Chapter 4

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004: The Beginning Of The Fire Of Revenge!

...

At the same time.

North Blue.

G-64 Marine Branch.

The flying squirrel couldn't have known about the retired veterans who were off his radar this time.

What kind of vengeance will be unleashed next is bound to cause a sensation across the world.

At this moment, Bai Ye has already begun to take action.

He didn't represent the G-64 branch of the Marines, nor was he acting as a retired veteran.

He no longer had any affiliation with the Marine system.

Alone, in a boat, he returned to the streets of the town where children had greeted him just yesterday.

Now he saw nothing but the corpses of children and adults, blood, ruins, and the smell of gunpowder.

All the horrors of this earthly purgatory came into view.

Bai Ye remained silent.

He simply hopped back onto a one-man scale vessel and followed the World Government fleet that had destroyed the town he had lived in for thirty years.

Out on the blue sea, seagulls flitted across the sky.

Several massive World Government fleets sailed on.

"It's really boring. I thought it was a juicy target, but it turned out to be bone dry. We didn't even need to fabricate a reason; their contribution of Heaven's Gold was simply insufficient."

"Hahaha, you should've seen the hilarious look of despair on those untouchables."

"It's just a shame there weren't more people; they died too quickly."

"Otherwise, we could have recorded this incident with a Den Den Mushi and shown it to Lord Rose for a bit of fun. It would have been more entertaining than toying with dead slaves in the Holy Land."

On the deck, several World Government members who were feeling unfulfilled discussed the matter with excitement.

To them, passing through a lifeless town filled with corpses, blood, and gunpowder smoke was akin to carelessly crushing an ant underfoot.

In fact, that was exactly what it was.

As envoys of the World Government tasked with collecting 'Heaven's Gold', their reputation and their status as Celestial Dragons guaranteed unquestioned power.

A gathering place for ordinary people, or even some kingdom's royalty, would have to treat them with the utmost respect in their presence.

So, when they learned their mission was to destroy an island, they had been quite eager.

After all, "entertainment" in the form of unrestricted carnage didn't come around often.

It turned out, however, that their fleet from the Grand Line was too strong.

The inhabitants died too quickly, leaving many on the deck unamused.

"Indeed, it's far more interesting to collect Heaven's Gold from other kingdoms in the North Blue."

A member of the World Government shook his head. His gaze drifted to the G-64 Marine Branch behind them, and he joked:

"It would be great if the attack could also include the branch next to it, hehe."

"Kill the Marines?"

"Forget it, they are obedient dogs of ours, and destroying a Marine branch without Lord Rose Saint's consent would be a serious crime."

"Yes."

One person then looked at the G-64 branch and nodded in agreement.

He was about to continue speaking when suddenly...

"Oh?!"

A World Government officer with a scar on his face stood up abruptly on the fleet deck.

Staring at the sea behind the fleet, he said, "Speaking of which, I didn't expect there to be some daring fellows staring at us."

"A bold fellow?"

"What?! Where?!"

The rest of the World Government staff, previously unengaged, quickly stood up.

They looked in the direction of their companion with the scar on his face.

Soon, within sight, on the blue sea, they saw the so-called 'bold guy'.

There was an old man with gray hair, wearing a spotless white shirt, standing alone on a small boat that had approached the rear of their fleet unnoticed.

"Is that... an old man about to die?"

"Hey... what are you kidding? What does this old thing want to do?"

"It's boring. I thought we had encountered a pirate who didn't know the meaning of life or death, someone daring to challenge the World Government's banner."

They scoffed at the sight of the newcomer.

What interest could they possibly have in an old man whom they believed would soon be eliminated by the times?

Did they truly believe they could easily deal with such a frail old man single-handedly?

"Okay, but then again... huh?"

The scarred man who first spotted the 'old guy' behind the fleet suddenly narrowed his eyes.

"What is he going to do?"

Doubt arose as they saw the small boat alone on the sea, the "old thing" they considered dated now holding an extremely ordinary-looking Taidao.

And then, as this idea emerged...

Vaguely, the man with the scar on his face began to feel uneasy and he couldn't help but look up at the cloudless sky.

What was happening?

Clearly, the hottest time of noon had already passed at sea.

Yet the sea temperature seemed to be rising inexplicably.

Unconsciously, sweat appeared on his forehead.

The man with the scar on his face looked again at the solitary figure on the boat behind the fleet, and his expression changed drastically.

"No... no, this is not an illusion!"