In a ruined town, Hawkins sat on a corpse, speaking into the microphone: "Yes, I understand, will resolve it soon."
As the radio snail disconnected, Hawkins handed the microphone to his subordinate and surveyed the surroundings.
The town was covered with traces of battle, and there were many corpses, some of soldiers, some of armed civilians, and some of their Pirates...
This town wasn't far from the harbor, with a vantage point to see the beach landing site, which was also shrouded in smoke.
Their Pirate Ship had been sunk.
"Pirates without a ship are ultimately just trapped on an island, clever guys."
Hawkins pulled out his Tarot Cards, shuffled them, and drew a few. After glancing at them, he said indifferently, "That person named Sivier can mobilize everything on this island to fight us, whether it's people or resources, we can get nothing from here."
"If we forcibly plunder civilians, then we'll lose our foundation here; she wants to incite total war. But if supplies keep coming from the base camp, the consumption is enormous, especially in this prolonged battle, they can mobilize quite a lot. The most troublesome thing is the sudden Haki those people are displaying..."
A look of contemplation appeared in Hawkins' eyes.
The advancement of the frontline wasn't just not good; it was completely stuck. They couldn't occupy an island as planned for use as a frontline base.
Destroying the Hyrule Kingdom was easy; killing the King was easy. In theory, they could destroy this country because given their reputation, ordinary people are neutral towards them.
But a woman named Sivier emerged on the battlefield, someone with no lineage and no ties to this country, yet under the banner of defending the nation, she forcefully rallied soldiers and some ordinary people.
If it were just these factors, it would be manageable for them, since they knew the Hyrule Kingdom is stronger than weaker countries, with 20,000 regular troops. This time they deployed 30,000 soldiers led by Moriah, with him and Urouge as the two Seven Stars collaborating, and several billion-dollar bounty hunters leading.
Moriah himself was also a strategic powerhouse; when they first entered, it was with unstoppable force, relying on strong abilities and sound command to quickly resolve the defenses here.
Then a batch of defeated troops from other Magnetic Field Islands emerged, along with seemingly awakened armed civilians.
The most shocking thing is that these guys suddenly all had Haki!
In the New World, it's true that Haki users are as common as cattle, but it depends on who. Long-term frontline battling Navy or Pirates undergo trials of climate and deadly battles; they are inherently elite.
As the Navy, in Paradise, at least they are of officer rank; as Pirates, starting in Paradise requires a starting bounty of millions.
Everyone mixes in the same industry, thinking Haki is as common as cattle, and capable individuals are just like crossing a river.
Placed in the larger pool of ordinary people, it's not the same story. Even within the kingdom's soldiers who haven't sailed the seas, without going through the risks and magnificence of the ocean, how can their will be tempered? And civilians even more so.
Even the Governor's homeland, West Sea O'hara, the famous Scholars' Island, ordinary people still see Ability Users as monsters.
But the real issue now is that these suddenly emerged individuals, even more numerous than the kingdom's military, all have Haki.
As long as one possesses Haki, to a certain extent they are equivalent, all that's left is the size of the force. But when the numbers are large, even the smallest force is a force; a blade can still kill.
So the battle instantly came to a standstill.
If that were all, it wouldn't be too bad. Their goal wasn't destruction; carrying out a decapitation strike to dismantle the opponent's resistance capability was doable, but the opponent's command capability is also not low. Not only is Urouge held at the frontline, but Moriah was lured to chase difficult strong opponents, while Hawkins continues pursuit.
And then fell into the opponent's trap here.
The opponent sent many people, including difficult powerhouses, and each belonged to the elite unafraid of death, as if they were sent to die. Although the battle was advantageously held by Hawkins, midway, he felt something was off.
But at that moment, he couldn't pull back; when someone comes to fight, you can't just ignore it.
They won the battle; the opponent's force was annhilated. But just after, he received news that their ship at the harbor had been decimated.
Clearly, it was all a trap.
Hawkins continued to shuffle and draw cards, saying, "Let's divine, coincidence probability... 5%, so it's planned, just as I thought, luring the main force, then attacking our ships and supplies."
...
In a tent in a military camp, several Knights stood straight, looking with admiration at a young girl holding a flag on stage.
"Our plan succeeded!"
The young girl said loudly, "Fight like this. It's an undeniable fact that they're stronger than us, but it's also a fact we're fighting on home turf. Relying on guerilla warfare on our homeland to drag the Pirates here! They are Pirates; they don't have so much patience! If we just make them take losses, they'll retreat themselves!"
...
"This tactic will likely take a long time; given they are more familiar with this island than us, the harassment we'll face next will be plenty. Make preparations; at night, guards are needed, do not be complacent, especially pay attention to ordinary people."