'Why there's so many pirates?'
Cyrus's Observation Haki had already enveloped these emerging black dots.
They were large pirate ships, each carrying anywhere from dozens to one or two hundred pirates.
"The Grand Line is truly something else. I never encountered a Pirate Crew of this scale back in the Four Seas."
Cyrus remarked with some emotion.
Back in Alabasta, there were pirate ships docked at the port, but they couldn't have gathered so many pirates.
Besides, a large-scale Pirate Crew wouldn't possibly dock at Alabasta.
The Navy probably wouldn't even bother with one or two small pirate ships.
But if it was a Pirate Crew of this magnitude, the Navy would absolutely not ignore it.
Although the pirate fleet before them had many ships, it looked as if something was chasing them from behind.
As this thought arose, the range of Cyrus's Observation Haki expanded again.
The characteristics of Observation Haki varied from person to person.
Even just after awakening, it would show slightly different traits.
Perhaps because he had been keeping his Observation Haki active, the range Cyrus could cover was still expanding.
Now, as he released it, an area of several dozen kilometers around him was enveloped by his Observation Haki.
Then, Cyrus understood why this pirate fleet with its numerous ships was acting so panicked.
Because they were being followed by more than a dozen warships of a much larger size than their ship.
A slower pirate ship was hit by a Naval Cannon from a warship and immediately caught fire and exploded.
Was the Navy rounding up pirates?
"What should we do? Should we go around them? There's still room to go around."
Robin peeked out from behind Cyrus, looked at the pirate ships that had become distinct on the distant sea, and subconsciously spoke.
Then, Cyrus, Hawkeye, and Issho all turned their heads to look at Robin.
Robin was taken aback, then felt a little awkward.
That was a subconscious thought, she had forgotten about the three monsters currently on the boat.
"Continue forward. Those ships are not enough to make me change course!"
Cyrus took a step forward, pointed ahead, and declared.
Hearing this, Robin crossed her arms.
A dozen arms sprouted on the boat, then grabbed oars and began to row.
...
"Damn it, are these Navy soldiers crazy? We just robbed one island!"
On the largest pirate ship, a four-meter-tall brute had a face full of fury.
"Captain, many of our ships have already been sunk."
Next to the brute, a man who looked like the first mate had a panicked expression.
It wasn't that they hadn't encountered the Navy before, but one or two warships wouldn't dare to fight them head-on with their numbers.
But this time, more than a dozen showed up.
Now they finally understood the power of Navy warships.
Their own cannons couldn't even reach the warships, while the cannon fire from the other side could hit them.
In just one exchange, a single volley from the warships had cost them a quarter of their ships and men.
As for getting close for a boarding battle?
They couldn't get close at all.
The cannon fire alone suppressed them so much they couldn't even lift their heads.
And now, the Navy, which had been chasing them for several days, showed no signs of letting up.
Less than half of their ships remained.
If they kept running like this, in a few more days, they would all be sunk.
"Damn it, tell the other ships to speed up, as fast as they can go!"
"It's no use, Captain. We've already sped up several times, but we can't shake these warships."
"Damn it, just do as I say!"
The brute Captain turned and roared as a foul fishy gust of wind spraying the first mate in the face.
"Yes!"
Seeing the furious captain, the first mate dared not say another word and hurried off to send messages to the other ships.
In reality, it wasn't necessary.
Because the other ships already wished their vessels could sprout wings!
They were already accelerating at their limit.
...
On a warship behind the fleeing pirate ships.
"Vice Admiral Momonga, should we increase speed?"
A Rear Admiral asked after saluting the middle-aged man with a mohawk.
"No need. They can't escape and this distance is perfect. We can destroy them with cannon fire. There's no need to get close for a boarding battle."
Momonga, his hand on his sword, shook his head.
This group of pirates was already trapped.
'To actually attack a member nation of the World Government, they really had some nerve.' Momonga thought to himself as he looked at the pirate ships ahead.
As a G-Branch base commander, he normally wouldn't need to personally hunt down pirates.
However, the member nation was attacked and went directly to the World Government.
The World Government then gave orders to Sengoku, and the mission ultimately fell to him.
Other pirates, even if they entered the territory of a member nation, would at most cause a little trouble.
The kings of those member nations didn't care at all.
But this time, this Pirate Crew had actually destroyed an important trading port of a member nation.
A reduction in income... that was something they couldn't tolerate.
Momonga now understood the reason for this pursuit.
"Maintain this distance and continue the pursuit. Have the warships on the flanks spread out. If any pirate ships try to take the opportunity to escape from the sides, destroy them immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
Hearing Vice Admiral Momonga's order, the Rear Admiral at his side nodded and immediately went to relay the command.
...
"Ram them!"
The pirate ship at the very front had already spotted the small boat on the sea ahead.
A boat like that.... he wouldn't have even bothered robbing it.
Now, he would do as he always did: ram it directly!
...
On the small boat.
Cyrus watched the large ship charging straight towards them.
"They're coming to ram us. Who's up?" Cyrus turned his head.
Hawkeye took a step forward without a word, directly gripping the hilt of Yoru on his back, and then brought it down in a single slash.
Swish!
The slash flew out and the large, charging pirate ship was split in two.
The small boat passed through the middle of the split pirate ship.
The pirates still on board who hadn't fallen into the water looked at the wooden boat passing through, their faces filled with terror.
"My turn!" Issho spoke, drawing his sword in a flash.
A wave of gravity emanated from him, rushing towards the sky.
Then, a fiery light appeared in the sky, and a meteor descended.
"Don't hit us!" Cyrus said after looking up at the meteor Issho had conjured.
"Rest assured, we are not the target." Issho said after sheathing his sword.
"Alright then. Robin, watch out for the waves in a bit."
After speaking, Cyrus leaped up.
As he jumped, 'Flame' was already unsheathed.
Fire erupted from his body and then coiled around Flame's blade.
Swish! Swish!
A dozen enormous Flame Slashes flew out as Cyrus swung his sword, their targets being the pirate ships on the sea below.
Unlike Hawkeye's clean bisection, Cyrus's slashes carried the power of flame.
Upon hitting the pirate ships below, they immediately caused massive explosions.
Amidst the fiery light, pirate ships were blown to pieces.
A sea of fire appeared on the ocean's surface.
The sudden turn of events caused a brief moment of chaos on the pirate ships that had not yet been attacked, as well as on the pursuing warships behind them.
'What just happened?'