Seeing the situation, the two personal bodyguards behind Wapol immediately stepped forward with contemptuous expressions.
"Reckless pirates."
"Leave these guys to us, Lord Wapol."
"Damn it! Chess, Kuromarimo, kill all these offending pirates!"
Wapol pointed angrily at Allen.
Receiving their orders, the two guards known as Chess and Kuromarimo turned their heads in unison, fixing their gazes on Allen, who was standing on the upper deck.
However, before the two could make a move, Gin leaped onto their ship, charging straight at them with his iron-ball tonfas in hand.
"Looks like they have a master among them. Let's go!"
Kuromarimo, the afro-sporting boxer, narrowed his eyes and lunged forward in a low stance.
Chess, dressed like a circus clown, smirked playfully as he drew his bow, aiming an arrow right at him.
Kuromarimo reached Gin first. With two clumps of black hair wrapped around his hands, he threw a rapid straight punch.
Gin's eyes darkened. He ducked and tilted his head, dodging the punch while simultaneously launching a counterattack, driving the end of his tonfa viciously into his opponent's abdomen.
*Bang!*
Accompanied by a muffled thud, Kuromarimo's eyes bulged, his pupils trembling violently as he felt like his soul was about to leave his body.
*Swish! Swish! Swish!*
Arrows tore through the air with piercing whistles. Faced with this fast and precise assault, Gin simply raised his foot and kicked Kuromarimo forward to use him as a meat shield.
*Thwack! Thwack!*
"Aargh! Chess, you bastard!"
The sharp arrowheads pierced his flesh, causing Kuromarimo to howl in agony.
Behind him, Chess's eye twitched awkwardly as he drew another arrow from his back.
Before he could even nock it on the bowstring, two dark figures came flying in from the other side.
"Tiger Kill・Trample!!"
Buchi, in his tiger-man form, descended from the sky. With a ferocious glare, he brought his leg crashing down like a battleaxe!
Chess's face paled in shock, and he hastily leaped backward.
*Boom!!*
Buchi smashed down with terrifying, immense force. The deck exploded, sending wooden splinters flying everywhere.
Cracks rapidly spread outward from beneath his feet before the floor caved in with a crash, causing a large number of soldiers to lose their footing and fall flat on their rears.
"What terrifying strength. A Zoan-type ability user?"
Chess rolled a few times before coming to a halt. He gritted his teeth and looked at Buchi, his eyes filled with extreme caution.
At that moment, another figure had silently arrived behind him.
Sham wore a vicious, sinister grin on his face. His tail swayed slowly as he raised his hand, revealing cat claws gleaming with a cold light, and slashed down ruthlessly!
*Slash—!*
"Gaaah—!"
Blood splattered. A burning, agonizing pain erupted from his back, forcing Chess to throw his head back and wail in torment.
"Ehh—?! Chess, Kuromarimo!"
Wapol was so shocked that his eyes practically popped out of his skull. His jaw dropped to the floor, and his tongue rolled out like a wave.
His two strongest subordinates had both been taken down in a single exchange!
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Long boarding planks were slammed onto the ship's railings one after another.
Under the cover of suppressing fire from the heavy machine gunners on the *Freewill*, a large swarm of pirates armed with guns and cutlasses boarded Wapol's ship.
Following that, the fear of being dominated by sheer firepower directly enveloped the hearts of all the soldiers.
"This... we're doomed..."
Wapol looked left and right. Seeing his subordinates being completely crushed all around him, only one thought remained in his mind.
*Run!*
"Hurry up and hold them off for me!"
Wapol pointed at the pirates and yelled, then turned his head and sprinted wildly, attempting to escape on a small boat.
Just as he ran around the corner of the ship's cabin, a pitch-black foot suddenly kicked out with tremendous force!
"What!"
*Bam!!*
Wapol's eyes widened in panic as he was sent flying by the heavy, powerful kick. He smashed through the railing and plummeted straight into the sea.
Sanji stepped out from the corner with one hand in his pocket and a cigarette dangling from his lips. He called out to the deck,
"Anyone who doesn't want to die, put your guns down. You've already been abandoned by your king, so don't put up a pointless resistance."
"Lord Wapol?!"
"This...!"
"We surrender! We surrender!"
Seeing this scene, the soldiers hesitated for less than a second before immediately dropping their weapons, decisively dropping to their knees and raising their hands in surrender.
Soon, the entire group of soldiers was brought under control.
Gin had some of his men gather them to one side, while the rest entered the ship to loot its treasures and supplies.
