Wholeheartedly Convinced!
On the Grand Line's first route, near the waters of the Dendham Kingdom, the sea temperature is unbearably hot because the island on which this country is located is a summer island.
Nevertheless, the battles at sea remained fierce.
Under the scorching sun, a warship belonging to the G-6 Branch was close behind another pirate ship flying a white cotton hat and skull flag. The two sides had transitioned from a cannon battle to the most bloody close-quarters combat!
The deck was filled with shouts of killing, screams of agony, and the clanging of blades clashing together, interspersed with occasional gunshots and cries of pain.
The bodies and wounded lying in pools of blood were trampled on by both sides still engaged in battle, but a closer look revealed that most of them were pirates.
"Whoosh--whoosh--"
Sweating profusely, Lakham felt like his lungs were about to explode. He was exhausted and angry. His usual long trousers and white cotton jacket felt heavy and stifling at that moment.
Even so, his squinting, malevolent eyes darted back and forth between the four naval officers surrounding him, and he dared not relax his grip on the blood-stained daggers in his hands.
Because these bastards had been entangled with him for two whole hours with their extremely swift, combined, and relentless leg attacks, leaving him only able to watch helplessly as his men were slowly slaughtered by the marines!
"How could this be? When did the navy become so strong? A few mere lieutenants were able to trap me here?"
"I'm none other than Lord White Cotton Cloth, who's been reigning supreme in Paradise for three years!"
"And those marines. Those marines are like a pack of wolves on a snowy plain!"
Just as White Cotton Cloth Lakham was roaring in his heart, he heard another familiar scream. He glanced quickly and was shocked to see that his first mate had been stabbed and riddled with holes by several marines.
Immediately following, a gunshot rang out, and a bullet pierced through the first mate's forehead.
He had actually heard other pirates talking about the strange changes in the Navy recently, saying that the Marines had become more troublesome, but he didn't pay any attention to it at the time while he was drinking.
Even the marines at the Marine Headquarters were, in his eyes, just a few more tough fry than the North Blue Navy; any one of his men could take on seven or eight of them.
But now, these marines can basically take on a veteran pirate in threes, which is simply unbelievable!
On the deck of the warship, two naval officers wearing Justice Coats were watching the battle on the pirate ship. One of them stood at the front and had no expression.
At this moment, another Major spoke up with a laugh, "Colonel Terisa, it seems this 'White Cotton Cloth' won't last much longer."
Hearing his adjutant's words, Terisa Colonel: "Although this guy's bounty is only 23 million Beli, when you add the bounties of other pirates, the White Cotton Pirates' total bounty has reached 50 million Beli. But we don't need to send out colonel-level combat forces. Four Captains leading 300 marines can take care of him. That's quite remarkable."
The Major adjutant sighed, "It's not just our branch; all the G-system branches have seen a significant increase in strength at the middle and lower ranks thanks to this Three-Three System Tactics and Konoha Style Body Technique. The pressure on us officers has really been relieved a lot."
In the past, whenever they encountered pirates with bounties exceeding ten million, these officers would have to step in to confront them, because only they had mastered the Six Powers to some extent, or had reached a certain level in swordsmanship, or were Devil Fruit Users.
In reality, these officers at the headquarters level should be comparable in combat strength to pirates with bounties between 50 million and 90 million, while those with bounties of over 100 million should be handled by admiral-level officers.
As for 'White Cotton Cloth,' a pirate with a bounty of less than 50 million in the first half of the Grand Line, the high command initially planned to have the lieutenants of headquarters lead a large group of marines to deal with him. However, it turned out that they were not capable of doing so.
Without pushing their physical limits to the extreme and mastering the Six Powers, they were merely a group of untrained soldiers with no active skills, decent physical abilities, basic swordsmanship, and no teamwork.
Aside from some differences in physical fitness, there isn't much difference between junior officers, non-commissioned officers, and marines.
In the future, there could be fewer than ten people in the entire Marine Headquarters who could master the skill of shaving, such Koby Coby and Helmeppo, who were sergeants or senior officers. After all, not many people could gain the favor of the senior officers in the military and receive special tutoring late at night.
The emergence of Konoha Style Body Technique and the Three-Three System Tactics led to a large number of junior officers and petty officers in the Marine Headquarters and various G Divisions being promoted from basic to advanced ranks. Even the lowest-ranking marines could fight against pirates with bounties of millions by working together.
This astonishing change has begun to affect every aspect of the Grand Line, with the first to be affected naturally being the lower and middle-ranking pirates.
Currently, a single warship can basically wipe out a pirate crew with a total bounty of less than 50 million Beli, and the Navy's casualty rate is also much lower than in previous years.
Since the so-called Great Pirate Era had not yet begun, the already small number of pirates at sea was further reduced, while merchant ships and cruise ships proliferated, naturally leading to a corresponding increase in the prestige of the navy among various countries.
Just as the two officers were chatting leisurely, a Lieutenant strode in from the cabin carrying a intelligence report, then stood up, saluted, and shouted loudly, "Report!"
The Colonel and his adjutant turned around at the same time.
"Reporting, Colonel, this is the latest issue of the World Economy News Paper, which has just arrived!"
Colonel Terisa took the newspaper, opened it, and a smile appeared on her previously stern face.
"Really!"
The adjutant beside him turned his head to look and burst into laughter, "Haha, finally it's out in the open! How boring it would be if only we knew about this!"
The front page of the newspaper featured a headline in bold black letters. "The New Admiral Candidate, Ryokugyu Vidal!"
The main content describes how Vidal personally killed Langram Mulian of the Roger Pirates, as well as the various events Zangjing of the Second Governor of the Flying Pirates, the Scripture Repository.
Regarding this matter, they actually received a notification from headquarters last week. At that time, G-6 even held a large barbecue party at the base to celebrate. Over the years, the number of marines who have died at the hands of the Roger Pirates and the Flying Pirates is no small number, if not tens of thousands.
Although Vice Admiral Garp had been pursuing the Roger Pirates, he hadn't actually caused them any significant casualties. However, Vidal's victory this time was a great relief to the entire Navy.
Coupled with his already excellent reputation, and now with the title of Admiral Candidate, he can be described as having immense prestige!
"Reporting, Colonel, the battle is over!" a marine who was in charge of relaying messages shouted as he ran over.
Colonel Terisa turned her gaze from the newspaper to the pirate ship, and sure enough, the 'White Cotton Cloth' was lying on the ground with his eyes rolled back. The surrounding marines began to clean the deck, while stretchers were used to send the wounded to the infirmary inside the cabin.
"What about the casualties?" the adjutant Major asked.
"Fourteen were killed, forty-three were slightly wounded, and five were seriously wounded!" the marine replied.
Terisa Colonel after listening. This result was already very good. In the past, if the officers hadn't intervened, there would have been hundreds of casualties. He then took out five round mung Green Beans from his coat pocket.
"Distributing these to the seriously injured should be of considerable help."
"Yes, sir!" The marine accepted the Green Beans with a grateful expression, then saluted and turned to leave.
Seeing this, the adjutant exclaimed, "You're really generous to take out five of these; they could be lifesavers in a pinch!"
"It's okay, I still have one left, and I'll receive two more next month, that should be enough."
Terisa Colonel casually picked up the last Green Bean, looking at it as she said, "I heard this thing was also created by Vice Admiral Vidal. To date, dozens, if not hundreds, of officers have survived serious injuries caused by it. It's truly remarkable. If this man really becomes Admiral, or even Fleet Admiral, I'll be truly impressed."
I'm completely convinced!