"Surround the base completely! Don't let that straw-hat brat or this one who dared insult me with a pebble get away!"
Morgan slowly walked toward Tom, loudly directing his men.
Tom wasn't doing too well. In fact, he was having a rather tough time.
First, the wound on his back ached dully, preventing him from fighting at his normal level.
Second, the Marines ganging up on him were armed with either swords or guns, while he was empty-handed, fighting bare-fisted.
Third, the Marines had numbers. As the saying goes, two fists are no match for four hands. Tom was already in poor condition, making the fight even harder.
If it were just about ten ordinary Marines, Tom could grit his teeth and take them down.
But now Tom was facing at least thirty Marines. What was most annoying was that Marines with guns were firing at him from a distance. He was too busy dodging to focus on fighting them.
Damn it! Bullying me when I'm unarmed!
Tom rapidly dodged left and right to avoid bullets, inwardly lamenting his situation. When he set sail with Luffy, he had actually considered what weapon to use against enemies in the future.
But before he could decide, he found himself in this tough spot of fighting bare-handed.
Hmm... If this keeps up, even if I don't get killed by these Marines, running non-stop like this will eventually exhaust me to death.
Tom spun quickly, knocking out a Marine who had caught up, then did a sideways roll to the left, maintaining rapid movement.
He did this to prevent the distant gunmen from getting a clear shot.
Unlike Luffy, Tom wasn't immune to bullets. A few hits, and he might really be finished.
Tom's mind raced, thinking about how to escape this predicament.
Looking at the situation, my only option is to circle around to those Marines with guns and take them out first.
Soon, Tom made up his mind: deal with the Marines shooting from behind first.
And so, Tom began sprinting across the hundred-meter-wide Marine base square, circling in a wide arc, gradually approaching the gunmen in the rear.
Earlier, following Tom's urging, Nami had already gotten far away. Hiding in the shadows, she watched Tom fighting desperately, repeatedly finding himself in dangerous situations, nearly getting cut or shot. It made her heart pound with fear.
Nami bit her lip, brows furrowed. She wanted to rush out and help Tom several times, but ultimately she didn't. She remembered the people back in her hometown waiting for her. She couldn't just openly rush out to help him.
Idiot! Who openly provokes and picks fights with the Marines like this?!
Nami cursed inwardly, was extremely anxious inside. She vaguely noticed the blood on Tom's back seemed to be flowing more heavily.
Perhaps because Tom kept running non-stop, his blood circulation increased. With his back wound unhealed, the bleeding wouldn't stop.
By now, Tom had successfully charged into the rear ranks of Marines who had formed up and were firing at him, throwing their formation into disarray.
Once Tom got close, the dozen or so Marines with guns lost most of their threat. Soon, they were all knocked down by Tom, temporarily unable to get up.
"Hurry up and cut these ropes! I'll help you!"
Zoro, still tied to the post, shouted to Tom from not far away.
Damn it, I'd love to save you, but these Marines have to give me a chance first!
Even though Tom had dealt with the Marines with guns, he was still being swarmed and couldn't break free to cut Zoro's ropes.
Koby, with a gunshot wound to his right shoulder, had only one hand he could barely apply force with. He tried multiple times to untie Zoro but couldn't manage it.
Got it!
Seeing a Marine raising a sword and charging at him, Tom had a flash of inspiration. He punched the Marine in the stomach and seized his sword.
Then Tom threw the sword toward Zoro.
That should cut the ropes binding Zoro.
Just as Tom thought this, he heard Zoro yelling at him: "You bastard! What the hell are you doing?!"
What?!
Tom barely dodged attacks from three Marines and hurriedly looked back. The sword he threw hadn't cut Zoro's ropes. Instead, it had injured Zoro. The blood flowing from Zoro's left arm was a bright, eye-catching red.
"Sorry!"
After knocking down several Marines attacking him, Tom honestly apologized to Zoro.
"Sorry doesn't mean a damn thing!"
Zoro's situation was pretty tragic. Starved for three weeks tied to a post, and now, before even fighting an enemy, he got injured by an ally. That he didn't immediately want to cut Tom down showed remarkable patience.
Tom also felt pretty awkward. He was quite accurate throwing stones, but his sword-throwing accuracy was much worse. He never expected that on the very first day he met Zoro, he'd screw him over and even draw blood. It made him feel rather embarrassed.
Feeling guilty toward Zoro, Tom didn't dare look his way for the moment, and could only focus his attention on the Marines persistently hounding him.
CLANG!
Tom grinned, holding the two newly acquired Marine swords in his hands. He slammed them together, producing a crisp metallic clang.
"He knows how to use swords?"
