Chapter 165: Lu En: So, I'm being treated as a soft target? [11/10 seeking subscriptions]

At this moment.

A group of pirates watched Aokiji with schadenfreude.

Little did they know,

the moment their boss, the Demon Man Oren, laid eyes on Aokiji, he had already been scared pale, his inner terror magnified without limit.

Now, a group of pirates were still shouting nonstop.

"Boss Oren, tear them apart!"

"These hopelessly stupid Marines actually dare to barge into our Demon Man Pirates' turf!"

"Today, we'll make sure these Marines never return!"

"Kill them! Kill them!"

All three thousand-plus pirates on the scene wore savage, excited expressions, their eyes brimming with killing intent as they stared fixedly at Aokiji and the other Marines.

They were utterly oblivious.

Their own boss Oren had already been scared trembling, his face gone white.

Faintly,

only the few captains of the Demon Man Pirates standing beside Oren barely caught wind of their boss's abnormality.

"Boss, what did you spot?"

The Demon Man Pirates' First Division captain, the sharpshooter Homa, asked in a lowered voice.

He was a very tall, thin middle-aged man, two guns at his waist, his eyes exceedingly sharp, possessed of extraordinary powers of observation.

He was the first to notice that his boss Oren's mood had taken an abnormal turn.

"Not good!"

Oren drew in a deep breath, his tone low and suppressed.

"Not good?"

"It can't be that bad, can it?"

"It's just a mere hundred-odd Marines..."

"We've got well over three thousand men on our side — dealing with these Marines would be a cinch, wouldn't it? Killing these Marines is an absolute piece of cake for us."

Homa felt a twinge of doubt.

On their side, they clearly held an overwhelming numerical advantage!

Moreover,

their boss, the Demon Man Oren, a powerful warrior with giant blood flowing in his veins, also possessed a Zoan-type Devil Fruit — his strength was tremendous, his bounty as high as sixty million Berries!

On top of that,

there were captains whose bounties ran into the tens of millions of Berries.

With a force like this, could they really fail to defeat the mere hundred-odd Marines before them?

"Do you know."

"Who exactly that man leading these Marines is — what sort of being?"

Oren spoke in a low tone.

"The man leading them..."

Soon,

Homa caught sight of the tall, thin Aokiji, in a black coat, wearing a deep-purple bandana hat, looking harmless and meek, with an air more like that of a refined, scholarly bookworm.

"Him? Who is he?"

"Is this guy really that strong?"

"He looks all meek and mild..."

"He probably couldn't even take one of my bullets."

"With that frail-looking build, can he really fight?"

Homa asked, deeply puzzled.

Hearing this,

the corner of Oren's mouth twitched, and Homa's brazen words from moments ago rang in his ears.

"Meek?"

"You call that meek?"

"And he couldn't even take one of your bullets?"

"If you say it any louder, not even I could save you."

He forcibly held back the terror inside, exhaled heavily, his tone utterly grave: "He is — Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Aokiji. Tell me, can he fight or not?"

"A terrifying Devil Fruit user! And a user of the most powerful Logia-type Devil Fruit at that!"

"One of the absolute top combat powers of the Marines!"

"Across this entire sea, there are hardly any pirates who'd dare stand before this fellow and shout."

"Tell me..."

"Could he block one bullet from you?"

At his words,

Homa's pupils contracted, his face drastically changing.

The name Aokiji...

was thunderous to his ears.

As everyone knew.

The navy of the new era has three incredibly powerful monsters!

They are respectively…

Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan!

These three monsters, even within the navy, rank among the absolute top.

At one time, they made countless pirates of the sea tremble in fear.

Never in their wildest dreams did they expect…

Today, to hunt down their Demon Pirate Crew, the navy has directly deployed Kuzan, one of the monsters!

"What on earth did I just say?"

Recalling the words he had just spoken, Homa was suddenly gripped by icy dread.

This terrifying monster…

He actually thought the man couldn't withstand a single spear thrust?

What an absurd thing to say!

Oren's previous words were clearly heard by several captains of the Demon Pirate Crew beside him.

And so,

The reckless, arrogant grins on their faces froze stiff, and the excitement in their hearts was doused as if by a bucket of ice water.

"K…Kuzan?!"

"Admiral of the Marine Headquarters?!"

"This monster has come personally to hunt down our Demon Pirate Crew?"

If they had encountered only a group of ordinary elite marines, they would not have felt fear.

But the problem is…

At this very moment,

They have encountered an Admiral of the Marine Headquarters!

Every Marine Admiral is a supreme powerhouse so strong it leaves them hopeless.

"Have we been acting too recklessly these past days?"

"Otherwise, why would the navy send an Admiral to deal with us?"

"This is trouble now!"

"The Kuzan before us isn't just any Admiral of the Marine Headquarters—he's one of the strongest of the new era."

"No wonder Oren's expression changed in an instant."