Chapter 266: Marines? Pirates?

"Where am I?"

T-Bone subconsciously shook his head.

He only felt his mind in chaos, while the roar of artillery fire constantly reached his ears, causing even the hospital bed beneath him to tremble slightly.

"Hiss—!"

T-Bone groaned muffledly, forcibly propping himself up to scan his surroundings, barely making sense of his situation.

The ferocious wounds on his body had already been simply bandaged.

More than half a month ago.

Upon hearing that Water 7 was under siege by pirates, he disregarded his superiors' objections and immediately mobilized his troops to rush to their aid.

Unfortunately, he had ultimately overestimated his own strength and underestimated the madness the pirates had born from the Pluton.

An entire ship of marines, excluding T-Bone himself, had perished.

Had the enemy not intended to use his skin as a Marine Colonel to make these pirates consider exchanging him for a ransom from the Marine branch base, he likely would not have survived.

"Am I saved? But those young marines..."

In T-Bone's mind flashed the figures of those who had fallen before him, causing a stabbing pain in his heart.

Yet he knew even better that he had no time for grief.

"That's right!"

"Water 7 is still under siege by pirates; the civilians there are still waiting for justice to descend."

"This is also the last wish of those heroic marines."

T-Bone struggled to his feet.

The wounds on his body, which had only recently been stitched, immediately split open, blood soaking through the gauze in a scarlet spread.

Yet physical pain could not hinder T-Bone's will in the slightest.

Whoosh—!

He yanked open the ward curtain, only to find a swarm of flying sparks rushing toward him at the end of his vision.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Cannonballs heavily struck the surrounding buildings, erupting in crimson flames that linked together, burning into a sea of fire.

Explosions continued incessantly, and heat waves washed over him.

In merely an instant, T-Bone realized where he now stood.

"Water 7!"

"Has the pirate attack not ended yet?!"

Suddenly, a somewhat indifferent voice sounded beside T-Bone's ear.

"If I were you, I wouldn't get up at this time; your injuries are too severe, and dragging around a body like this makes fighting impossible."

T-Bone turned his head.

There stood a man at the doorway, over two meters and seventy centimeters tall, with a burly build yet a face resembling a malicious ghost, looking at him indifferently.

This man was Ah Jin, who had returned to camp to assist Chopper in transferring the wounded underground.

Besides this, Ah Jin's other task was to keep watch over T-Bone.

Regarding T-Bone's existence, Gao Wen had long learned from Ah Jin's mouth.

For this marine whose face was ugly but heart kind, Gao Wen felt more appreciation than vigilance; after all, in this era where marines and pirates competed in rottenness, people like T-Bone were rare.

That will to willingly march toward death for the sake of justice was admirable.

Thus, Gao Wen's only order was for T-Bone to stay obediently in the ward to recover until the Water 7 incident concluded.

As for where he wished to go afterward, he would be free to make his own choice.

"Did you save me?!"

T-Bone looked at Ah Jin before him, his gaze falling on the insignia on the other's shoulder symbolizing his rank.

Headquarters Commodore.

Half a rank higher than T-Bone.

T-Bone straightened his body, raised his hand to the side of his head, and rigidly saluted Ah Jin:

"Marine Headquarters Colonel T-Peng En reporting!"

"Ah~"

Ah Jin paused slightly; seeing T-Bone so formal, he felt somewhat unaccustomed for a moment and waved his hand, saying:

"No need for such formalities."

"Yes, sir!"

T-Bone responded, then immediately asked the question most concerning him:

"What is the current battle situation in Water 7?!"

At this moment, T-Bone had already concluded that the man before him must be an officer dispatched by Marine Headquarters to support Water 7.

After all, with matters escalating to this extent and countless civilians trapped in Water 7 awaiting the descent of justice, the Marines had no reason whatsoever to stand by.

Justice absolutely does not mean ignoring the deaths of so many civilians!

He had always believed in the Marines, and he had always believed in the justice of the Marines.

It was precisely for this reason that after becoming disappointed with the kingdom's nobles and resigning his post as Knight Commander, he had chosen to join the Marines.

"I can help—"

Before T-Bone could finish speaking, a shell landed squarely in the camp.

A heatwave surged upward, and the windows shattered instantly.

Even without Ah Jin saying it, T-Bone could feel that the battle situation at this moment must be incredibly fierce.

"This is not the time for you to ask."

Ah Jin shook his head, his gaze falling on T-Bone's bleeding wound, his tone growing several degrees stricter.

Mimicking the naval officers from his memories, he commanded:

"Your primary mission right now is to heal your own wounds!"

"That is an order!"

