The pinnacle of pirates begins with deceiving fate!

"It was sent by the general of a country where war never ends!"

In just a few moments, Reed deduced the other party's true purpose.

After all, having witnessed so much filth, it's easy to make connections to these convoluted and sordid matters.

The navy openly recruited soldiers on the other side's territory, which was equivalent to indirectly taking away young and able-bodied people, which would amount to a huge sum of money if converted into slave prices.

"That's incredibly bold!"

Reed hurriedly ran towards the cafeteria to seek protection from the group of gluttons, while simultaneously pulling out his Den Den Mushi to call John.

Inside the cafeteria.

The recruits, who had just finished eating and drinking, were gathered together watching the kid named Barrett gorge himself at the table, betting on how many more he could eat with their unpaid wages.

Upon hearing the sound of artillery fire outside, the people of this war-torn country, true to their nature, immediately grabbed their weapons and rushed out of the mess hall, heading towards the outer deck.

Even Barrett followed along with his tray, showing no intention of slacking off.

Now, the naval mess hall is his paradise, and he will break the wings of anyone who dares to destroy his paradise!

A group of new recruits had just rushed out of the mess hall when they bumped into Reed, who was knocked to the ground, feeling dizzy and disoriented.

"Damn it! Sir, are you alright?"

"Never mind him, let's engage the enemy first!"

"No! If there are no officers supervising us, who will account for our merits?"

The recruits quickly decided to send two men to reach under Reed's arms and carry him toward the bow of the ship.

The warship's main gun is located at the bow.

As the recruits rushed to the bow of the ship, the pirate ship fired cannonballs, but they all mysteriously hit the sea surface around the warship and exploded.

Not a single shot hit.

"I've heard that the craftsmanship of naval cannon barrels is excellent; I must try it today!"

A new recruit enthusiastically revealed the fundamental reason why the pirate ship could never hit its target.

Nowadays, smoothbore cannons are used, without rifling to improve accuracy and range. If the inner wall of the cannon barrel is not smooth enough, it will cause the sight to be excessively skewed.

Pirate ships mostly use inferior cannons with uneven barrels, so hitting them accurately depends entirely on luck.

Upon reaching the bow of the ship, the recruit decisively crawled into the semi-circular, bunker-like ship's cannon, adjusted his direction to aim at the pirate ship, and ignited the propellant in the cannon barrel.

boom

As the cannonball flew out, the pirate ship, which was still more than 30 meters away, exploded with a roar, and flames raged on its deck.

"yeah!"

The recruit couldn't help but cheer loudly, already imagining the promotion and raise he would receive because of this shot.

Just as he was loading a shell to fire the second one, the entire warship suddenly shook violently with a loud bang.

The pirate ship rammed the side of the warship, and the boarding action began!

Several pirates, their bodies engulfed in flames, led the way, their bodies covered in Armament Haki, and were the first to board the warship's deck, attacking any marines they encountered.

The marines were not afraid, and several of them used their Haki to find suitable targets and fight them.

This is the second half of the Grand Line, where even the dogs on the roadside are rarer than Haki!

In the chaos of battle, Barrett spotted a target who appeared to be the captain of a pirate crew.

He was a tall, thin guy with black-rimmed glasses who looked frail, but the pirates around him would automatically keep their distance.

This resulted in a clearing around the bespectacled guy, making him very conspicuous.

"The big fish is definitely mine!"

Barrett grinned, shoving aside the pirates and marines blocking his way, and headed straight for the bespectacled guy.

Upon getting closer, Barrett leaped into the air and swung his fist at the bespectacled man's face.

Just as the fist was about to strike, the bespectacled man's face suddenly tore open layer by layer, like pages of paper falling off.

The pages of paper swirled in the wind like a tornado, crashing into the incoming fists and leaving deep red scratches on Barrett's hands and arms like a meat grinder.

Barrett's fist missed its target, but he himself suffered excruciating injuries, screaming in agony as he knelt on the deck.

Cover your head with both hands to protect it.

"Damn it, he's a Devil Fruit user!"

Although Barrett is a monster who could rival Rayleigh, the Pirate King's right-hand man at his peak, at the age of fifteen, he is only five years old at this moment.

Aside from using brute force to make those who can use superficial Haki run away in fear, there's absolutely no way to deal with this kind of strange ability user.

Barrett doesn't know how to use Haki yet!

