"Cannon fire? No boarding action?"
Luomen blurted out, apparently surprised by Morito's decision.
It wasn't just Luomen. Everyone else was also taken aback by Morito's decision.
Cannon fire was indeed one of the most important parts of naval warfare. If they could sink the enemy ship and send it to the bottom of the sea, that would certainly be the easiest option.
But there was one thing to keep in mind!
Their naval battle exercises weren't just training. More importantly, they were meant to earn military merits—with Zephyr, who had Admiral-level strength, backing them up.
When they ran into pirates under these circumstances, they'd usually roll up their sleeves and charge right in!
If a few cannon volleys smashed the ship and sent everything to the bottom of the sea,
where would they get their military merits?
"What, are you eager for a boarding action?" Morito asked.
"Under normal circumstances, when we encounter pirates, we should take advantage of our superior firepower and attack their ship to minimize casualties."
Kazan explained on Luomen's behalf.
After a pause, he added, "But our purpose in going to sea this time isn't to test the warship's firepower."
They were here for live combat training—to earn military merits!
At that, Morito understood.
He didn't care about military merits, but that didn't mean the others didn't.
Clearly, Kazan, Momonga, and Ulysses were here to earn merits. They'd boarded because the officer leading this warship was too weak, and they were confident they could earn more merits through their own strength.
"Do all of you feel the same way?"
Morito looked around. There was no doubt about it—everyone would much rather have a boarding action.
He didn't want the hassle, but since that was what everyone wanted, it wouldn't do for him to forcefully go against them all by himself.
As he'd said from the start, Morito didn't expect to have a close relationship with these people. Keeping things cordial on the surface was enough.
"Fine. Take us over to their ship."
At Morito's command, the warship turned around and headed straight for the pirate ship.
The joy on the Luo brothers' faces flickered and vanished.
They exchanged a glance. Vice Admiral Tarantula hadn't lied to them after all. They'd barely left the waters near Marine Headquarters, and already he'd arranged an opportunity for them!
The opportunity was there. Whether they could seize it was up to them.
The warship cut through the waves and headed straight toward the pirate ship.
Everyone on deck had their own thoughts.
The air fell silent.
Five or six nautical miles from the warship, a pirate ship was fleeing at full speed.
The hull bore numerous marks from cannon fire.
They'd clearly just been through a fierce fight. They'd only managed to break away for a short while, and the other group was still hot on their heels.
"Captain, the Marines have spotted us! That warship is heading this way!"
"The group behind us is still chasing! What do we do?"
A pirate underling asked anxiously. They were caught between a rock and a hard place, facing the worst battle they'd had since setting sail!
The Marines showed no mercy to pirates, and pirates were even more vicious toward one another.
Captain Gāogǔ stood at the bow, his expression grim. He gripped the railing, leaving five deep fingerprints in it with the force of his inner strength.
The ones pursuing them were the Vulture Pirates, part of the Flying Pirates' grand fleet led by the Great Pirate Golden Lion.
Their captain, Vulture, was a ruthless man with a bounty of over a hundred million.
Gāogǔ couldn't match Vulture in strength alone. He'd only escaped the fight thanks to sheer luck.
And now they'd run into the Marines.
There was no way they could survive being caught between the Marines and the Vulture Pirates!
On top of that, their ship had taken several cannonballs and wouldn't hold out much longer.
In that case, the only option was to stir things up and get the Marines and Vulture fighting. Then they could look for a chance to escape!
A cold glint flashed in Gāogǔ's eyes. "Charge straight at them!"
"Charge where?"
The pirate underling didn't understand. Surely the captain didn't mean that kind of charge??
Captain Gāogǔ grabbed the pirate underling and lifted him up, his face dark as he growled, "Head straight for the Marine warship!"
"But..." The pirate underling hesitated, thinking his captain had lost his mind.
This wreck was going to take on the Marines head-on?
That was like laying a bedroll beside a cesspit—asking for shit (death)!
"How much longer do you think this wreck, which is about to sink, can hold out?" Captain Gāogǔ asked coldly.
At sea, losing your ship meant you were halfway to death.
They knew exactly what shape their own ship was in.
If they didn't reach shore or find another ship soon, a single big wave could wipe them all out.
"Captain, you mean..."
The pirate underling wasn't as dumb as he looked. He immediately caught Gāogǔ's meaning.
Get the Marines and the Vulture Pirates fighting, then take advantage of the chaos to steal the warship and escape!
The best ship at sea was, of course, a warship!
"I'll turn the ship around right away!"
On the warship's deck, Morito had been keeping an eye on the Gāogǔ Pirates. He'd even spotted the Vulture Pirates farther behind them.
"That wreck of a ship actually changed course and is coming straight at us?"
"They probably want to lead the pirate ship behind them over here. It has a bald bird painted on its flag!"
The captain had some nerve. He was a clever one, too.
Morito calmly took out a stack of wanted posters and began flipping through them one by one.
A bounty of a hundred million was a major threshold for pirates.
In the most chaotic seas after the Rocks Pirates disbanded, a bounty of a hundred million carried a lot of weight—even matching three to five hundred million in the Great Pirate Era.
Morito was looking through the wanted posters of pirates with bounties over a hundred million.
"Did you spot something?"
Momonga was sharp-eyed. Seeing Morito flipping through the wanted posters, he immediately asked.
Morito didn't want to reveal the secret of his Byakugan.
At this distance, the Marines in the warship's lookout hadn't even reported anything. How could he bring it up himself?
"Nothing. Just checking out some famous names on the sea, so we don't get caught off guard later. Uh, so the ship doesn't get caught off guard."
Morito improvised.
Momonga didn't understand Morito's unfamiliar expression.
But Kazan thought Morito was worried the warship might capsize. He smiled and said, "The warship we're aboard may be classified as a small warship, but its performance is far beyond that of ninety-nine percent of pirate ships."
"Even a huge storm couldn't capsize it!"
"Is that so? Good."
Morito answered absent-mindedly, then paused as he flipped through the posters.
He'd found the pirate flag with the vulture emblem!
The Vulture Pirates, under the Great Pirate Golden Lion's Flying Pirates: Captain Vulture, bounty of 102 million Beli.
"That's quite something. I run into one of Golden Lion's subordinates the moment I head out?"
Morito glanced at the brief description of Vulture's ability on the wanted poster.
Vulture was a nickname, based on his Devil Fruit Ability.
Zoan Zoan Fruit Model Vulture.
"Vulture should be able to fly, right? If he can, how did that pirate ship that's about to sink manage to get this far away?"
Out at sea, the Gāogǔ Pirates and the Vulture Pirates had kept a certain distance between them the whole time.
It wasn't because the Gāogǔ Pirates were fast. The Vulture Pirates had deliberately held back!
"They should've spotted us at this distance. Looks like they're deliberately driving the pirate ship ahead of them toward us."
"Are they trying to use the Marines to take out those pirates? Or do they have some other motive?"
Before you continue