East Blue,
Some say: The sea is like a fickle woman, calm one moment and hysterical the next!
In his previous life, Roman had never seen the sea, but in this life, he deeply agreed.
Even after three years of drifting and fighting at sea, he had to grab the rope beside him to avoid being thrown into the ocean.
The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the wind made the skull flag flutter fiercely. The waves rose and fell, and just looking at the surging momentum, one could feel an irresistible force between heaven and earth.
From above, the 400-ton pirate ship "Riding the Waves" with a crew of fifty looked like a fallen leaf in the vast ocean, rising and falling, seemingly about to be swallowed by a wave at any moment.
At this moment, a huge flash of light suddenly appeared in the distant sky, and the power of nature descended with a roar.
Under this lightning, everyone's skin on the "Riding the Waves" was covered with a layer of sheen, and the swords in their hands gleamed brightly! The lookout on the mast shouted loudly:
"Target spotted!"
"Three o'clock direction, twelve nautical miles away!"
Standing at the bow, straight as a spear in the wind and waves, was a middle-aged man wearing a deep black tricorn hat. With a "zing," he drew his rapier and ordered:
"Full right rudder! Raise the triangular sail, full speed ahead!"
Under the command of the eagle-eyed middle-aged man, the "Riding the Waves" lived up to its name, cutting through the sea like an arrow, unaffected by the stormy waves.
Before long, the target of the pirate ship appeared in everyone's sight: an armed merchant ship. Although the sailors on board kept throwing barrels and debris into the sea, they were still gradually caught up by the "Riding the Waves," which had the speed advantage.
"Ready... Fire!"
The middle-aged man raised his rapier once again.
With a powerful downward swing, the "Riding the Waves" suddenly tilted to the left, while the right side spewed out several tongues of fire!
Amidst the white mist, a few whistling cannonballs flew towards the merchant ship ahead! But since it was an armed merchant ship daring enough to venture out to sea, it wouldn't be an easy target for these solid iron balls.
In fact, this attack was more of a test than a real battle.
They were testing if there were any experts on the other side who could intercept the cannonballs!
After a few rounds of firing and confirming that there were no experts on the other side, the middle-aged man raised his chin and directly ordered to speed up and prepare for boarding combat!
For the captain of a pirate ship, this was their favorite tactic. Because once they won the boarding battle, they could not only plunder as much wealth as possible but also capture the entire merchant ship. Of course, the risks of boarding combat and the loss of sailors were also quite high.
Despite the towering waves and rolling whitecaps, the "Riding the Waves" quickly sailed parallel to the cumbersome merchant ship on the right, relying on its incredible speed.
As grappling hooks flew over and latched onto the other ship's railings, the sailors on the armed merchant ship kept firing back, but the bad weather severely affected the use of their flintlock guns.
Meanwhile, the pirates on the "Riding the Waves" were already shouting excitedly, quickly setting up planks to prepare for hand-to-hand combat. But:
Whoosh—
A figure had already leaped across the distance between the two ships, landing with a thud behind the merchant ship's sailors' defensive line.
"Who is it?"
Amidst the merchant sailors' exclamations, the person who landed behind them was... yes, although the newcomer had a well-proportioned build and clearly defined muscles under the thin sailor's uniform, his handsome face revealed that:
He was indeed a young man.
Moreover, that face... in a different setting, the sailors might have mistaken him for a noble young master on an outing, but now, with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, he didn't look like a good person at all.
"Take him down!"
With an order from the merchant leader, the surrounding sailors immediately charged at the young man, swinging their sword at him without hesitation! In such a critical moment, inappropriate laughter came from the "Riding the Waves."
"Hahaha, they're doomed—"
"They actually dared to attack Roman,"
"Brilliant..."
Amidst the pirates' wanton laughter, the besieged young man softly muttered to himself:
"You struck first,"
Clang!
The metal shield in his hand... no, with a thickness of over three centimeters, it could no longer be called a "shield" but rather a "steel plate." With just a casual sweep, it forcefully deflected the three swords that were slashing towards him!
Under the immense power, the three swords shattered into pieces instantly. It was like detonating three bombs, with fragments containing immense kinetic energy shooting in all directions with a piercing whistle!
Thud, thud, thud,
The thick deck was instantly cut and slashed by the fragments, leaving long scars with a screeching sound!
