Twenty Minutes

Just as all the pirates had been subdued and everyone was preparing to cheer in celebration, a figure fell from the sky and crashed heavily into the harbor.

Rubble flew everywhere, and dust billowed into the air.

The muffled impact boomed in everyone's hearts.

It left them all frozen in place.

Countless eyes turned toward the source of the sound...

A mangled corpse lay amid the shattered ground.

The body was so badly mutilated it was impossible to tell who it was, but the familiar Marine coat made one thing clear: this was the kind of coat only a Navy Vice Admiral could wear!

Was that Vice Admiral Akita?

A Navy Vice Admiral was dead?

Everyone's heart lurched. That was a Navy Vice Admiral! In their eyes, Navy Vice Admirals were among the strongest fighters around.

Aside from Admiral Sengoku, they were the highest combat strength in Marine Headquarters!

The scene fell utterly silent, an eerie stillness.

Everyone stood there, dumbstruck.

Disbelief filled their eyes.

Even Morito was shocked. As far as he could remember, there hadn't been any storylines where a Navy Vice Admiral was killed in battle. Had there?

Sure enough, the era before the Great Pirate Era began—when the Pirate King stood at the top—was the most dangerous and savage of all.

"Boss Bourne won! That Vice Admiral's been taken out!"

"Kill them all!"

"Hahaha!"

The subdued pirate underlings snapped out of their brief shock and began acting up again. A few even sprang into action, launching surprise attacks on the Marines beside them.

Chaos erupted.

More and more of the subdued pirates broke free of their ropes.

The Marines covered the civilians as they retreated.

But it wasn't over.

The death of a Headquarters Vice Admiral had only pushed the Marines and civilians to the brink of collapse.

What finally snapped the taut thread in their hearts was the appearance of two towering figures atop the cliff!

Twin Blade Bourne, with a bounty of 290 million Beli.

Big Barrel Basque, with a bounty of 176 million Beli.

Chotte held a severed head in his hand, its face obscured by blood.

But it wasn't hard to identify the victim: it was Colonel Doug, Vice Admiral Akita's adjutant. With Vice Admiral Akita dead, Colonel Doug had naturally met the same fate.

They should have expected this. They should have prepared themselves.

Yet when they actually saw Colonel Doug's blood-soaked head, everyone's heart gave a violent lurch.

The commander and adjutant aboard a Marine ship were both dead. What were the rest of them supposed to do?

The Marines had an overwhelming advantage in numbers, but against pirates of Bourne and Chotte's caliber, numbers were utterly useless.

In front of truly powerful fighters, numbers were just numbers.

A measure of how strong those fighters were.

"Retreat! Everyone, retreat!"

Second Lieutenant Jimmy shouted at the top of his lungs as he came to his senses.

With the Marines currently stationed on Frances Island, they were no match for Bourne and Chotte—not even enough to fill their teeth.

But they still had a warship. It was their last hope.

All they could do now was get back to the ship as quickly as possible. They had to evacuate as many Marines as they could and save as many civilians as possible.

As for the rest...

"Retreat? If we let you escape, Boss Golden Lion will be furious."

Bourne's lips curled into a cold smile.

Marine Headquarters wanted to start a major war, weaken the Flying Pirates, and restore the prestige they had lost when the Marine G5 Branch was wiped out.

Golden Lion, too, wanted to use this war to proclaim the Flying Pirates' dominance to the world.

Marine Headquarters wanted to win. Golden Lion wanted to win in style!

"Looks like we've been completely outmaneuvered. Golden Lion must have seen right through Marine Headquarters' entire battle plan."

Morito glanced at the hundred or so pirates blocking the harbor and frowned slightly.

It would be easy enough for him to slip away in the chaos.

Looking at Second Lieutenant Jimmy, who stood at the front despite his serious injuries, Morito suddenly felt that the Marines weren't all just useless deadweight after all.

"How long will it take to board?"

Morito's voice rang out without warning.

Second Lieutenant Jimmy froze, then replied without thinking, "At least an hour—no, half an hour. Twenty minutes will be enough!"

"Twenty minutes?"

Morito looked at him in confusion. There were at least ten thousand people here.

Would twenty minutes really be enough?

Was Jimmy planning to evacuate only the Marines and leave the civilians to fend for themselves?

As if he had seen Morito's confusion, Second Lieutenant Jimmy explained, "There isn't room on the warship for everyone. We can only do our best to get the women and children aboard."

"The others—"

"I'll hold those two off. Do your best to get everyone aboard!"

Morito had never fought a Navy Vice Admiral, and he wasn't sure how strong Bourne and Chotte were, but he figured he could hold them off for a while.

Ever since Morito had instantly killed August, the Bourne Pirates' combat squad leader, Second Lieutenant Jimmy had been trying to guess who Morito was.

Now that Morito had stepped forward, Jimmy was even more certain of his theory.

A reserve Marine taking on two pirates with bounties over a hundred million by himself?

That would be pure suicide.

But if he was a student of Admiral Zephyr's Elite Class, that changed everything.

Second Lieutenant Jimmy's attitude did a complete turnaround. He wasn't doubting Morito; he simply asked, still a little worried, "You're going alone?"

"Have Kazan stay behind and back me up."

Morito considered it for a moment before replying.

Kazan was no weakling. To be safe, Morito decided to keep him there.

At that, Second Lieutenant Jimmy's eyes lit up. Kazan must be a student of Admiral Zephyr's Elite Class too, just like Morito!

With those two there, they could definitely hold Bourne and Chotte off for a while!

"All right. We only need to buy twenty minutes!"

In this desperate situation, extraordinary measures were called for.

Second Lieutenant Jimmy didn't hesitate. He immediately ordered the evacuation.

The Marines regrouped and charged at the remnants of the Bourne Pirates. As long as Bourne and Chotte didn't join in, those hundred or so pirates couldn't withstand a single Marine charge.

Noticing the Marines' movements, Bourne looked baffled.

He had thought the Marines would lose heart and be powerless to resist once they realized the situation was hopeless.

Why were they still organizing their forces to launch a counterattack?

"What's gotten into those guys?" Bourne asked in surprise.

"Who cares? Why not just kill them all?"

Chotte drunkenly gulped down some wine, looking as if he might pass out at any moment, yet his words were cruel.

Bourne glanced sideways at Chotte. That drunk was dangerous.

During the battle, Chotte had played a supporting role, but all the fatal wounds on Vice Admiral Akita had been inflicted by him.

"Fine. Let's do it!"

Just as Bourne and Chotte prepared to charge into the crowd and slaughter everyone—

Suddenly!

Two swift whooshes rang out.

Two young Marines in reserve uniforms sprang up the hillside using Geppo. It was Morito and Kazan, and they had landed directly in front of Bourne and Chotte.