"Sir, I cannot stand by and watch civilians suffer!"

T-Bone shook his head, his eyes firm and unyielding as he locked gazes with Ah Jin.

In his heart, civilians who believed in justice ranked first, his own marines ranked second, and he himself ranked last.

Like Gao Wen, he was of knightly origin, yet he was far more orthodox than Gao Wen.

At the very least, he would not break the precepts he believed in like a certain someone, even if the cost was his own life.

"You..."

Ah Jin opened his mouth, looking at the wounds on T-Bone's body that were gradually splitting open, his eyes filled with profound emotion.

He had never seen a marine like this.

Never.

The marines in his impression were mostly like rats.

Apart from their uniforms and privileges, they were scum no different from pirates, or rather, from the nobles of the kingdom.

"Since that's the case... then follow me for now, help evacuate the wounded in the camp, do you have any problems?!"

"Yes, Sir!"

T-Bone replied loudly.

He took a deep breath, adjusted the bandages on his body, and after barely stopping the bleeding, he walked out of the room alongside Ah Jin.

It was also at this moment.

T-Bone finally realized just how fierce the battle situation in Water Seven had become.

He had come here before for missions such as repairing ships and had witnessed the prosperity of this sea city, but now all of that was gone.

All that met the eye were collapsed buildings and a sea of burning fire; how many people would such a disaster cause to die?!

That was an answer T-Bone dared not think of, nor did he wish to.

His complexion only grew paler, unsure whether it was due to his wounds, the poison of Water Seven at this moment, or both.

In any case.

After merely a moment's hesitation, T-Bone forced his weak body to support itself and, together with the crowd dressed as marines, began evacuating the wounded one by one.

Watching these marines rescuing the wounded amidst the flames, T-Bone felt nothing but admiration in his heart.

He even saw with his own eyes a marine use his own body to block flying stones in order to help the wounded evacuate.

Although he did not suffer a fatal injury, merely breaking a few ribs.

But the will displayed by these marines made T-Bone feel an indescribable sense of admiration.

If bearing justice required qualifications, then the marines risking their lives to appear here at this moment certainly possessed them.

"They are all good men, possessing a will worthy of respect."

"Even the most excellent marines I have ever seen were only at this level."

T-Bone could not help but let out a praise.

The members of the Gao Wen Pirate Crew, all dressed as marines, wore strange expressions; they looked at each other and shared a knowing smile.

"Hahahaha~"

Even Ah Jin, who stood before T-Bone kicking away shells one by one, could not help but reveal a faint smile:

"Indeed, they are all good soldiers, raised personally by Vice Admiral... I mean, by Vice Admiral Lancelot."

"Is that so?!"

A trace of longing inevitably appeared in T-Bone's eyes.

This was especially true when he thought of his close friend Akainu, with whom he had recently had a huge argument and parted on bad terms.

"That guy Akainu should see what a true marine ought to be like."

"His overly extreme and radical methods are absolutely wrong!"

Having said this, T-Bone was about to step forward and join the team transferring the wounded.

But he had only taken one step when he felt a wave of dizziness in his brain.

Fortunately, Ah Jin reached out in time to support T-Bone, while Chopper quickly rushed over from the side.

After carefully examining T-Bone's body, Chopper let out a long breath.

T-Bone's injuries were recovering better than expected; it was just that due to not eating for too long, his body was somewhat depleted of strength.

Ah Jin and the others also set their minds at ease.

A few minutes later.

T-Bone awakened; after simply eating a few pieces of bread and fish meat, he recovered.

He did not have the slightest intention of resting; turning around, he joined the team transferring the wounded, though his gaze occasionally fell upon Ah Jin's face nearby.

"Do I have flowers on my face?!"

"No, I just feel like I've seen this face somewhere; perhaps we met previously at a meeting at Headquarters."

"Is that so..."

Ah Jin nodded, then immediately stopped paying attention to T-Bone.

T-Bone's will had already earned his approval; besides, although T-Bone had barely regained his mobility at this moment, fighting was something he shouldn't even dream of.

"Hurry up and get to work."

"For now, we save whoever we can."

"Yes!"

……

In the blink of an eye, the sun set behind Luoshan.

A bright moon rose.

With Gao Wen and Xiang Keluo stepping in, the pirates' offensive was temporarily contained, but the original camp had already been destroyed by artillery fire.

Ah Jin could only lead the refugees toward the underground levels of the Mayor's Building, located in the heart of Water Seven.

The space there was sufficient; even accommodating the tens of thousands of survivors from Water Seven posed no problem.

Along the way.

