The Fish-Men parted to create a path, and Jack, looking like a small giant, walked toward him step by step.
Jack had originally only intended to stand by as backup, since Tiger had already taken action. However, the mention of the Admirals piqued his interest.
“Jack the Drought… Have the Beasts Pirates begun making their move?”
“Marine, I’m the one asking the questions. If you don’t want to die, tell me where your Admirals are.”
Jack rarely used his head in ordinary circumstances. He usually served as the vanguard, charging straight into battle. Wherever Kaido pointed, he attacked. All he needed to do was eliminate the target Kaido had designated.
This time, Kaido had ordered him to cause a major disturbance and teach the Marines a lesson, so that was exactly what Jack did.
However, under Kaido’s influence, Jack also yearned to fight powerful opponents. With a great war imminent, the movements of the Marines’ strongest fighters naturally became a matter of critical importance.
“Dream on, pirate! I’ll never tell you where the Admirals are. But you b*stards had better prepare to meet your doom!”
The Vice Admiral before him showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he wiped the blood from his blade with his coat.
“I’m a Marine! How could I ever submit to pirates like you?!”
With a roar, the Vice Admiral swung his sword at Jack. However, his blade never reached its target. Jack’s enormous hand caught it in midair.
Jack’s hand clamped around the weapon like an iron pincers. No matter how hard the Vice Admiral struggled, he could not move it in the slightest. Seeing this, the Vice Admiral simply abandoned his weapon, clenched both fists, and closed in on Jack.
The gap between the strongest and weakest holders of the Vice Admiral rank was absurdly wide. Some had long since surpassed the level expected of a Vice Admiral, while others lacked the necessary strength but had accumulated enough military achievements, making them little more than honorary Vice Admirals.
The man standing before Jack represented the average level among Marine Vice Admirals. He was strong enough to deal with most pirates, but incapable of handling those at the very top.
“You won’t talk? Fine. Since you’re a warrior, I’ll give you an ending worthy of one.”
Before long, the battle was over. All the Marines capable of resisting had been killed, while some had chosen to abandon ship and flee.
Abandoning the ship in front of Fish-Men was undoubtedly an extremely unwise decision, but Tiger ordered the other Fish-Men to spare the fleeing Marines and allowed them to swim away into the distance.
Tiger and the others then boarded the supply ship in the center of the fleet. When they had lacked manpower, their objective had been to sink the supply ship and cut off the Celestial Dragons’ provisions.
But now that they possessed sufficient fighting strength, sinking all those supplies into the sea would simply be wasteful.
The Celestial Dragons might be scum, but everything they used was of the highest quality.
Seeing the cargo hold packed with luxurious goods, many Fish-Men revealed envious looks.
“Get moving! Carry these supplies away, then bring all the gunpowder and cannonballs from the other warships over here!”
Jack dispersed the Fish-Men who had gathered to watch and issued them new orders.
“What are you planning?”
“Boss Kaido told us to show them what we’re capable of. Merely stealing the supply ship doesn’t amount to much. Since we’re going to strike, we might as well make it a big one.
“This ship’s destination should be Mariejois, right? What kind of expressions do you think the Celestial Dragons will make when the supplies they’ve been eagerly awaiting turn out to be one enormous time bomb?”
Listening to Jack, Tiger suddenly felt cold sweat run down his back. He dared to bomb Mariejois with so few people. What would happen if he were given command of an even larger force?
“The cargo inspections there are extremely strict. The ship probably won’t make it up there.”
Tiger felt that Jack might have misunderstood Kaido’s intentions. Even if they were supposed to cause a major incident, there was no need to take such an enormous risk.
“Then we’ll detonate it at Red Port.”
“…You really are fearless.”
“Compared to someone like you, who dared to climb the Red Line with his bare hands, I still have a long way to go.
After all, I’m only planning to attack from a distance. I have no intention of going up there and causing havoc myself.”
The Beasts Pirates possessed many distinctive traits. Some were the most cautious, some were the most stubborn, and some were the most recklessly aggressive.
Recklessness could be said to be engraved into Jack’s very bones. When Alcremie was around, it could temper him somewhat and persuade him to make more cautious decisions. But because of the operation, Alcremie was temporarily absent, so Jack naturally reverted to his true nature.
Not directly charging up there with a plan inspired by the “Trojan Horse” operation was already an act of considerable restraint.
“I’ll leave you one warship. It would be suspicious if the entire escort fleet were sunk. We’re still within the influence of the Sabaody Archipelago, so bubbles can be used. Even with one fewer ship, we can still transport the supplies away.
Also, that place is quite dangerous. Once you decide to detonate it, dive underwater and leave as quickly as possible. That Alcremie is still waiting for you to return, isn’t it?”
Tiger was not particularly reassured by Jack. Although Jack was huge and burly, he was actually the same age as Yamato and a full generation younger than Tiger. Even though he was quite strong, Tiger still felt that he was not levelheaded enough in how he handled things.
After all, Alcremie who ensured he stayed levelheaded was not currently by his side.
“I know. Nothing will go wrong.”
Once Jack made up his mind, ordinary people could not change it. In the end, the supply ship, carrying the remaining gunpowder from the warships, sailed in the direction of Marineford.
Apart from a few Fish-Men helping steer the ships, not a single person could be seen aboard them. The two vessels now looked heavily battle-damaged.
However, before they could reach Red Port, they first encountered a group of “allies.”
“Boss King! It’s a World Government transport ship. It looks like it’s delivering supplies to Mariejois.”
“A transport ship? Aren’t those the ones Jack was supposed to deal with? Did he make a mistake?”
High in the sky, the air force led by King was also carrying out its mission. Because of the air force’s high mobility, even though King had departed later than Jack, he had already reached the designated location.
“Boss Jack hasn’t reported anything like that.”
“Signal the ships below and see how they respond.”
“Yes!”
Two Millennial Dragons flew downward, and the pirates on their backs took out large colorful banners, which fluttered along with the Millennial Dragons’ flight.
The ships below responded accordingly. After confirming that they were not survivors who had slipped through the net, King ordered the Millennial Dragon unit to continue with its original mission.
“Boss King, why are you here?”
“To carry out my mission, of course. I was also planning to send them a little greeting, though my destination is Marineford.”
Marineford, as the former Marine Headquarters, still held enough influence, and the troops stationed here were not as numerous as those at the current Marine Headquarters, making it more suitable for a surprise attack.
King had no intention of imitating Golden Lion and getting himself trapped there.
“Looks like we had the same idea.”
“Perhaps. You don’t have the flexibility of an air force, so don’t get drawn into a prolonged battle.”
“Don’t worry, Boss King. I’ve arranged everything.”
Before long, the defenders at Red Port spotted the supply ship approaching.
“A supply ship? Weren’t they attacked? From the look of it, did they break through?”
“We haven’t received any report. The last message we got from them was a request for reinforcements.”
“Strange… Contact that warship and order it to stop outside the harbor for inspection.”
Jack’s idea was a good one, but carrying it out was not easy. Before the warship could even enter the harbor, it was intercepted by Red Port’s defenders.
“Sir! That ship isn’t stopping! It’s accelerating straight toward us!”
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