The Idea of Life Return

At this moment, Longinus, whom Colonel Adkin had praised as possessing a heart of gold, sat grim-faced atop a serpentine Sea King, surrounded by the shattered remnants of large ships.

Although Sea Kings were ferocious, the deep sea was their domain. It was already rare for one to surface, and the odds of someone like Longinus nearly ending up shipwrecked and dead were about the same as winning the grand prize.

However, this only strengthened Longinus's resolve not to eat a Devil Fruit. Unless he possessed an ability like Aokiji's or Doflamingo's, one that allowed him to turn the ocean or sky into a secondary battlefield, there was always a chance of being shipwrecked and killed on the perilous Grand Line.

A Great Pirate like Golden Lion had actually suffered a crushing defeat because of a sudden storm. Aside from saying that fate had abandoned him, it also highlighted how much the weather restrained Devil Fruit abilities.

For a ship's rudder to lodge itself in his brain—apart from the storm's erosion causing him to temporarily lose his abilities, Longinus could think of no better explanation.

The Roger Pirates, on the other hand, benefited precisely because none of their members had a habit of eating Devil Fruits.

That was why Longinus placed even greater importance on Geppo, one of the Rokushiki techniques, as well as Life Return, which was jokingly known as "the seventh Rokushiki technique."

The importance of Geppo went without saying. Whether he wanted to strike across the sky or flee at top speed, it was indispensable.

As for Life Return, it was the cornerstone of the possibility Longinus envisioned for conquering the seas.

After all, his maximum time underwater was only fifteen minutes, and he could maintain peak combat strength for no more than five minutes.

If he wanted to hunt super-giant Sea Kings ten thousand meters below the surface, setting aside whether his combat strength was sufficient, the terrifying pressure capable of crushing steel and the difficulty of holding his breath for long periods were enough to stop most people from entertaining such a mad notion.

Therefore, if he could use Life Return to transform his body's structure into that of a deep-sea species capable of adapting to such an extreme environment for a short period, then that crazy idea might not be impossible to realize.

"This is... the scent of gunpowder..." The smell of smoke carried on the sea breeze gradually drew Longinus's wandering thoughts back together. Standing atop the trembling Sea King, he gazed into the distance.

On the boundless ocean, two fleets faced each other in a tense standoff. The atmosphere was heavy and taut, and war could break out at any moment.

"Captain Jacks, if you are willing to let us leave, I can give you an entire shipload of supplies." The middle-aged man dressed as a noble spoke with softness concealing steel. "But if you truly want to fight us to the death, we will not be intimidated!"

As if to confirm the middle-aged nobleman's words, the fleet erupted in a unified roar. That was something an ordinary merchant ship could never accomplish.

"Heh! One shipload of supplies won't satisfy my appetite. If you hand over everything you're transporting, then maybe I'll be content!" the hook-nosed pirate captain said with an ill-intentioned grin.

"Watch that appetite, or you'll stuff yourself to death!" A flash of anger crossed the middle-aged nobleman's eyes.

"Heh heh! Then you needn't worry about it, General Louis."

"You..." Louis erupted in fury, crushing the railing until it bent beneath his massive hand. In the end, he restrained himself and said, "One-third. At most, one-third of the supplies!"

Clap, clap, clap!

Jacks pretended to applaud. "Tsk, tsk! General Louis, you really know how to bend without breaking. Even I am a little tempted by those terms. Unfortunately, I'm a pirate who keeps his word. If I say I'll kill your entire family, then I'll kill your entire family!"

"After all, if we can take the head of Hisca Kingdom's Guardian Deity... General Louis, I imagine Azka King would not mind paying an even more generous price!"

"What? The Azka Kingdom is actually cooperating with a degenerate pirate like you?" Louis asked in disbelief.

"Heh heh, General Louis... you really are naively adorable. If unconventional means can secure victory in a war, who would care about those pointless rules? You are both already at war, so Azka King's decision is hardly difficult to imagine."

"In that case, there is nothing more to say. I've already killed countless pirates like you!"

"General Louis, it seems I need to make you understand the difference between land warfare and naval warfare! Sea greenhorns like you would never be a match for the Jax Pirates, no matter how many of you came!"

Jacks arrogantly ordered, "Listen up, everyone! Go easy on them later. If we sell them to the Slave Ships of those slave owners, it'll be another hefty profit!"

"Hahahaha!" The surrounding pirates burst into wanton laughter. Toward these kingdom soldiers who had barely ever gone to sea, their disdain was that of creatures at the top of the food chain looking down from above.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Cannon fire thundered as spray flew into the air.

As it turned out, naval warfare really was different from land warfare. The kingdom's self-defense forces, undefeated on Lodestar Island, could barely keep their footing on the drifting, unstable sea, let alone mount any meaningful counterattack. They fell into an absolute disadvantage almost the instant the battle began!

"Hahahaha! Kingdom self-defense forces? To me, you're no different from those bandits. Truly pathetic!" Jacks laughed scornfully, recalling the time he had taught a few street punks who called themselves "King of Bandits" a lesson.

"Captain, Captain, something seems wrong. A Sea King has been floating on the surface behind us, watching us for quite some time..." A pirate approached Jacks nervously and reported the situation.

Fortunately, Jacks reined in his short temper in his excitement. He glanced behind him and said, "A Sea King? Bombard it!"

"Wait, Captain, that's a Sea—" The pirate in front of Jacks broke into a cold sweat. Attacking a monster dozens of meters long took considerable courage.

Bang!

The pirate who had spoken fell straight down, blood gushing from his forehead and obscuring his disbelieving eyes.

Jacks blew the smoke from his gun barrel and said to another pirate beside him, whose legs were trembling, "Do I need to teach you what to do?"

"Ne... no, no need! I'll go tell them to prepare the bombardment..." That pirate's overwhelming desire to survive erupted, and he stumbled toward the rear.

"Hmph! Any Sea King that dares surface is nothing more than a big target. I hear every piece of a Sea King can fetch an astronomical price on the black market. That's another nice profit. Has that bitch Lady Luck finally decided to stand on my side this time?"