Chapter 8: Chaos

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"Hey, kid! Do you... know what's happening outside?" Several panicked passengers approached Rosinante, wanting to inquire about the situation, but they hesitated to ask.

Facing them, Rosinante calmly took out his tools and began cleaning the cabin. "Nothing much, three sailors died on the ship."

?!

The group of agitated passengers seemed to freeze, as if someone had hit the pause button. So that's why the sailor who delivered the food had such a gloomy expression, it was all because of this reason.

But what did this have to do with them? Could it be—

"Who, who did it?" A muscular passenger with wandering eyes suddenly raised his voice, sounding like an accusing "culprit."

"Sir Clahorn... suspects... us?" Another middle-aged man with a large belly raised his hand, as if wiping non-existent sweat, his stammering manner highly suspicious.

In an instant, all the passengers in the cabin felt threatened. They yelled at each other, glanced at each other, asked questions, and accused one another.

If it hadn't been for Rosinante taking matters into his own hands, they might have suspected that the "culprit" was among them.

Although the passengers carried weapons, they were more for boosting morale, and asking them to fight to the death would be too difficult. Not just anyone can become a warrior simply by picking up a knife or gun.

They must be prepared to face injuries or even death.

These people could only put on a show; the real help would come from—

"Excuse me, two of you,"

As Rosinante approached the bearded swordsman and the little girl with the pink hood, his voice clearly reached their ears, but it was as if the others around them didn't hear anything at all.

"This ship is about to descend into chaos. I think we need to talk."

?

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"Boss, what should we do now?"

In the cabin beneath the ship's mast, a group of fierce sailors formed a circle around scattered and worn-out oak barrels.

In their center stood a muscular, bald sailor leaning against the mast: Aleck, the head sailor!

"Damn it, those pretentious noble bastards and that sissy must think it was me. I can tell they're talking about something behind my back..."

Slapping his greasy scalp, Aleck's irritated face revealed a row of sharp teeth.

This was evidence of his slight "Fishman" heritage, though diluted to the point where it barely made a difference. It didn't even grant him the ability to breathe underwater, but his strength still far exceeded that of a normal person.

"It wasn't me, goddamn it—"

"Boss, whether it was you or not doesn't matter... cough, what I mean is—"

One of Aleck's confidants coughed and asked the most important question.

"What should we do next?"

Where there are people, there are factions.

Even if a group of children gathers together, there will be a "Child King."

On this ship, different factions have formed based on their closeness to the captain or the navigator.

A true "close-knit" ship, one where everyone truly felt like family, was a rare sight on the high seas—even twenty years later, there were only a few pirate crews like the Straw Hats, Doflamingo, and Red-Haired Shanks who achieved this.

But right now, the sailors belonging to the "head sailor faction" and the "navigator faction" were experiencing casualties one after another.

Though they, belonging to the "head sailor faction," remained unharmed, the looks they received from their other colleagues turned from trust to vigilance, anger, and even faint traces of hostility!

At this point, even the most obtuse individual would sense that something was amiss.

As the confidant had just said: whether Aleck was the culprit or not was no longer important; what was crucial now was how they should respond.

"Is it shrinking our defense, or is it mutual surveillance between the other two factions, or..."

"Boss, why don't we just..."

Another sailor's eyes flashed with murderous intent as he raised his hand and made a throat-slashing gesture in front of his neck.

Given the current situation, instead of guessing which faction was playing tricks, why not directly eliminate the other two factions?

If they killed the people responsible for the deaths of the captain and the navigator, the ship would be theirs!

The profits from a ship, divided among dozens of people versus a dozen or so people, even the most foolish sailor could do the math.

In the vast sea, anything could happen. They could simply claim they encountered pirates... and it would be better if those "passengers" met with misfortune as well.

"Let's do it, Boss!"

"Kill everyone else, and I don't believe the real culprit can still hide!"

Aleck wasn't a smart person to begin with, and most of his confidants were muscle-bound men who let their fists act faster than their brains.

Faced with the hostility of the other sailors and the current predicament of not finding the enemy, their impulsive nature became evident.

Kill, kill, kill until blood flows like a river!

