Chapter 22

"Who is it?" I ask my sniper, who is looking at the incoming pirate through his rifle. "Which pirate is it?"

"They are Blue Sword Pirates, sir," He said while still looking through the scope of his rifle. "They are the biggest pirate fleet in this part of the world. They have at least five hundred crew and that was last year's information."

"That means it can be a lower or bigger number than the information we have."

"Aye."

"You said they are the biggest, right? Not the strongest?"

"No. If they are the strongest in the South Blues, they will be already in Grandline instead in this part of the world. They once tried their luck in the Grand Line three years ago but they got decimated by the Gecko Pirates who then got defeated by the Beast Pirates."

"So they decide to stay in this part of the sea and rule it with their number."

"Correct."

That means we can defeat them with enough preparation and strategy. By the look of it, I have around three hours to prepare, three and a half if they decide to take it easy.

"Rikon."

"Sir!"

"Take your squad to the bell tower. It is the highest point in the entire village. Take as many bullets as you can. You will be our eyes in the distance and kill their long-range fighter."

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. Go."

After saying that, I jump down from the building and land next to Gion, who is waiting for me.

"Sir! What is our order?"

"Take as many cannonballs as we have, and the villagers have."

"... You want to do a Garp Special?"

"Yes. He did not only train me in his fighting style but also his throwing style."

"Of course. You! Go and bring fifteen people to go back to the ship and take as many cannonballs as you can and keep them coming."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

After giving an order to the other, she looked back at me.

"What about me?"

"I need you to be in the backline while I will be in the frontline with a few men."

"Sir! I must reject this plan! I need to be on your side!"

That is what you reject? Not the fact that I'm on the frontline?

"No. I need you to coordinate the crew and some of the villagers who are volunteers in this fight. Don't worry, we are only on the front line for a moment. I only need to take down a few of their ships before getting back to the backline when they get closer."

"How many ships are there?"

"Twenty-two ships."

"The crew?"

"They are Blue Sword Pirate, the biggest in the South Blue. Rikon said that their number was around five hundred crew but it was last year's info. We did not know the exact number. They can have more crew than before."

"I see. Be careful and good luck."

"Heh. You don't need to worry about me, Gion. I will be fine."

I pat her head and then look at Jeane sitting on my head.

"Jeane, I need you to watch the sky for me. Can you do that, girl?"

"Hoot!"

She nips my ears affectionately before flying to the sky. I take a deep breath and say.

"Let's do this."

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|3rd POV|

Lemani, the captain of the Blue Swords, looks at the island in front of him with a frown on his face. Bronco island is the place where he was born. He did not have a good memory of this place. He was an orphan because a marine killed his parents for being pirates.

The villager of Bronco is kind enough to accept him among them and place him in the orphanage at the age of the villages.

Instead of being grateful for their kindness, Lemani sees it as an insult. He sees it as the villager licking the boot of the marine who killed his parents. So he keeps his head lower and grows older every day. Finally, when he is twelve years old, he decides to take sail to the other island, where he joins the pirates as a crew for two more years before creating his own pirates.

Occasionally he gets back to this island through the jungle part and stores his money and treasure in a secret place. There is at least a hundred million Belly worth of money inside the chest and another more than a hundred million worth of items sitting next to it.

When he hears other pirates raze Bronco Island, he needs to check if his secret stash is still intact.

"Boss! There is someone on the dock!"

"So what? We will kill them."

"He is holding a cannonball in his hand sir! He is also a marine captain by the look of his coat."

"What? Give me that!"

Lemani takes the periscope and sees Yuuji standing at the edge of the dock with his crew behind him, preparing to give him another cannonball.

"Hmph! No matter. There are only ten of them."

He throws the periscope back at his crew and walks toward his room. However, he can hear an explosion when he is about to walk. I look at the explosion and see one of his ships get hit by the cannonball Yuuji throws.

*BOOM* *BOOM*

Another explosion is happening around him and his ship. Lemani grit his teeth and shout.

"Keep going! I will take care of this bastard!"

Lemani jumps into the air, and suddenly his body transforms into a massive spider. The spider then releases an enormous net to stick all the incoming cannonballs in midair and let them explode.

The spider changes into a humanoid form, with the upper half being human and the bottom half being a spider.

"Keep moving! I will protect the ship!"

Seeing the jumping spider in the distance, Yuuji frowned a little.

"Zoan, huh?"

Lemani eats Spider-Spider Fruit, Model: Caerostris Darwini. It lets him transform into a giant spider that can spew a large amount of spider net from his lower body or from his mouth. The spider net is strong enough to stop Yuuji's attack and sticky enough not to let them fall to the ocean.

"I guess I need to get serious."

Yuuji takes a deep breath, and suddenly the cannonball in his hand gets even more black than before. This is Yuuji's haki. With a cannonball in his hand, he takes a stance, and a vein appears on his arms.

"Falling Star!"

Yuuji throws the cannonball high in the sky, and when it reaches its peak, it falls to the target at high speed, seven times faster than when Yuuji throws it.

Seeing the incoming attack, Lemani creates another web toward the cannonball. Sadly for him, the cannonball is imbued with Haki and thrown by the student of Garp the Fist. It was not enough.

The cannonball pierces through the web like a bullet through tissue.

"What?!"

*BOOM*

An explosion is happening, and another ship is down. Before Lemani could shout his order, a dozen or so cannonballs fell from the sky. It looks like a meteor shower is happening in broad daylight.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*