Ambush!

Under the fierce suppression of naval artillery fire on the sea, the pirates who had poked their heads out immediately retreated.

In terms of numbers, pirates on the sea were like carp crossing the river, far outnumbering the Navy.

In terms of equipment, apart from some pirates, most of the guns, cannons, swords, and sabers in the hands of pirates were leftovers from the Navy.

"Good, blast them like that!"

Akita leaped into the air using Geppo, and at the same time, he ordered a nearby Second Lieutenant, "I'll disrupt the enemy's formation, you lead your team to follow up when the opportunity arises!"

"Understood!"

The Second Lieutenant responded and quickly organized his forces.

He only had about twenty Marine soldiers who had landed on the island with him. His task was to secure a favorable position and coordinate with the follow-up Marine soldiers from the warships to land.

On the speedboat, Kazan looked at the smoking mountaintop with a look of horror, then turned to Morito.

Was this a coincidence?

This wasn't a coincidence, was it!

Could this guy predict the future?

The targeted bombardment point was precisely where Morito had specifically instructed!

When the cannons fired, he had specifically looked at that spot. There was nothing special about it; the forest was dense, and it was almost impossible to discern any issues.

But it was precisely this shot!

It directly blew through the pirate ambush, forcing the Bourne Pirates to come out and fight head-on!

Vice Admiral Akita's warship had about a thousand soldiers. The Bourne Pirates, at full strength, only had just over three hundred.

The captain of the Bourne Pirates, Bourne, had a bounty of 290 million Beli, but they were facing the veteran Vice Admiral Akita Jiichiro!

Not to mention that Vice Admiral Akita had the upper hand against Bourne, but in a head-on battle, he was absolutely not at a disadvantage.

If they fought head-on, the Navy's chances of winning were very high.

Otherwise, Marine Headquarters wouldn't have sent just one warship. They had calculated that they could win this battle.

If they had fallen into an ambush, the outcome would have been uncertain.

Finally, Kazan couldn't suppress his curiosity.

He opened his mouth and asked, "How did you know the Bourne Pirates were hiding in that place?"

"Intuition."

Morito casually brushed him off.

Intuition?

Kazan's pupils suddenly constricted. Are you kidding me?!

"Don't celebrate too early; things aren't that simple."

Morito said abruptly.

Kazan immediately snapped back to attention.

He gazed intently at the battle at the port. That Marine Second Lieutenant indeed had some skills, managing to secure a strategic location with only about twenty men.

The warships behind were rapidly approaching, and soon the thousand-plus Marine soldiers from the warships would be able to land and fight.

Vice Admiral Akita had already engaged Bourne in battle.

It was clearly an advantageous situation!

"What else did you discover?" With his previous foresight, Kazan subconsciously asked.

"Intuition senses danger."

Morito replied with a serious expression.

This time it was genuine intuition sensing something was wrong. The last time was purely because he didn't want to expose the secret of the Byakugan, so he'd casually brushed it off.

The Bourne Pirates and the Marines led by Vice Admiral Akita were at best a 40/60 split.

Unless they were idiots, they must have a backup plan.

Were there idiots in the pirate world?

It seemed there really were!

With a hint of doubt, Morito and Kazan also landed and joined the battle behind the main force.

Kazan, who had been itching for a fight, drew his standard-issue Marine saber and dashed out with a swift stride, bypassing the vanguard and charging straight to the front.

In the forest on the mountainside, Akita and Bourne were fighting. They were the highest combatants on both sides, and no one else could interfere in their battle.

Marines and pirates alike avoided the battlefield where the two were fighting.

"Drawing Slash!"

"Heavy Strike!"

Both were sword masters. One wielded a heavy, powerful blade, the other a light, agile one. The moment they attacked, their moves were deadly, sparing no effort.

Regardless of how the Marine soldiers and the Bourne Pirates fought below, the final outcome depended on them.

Clang!

They clashed once and immediately separated.

Seeing Akita calmly and unhurriedly defending, Bourne sneered, "Do you think you've already won?"

"Don't you?"

Akita raised an eyebrow and retorted.

In terms of individual strength, he and Bourne were at a 6-4 ratio; in terms of overall strength, the Marines had an elite force of a thousand soldiers, while the Bourne Pirates had barely over three hundred.

No matter how you looked at it, the Marines held the absolute advantage, didn't they?

"Look there!"

Bourne raised the katana in his hand and pointed in the direction behind Akita, towards the town on the island.

"You think such a crude trick can fool me?"

Akita thought Bourne was trying to trick him into looking back, but he wouldn't fall for it.

However, the next second, Akita's expression changed drastically.

He quickly turned his head and indeed saw a dense mass of figures, armed with sabers and spears, appearing at the narrow intersection.

"How is this possible!"

Akita exclaimed in disbelief.

At a glance, the figures surging from the town were dense, numbering at least over three thousand!

Three thousand was not an exact number, but Akita's estimation.

Where did the Bourne Pirates get so many people?

The intelligence was wrong; Frances Island had more than one Bourne Pirates group!

Without giving Akita much time to think, Bourne seized the moment of his distraction to launch a surprise attack. His katana swung horizontally towards Akita's waist as it neared.

Sensing the chilling killing intent, Akita snapped back to reality and quickly lowered his sword to block.

Clang!!

The two katanas collided violently, sparks flying.

Akita stared at Bourne with a grim expression and asked in a deep voice, "Where did you get so many people? Did Golden Lion arrange this?"

Besides Golden Lion knowing the Marines' battle plan in advance and secretly reinforcing troops on various islands, he couldn't think of any other possibility.

If that were true, it would mean there was a spy within the Marines!

What Akita worried about was not the battle on Frances Island, but the entire war situation of the Marine fleet!

"Who knows!" Bourne licked his lips, revealing a bloodthirsty smile. "You should worry about yourself first!"

"Then I'll take you down first, and then deal with them!"

Akita's eyes narrowed, and the strength in his hands increased by several points.

If the Marines were fighting with a force disparity of one thousand against three hundred, he could steadily defeat Bourne.

But now the advantage had shifted; the pirates had thousands of people, so he couldn't attack "slowly." He had to end the battle as quickly as possible!

Speed leads to chaos, and chaos leads to mistakes.

This was Bourne's objective.

Akita's strength was slightly superior to Bourne's, so Bourne used a method of disrupting Akita's mind to make him err. In battle, even the slightest mistake could affect the final outcome.

After all, their strengths were not that different, and Akita couldn't be sure of victory against Bourne.

"Roar!! Kill them!"

The battle below at the intersection had entered a white-hot state. The pirates who rushed out from the town charged the Marine positions like madmen, disregarding casualties.

Akita was anxious, and Bourne seized the opportunity, slashing his arm!

The scales of battle immediately tipped in favor of the pirates.