The cannon fire continued on the ship that the Minks were on board.
It had reached a point where the ship had started to sustain damage and was taking in a lot of water.
The mobility of the ship they were on was very limited due the overall quality and size of it which had been further reduced by the damage it began taking on.
It did not help that the Shadow Guard on the helm had not been able to most effectively control it to reach its full potential.
The cannon balls that were aimed towards the upper parts of the ship above the deck had sustained the least damage but it was far more difficult to defend from the ones that were aimed much lower.
The cannon balls flew across the sky and crashed into the lower parts of the ship then broke through several things in their path before they finally came to a halt.
The Minks were already much too busy to be able to defend the upper parts of the ship that they had no other available time to be able to cover repairing the damaged parts or assisting with the management of the ship.
The Marines in their ships circled around their prey as they refused to close in on them and kept a tight formation around the ship as it moved.
If the ship was steered in one direction then the Marines adjusted their formation to keep a steady distance away from it which kept the ship in the middle.
Those up front had refrained from firing at those behind them and kept a safer distance so they could serve their purpose while those at the sides and back could open fire from their front and side cannons.
There were six ships in total with more than ten Marines on each ship that were consisting of their ship captain and their subordinates who had varied ranks.
They all kept in contact through a transponder Sea Snail which had connected to a round egg shape bodied man that had long legs and arms which made him taller than others but it was not enough to be able to let him reach the height of some special races like the long-legged tribe or giants.
He held onto the transponder snail and listened in to the incoming reports so he responded calmly. "Maintain the distance and sink the ship. We might have suffered losses earlier but it will not happen a second time.
Once they are sunk into the sea, we capture them using every available method. Now is the time to battle smartly and cautiously so do not get close to them and maintain this formation until the very end."
The voices on the other end that were connected had responded. "Yes Captain Fry!"
In terms of ranking in the Marines, a captain was qualified enough to be able to manage his own ship or was put in charge of one of the outposts.
Some even managed their own small fleet of ships and had many Marines under them.
It was above the ranks of a Petty Officer and Warrant Officer but it was still below the ranks of a Commodore.
Each ranking in the Marines had not been too accurate to judge a person's strength and abilities since many factors could interfere with the promotions to higher ranks and there were always people that liked to lay low for various reasons too.
Some just liked their current positions and did not wish to take on more responsibilities and dangers while others wanted to rise up but could not due to them not having the right connections that could help them.
It did not help that there were always some that pursued their own form of justice which clashed with others within the Marines so there would always be competition among them and even some conflicts that if taken far enough, it could affect their future within the Marines negatively.
Some Captains or others in higher positions may have risen up thanks to their connections or the strategic minds they possessed that let them use those below them effectively to make achievements for themselves.
If a Captain ranked Marine was to be evaluated based on their overall value using the bounty system then it was likely that the average value would be around fifty million berries.
It may have varied in different places if a captain was found in the weaker parts of the world but it was much tougher to get such a rank in the New World unless they had been appointed to a less important position.
A Captain of the Marines was still a position that was neither too high nor too low.
Those under Captain Fry carried out his orders which had proceeded very smoothly as the ship was torn apart and started to sink into the sea.
He continued to watch calmly from further away as it was sinking then spoke again. "Move a little closer but maintain a safe distance. Keep a close watch over the surrounding waters and prepare the capture nets."
"Yes Captain Fry!"
The ship that Pixel and the others were on had been torn apart by cannon fire and was taking on too much damage and water to be able to keep itself floating above the sea.
All that the Marines needed to do was to wait and keep a safe enough distance in order to make sure that those on the ship had gone down along with it or were somewhere within the sea.
They had to keep a watchful eye on their perimeter for anyone swimming away from the ships wreckage so that they could be captured while they were still vulnerable.
The criminals that they were after were too dangerous to confront head on so they made every effort to crush them effectively as possible and were cautious enough to take measures so that no head on battle would take place.
If there was anyone that was able to get close to their ship which had a chance of them climbing on board, the Marines were already wary of such a thing happening and kept a watchful eye around their ships.