The Navy Attacks

After throwing Rhode's body into the sea, Louis lowered the sails and continued steering the ship, racing out of the storm.

Rhode was strong. In a real fight, Louis wouldn't have had much chance of winning. After all, Rhode was a New World pirate with two types of Haki. But unfortunately, just like Baro, he didn't know Louis's tricks and had easily fallen for them. Besides, he'd already been badly injured after being struck by the Roger Pirates, and then Louis had ambushed him. It would have been surprising if Louis hadn't managed to turn the tables.

The storm grew ever more violent. Lightning struck the sea around them again and again, but Louis's mind had settled. Even the finest navigator would be of little help now. In the face of such a natural disaster, all they could do was leave it to fate. At any moment, a bolt of lightning might strike the ship, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

"Help! Somebody, help!"

After they'd been sailing for a while, Louis heard someone calling for help.

A man bobbed up and down in the sea. As soon as he saw Louis's ship approaching, he began shouting for help.

"Hmm."

Louis considered it for a moment, then decisively went to the side of the ship and tossed the rope he'd used to rescue Rhode to the man in the water.

"Puh—ahhh!"

Once he climbed aboard, the man threw up for a good while. Then the man, who looked to be in his twenties, slumped onto the deck and gasped, "I thought I was done for!"

"You all right? If you are, climb up to the mast and get ready to take in the sails at any moment."

Louis steered the ship and got straight to the point. "I can't manage everything by myself."

"Oh, oh! Sure."

The man nodded repeatedly and jumped onto the mast. Only then did he belatedly call down to Louis, "Ah, I almost forgot! Thank you so much, brother! You saved my life!"

"Don't mention it. We're all allies in the Golden Lion Pirates, right?"

Louis spoke casually. "I'm Mario, of the Blood Hand Pirates."

"Oh! The Blood Hand Pirates? I remember you. You were involved in that murder the other day—"

The man suddenly fell silent. "Sorry. I'm Shak, of the Great White Shark Pirates. Uh, the crew doesn't exist anymore, anyway. Haha..."

His voice grew low. "We were completely defeated..."

"But we're both still alive, aren't we? No matter how hopeless things seem, as long as we're alive—"

Louis turned the helm, avoiding a wave. "There'll still be a chance to find hope."

"Hahaha, that's right. I'm still alive, after all!"

Shak pressed a hand to his chest, feeling his heart beating steadily, and laughed. "Can I survive the rest of this with you, Mr. Mario?"

"Sure."

Louis wasn't about to refuse. "Once you're aboard this ship, we're partners, right?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!"

"Help! Somebody, help!"

The cries for help rang out clearly once again.

"..."

Shak looked down at Louis.

"I can't spare a hand."

Louis kept one hand on the helm.

"Got it!"

Shak grinned and dropped onto the deck.

As they pushed onward, more and more people joined the ship. No one knew how many had died in the storm, but quite a few had survived. Nearly twenty people had now gathered aboard Louis's little ship.

And those who'd managed to hold on in the sea until Louis sailed by were all formidable fighters. Five of them were pirate captains under the Golden Lion Grand Fleet, including three ruthless men with bounties exceeding a hundred million.

Getting along with other pirates was no easy task. A group of unruly men thrown together could easily cause trouble. But when they were all in the same boat, it was different—especially with Louis, who had saved all their lives, among them. Pirates valued loyalty above all else.

Before long, Louis had somehow become the leader of a ship full of ruthless pirates.

The little ship surged through the waves. With all of them working together, even enormous waves couldn't easily overwhelm them. One man alone might not be able to do it, but together they could break through even the mightiest waves. Faced with a situation like this, even the most unruly men began to stand shoulder to shoulder.

"Kalala!"

Just then, a wave of cold swept over them.

"What? Hey! Look at the sea over there!"

Shark Shak, the former captain of the Great White Shark Pirates, crouched on the mast. With a bounty of 132 million, he cried out in alarm, "It's all frozen!!!"

"Really!"

"What's going on? It's frozen?"

"What happened?"

The ship instantly erupted in chatter.

"It's a Devil Fruit user!"

Ghost Sword Sword, the First Mate of the Blade Pirates, clutched his sword and gritted his teeth. He had a bounty of 156 million. "I've seen this ability before!"

"Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral!"

Louis spoke up at once. "Kuzan, the Ice-Ice Fruit user—one of the three monstrous new recruits who've been making a name for themselves in the Marines. That's his name, right?"

"That's him."

Sword held his left hand, which bore clear signs of frostbite. "He's as strong as a monster!"

"So that means..." Shak jumped down from the mast. "The Marines are here?"

"What should we do, Mr. Mario?"

The man had a warm smile and looked to be in his forties, but his brows were tightly furrowed. He was slender as a snake, with two curved swords at his waist. Viper Snake had a bounty of 187 million, the highest on the ship, and was a lone pirate. "We have no way to fight the Marines, do we?"

"We have no choice but to retreat."

Louis turned the helm. He hadn't expected that trying to escape the battlefield and stay away from the Marines would lead him straight toward them. He'd completely lost his sense of direction—a major blunder. "If their targets are Admiral Golden Lion and Roger, then they've probably sent out more than one monster of Admiral rank! We'd just be throwing our lives away if we went near them!"

"Puhahaha! So that means..."

Shak laughed heartily. "We're taking to our heels?"

"We're running for our lives," Louis said with a grin. "Everyone, give it everything you've got!"

"Tch. Can't be helped."

Snake shook his head.

"The fight between Admiral Golden Lion and Roger must be almost over, right?"

Sword looked up. The huge ship was no longer visible in the sky. It had entered the clouds and disappeared from sight.

The little ship changed course and headed in another direction.

"Hey! The ice is spreading this way! What a monster! How's he doing that from so far away?"

"Break it! Smash the ice! Don't let it freeze the ship!"

The crew scrambled into action. The more powerful men began smashing the ice as it crept toward the ship. Fortunately, whether due to the limits of the ability or the user's strength, the ice didn't keep chasing the little ship. It spread in other directions, stopped once it had enclosed this stretch of sea, and went no farther.

"So this is..."

Louis was no longer at the helm. The storm had begun to ease, and there was now a professional helmsman aboard who was no less skilled than him. Standing at the bow and looking out at the sea around them, he saw that the white ice had almost completely enclosed this stretch of ocean. "We've been trapped like turtles in a jar?"

"Mr. Mario, things aren't looking good!"

Shak walked over to Louis, clutching his hair.

"Behind us!! A Marine warship has been spotted behind us!!!!! The Marines are catching up!!!"

From the mast, the pirate who'd taken over lookout duty from Shak shouted down.

"They're here?"

Louis gritted his teeth. The Marines' arrival was the most dangerous part.

"Hey, is it suddenly getting hot?"

"Doesn't the sky look a little red?"

"Is there something up there? It looks like there's something in the dark clouds."

"Could it be..."

Louis suddenly looked up.

"Boom!!"

The clouds suddenly split apart, and a massive dark-red chunk of molten rock came crashing down from above, bringing tremendous force and heat with it.

"What is that!!!!"

Sword cried out.

In the sky, chunks of magma larger than their little ship rained down with a roar. Like a meteor shower, they streaked toward them, pounding down ahead.

"Is this the end of the world!!!"

Someone clutched his head, tears streaming down his face as he let out a desperate, terrified howl.

"Damn it!!!! Everyone, this is the moment to give it everything you've got!!"

Louis shouted, "Don't let the ship get destroyed!!"

Only now did the real escape begin.