T-Bone frequently observed the surrounding Marines and Ah Jin beside him.

The longer time passed, the heavier that sense of dissonance became.

"These Marines' conduct and certain habits don't seem like those of trained Marines; they look more like... is it an illusion?!"

T-Bone shook his head, casting aside the unrealistic thoughts swirling in his mind.

How could any pirate be willing to intervene in Water Seven's affairs at a time like this?

He acknowledged that pirates were not necessarily all evildoers.

He had even witnessed commoners, unable to bear exploitation by the kingdom's nobles, take to the sea and become pirates.

But even those people would absolutely not step forward at this moment for the sake of Water Seven's commoners.

Only the Marines could; it would only be the Marines.

Yet when his gaze fell once again upon Ah Jin's face.

That sliver of doubt in his heart inevitably surfaced once more.

He had seen this face before.

T-Bone was a fan of the East Blue Martial Arts Tournament, yearning for that kind of fair duel.

If not for his duties as a Marine, he would even be willing to try issuing a challenge to the Martial Arts Tournament.

Valuing martial prowess was likewise one of the virtues upheld by knights.

This Marine Commodore, who called himself Ah Yin, looked almost exactly like the champion of the first East Blue Martial Arts Tournament, the pirate known as Demon-Man Ah Jin.

And that man had later been confirmed as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a subordinate of the knight Gao Wen.

He shouldn't be appearing here at this time; even if he did appear, it couldn't possibly be for the sake of Water Seven's commoners.

"Ah Jin... Ah Yin; although their faces are similar, their builds are worlds apart; perhaps they share a blood relation."

"An older brother being a Marine while the younger brother is a pirate; such cases are not unheard of within the Marines."

Thinking this.

T-Bone's heart gradually settled down.

It was also at this moment.

Ah Jin handed a bottle of water and some bread to T-Bone; he glanced at them, then immediately passed them to a pirate dressed in a Marine uniform, his face written with exhaustion.

"You need these more than I do."

"Uh..."

This man was originally a sailor on Gao Wen's ship; looking at the bread in his hand and the man before him whose appearance was ugly yet whose will shone as brilliantly as gold, he subconsciously nodded:

"Thank you, Sir... Sir!"

Watching this scene, Ah Jin said nothing more.

He simply suddenly felt that perhaps the Marines weren't as bad as he had imagined.

……

……

……

The harbor.

The pirate ships gathered around were entirely incinerated by a single breath from Gao Wen, compressed into a laser state.

Fierce fires raged Xiong Xiong upon the sea, flames devouring the wreckage of the pirate ships, while from time to time came screams that made one's scalp go numb.

Those were pirates who hadn't managed to jump ship in time and were about to be burned alive.

The guards in the harbor watched this scene, yet felt not a shred of sympathy in their hearts, only an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

"That's... here again! More pirates have broken through the encirclement and are attempting to land!"

Someone let out a startled cry, and the guards present instantly assumed battle stances.

"Wait!"

Gao Wen raised his hand, stopping everyone who was about to act.

His gaze fell upon the distant sea, where he felt an extremely powerful aura rapidly approaching.

"Someone formidable is coming!"

"Fall back!"

The next instant.

Upon the distant sea, a chill spread.

Crack, crack, crack, crack—!

The sea surface froze over in an instant; pirates who failed to escape were frozen solid into ice statues, while the burning wreckage of pirate ships upon the waters extinguished completely in that very moment.

This chill did not lose momentum, surging directly onto the port's land and spreading all the way to Gao Wen's feet before finally halting with difficulty.

"In my memory, only one man is capable of freezing the entire ocean in an instant like this..."

With a Solemn Face, Gao Wen fixed his gaze upon the distant sea, where he saw a familiar figure riding a bicycle, slowly approaching across the ice.

It was none other than Aokiji, who had rushed to Water Seven after his battle with Akainu.

"Saxi won't listen~"

"Little bro!"

Aokiji looked lazy and indifferent; gazing at Gao Wen dressed in the uniform of a Navy Vice Admiral, the corner of his mouth curled into a teasing smile:

"That outfit suits you surprisingly well~"

Gao Wen's expression stiffened, and he hurriedly interrupted:

"Did you come here to fight me, or to help?!"

Under normal circumstances, Aokiji should absolutely not be appearing in Water Seven.

Even if he were to come, he should not be wearing casual clothes, but rather arriving in his capacity as a Navy Admiral.

Given the current situation, it was highly probable that something unexpected had occurred; until he clarified Aokiji's stance, Gao Wen had no intention of allowing him entry into Water Seven.

"That depends on your performance, little bro."

(End of Chapter)