However, it was clear that his pleas went unanswered. The last thing he saw was a headless, armless corpse falling helplessly to the ground.
Windmill Village was already poor, located on the outskirts. The Goa Kingdom's policy of perfectly excluding unnecessary things had left it almost completely isolated from the kingdom.
Today, they received a large group of uninvited guests.
"Listen up, you lot! I want to see five million Berries in three minutes. If I don't see it, I'll kill someone every ten seconds," a pirate, standing five meters tall and holding a blood-stained sword, barked at the villagers who were surrounded and glaring angrily.
Unlike the strong pirates attacking the Goa Kingdom, this small group lacked the power and had targeted other areas.
The pirates quickly began their brutal looting. The villagers dared not speak out against the pirates, especially after seeing the dozen or so bodies lying on the ground, which crushed any bold ideas they had.
"Sir, this is really all we have. We're poor, isolated from the wealthy parts of the Goa Kingdom. Our whole village's wealth probably doesn't match a small noble's fortune," pleaded Woop Slap, an elderly villager, bowing low.
"No wealth, huh? Then give us something else," the pirate said, eyeing the women the male villagers had instinctively shielded.
"Guys, they're yours. Leave the prettiest ones, the green-haired and pink-haired ones, for me!"
Bang!
A loud thud suddenly resounded as a tall figure stormed in.
"You filthy pirates! Don't you know whose hometown this is?" roared Dadan, a burly woman, angrily.
In response, the pirate swung his sword. The heavy blade struck Dadan's chest, sending her flying and spilling blood from a gruesome wound.
"Dadan!" many villagers who knew her shouted in shock.
"Was she always this brave?" the pirate holding the sword looked puzzled at Woop Slap.
Maybe he had stayed in Impel Down too long and was out of touch with the outside world.
Bang, bang, bang. Gunshots rang out, killing several villagers trying to resist. The pirates then began their spree. Though the village was poor, they had women, wine, and plenty of food, enough for the pirates to indulge themselves.
The villagers watched in terror as the pirates approached the women, unable to resist. The sight of familiar people turning into cold corpses before their eyes deeply shocked them.
The pirates continued their revelry, with gunshots, the sound of fabric tearing, women's struggles, and the pirates' lewd laughter filling the air.
"Do you know whose hometown this is?" shouted Woop Slap, the village elder, standing fearlessly before the pirates, furious at the unfolding tragedy.
"Oh, whose hometown?" The pirate leader smirked, curious to hear the elder's supposedly frightening answer.
"Listen carefully! This is the hometown of the Marine hero Garp!"
The pirate leader paused at the mention of Garp's name, then burst into laughter as if he'd heard a great joke.
"Hahaha! Garp's hometown? Why not say it's the Pirate King Roger's hometown?"
His laughter cut off abruptly as he slashed Woop Slap from top to bottom, cutting him in two.
"You bastard!"
"Village Chief! Garp will kill you and avenge us!"
Hearing the villagers' cries, the pirate leader drew a pistol from his belt and pulled the trigger.
Bang...
The gunshot echoed ominously, silencing the scene abruptly.
One of the villagers, who had been shouting the loudest, clutched his chest in disbelief as he fell to the ground.
Seeing the villagers fall silent, the pirate laughed arrogantly. "Hahaha! I don't know if this Garp you mentioned will avenge you, but I do know no one can save you now!"
"What have you done to everyone?! Gum-gum—Fire Rocket!"
With an angry shout, a figure appeared in midair, launching a fiery attack towards the pirate. The pirate, unable to react in time, was sent flying, rolling across the ground and crashing into a building, buried under the rubble.
"Waaa... Grandpa, I want Grandpa."
A little girl, held by a female villager, reached out towards the bisected body of Woop Slap, crying as if wanting him to hold her again.
"Unforgivable, unforgivable! You bastards! You all deserve to die!"
Sabo's hands trembled as he saw the dead Woop Slap, who had treated him like a grandson, the injured Dadan, and the familiar villagers. His rage was evident.
But as he saw the pirate emerge from the rubble, he knew who his target was.
"A Devil Fruit user? Unfortunately, kid, you're still far too weak."
Luffy hesitated, staring at the burly pirate who had emerged from the rubble.
In the next moment, a figure rushed past Luffy.
"Luffy, leave this guy to me! You take care of the others!"
Sabo stopped Luffy, his face calm as he confronted the pirate.
In an instant, they were face-to-face.
The burly pirate, eyes wide with fury, veins bulging on his arms, gripped his sword tightly and slashed at Sabo with a roar.
"Die!"
Sabo dodged the attack with a swift sidestep, moving to the pirate's side. He swung a steel pipe, striking the pirate's knee with tremendous force.
Boom!
The impact was so strong that the steel pipe bent slightly. The pirate screamed in pain as his leg was broken at the knee.
"You bastard! I'll kill you, I swear I'll kill you!"
The pirate snarled, glaring at Sabo with hatred. He hadn't expected to suffer such a defeat at the hands of a kid in East Blue, after escaping from Impel Down.
But Sabo said nothing. His focus was on taking the pirate down, the method didn't matter.
"Luffy! Stop holding back! This isn't a game; those swords and guns can easily kill Makino and the others!"
In the heat of battle, Sabo shouted at Luffy, who was hesitating to go all out.
"I..."
Luffy began to respond but saw a pirate he had previously knocked down getting up and laughing as he slashed a villager.
Luffy recognized the villager, a fisherman who often gave them extra fish. Now, the man lay in a pool of blood, fate uncertain—all because Luffy hadn't fought with full force.
As he listened to the villagers' cries and saw the pirates' menacing faces, Luffy realized, for the first time, the harsh reality of the sea.
[AN- lil bro about to enter his villian arc]