Allen and Nami also boarded the ship.
"By the way, what's going on here? Looking at their attire, they really do seem like national soldiers."
Nami couldn't help but feel confused. She looked up to confirm the flag hanging on the mast and muttered,
"A black flag... a skull... This is definitely a pirate flag, right?"
"Hey! Pirates, we are an affiliated nation of the World Government. If you don't want to cause a massive disaster, you'd better release us right now."
Chess, who was tied up securely and held to the side, shouted with a defiant look in his eyes.
Allen glanced at him, somewhat unable to understand what was wrong with the guy's brain, actually trying to use the law to intimidate pirates.
"As a captive, you need to have the self-awareness of a captive. Watch your tone when you speak."
*Bonk!*
Nami irritably raised her smoking fist.
Chess collapsed onto the deck with stars spinning around his head. Beside him, Kuromarimo's eye twitched as he offered an awkward, ingratiating smile.
"You are absolutely right. Could you please let us go? You can take all the treasure on the ship. Of course, if you're willing to leave just a little bit..."
"We're not."
Nami shot him a death glare, scaring Kuromarimo so much that he shrank his neck back and immediately shouted with a face full of solemn respect,
"Yes, ma'am! Please, by all means, take all the treasure!"
"That's more like it."
Nami clapped her hands with a satisfied expression.
Soon, box after box of treasure was carried out from inside.
Amidst everyone's pleasant surprise, they also learned from Chess and Kuromarimo about how Drum Island had recently been invaded by the Blackbeard Pirates, and how Wapol had abandoned his country, taking his army to flee out to sea and become a pirate.
Sanji took a drag of his cigarette and said calmly, "So, you guys wanted to return to Drum Island, but because you didn't have a Log Pose, you targeted us?"
"Cough, cough, yes, that's exactly it."
"We've been wandering the nearby waters for a while now, and we finally managed to come across your ship."
Chess and Kuromarimo answered respectively.
"Hmph, serves you right."
Nami shot the two a disdainful look. "To actually abandon your citizens and run away with the army... Now that you've been abandoned by your country, it just shows you're getting exactly what you deserve."
"This..."
Chess and Kuromarimo exchanged a glance and tactfully kept their mouths shut, offering no response.
In their minds, the lives of the citizens meant nothing. As long as they and the king survived, that was all that mattered. If the country was gone, they could just rebuild it.
"If I remember correctly, the Isshi-20 incident that shocked the world happened in your country, right?"
Allen stepped forward and said,
"A medical kingdom once renowned throughout the world, where a massive number of doctors were exiled or killed due to the king's selfishness and tyranny."
"In the end, only twenty doctors were kept to serve the king. If the citizens ever got sick or injured, they had to pay exorbitant prices to beg the king for medical treatment."
"A medical kingdom famous far and wide was reduced to a laughingstock overnight. The Isshi-20 incident caused quite a stir across the world at the time."
As Allen's words fell, Chess and Kuromarimo were already drenched in cold sweat. They hadn't expected anyone to still remember this incident after so long.
"Where are the Isshi-20? They should be on this ship too, right?"
Allen turned his head to look toward the interior of the ship's cabin. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he shouted,
"Find those twenty doctors for me. Move the treasure onto our ship, and be careful with the medical equipment—don't break anything."
"Yes, sir!"
Since they were all pirates anyway, following Wapol was nowhere near as promising as following him. He would gladly and unceremoniously accept the Isshi-20 and the top-tier medical facilities on board.
After giving his orders, Allen looked back at Chess and Kuromarimo. He drew his arm back, clenching his fist, and sneered,
"As for you two, say goodnight to this world."
"Wait! Wait a minute, no!"
Under their terrified gazes, Allen brought his fist smashing down with berserk force!
*Boom!!*
The ship's deck shattered and splintered. The two of them crashed through the railing and were sent rocketing outward, slamming heavily into the sea and kicking up massive splashes.
Allen lowered his stance. Sanji walked up from the side, biting his cigarette, and asked,
"What should we do with the rest of these soldiers?"
"Incorporate the ones who want to continue being pirates into our crew. Ignore the rest. Just take the doctors and the treasure, and we're good."
Allen said casually, a look of satisfaction inevitably growing on his face.
His luck today was truly excellent. He had just acquired two decent Devil Fruits, and now the heavens were practically chasing after him to gift him money and ship doctors.
He made back the money he had spent, essentially scoring two massive hauls for absolutely free.
How delightful.
...
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