Even worse were the sailors who initiated the attack. Under this shotgun-like "attack," their bodies were sliced by the high-speed spinning fragments like ragdolls, instantly spraying blood arrows as they were thrown backward!
Thud, thud, thud,
Next came the sound of bodies collapsing, followed by:
Swish—
The silver blade light swirled around the young man, and several sailors' heads flew into the air. Their bewildered eyes hadn't even registered what had happened, while the attacker had already pounced on the nearby merchant ship sailors like a leopard.
A tiger among sheep!
The battle... no, it couldn't even be called a battle anymore.
In terms of both strength and speed, the young man known as "Roman" by the pirates far surpassed ordinary people. With each swift swing of his sailor knife and the hundred-pound shield, a merchant sailor would scream... or be sent flying without even a chance to scream!
"Oh oh oh oh—"
"Hurry, hurry,"
"Don't let Roman kill them all by himself~~~"
As Roman quickly cleared a large section of the deck, the pirates on the "Riding the Waves" shouted wildly and crossed the planks. After another bald-headed man chopped down a dozen merchant sailors in one go, the merchant side's morale collapsed, and they abandoned the deck.
Thud,
"Well done, Roman."
At this moment, the middle-aged man also crossed the plank. He first nodded at Roman, who held a knife in one hand and a shield in the other, then turned to look at the fleeing merchant sailors: the cabin!
It seemed the other side hadn't given up resistance...
"Follow me."
The middle-aged man, standing straight as a spear, placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and walked towards the cabin stairs with a steady yet elegant stride. The pirates behind him also shouted wildly, raising their weapons and following him in.
Down the stairs, they were met with a resistance line organized by a dozen merchant sailors. Using the narrow passage of the cabin to their advantage, the front row knelt on the ground with guns, while the back row stood with flintlock guns, forming a multi-layered dense formation. As soon as they saw someone coming in, they pulled the triggers without hesitation.
Since the middle-aged man at the front was undoubtedly the leader of the pirates, almost all the lead bullets were aimed at him!
However, the middle-aged man 's face showed a cruel and bloodthirsty grin. Facing the incoming bullets, he drew his silver rapier in an instant, slashing and parrying with dazzling speed!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
His movements were so fast that they exceeded the human eye's ability to track, so most of the pirates saw silver streaks suddenly appear around the middle-aged man ! The lead bullets aimed at him were deflected with a series of clinks, embedding deeply into the surrounding cabin.
Slicing bullets with a sword, blocking firearms with a knife!
In this world, it was not a fantasy but a mark of being—
'One step above the rest'!
The middle-aged man 's pace didn't slow down as he strode past the temporary barricade formed by the sailors.
Behind him, the dozen or so merchant sailors wore expressions of terror and disbelief!
They stood frozen in place, and after a few seconds, blood spurted from their throats, foreheads, and chests, and they slowly collapsed.
"Captain is mighty—"
"Captain is invincible!"
"Hahaha, to think they dared to oppose our captain with a bounty of 30 million, I admire their courage!"
"And Roman with a bounty of 10 million..."
The pirates at the rear were already used to such scenes. They first looked at their captain with reverence, then swarmed forward, professionally looting the corpses. They wiped the blood off their weapons with the dead sailors' clothes and dragged the bodies onto the deck—
To feed the fish in the sea!
Roman and another bald manfollowed the middle-aged man's footsteps, and all resistance along the way crumbled like paper before the three of them.
The captain swiftly killed, the bald strongman destroyed the terrain with his immense strength, and Roman defended and blocked attacks—
Thus, the three of them advanced like a hot knife through butter until they reached an ornate door.
Bang!
The door was kicked open by the bald man, who then strode in, raising his blood-stained axe at the merchant captain wearing a tricorn hat.
"You can't kill me!"
The captain clutched a small box tightly, his face full of despair as he tried to 'intimidate' the intruders.
"I am 'JOKER's—"
Thud!
The bald man's axe silenced the merchant captain's words instantly.
"What did he say?"
Roman, the last to enter, frowned.
"He said..." The bald strongman scratched his shiny head, uncertainly, "He said he was a joker?"
...
"The bark of a defeated dog."
The middle-aged man waved his hand dismissively and casually picked up the box from the ground. Since the two people present were his trusted subordinates, even if there were treasures—
Click,
As the box opened, a purple fruit with swirling patterns appeared before the three of them.
The fruit looked like:
A Devil Fruit!
In an instant, the air in the captain's cabin became tense.