Men, women, and children alike had their hands bound and were herded onto the ships one after another.
The heavy crates were packed with gold, silver, jewels, banknotes, and coins.
The pirates also took the food, medicine, alcohol, and weapons and ammunition from the Naval Branch base.
William Port was far too rich in supplies.
Although nearly two thousand people had been killed or wounded, the pirates, including Heide, all felt it had been worth it.
As for the dead, all anyone could say was that they had been unlucky.
Those who survived could indulge themselves to their hearts' content.
At that moment, a Pirate Executive discovered a fax sent by Branch 6 inside the Navy's temporary command post at the port.
"Why hasn't the Navy's reinforcements arrived?"
Pirate Executive Zoro was somewhat puzzled.
They had begun attacking William Port during the day yesterday. It was daylight now, yet they still hadn't seen any Navy reinforcements.
"Who cares? Even if they come, we can still deal with them." Fita, the Pirate Executive beside him, laughed.
They had wiped out Branch 189, killing nearly three thousand Marines.
Even the commander of Branch 189, Colonel Malone, had died at their leader's hands.
Even if reinforcements from Branch 191 arrived, they were nothing to fear.
Heide sat on the throne on the deck of the main ship, smoking cigars looted from the nobles' homes.
Gold, silver, and jewels were piled up in front of him.
This was tradition.
The executives brought the spoils back to the ship, then waited for Heide to distribute them.
At that moment, the pirates' eyes shone.
Aside from the slaves aboard each ship, the gold, silver, jewels, and vast amounts of cash alone would be enough to keep them happy for quite some time.
William Port truly lived up to its reputation as a major port. What a haul!
Unfortunately, much of the cargo couldn't be carried away and could only be burned.
At that moment, the pirate on the mainmast was watching the distance through a spyglass.
If any enemies approached, he would sound the alarm immediately!
Suddenly, a Navy warship appeared on the surface of the sea.
"One, two, three... six ships!"
"Lord Heide, six Navy warships have appeared to the southwest!"
After spotting the Navy, the pirate on the mast immediately shouted down.
"Six ships!"
"At least three thousand people!"
"Are they the Navy's reinforcements?"
Zoro reacted quickly. He had been keeping the reinforcements from Branch 191 in mind the entire time.
"They waited until everything was over before coming to reinforce us?"
"They're here to collect the bodies."
"They definitely are. Their commander must be a coward."
The Pirate Executives on the main ship didn't take the Navy seriously at all.
In their eyes, this Navy force, which should have arrived yesterday, had deliberately waited until now to appear.
Their goal was to avoid a head-on confrontation with them.
Heide thought the same way. He stood up, picked up a spyglass, and gazed into the distance.
"The warships have stopped."
At that moment, all the pirate executives, including Heide, witnessed it.
"Ho ho ho ho ho~~~"
Heide let out a contemptuous laugh. Those Marines actually didn't dare come over.
"Boss, let's butcher them!"
"Kill all those Marines!"
"They're no match for us!"
The Heide Pirates had just wiped out Branch 189 yesterday, and their morale was at its peak.
In their eyes, the Navy was utterly pathetic.
"Then throw them all into the sea!" A vicious glint appeared in Heide's eyes. If he could wipe out the Marines from two branches in one go, his bounty would rise by a huge amount.
When that happened, he would undoubtedly become the strongest pirate in South Blue!
At the same time.
On the deck of a Navy warship.
Lieutenant Colonel Mata was on the mast, observing the pirates' movements. When he saw them approaching, he immediately jumped down from the mast and reported to York, "Lord York, the pirates are coming just as expected."
"They really don't take me seriously."
York smoked a cigarette before saying, "If they're willing to run, we'll be able to make a little more."
"Heh heh." The Marines aboard the ship all laughed.
They understood what "make a little more" meant.
The pirates would abduct people and sell them to human traffickers.
The Heide Pirates were naturally no exception.
The Heide Pirates had captured so many people this time that they were certain to sell them for a great deal of money.
Then, after the transaction, once they defeated the Heide Pirates, they could confiscate all that money in the name of "justice."
York yawned. "Let's finish them off as quickly as possible."
"Oh!" the officers answered in unison.
Like the Heide Pirates, the Marines of Branch 191 were equally confident and didn't take the Heide Pirates seriously at all.
That was because ever since Victor had arrived at Branch 191, he had rigorously trained its Marines, greatly increasing everyone's strength.
As for Victor's own strength, it was even more unfathomable in the officers' eyes!
"Fire!"
At the Navy's command, the warships opened fire.
The six warships began bombarding the pirate ships.
The thirty pirate ships split into two groups. While firing their cannons in retaliation, they took advantage of their lighter hulls and greater speed to maneuver rapidly, attempting to surround the Navy warships.
"They're surrounding us."
"What a bunch of fools who don't know when to quit."
"They'll regret this."
On the warships, every officer and soldier had a murderous glint in their eyes.
They had followed Lord Victor, and their strength had increased tremendously.
Moreover, they had all been tempered through actual combat and were veterans by now.
More importantly, in their eyes, Lord Victor was an invincible existence!
The warships and pirate ships soon came into close contact.
Although several pirate ships were struck by cannon fire and began to burn, the pirate underlings aboard them were extremely excited.
They brandished their swords and guns, ready to leap onto the opposing warships at any moment.
They weren't afraid of the Navy!
"Ho ho ho ho."
Heide also came to the side of the ship, a massive iron hammer gripped in his hand. He was prepared to leap over and smash a huge hole in the enemy warship.
"Charge through them."
At last, Heide leaped into the air, bringing the Pirate Executives and numerous pirate underlings with him as they boarded the warship.
The Marines aboard the warship stood in several rows. The first two rows wielded combat knives, while the rows behind them held rifles.
As the rifles fired, the pirates were shot one after another and fell into the sea.
Clang, clang, clang!!!
Heide wore heavy armor. The bullets struck his body and bounced off one after another.
"Kill them all!"
With Heide's roar, the two sides began fighting at close quarters with blades. He truly lived up to his 45-million-berry bounty. He swung his iron hammer in a sweeping arc, sending the surrounding Marines flying or forcing them to retreat for the moment.
Lieutenant Colonel Mata gripped his sword, his palm tingling. Just now, he had clashed blades with Heide's iron hammer.
"Ho ho ho ho."
Seeing this, Heide grew even more pleased with himself.
"What are you laughing at?"
At that moment, a cold male voice came from behind Heide.
Heide's heart jolted, and he hurriedly turned around.
A black-haired Navy colonel stood behind him, less than a meter away.