"All right—"

At this point, Aleck couldn't come up with a better plan, so he decided not to think about it.

Just kill every living creature on this ship except their own people. He didn't believe the true culprit lurking in the shadows could still escape!

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"Form an alliance?"

"Yes,"

On the other side, while mopping the floor, Rosinante talked to the bearded swordsman and the girl with the pink hood.

"I don't know why, but someone on the ship has triggered a series of assassinations. The crew members from the captain, navigator, and head sailor factions are at odds with each other and could escalate into a full-scale melee at any time..."

And on a ship at sea, there was nowhere to escape!

Once they were consumed by rage, everyone else would become the enemy.

"If it really comes to that, I hope we can 'ally' with the two of you."

Rosinante placed the mop back into the bucket and continued, "I want to survive, and I believe you both feel the same way."

After saying that, he carried his tools and left the cabin.

"How do you see it, little Ziyuan?"

Facing the bearded swordsman's inquiry, the girl with the pink hood looked at Rosinante's retreating figure.

Though he was just a dirty and skinny little boy, his behavior was undoubtedly impressive compared to the panicked passengers. And more importantly—

It was him!

Perhaps the uncle next to her didn't notice, but when the little boy was talking to the two of them just now, the voices of the others seemed to have quietly dimmed and become muffled.

She believed that for the others, the three of them experienced the same situation.

This was also why their conversation hadn't drawn anyone's attention.

A Devil Fruit user!

As a little girl who grew up in the Marine Headquarters, she was the first to guess the answer.

Although she didn't know what ability it was, the girl Ziyuan had an intuition: among the people involved in the battle last night, one of them was this little boy.

Interesting, she didn't expect to encounter such an intriguing peer on this ship.

Her lips curved slightly, and the girl's hand rested on the hilt of the long sword made of "memory metal" concealed beneath her robe.

"Uncle, this little boy's words make sense. Teaming up with him might not be a bad idea."

Anyway, no matter what happens on this ship, Ziyuan believes that with her abilities, she can handle it. After all, she is already a genius who has mastered two types of "Six Styles"!

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The chaos came much faster than Rosinante had anticipated!

He thought the three major factions would probe, bribe, and set traps after a series of overt and covert clashes, attempting to eliminate the other two sides at the least cost.

But he underestimated the habits of people in this world. When faced with something incomprehensible, they resorted to using blades and guns to force their way!

Boom!!

A loud bang suddenly came from above, shaking the entire cabin and catching Rosinante off guard.

Someone attacked?

"Someone attacked—"

In the front cabin of the ship, the sailor Sven, who was sitting in front of a large nautical chart with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes.

Around him were seven or eight fully armed sailors, as well as Doflamingo with his sunglasses.

"Let's start as well."

As Sven the sailor stood up and unsheathed the dagger at his waist, the surrounding sailors, including Doflamingo, immediately followed suit, exuding a suppressed killing intent as they moved forward.

Meanwhile, on the deck, the door of the captain's room at the back had already exploded!

A dark and massive double-handed axe struck, tearing the door into flying splinters. The axe's blade was extremely wide, dark, and seemed as heavy as a millstone. If you were to calculate its weight, it would be at least a hundred kilograms.

However, such a formidable weapon was held up with one hand!

In the other hand, there was a blood-red scimitar.

Aleck, the "Bloodblade"!

Even though it was a merchant ship daring enough to transport cargo to the Grand Line, if the head sailor didn't have some strength, they would have lost everything long ago.

"Brothers, charge with me—"

Since he had already decided to take out the others, the bald-headed head sailor naturally set his sights on the "captain"... no, killing that old man, Clawhorn, would make him the captain!

However, just as the door of the captain's room was torn open with an axe, the leading Aleck's eyes slightly narrowed!

Because inside the captain's room, a dozen sailors had already formed a small formation: the front row of sailors were half-kneeling, while those behind them held their muskets shoulder-high.

Every musket's muzzle was aimed at the door!

"Fire,"

Following the command of the nobleman with the high hat standing in the rear, a series of clicks of the triggers echoed. A dozen lead bullets whistled and shot toward the door!

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(End of this chapter)