target, but now they're all coming for us."
Ethan knew this was his fault, but there was no point dwelling on it.
At this point, their only option was to slaughter every Marine in their way if they wanted to survive and escape.
His eyes turned blood-red as his killing intent surged.
"Perfect. I was just short on souls and blood essence. I'll kill all of you here and turn your life force into fuel for my growth."
A pirate should live like a pirate. If you didn't have tens of thousands of lives on your hands, you weren't worthy of being called a great pirate.
Ethan tied a bandana over his forehead to conceal his third eye, ensuring his true identity remained hidden.
Once he was fully prepared, he unleashed his full strength and began his rampage.
With four arms tearing Marines apart, his black-and-white twin swords sliced through the enemy like a battlefield meat grinder, ruthlessly reaping lives.
In less than fifteen minutes, the deck was littered with the corpses of fallen Marines.
Those still preparing to board the ship trembled, paralyzed by fear, unable to take another step forward.
Just then, a young boy wearing a straw hat and a white shirt charged over from Roger's ship.
He confidently strode up to Ethan, trying to act like an adult as he asked, "Hey, you're pretty strong. Why haven't I seen you on our ship before?"
The moment Ethan saw the straw hat, he instantly recognized him.
"Shanks."
The God Valley Incident had happened only three years ago, and four-year-old Shanks already had the spirit of a pirate.
Thinking this, Ethan casually replied, "I'm not a member of the Roger Pirates. I just got caught up in this battle by accident."
Shanks' eyes lit up. "Then why don't you join us?"
He enthusiastically offered, "If you join the Roger Pirates, we'll guarantee your safety!"
Ethan chuckled. After spending just a few years with Roger, Shanks had already picked up the man's recruitment tactics.
He found it amusing but politely declined, "No thanks. I'm not planning to join any pirate crew right now."
Before Shanks could try persuading him again, a sharp whistling sound interrupted them.
Behind him, a fallen Marine suddenly collapsed, a throwing knife lodged in his chest.
Even before the owner appeared, a sharp, shrill voice echoed in their ears.
"Shanks! If it weren't for me, you would've been sliced in half by that Marine just now!"
A boy in a blue-and-white striped shirt appeared, holding ten throwing knives between his fingers.
What stood out the most was his ridiculously large, clown-like red nose.
It was none other than the future founder of the Cross Guild.
The future Yonko.
Buggy the Clown.