The Pledge

As Zhu Mang's words fell, an eerie silence descended over the Moby Dick.

Marco's expression turned extremely grim.

On one hand, he truly feared Zhu Mang's strength. Even his old man, Whitebeard, had been no match for this man—how could he possibly resist?

Moreover, what Whitebeard had done before his death had clearly been meant to secure a way out for them.

That had been the old man's final wish!

But on the other hand, nearly every pirate here was like a brother or sister to him.

They had drunk together, sung together, and held feasts together...

"Damn it!" Marco slammed his fist down hard in front of him.

Yet when he looked up, all he saw was a pair of cold eyes carrying a faint hint of amusement.

The fire in his heart was instantly extinguished.

"Remember my words. Take your younger brothers and sisters, and live well."

"I believe this man can lead you to overthrow the Celestial Dragons' evil rule. I truly want to see that day come..."

Marco's heart was torn between heaven and earth. On one side was the old man's final wish; on the other were his former brothers.

It felt as if his heart were being cut by knives!

"Don't think you can kill every pirate! Pirates are free!!!" A captain from the New World roared as he charged over. Armament Haki coated his blade as he brought it crashing down at Zhu Mang with a howl of wind.

The curve of Zhu Mang's lips slowly widened, eventually turning into a dangerous smile.

Panic rose in Marco's heart.

Boom!

Flames surged from his body as he instantly appeared before Zhu Mang, crossing his arms to block the man's attack for him.

Slash!

Marco's arm was cut open, and blood burst forth.

"Karma! Didn't you hear what the old man said before he died?" Marco shouted angrily.

The attacker was an octopus fish-man, the captain of the Octopus Pirates, as well as a fish-man swordsman who fought with six blades.

Marco remembered him.

In the past, the fish-men and merfolk of Fish-Man Island had been classified by humans as "fish" and subjected to terrible discrimination.

After the Great Pirate Era began, many Marines and pirates passing through the area carried out large-scale kidnappings and plundering of the island's fish-men and merfolk, because young female merfolk could fetch high prices in human slave markets.

Later, the Whitebeard Pirates drove away the pirates invading Fish-Man Island and brought the island under their protection.

Marco had taken part in that battle.

Karma had been one of the heroes of the Fish-Man District, and he had fought alongside him in that battle.

After the battle, they had even drunk together.

However, Karma had a brutal nature and refused to be bound by rules. Unable to accept the restrictions of the Whitebeard Pirates, he had left to establish his own crew with a group of fish-man thugs from the Fish-Man District.

Since Whitebeard himself had been born a commoner and had suffered greatly from war and poverty in his childhood, he had strictly ordered his men never to prey upon civilians, no matter what.

But there were so many pirates under the Whitebeard Pirates, scattered all over the place, that it was impossible for him to keep them all under complete control.

Thus, there had been no shortage of incidents involving the plundering of ordinary merchant ships and the murder of civilians.

Even though Whitebeard had repeatedly forbidden it, they merely obeyed on the surface while defying him behind his back.

After all, they were a pirate crew, not an army.

"Brother Marco, this is the last time I'll call you brother! From the day I left Fish-Man Island, I swore that I would become a free pirate! I'll kill every last human!!!" After saying this, Karma the octopus fish-man let out a furious roar and charged forward once more.

Marco's body trembled slightly before he finally let out a sigh.

Whoosh—

Phoenix Flame swept across his wound, instantly healing it.

He lunged forward as well and engaged Karma in battle.

Once the two began fighting, the pirates behind them split into three factions.

One faction followed Marco and prepared to honor Whitebeard's final wish.

Another was like Karma the octopus fish-man, refusing to yield even unto death.

The remaining faction was more "slippery." Taking advantage of the chaos erupting here, they tried to quietly sail away.

Zhu Mang watched everything he had stirred up with cold eyes, without the slightest ripple in his heart.

The memories of slaughter he had "inherited" from the original owner had made such scenes feel commonplace to him.

As for those slippery ones trying to slip away...

Whether they had chosen to leave out of brotherhood or a yearning for so-called "pirate freedom," he would not allow it at this moment!

Zhu Mang extended a finger.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

Energy blasts flew from his fingertips one after another.

Each energy blast that landed on a pirate ship erupted with an explosion precise enough to engulf the entire vessel, vaporizing both the ship and everyone aboard from the face of the earth.

After he had blown up four or five pirate ships, the remaining ships trying to flee noticed this as well and immediately turned back.

But Zhu Mang had already set his sights on them.

And so—

Boom, boom—

Several more explosions rang out.

Every pirate ship that had broken formation vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, aboard the Moby Dick, the ice between the Moby Dick and the other pirate crews had already descended into a chaotic melee.

Zhu Mang watched for a few moments. Estimating that it would still take them a while to determine a victor, he shot into the air and left the area.

With his speed, even if those people tried to run, he could easily catch up and wipe them out one by one.

"What... what have you done?" Sengoku stared dumbfoundedly at the pirates in utter disarray.

"Nothing much. Just clearing out some trash I didn't like the look of," Zhu Mang said casually. "Oh, right, I just remembered—there's trash in the Marines too. Shouldn't you, the Fleet Admiral, find an opportunity to clean house properly as well?"

He remembered that in the original story, people like Colonel Morgan of East Blue, Colonel Nezumi, and that naval officer from the Thousand-Year Dragon movie who was as fat as a mountain of meat were all local tyrants who abused their authority.

Still, comparatively speaking, the Marines were better than pirates.

Most Marines possessed a fairly strong sense of justice.

Especially the Marines on the Grand Line; most of them lived up to their roles.

The scum was more commonly found in the Four Seas, where Marine Headquarters had a harder time reaching.

In short—

Finding a good person among the chaotic camp of pirates was like panning for gold in shit.

Finding a bad person in the orderly camp of the Marines was like finding a bug in rice.

In any case, he was only doing this on a whim. He had no intention of becoming some ruler of the One Piece World, so he would leave the cleansing of the Marines to Sengoku and the others.

"I'll deal with the scum in the Marines!"

Akainu's voice rang out, and his figure appeared nearby at the same time.

Though his clothes were somewhat tattered and bandages were wrapped beneath them, making him look a little worse for wear, he seemed to be in good spirits as he emerged with a cigar clenched between his teeth.

He was, after all, an Admiral in his prime—a physical monster who could fight Aokiji for ten days and ten nights. Even after taking a direct hit from Whitebeard, he had recovered this quickly.