Destroying the Branch

Half a month later, Nangong Yan had arranged everything on Fragrant Rice Island. He transformed into a streak of light once more, left the New World, and headed for the North Blue among the Four Blues.

Truthfully, Nangong Yan felt extremely fortunate to have obtained the Golden Crow Fruit. Its flight ability was especially convenient, allowing him to cross the Red Line freely and enter other seas.

Kamui could also do it, but ultra-long-distance spatial teleportation consumed too much stamina. Flying, especially when the sun was overhead, consumed almost no energy and allowed him to remain in peak condition at all times.

At the edge of the North Blue lay Scarmont Island.

Nangong Yan had been flying for a long time. Though his stamina remained abundant, he felt slightly mentally fatigued.

He was in no hurry. The crew member he wanted to recruit was in the North Blue and was not going anywhere, so taking a little extra time did not matter.

He took out a black cloak from the Kamui Dimension and put it on, concealing his appearance. Nangong Yan naturally did not fear being hunted down; no matter how many ordinary Marines came, they would merely be throwing their lives away. Still, being discovered was troublesome, because there would always be overconfident fools coming to disturb him.

Wrapped from head to toe in the black cloak, Nangong Yan entered a lavishly decorated tavern at an unhurried pace. He ordered a drink, sat in a corner, and slowly savored it.

Nangong Yan's attire was not unusual among pirates. Pirates wore all kinds of bizarre outfits, and the tavern was a mixed bag of people. No one would go looking for trouble unless they wanted a free beating.

After resting for a while, Nangong Yan left the tavern and entered a secluded alley, preparing to take off and leave.

Suddenly, Nangong Yan's ears twitched. The conversation coming from inside the courtyard wall startled him, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

Inside the toilet in a corner of the courtyard.

"Sir Ensign, it's almost the middle of the month again. The hunt is finally about to begin, hehehe..."

"Yes, it'll be here soon. Before long, we'll be heading out under the Colonel's command to burn, kill, loot, and rape women again, hehehe..." As he spoke, a burst of lewd, vulgar laughter came from inside the courtyard.

"This feeling is just too good. Usually, we're Marines upholding justice, but then we suddenly turn into evil pirates. Money, power, and desire are all satisfied. It feels incredible."

"Hahaha... No matter how good that feels, it can't compare to playing with women. Come on, let's go back and pick out four women from the secret room. The two of us can have some fun."

"Sure! Thank you for the reward, Sir Ensign. I'll finally get to experience a threesome."

"No need to be polite. Follow me properly, and there'll be endless benefits for you in the future."

"Of course. From now on, I'll follow your lead in everything, sir."

Outside the courtyard wall, Nangong Yan's expression turned strange. He had not expected to stumble upon something like this just by randomly picking a secluded alley... I'm not the Marine inspector general's office, am I?

However, since he had encountered scum within the Marines, Nangong Yan had no intention of simply walking away. It was not because he wanted to clean house for the Marines; he simply could not stand such things. Besides, this counted as leverage against the Marines—an outright Marine scandal.

Nangong Yan quietly vaulted over the wall and slipped into the courtyard. Under the perception of Observation Haki, infiltrating it was effortless.

He seized a lone Marine soldier, hypnotized him with the Sharingan, and extracted information from him. Then Nangong Yan silently slipped outside a room. Hearing the lewd laughter within, he kicked open the door and flashed through the room, knocking out several Marines in an instant.

Under normal circumstances, the women would already have screamed and scattered in every direction. Yet the abnormality in the room did not prompt a single woman to move.

They all lay blankly on the floor, their legs spread apart, their bodies completely naked. Their eyes were hollow and lifeless, as if they had lost their souls and were nothing more than empty shells.

Nangong Yan sighed. "What a sin. Killing someone only means a blow to the head. This kind of behavior is barely any different from that of beasts."

Nangong Yan found some clothes, including Marine uniforms, and used them to cover the girls. He then tied up the Marines and hypnotized them with the Sharingan, making them confess every one of their crimes in detail.

Nangong Yan recorded all of it with a Den Den Mushi camera, saving it as evidence to disgust the Marines in the future—or even blackmail them.