Zoro, seeing Tom holding a sword in each hand, asked Koby beside him, somewhat surprised.
"I don't know," Koby answered honestly. He had completely given up on untying Zoro. The gunshot wound had left him weak. Staying upright was an effort; applying force was out of the question.
Captain Morgan, watching from dozens of meters away, had also realized Koby couldn't untie Zoro, which is why he ignored him for now. In his eyes, Koby was just an insignificant minor character.
But seeing more and more of his men being taken down by Tom now that he had weapons, Morgan's expression grew even darker.
"What are you doing?! Have you forgotten my orders?! I want that wretched boy captured and brought before me! Then I'll use this great axe to chop him to pieces!"
Morgan raised the giant axe embedded in his right arm and berated the Marines.
"Captain, he's too strong. He's hard to deal with," a Marine said, trembling as he saluted and approached Morgan. He had been beaten hard by Tom earlier and felt his whole body ached. That he could still stand and speak was his limit.
"My subordinates don't need someone who only marvels at the enemy's strength but doesn't know how to fight desperately! Under my supreme authority, everyone is weak and powerless!"
After saying this, Morgan swung his axe and chopped the saluting Marine dead.
The Marines attacking Tom turned ashen seeing Morgan's action but dared not speak their anger. They could only continue their assault on Tom.
"If you think you're so great, then step forward and fight me! Hiding in the back and shouting, no matter how elaborate your talk, just makes you a coward!"
After dodging attacks from several Marines, Tom pointed his sword at Morgan and said slowly.
In truth, Tom could clearly feel dizziness setting in. He knew he probably couldn't last much longer and wanted to end the fight quickly. If he could defeat Morgan, things would be easier to resolve.
That's why Tom actively challenged Morgan.
"You, a completely unknown brat with no status, dare challenge me? Who do you think I am? I am the excellent Marine Captain, 'Axe-Hand' Morgan!"
Morgan stared at Tom and slowly walked toward him. "All of you, step back! I'll make this boy understand that in this world, under my power, no one can defy me!"
Fool. I was waiting for you to fight me one-on-one!
Tom was pleased inwardly. If he hadn't provoked Morgan but charged directly at him instead, he might have faced attacks from both Morgan and the Marines. In his current state, he'd get beaten to a pulp in minutes.
The Marines who had been attacking Tom retreated under Morgan's orders, clearing an open space for their duel.
Damn it. They're really cautious, guarding Zoro so closely.
Keeping a covert eye on Zoro's situation, Tom felt exasperated.
Tom's back was already horrifyingly stained with blood. He couldn't be bothered with talk. He shook his head to clear his slightly dizzy mind and took the initiative to attack Morgan first.
Tom held a Marine sword in each hand and launched a flurry of wild slashes at Morgan, but not a single one hit its mark.
After watching for a moment, Zoro couldn't help but shout at Tom, "You call that using a sword?"
For goodness' sake, I don't know how to use a sword, but it's better than fighting Morgan, who has a giant axe, with nothing!
Hearing Zoro, Tom was about to retort when he saw the giant axe on Morgan's right arm swinging down toward his face. He hurriedly raised his swords to block.
CLANG!
The two swords in Tom's hands were cut in half on the spot.
As a swordsman, Zoro couldn't bear to watch. He decisively骂 Tom: "Having your swords broken by the enemy head-on? You're a disgrace to swordsmen!"
Disgrace your sister! I never said I was a swordsman. Why are you so worked up?!
Tom casually threw away the two broken swords, leaped up to avoid Morgan's axe strike, then stepped onto the axehead on Morgan's right arm and kicked Morgan's jaw.
Holy crap! That hurts like hell!
Tom, who had kicked Morgan's jaw hard, felt as if his right shin had struck something extremely hard. Morgan's jaw was made of steel.
"Die!"
Morgan raised the giant axe on his right arm again, aiming to chop at Tom who hadn't yet landed back on the ground.
"You're the one who's going down first!"
Tom performed a mid-air flip, gritting his teeth against his body's discomfort. Before Morgan's axe could hit him, he delivered a powerful kick to the bridge of Morgan's nose.
Morgan, taking a heavy kick to the nose, immediately stumbled backward uncontrollably. As his head tilted back, a crimson arc of blood flew from his nose, becoming extremely conspicuous under the sunlight.
Why hasn't Luffy shown up yet?
Has the butterfly effect of me joining the Straw Hat crew finally appeared?
Tom panted slightly. After continuous hard fighting, he was indeed fatigued. Watching Captain Morgan, whose nose kept bleeding, the intense pain from his back made his consciousness gradually blur...
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T/N :
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