Putting his tangled thoughts aside.
After sorting everything out, Will had no intention of lingering in this ugly rat's nest any longer.
He folded the confidential documents and slipped them into his pocket.
Just as he was about to turn and leave, Will suddenly stopped, as if something had occurred to him.
He picked up the map of the Marine Branch base from the desk and opened it to take a quick look.
After finding the location he needed,
Will tossed the map aside, turned, and strode over. One punch shattered the door, and he headed downstairs, retracing his route.
The moment he stepped outside,
Will saw the townspeople standing amid a sea of Marine soldiers, their faces filled with terror.
But he had no time to explain anything. With a cold expression, he walked over and ordered them sternly:
"Go to the dock and find a ship that can fit all of you."
"Then sail in that direction and wait near the other ship over there."
As he spoke, he pointed toward the place where his own ship was moored.
The townspeople were cowed by Will's imposing presence. The moment they heard his words, they nodded repeatedly, their faces full of fear.
Whoosh!
Seeing this, Will said no more. He turned and vanished from sight.
The sight left everyone badly shaken. They barely had time to think before those who knew how to sail hurried toward the shore to find a suitable ship.
The others quickly came to their senses and followed.
Everyone moved with great urgency, afraid that even the slightest delay would leave them suffering the same fate as the Marines on the ground.
A few seconds later,
Will appeared in front of a huge warehouse inside the Marine Branch.
Looking at the large warehouse, which was only a little shorter than the building that housed Rat Captain's office, Will murmured, "So this is the Marine Branch's Arsenal. I didn't expect it to be so big."
Then he walked up to the warehouse doors.
Ignoring the turning wheel beside them, which was meant to open the doors, Will simply reached out with both hands and pushed open the two metal doors, each more than ten meters wide.
The heavy doors scraped rapidly across the ground, letting out a piercing creak.
Once they were open, Will strode inside.
But when he saw what was stored within, a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.
The Arsenal was packed with all kinds of guns and ammunition.
On top of that, there were mountains of barrels filled with explosives.
More than two-thirds of the warehouse was taken up by those barrels.
Once Will recovered from his surprise, a thought came to him:
"No wonder Rat Captain seemed so confident."
"It's not just because he has the Marines behind him. He also has plenty of firepower of his own."
The explosives in this warehouse alone were enough to destroy an ordinary town.
Even if Arlong and his fish-men came knocking, they would probably be doomed.
Sure, this wasn't an era when bombs ruled the battlefield yet.
But with numbers like these, they could easily make all the difference. At the very least, wiping out some cannon fodder would be no problem.
Looking at the piles of barrels inside the warehouse, Will came up with a brilliant idea.
He wasted no time putting it into action.
He strode forward, grabbed a barrel in each hand, and carried them all outside, arranging them around the open space in front of the warehouse.
After swiftly setting everything up,
Will looked at the many barrels of explosives arranged around him. He didn't feel the slightest bit tired as he thought to himself:
It's all for the sake of art.
Then, without wasting another moment, he moved and vanished. A few seconds later, he reappeared among the townspeople.
By then, they had already found a Cargo Ship used for transporting supplies, just as he had ordered.
Though Will had told them to board and sail in the specified direction, they hadn't dared to leave on their own.
So they had gathered in an open area and waited quietly.
Whoosh!
When Will suddenly appeared before them,
The townspeople tensed up, and a hint of "loyalty" instinctively surfaced in their eyes.
Will paid no attention to their reaction.
First, he glanced at the ship moored nearby.
Then he looked over the townspeople and saw that there were nearly a hundred of them.
Will nodded with satisfaction. "Good. You've done very well!"
"Now keep following my instructions. Take every Marine you saw lying on the ground when you came up here—"
"Every last one of them—and carry them to that place over there where the barrels are piled up."
As he spoke, he pointed in the general direction.
The townspeople froze. Many of them looked at the large number of Marines lying unconscious nearby.
The Marines had already lost the ability to fight back.
But years of oppression and beatings had left the townspeople feeling uneasy.
Still, they didn't dare disobey the orders of a terrifying man who had taken down so many vicious Marines. Everyone present acted utterly obedient.
Even the wariness they had maintained in the underground prison had vanished without a trace.
The townspeople simply believed that if they didn't obey Will, they would meet the same fate as the Marines on the ground.
Once they came to their senses, they quickly nodded in response.
Will furrowed his brow, unsure whether they had really understood.
So he walked over again, grabbed two townspeople like chicks, and carried them around the corner.
Then Will lifted the two trembling men high and pointed more precisely toward the Arsenal.
"Got it? The barrels are piled up over there."
When the two nodded blankly, he lowered his hands and looked down at them.
"Good. Go show the others the way. Don't get the location wrong."
"Yes, sir!"
The two townspeople stiffened and instinctively raised their hands in salute, shouting their reply.
Will stared at them in surprise, then decided not to dwell on it and turned to leave.
He didn't want to waste any more time here.
There were still plenty of Marines scattered around the island, unconscious in other places. He needed to go retrieve them.
A short while later,
As the townspeople struggled to carry the Marines toward the Arsenal,
Will had also brought back every Marine from the other parts of the island.
Looking at the towering pile of bodies on the open ground in front of the Arsenal, Will nodded with satisfaction, then gave the townspeople another order:
"All right, I don't need you for anything else."
"Everyone, get to the shore and board the ship at once. Sail to the place I specified earlier!"
"Yes, sir!"
The townspeople seemed to have grown used to Will's orders. They instinctively raised their hands in salute and shouted their reply.
As he watched them hurry toward the ship on the shore,
Will stood still and silently watched them go.
Thinking of the preparations he had just made, a trace of anticipation flashed in his eyes.
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