Amid the ruins, the smoke had yet to fully disperse.
Every pirate's face was etched with exhaustion, but their eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Long live the admiral! We drove off the Marines again! I told you! Those weaklings could never be a match for our Blackbeard Pirates."
"Yeah! Yeah! With the admiral and all the captains here, the Marines and the World Government are nothing to fear. The future belongs to the Blackbeard Pirates, and no one can change that."
Bathed in blood.
The Blackbeard Pirates' skull-and-crossbones flag snapped in the breeze.
Beneath the flag, the pirates, though exhausted from head to toe, still raised their guns, blades, and swords as they shouted excitedly.
Defeating the Marines was already something worth celebrating. What was more, this was far from the first time the Blackbeard Pirates had defeated them.
Although every battle had been brutal, and countless pirates died on Hachinosu after each war, every victory caused the Blackbeard Pirates' confidence to soar.
At the same time, under the deliberate control of the higher-ups, the bloated Blackbeard Pirates were gradually becoming more elite and tightly knit through baptism after baptism of war.
Pirates were a group where the weak were prey to the strong. Though the loss of companions could be painful, on Hachinosu, a nation made entirely of pirates, so-called friendship was nothing more than a luxury.
Just as the Marines suffered another crushing defeat and withdrew.
The pirates of Hachinosu gleefully rushed onto the battered warships to gather spoils.
Standing atop the still-smoking ruins.
Blackbeard spread his arms wide, his arrogant face looking down at these subordinates who had been tempered by war and had now become as fierce as wolves and tigers.
He watched them fight viciously over wealth and treasure.
"Zehahahaha! War truly is the greatest driving