Left with no other choice, Barrett endured the excruciating pain of being slowly sliced ​​apart by countless sharp pieces of paper, his pupils scanning the battlefield through the gaps in his arms that were covering his head in defense.

He needs his colleagues' help!

But what he saw made Barrett's heart sink to the bottom.

Apart from a few colleagues who managed to fight the pirates to a standstill, most of the others were chased and forced to flee in terror, completely powerless to fight back.

Those who were fighting back and forth had no spare time to help him.

"Damn it, is this the end of my life?"

Barrett's face hardened, and he forced himself to stand up despite the pain. He thrust his right shoulder forward and his elbow outward, trying to break free of the paper tornado and jump into the sea.

But upon hitting the inner wall of the paper tornado, it was instantly bounced back violently, and the elbow that was hit was a bloody mess, with the white bone faintly visible.

"Kid, you've got pretty good perseverance. Want to join us?"

The face of the bespectacled man materialized at the top of the inner wall of the paper tornado, a mocking glint in his eyes as he looked at Barrett, who was tightly surrounded.

"If you join us, you can live, since I won't hurt my comrades."

"What do you take me for! I'm not a coward!"

Barrett is like a lone wolf driven to the brink of despair; even as he faces death, he refuses to lower his proud head.

He roared and howled as he prepared to crash into the inner wall of the paper tornado once more.

Suddenly, through the gaps in the paper tornado, she saw a man standing outside.

A man with his hands in his pockets, wearing a navy justice coat.

"What? Are you scared? It's not too late to regret it now."

Seeing Barrett suddenly stop and stare blankly, the bespectacled man took the opportunity to continue persuading him; he genuinely admired the kid.

However, Barrett completely ignored the bespectacled man, her gaze fixed on the figure standing outside the paper tornado.

The bespectacled man finally realized something was wrong. Following Barrett's gaze, the figure that came into view made his pupils shrink abruptly.

Immediately afterwards, it quickly transformed into countless pieces of paper that exploded and scattered, drifting four or five meters away before converging and coalescing back into a physical form.

The bespectacled man stared at the newcomer, his body hunched over like a wildcat with its fur standing on end.

"Who are you!"

Chapter 101 Pirate Special Forces

Tell me, what is your value to me?

John didn't answer but asked a question in return, looking at the bespectacled man with a half-smile.

The bespectacled man frowned, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

As soon as he finished speaking, John's figure blurred into a blur, appearing in front of the bespectacled man in the blink of an eye, and grabbing his neck with precision as if taking something out of a bag.

The bespectacled man was shocked and hurriedly tried to activate the special Paramecia-type Paper-Paper Fruit power to fight back, but found that the Devil Fruit power did not respond at all, as if he had become a weakling and could not control it at all.

Only then did he realize that the opponent's domineering aura was far stronger than his own, strong enough to temporarily suppress his Devil Fruit ability!

"So...so strong!"

Barrett stared blankly at the scene. The man who had just held the power of life and death over him was now being lifted up like a dead fish.

Completely powerless to resist!

Having grown up in a dog-eat-dog world, Barrett suddenly felt a sense of admiration for the man draped in the coat of justice.

This grandpa will follow him!

thud

John slammed the bespectacled man onto the deck with a loud thud, attracting the attention of the marines and pirates, and the fierce, life-or-death battle came to an abrupt halt.

All eyes turned to John, wondering how this man had appeared and what changes he would bring to this boarding action.

The pirates, in particular, noticed that their captain had been thrown to the ground and was slumped on the deck, his body trembling uncontrollably as if he had encountered some terrifying monster.

This made the pirates nervous.

"Tell me, what value can you bring to me?"

John spoke slowly, his deep and calm voice reaching everyone present.

The marines and pirates looked at each other, but none of them dared to be the first to answer the question.

Buzz

John's pupils suddenly contracted, and a suitable amount of Conqueror's Haki burst forth, causing fine purple lightning to explode above the warship.

In an instant, the marines and pirates seemed to have encountered their natural enemy. The suppression from their bodies and bloodlines made their legs go weak, and they all knelt or sat on the deck.

They were all covered in cold sweat, staring at John in terror.

"Conqueror's Haki!"

"This is your last chance. Tell me your worth."

John drew his sailor's knife from his waist, his Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki overlapping, and issued his final ultimatum.

Sensing the killing intent on the blade, the bespectacled man swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing, and quickly gave his answer:

"We'll do whatever you tell us to do, without question!"