"Wheee—"
The sharp whistle of a cannonball tearing through the air instantly put the Marines aboard the patrol ship on alert. Santos, who had looked calm just a second ago and had been about to tell Yoriichi not to overthink things, dropped flat onto the deck the moment he heard it. His movement was so practiced it was almost painful to watch.
"It's a cannonball! Get down!"
Santos, lying prone, looked up and saw that Yoriichi was still standing. He hurriedly shouted in alarm and reached out to pull Tsugikuni Yoriichi down, but no matter how he tugged, he could not move Yoriichi.
In midair, a black dot rapidly grew closer. Within just a few breaths, the cannonball reached them and crashed into the waters ahead of the patrol ship, exploding with a boom.
The explosion stirred up waves upon waves, making the patrol ship rock violently.
"Enemy attack!! It's an enemy attack!!"
"Accelerate and evade! Avoid the cannon fire!"
"Accelerate and evade! Avoid the cannon fire!"
After the ranging shot ceased, cries from the Marines rang out across the patrol ship's deck.
Hearing no further cannon fire, Santos sprang up from the deck and shouted orders.
This Marine patrol ship had three squads of Marines, each consisting of twenty men and led by a sergeant.
The three squads were respectively responsible for steering and navigation, patrol and security, and lookout duty.
As a sergeant, Santos was already the highest-ranking "officer" aboard this vessel.
At Santos's shout, the Marines on deck began relaying his orders, hoping to pass them on to the bridge. Yet at that very moment, the moving patrol ship suddenly came to a stop, its broadside turned toward the distant pirate ship's cannons.
"It stopped?!"
"Why did it suddenly stop?!"
"What is Buler doing?!"
Seeing the patrol