"You're asking for it!" Doberman roared, lunging at Joz with Gion right beside him.
"Out of your league," Joz scoffed. His body shimmered as diamond fragments emerged, deflecting their attacks with ease. As Doberman and Gion attempted to retreat, countless threads shot out from all directions, swiftly binding them together like dumplings.
Joz shook his head. "Against me, Shiny White Spider Joz, Marine vice admirals are nothing."
Having quickly overpowered them, Joz took control of one of the warships.
The two captured Marines shouted, "You filthy pirate! Let us go, and face us fairly if you have any honor!"
Joz tossed them onto the deck of the warship. "For Captain Chiba's sake, I'll spare your lives this time. But push me, and I'll end both of you here."
With that threat, Doberman and Gion fell silent, glowering at him. Joz, satisfied, took their transponder snail and contacted Sengoku.
On the other end, Sengoku's voice came through. "Doberman, report your status."
Joz chuckled. "Marshal Sengoku, I'm not Doberman."
Sengoku's heart skipped a beat. "Who is this? Where is Doberman?"
"Doberman? Oh, he's wrapped up nice and tight here. As for me, I'm Joz, captain of the Chiba Pirates and the Shiny White Spider. I'm just calling to thank you for handling this treasure transport for me. You Marines make excellent deliverymen. I'm very satisfied."
"You filthy pirate!" Sengoku bellowed. "Get Chiba on the line!"
Joz laughed. "Our captain's busy. I just wanted to say thanks. Take care, Marshal Sengoku."
With that, Joz ended the call and tossed the transponder snail back to Doberman, laughing as he sailed off with six warships loaded with loot.
---
Ten days later.
Three new Marine warships made their way to Mariejois to deliver the heavenly tribute.
Smoker turned to Bastille. "Pirates are getting bolder by the day. Ghost Spider and Onigumo got hit twice. And Doberman's unit was ambushed and captured. I heard Joz even taunted Sengoku, calling Marines his delivery service. The marshal was furious. We can't let this shipment fall into pirate hands."
Bastille replied, "Joz must have moved on by now. He's probably hiding out after taunting the marshal like that."
"You're probably right," Smoker agreed, "but we should still stay cautious."
"We're on an all-sea route," Bastille noted, "far from any islands. There shouldn't be any trouble here."
Just as he said this, a black shape appeared on the horizon. The two immediately grabbed binoculars and focused on the distant spot.
Through the lenses, they saw six warships.
"A Marine warship?" Smoker muttered. "No one mentioned any patrols in this area."
Bastille narrowed his eyes. "Doberman and the others were ambushed by Joz last time. Could it be him again?"
He called over a subordinate and ordered a connection to the approaching ships. After a moment, the transponder snail connected. "This is Bastille. Identify yourselves. What's your mission?"
The voice on the other end replied, "We're from the C1 branch. Pirates are active in this area, so we were ordered to patrol and keep them at bay to ensure the safe delivery of the tribute to Mariejois."
Before Bastille could ask further, the other line disconnected.
On the other end, one of the disguised "Marines" turned to Joz. "Captain Joz, I followed your orders. Can we go now?"
Joz grinned. "Don't worry, Shiny White Spider Joz keeps his promises. But for now, take your men and stand on the deck. And don't try any tricks—otherwise, I'll kill every last one of you."
Swallowing hard, the Marine gestured to his companions. "Let's go, everyone. There's no point risking our lives for the Celestial Dragons' gold. This treasure isn't ours."
The Marines reluctantly moved to the deck, guarded closely by Joz's pirates, who killed anyone who dared to protest.
Meanwhile, Smoker and Bastille watched the approaching ships through their binoculars.
"If these are pirates in disguise, they'd look different," Smoker observed. "Doberman's unit realized the truth because their 'Marines' looked too vicious."
As the ships neared, the Marines on deck looked calm and orderly, without any of the telltale aggression. Smoker felt a sense of relief, though something still nagged at him.
"Bastille, do you have a bad feeling about this?" Smoker asked quietly.
Bastille nodded. "I do. Something doesn't feel right."
The two shared a glance, their intuition sharpened by Observation Haki, sensing a growing danger.
They looked again at the Marines on deck, noticing an odd tension. Each Marine seemed unnaturally rigid, as if nervous. And they were standing in a precise formation, each with another Marine behind them, a strange sight for any Marine vessel.
"That's not right!" Bastille shouted. "Turn around, now!"
The three Marine warships began turning, but Joz furrowed his brow from the distance. "Strange. I planned this perfectly. Why are they retreating already?"
"No matter. Full speed ahead, men! Catch up to them!"
With a roar, Joz activated his String-String Fruit powers, casting threads across a hundred meters, entangling the three Marine warships and pulling them closer.
"Cut those threads!" Smoker yelled, grabbing a nearby Marine's sword. But as he swung down, he found the strings nearly impossible to cut.
[•———•——•———•]
𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧
✨ • 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: 𝙂𝙚𝙩 𝟲𝟬+ 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.