As time moved slightly forward, ever since rumors spread of some mysterious connection between Red Hair and Kaido, Marine’s Intelligence Branch had been trying to investigate this information.
The source of Beckman’s irritation was precisely this. He had already dealt with far too many troublesome matters during this period, clearing wave after wave of people attempting to infiltrate the heart of the Red Hair Pirates’ territory.
After all, this involved both Red Hair and Kaido; it made no sense to investigate only Kaido. Comparatively speaking, Red Hair’s side was easier to enter; at least there weren’t countless surveillance cameras around Elbaf.
Even the Big Mom Pirates were not spared. Since they had some connections with the Beasts Pirates, they might be able to provide some clues.
CP0, the Marine intelligence units—they were all doing their best to uncover the truth, and that naturally included the SWORD unit.
Although they couldn’t enter Wano Country, the flow of people between the outer islands of the Beasts Pirates was massive. The traffic of merchant and passenger ships brought in a large number of floating population, and Koby took advantage of this opportunity to sneak in.
Originally, he planned to follow craftsmen coming out of Wano Country, to see if he could slip into Wano itself to gather more intelligence or coordinate with others. However, his “perfect disguise” was discovered.
“Lord Holed’em, what’s the matter? Is there something wrong with the construction here?”
With so many people around, someone had to be in charge. At present, Holed’em was managing the details of this island, but he had been staring at one construction site for quite a while, making the craftsmen there think they had done something wrong.
“I don’t understand the technical side. Minatomo calls the shots on that. He’s your chief engineer. But look at that pink-haired guy, doesn’t he seem familiar to you?”
“This…”
“Forget it, you don’t go out much, so it makes sense you wouldn’t recognize him. What about you?”
Holed’em didn’t make things difficult for the worker in front of him. Instead, he grabbed a subordinate nearby, pulled up past news on his Rotom Phone, and zoomed in on a screenshot.
“Lord Holed’em, what about this person? Did he offend you?”
“Don’t you think they’re the same person?”
“I don’t think so. This guy has a beard, and his glasses have square frames. That Marine’s glasses are round…”
“Get lost and cool off. When we get back to Onigashima, remember to get a physical checkup, I’ll personally handle it.”
From hair color to body shape, it was obviously the same person. Yet his subordinate couldn’t recognize him at all, which made Holed’em quite dissatisfied. He immediately walked forward himself.
Koby, who was carrying building materials, saw the island overseer approaching him but didn’t panic. Instead, he continued working like any ordinary person, until Holed’em’s hand landed on his shoulder.
“Umm-mm lord, is there something you need? I still have work to do… I might be delayed…”
Koby looked at Holed’em beside him. Due to the height difference, he could clearly see the “No.17” on Holed’em’s stomach. Although the ranking battle was still ongoing, most people’s strength tier had already stabilized.
Aside from Jack, who broke through the limits of the Numbers and was promoted to a Calamity-level senior officer, the rest mostly fluctuated within their respective tiers. Holed’em’s 17 was the result of his most recent battle.
“Work? You’re the Marine’s new hero. I can’t afford to have someone like you working as a laborer here.”
“Marine? I don’t know what you’re talking about, lord… that kind of joke isn’t funny…”
Koby could already feel the gazes gathering around him. The sunlight was bright, yet those stares made him feel a chill all over his body. Within those gazes, he sensed endless greed.
【Have I been exposed…? When? I shouldn’t have done anything to reveal my identity.
No.17 is too dangerous.】
Some time ago, at a Marine branch where the SWORD unit had been stationed, a warship clashed with a Beasts Pirates’ vessel.
According to reports from surviving Marines, a member of the Numbers easily crushed the Rear Admiral commanding the warship, then used terrifying heavy firepower to destroy the ship, and that person’s number was 37.
Koby didn’t know how big the gap between 20 ranks was, but he didn’t think he could escape once exposed in this situation.
“I have no interest in joking.”
Holed’em reached toward the beard on Koby’s face. Just as he was about to be exposed, Koby suddenly threw a punch at Holed’em’s stomach, trying to resist first.
Although he knew he wasn’t a match, he wasn’t going to surrender without a fight.
However, when the punch landed, his fist felt as if it had sunk into a swamp, caught by the sinking flesh.
Holed’em’s skin displayed extraordinary toughness, black-brown fur already covering his abdomen.
“So this is all the Marine’s new hero is capable of?”
Feeling the force coming from his stomach, a trace of disdain appeared on Holed’em’s face.
If Koby wanted to become stronger, he needed some kind of foundation first. If this were a card game, Koby’s description would probably be like this:
When the card named Garp leaves play, the Koby card temporarily bursts out with unreasonable combat power.
Without that prerequisite, he was just an ordinary Marine Captain.