Next, Nangong Yan carried the Marines into the courtyard outside and stuffed wet rags into their mouths. With a flick of his finger, several condensed golden flames of Solar True Flame landed on their bodies, and blazing fire instantly engulfed them.

The Marine soldiers' eyes bulged wide, veins stood out across their bodies, and their faces twisted grotesquely as they let out utterly suppressed screams!

After turning away, Nangong Yan did not spare those Marine scum another glance. He entered the room instead. Those Marines were even more pirate-like than pirates themselves; they deserved death, and being burned alive was hardly too lenient a punishment.

Inside the room, Nangong Yan used the Sharingan's hypnotic power along with genjutsu to hypnotize the girls, who were like walking corpses, and make them forget those painful memories.

Every girl had instinctively wanted to forget those unbearable memories in the first place. With Nangong Yan giving them a push, it was easily done.

Nangong Yan then used genjutsu to weave new memories for them to replace those unbearable ones. Finally, he did the same to the girls in the secret room.

Afterward, he sent them to a safe place on the island. When they awoke, they would remember being abducted by human traffickers, only for the traffickers to clash with pirates. They had escaped amid the chaos.

Perhaps the fabricated memories contained flaws, but they subconsciously believed them, making those flaws irrelevant. Unless they encountered another intensely traumatic incident in the future, they would never remember the days when they had been treated as tools for others' lust.

For them, this was the best possible outcome!

Once that was settled, Nangong Yan flew into the air and arrived above the Marine branch on the island. He drew Eastern Emperor and slashed several times at the largest building in the branch. Massive, sharp silver-white sword energy descended from the sky like the sword of God.

The building was split in two. Several deep ravines appeared throughout the Marine branch, and no one knew how many Marines died beneath Nangong Yan's sword energy.

A shrill alarm rang through the Marine branch. Under the command of their officers, the remaining Marine soldiers and officers gathered and launched a counterattack against Nangong Yan. For a moment, gunfire erupted everywhere.

But it was completely useless. Against true powerhouses, human-wave tactics meant nothing. For example, Red Count Red had once stormed the Red Line alone and slaughtered his way through the World Government's army. Even the current Marine Fleet Admiral, Kong, had once been defeated by him.

Of course, Red Count Red later paid a terrible price for his actions. Surrounded and attacked by Marine powerhouses, he was captured and thrown into the great deep-sea prison!

The Marine branches in the Four Blues were simply too weak, especially compared to powerhouses who roamed the New World. The gap was enormous.

There were very few commanders in the Four Blues' Marine branches who even knew Haki. They had no chance of stopping Nangong Yan, whose strength rivaled that of an Admiral! Moreover, Nangong Yan's strength had recently increased somewhat, especially in swordsmanship. After battling Golden Lion, the world's greatest swordsman, he had already touched upon the realm of a Great Swordsman.

Sword energy fell like rain, judging evil; blazing flames descended, burning everything away!

In half a quarter-hour, no traces of life could be sensed in the Marine branch on all of Scarmont Island. The entire branch had become ruins, torn apart by sword energy. Raging flames engulfed the Marine branch, and thick black smoke billowed into the sky!

Avoiding the thick smoke, Nangong Yan spread his Observation Haki over the entire Marine branch. Once he sensed no signs of life, he flew into the sky and departed.

After Nangong Yan left, in a corner at the edge of the Marine branch.

A middle-aged man wearing a Justice cloak, with a handsome left side of his face and a scar across his right cheek, suddenly crawled out of an ash-gray wall like a caterpillar. He stared resentfully in the direction Nangong Yan had gone.

A quarter-hour later, a loud bang came from the Fleet Admiral's office at Marine Headquarters, Marineford, followed by Fleet Admiral Kong's furious voice.

"Demon Emperor Nangong Yan! That bastard actually wiped out one of our Marine branches without distinguishing right from wrong. This is going too far!"

"Transmit my order! Mobilize the Marine intelligence network and request support from the CP organization. Find out where that bastard Nangong Yan is in the North Blue."

"Also, tell Sengoku, Akainu, and Kizaru to put down whatever they're doing and go kill him. Does he really think the Marines are made of clay?"

"Yes, Fleet Admiral!"

Unaware of Fleet Admiral Kong's fury, Nangong Yan was currently resting on a reef, leisurely drinking wine and eating meat to replenish his strength.