“…So hot.”
Koby suddenly felt an abnormal burning sensation on his arm. At this moment, Holed’em’s face was already surrounded by high-temperature flaming mane. That was a natural trait of the Pyroar.
Male Pyroars naturally had manes made of flames, and once they entered combat, the temperature of the mane would rise. Even getting close could inflict burns on the enemy.
Although it was composed of fire, it possessed the characteristics of fur. As the sea breeze blew, Holed’em’s mane drifted toward Koby’s face, and the fake beard ignited spontaneously under the flames.
Holed’em didn’t give Koby any time to react. Grabbing his arm, he slammed him to the ground.
Another dent appeared on the still-unleveled ground. Koby felt his internal organs churn, his bones crying out in pain, and during the fight, Holed’em’s burning mane constantly inflicted high-temperature burns on him.
Flames and impact—inside and out, Koby was in intense pain, yet he still struggled to stand up.
“I don’t know what the Marines were thinking, praising a weakling like you as their new hero. If you want to take over Garp’s position, you’re nowhere close.”
The Pokémon-style transformation had similarities to Zoan-type Devil Fruits; their inherent traits would slightly influence the host. So when bestowing such abilities, there either had to be high compatibility or complementary traits; there had to be some level of fit.
As a feline, playing with prey seemed to be ingrained in its nature. When facing prey that couldn’t resist, such animals would first wear it down completely.
“Your strength isn’t much, but the Marines have done a lot of promotion for you. Do you really not know how famous you are? Sneaking into our territory with such a stupid disguise, I don’t know which idiot gave that order.”
“Marine affairs aren’t for pirates to judge.”
“I like your attitude. Let me tell you a little secret, my usual duty is rotating prison guards, so I don’t get many chances to earn contributions. In recent years, those cowards haven’t even had the courage to attempt a jailbreak. I even deliberately dropped the keys, and they still didn’t dare try.”
This was the consequence of entrapment tactics. Because Babanuki and his group had done some outrageous things for contributions, the prisoners had developed a stress response.
“I don’t care what kind of connections you used to become a hero, but capturing the Marine’s new hero should count as a big contribution. I have to thank you for delivering yourself right to me; you’d better provide me with some unique entertainment.”
A fireball appeared in Holed’em’s hand, but after a moment of thought, he withdrew it again. This place was already under rushed construction. If it got damaged and delayed progress, it would be troublesome.
Rolling his wrist, Holed’em planned to take down this “hero” purely with his physical strength. However, the situation developed beyond his expectations. Before he could even make a move, Koby was already pinned down by others.
Several workers rushed forward together. Taking advantage of the fact that all of Koby’s attention was focused on the pirates, leaving him unconcerned about ordinary civilians, they subdued him in one go.
There had already been quite a few pirates on the island participating in labor. After observing for a while, Koby had run toward the side where there were fewer pirates. Most of the people working there were laborers hired from outer islands, and some had even come on the same ship as him.
And it was precisely this group that pinned him down.
The internal system of the Beasts Pirates didn’t just apply to the pirates under them, but to everyone within their territory.
Officers were granted divine blessings, those slightly lower received Devil Fruits, while ordinary people could gain status and money.
Trying to reason with ordinary people isn’t particularly meaningful; only those in the Arceus Cult are bound together by faith. It is inherently difficult to get the majority of people to share a unified belief.
What was simpler was profit. If doing something benefited them, they would naturally do it.
In the eyes of the World Government and the Marines, pirates were criminals. But within the territory of the Beasts Pirates, the Marines were the “criminals.”
“Lord Holed’em! We’ve caught him!”
“Come quickly, this kid’s pretty strong!”
Holed’em didn’t rush. He might not be among the very top officers, but he could still tell what was really going on in a fight of this level.
These workers had good physical strength, after all, construction work required it, but they were still just ordinary people with some strength.
Facing a Marine Captain who had undergone formal training, there was no way they should be able to restrain him. It wasn’t that they were strong, it was that Koby wasn’t breaking free.
【Trying to ambush me? Does this kid still have some hidden trump card?】
Koby’s unusual behavior made Holed’em cautious. Although he thought this “hero” had been hyped up, what if there was something outsiders didn’t know? He had no intention of becoming someone else’s stepping stone.
But the truth was far simpler than Holed’em imagined. The reason Koby didn’t violently break free was that he was afraid of hurting these ordinary civilians.
“Uncle, what are you doing? Let go of me! I’m a Marine, I’m here to save you!”
“I know you’re a Marine, and that’s exactly why we’re doing this. As for saving…pah!”
The word “save” was met with intense disdain, leaving Koby momentarily unable to understand why the Marines were so unwelcome in their eyes.
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