Moss Head Crashes In

BOOM!!!!!!

Two crimson pillars of flame, condensed from immense spiritual power, shot from Tashigi's palms and slammed directly into the gates of the Marine base.

The scorching flames exploded at once, their overwhelming shockwave sweeping across the entire entrance of the Marine base!

In an instant!

The once-sealed Marine base became a wide-open seaside playground.

Spiritual flames burned eerily atop the sea.

The firelight painted Tashigi's pretty face crimson.

She waved her hand lightly.

"Little Tiga, please sail the ship in."

"Sure thing!" Little Tiga grinned.

The massive vessel charged straight in like a giant dragon, entering the Marine 16th Branch.

At this moment,

a group of Marines from the 16th Branch were still dumbfounded, having no idea what had happened.

It was not until they saw the Tiga emerge from the sea of flames, along with the pirate flag fluttering above it...

that they realized something had gone terribly wrong!

"Enemy attack! It's an enemy attack!!!"

"Ring the bell, quick! Pirates have invaded the Marine base!!!"

"Get your weapons! Stay on guard!!!"

"..."

"..."

The peaceful Marine base instantly descended into chaos.

Yet from the moment they saw the Tiga, the end had already been foretold!

Amid the panic, a nimble figure suddenly leaped from the Tiga.

With her experience from wreaking havoc at the G-153 Branch last time, Tashigi was thoroughly familiar with the process this time.

Besides, she was far stronger than she had been before.

At that moment, the lively young beauty danced like a butterfly, turning into an afterimage as she darted past one Marine after another.

Every Marine in her path fell to the ground, unconscious.

In less than half an hour, the plaza of the entire 16th Branch base was carpeted with Marine bodies.

Their weapons had slipped from their hands as they lay unconscious on the ground. From a distance, they looked as though they were dead.

The Marines who could still stand trembled in terror.

Though they held weapons capable of easily taking lives, those weapons offered them no sense of security whatsoever.

Meanwhile,

inside the Marine base building,

the ugly Nezumi's whiskers trembled as he frantically called other Marine bases for help while fearfully staring out the window.

Just then...

one of his confidants suddenly cried out in a trembling voice.

"N-No... no... this is bad!!!"

"Colonel, that woman has entered the building!!!"

"What!?"

Colonel Nezumi's face twitched in panic. Then he slammed down the Den Den Mushi.

"Damn it! Those useless bastards!!! They're always so quick when it's time to collect money, but now not one of them is answering the phone!"

After a brief thought, Colonel Nezumi gritted his teeth and took out the special Den Den Mushi he used to contact Arlong.

Although being exposed for colluding with pirates might cost him his position, that was still better than losing his life!

Nezumi had recognized the pirate flag outside.

It was the flag of the Dusk Pirates!

And the captain of that pirate crew was none other than Kael, the pirate with the highest bounty in the East Blue!

Even that bastard Arlong only had a bounty of 20 million Beli!

Kael's bounty was higher than that bastard Arlong's. As for how much more of a bastard he might be, Nezumi, that bastard, did not even dare imagine!

With Fish-Men's speed through the sea, if they could make it here, he would at least have a chance of keeping his life.

However, after Colonel Nezumi tried calling several times,

he discovered in astonishment...

that this special Den Den Mushi, which was normally always tended by Fish-Men, could not get through no matter how many times he called!

"Damn it! Unreliable pirates!!!"

Nezumi cursed loudly!

But just then, agonized wails were already echoing from outside his office door.

The closer a Marine was to Nezumi's office, the more clearly they knew about Nezumi's shady dealings.

So after entering the building, Tashigi showed them no mercy whatsoever.

She did not hold back much against these sanctimonious Marines.

Without taking their lives, Tashigi directly used the sharp blade of her Zanpakutō to make them bleed!

Screams rose and fell throughout the base building.

Bang!

Under Nezumi's trembling gaze, a seemingly delicate and quiet sword-wielding girl burst into his office.

Had he not witnessed the girl's exploits downstairs and seen the blood on her body...

Nezumi might truly have mistaken her for some model student from an academy, coming to play with him after class.

But now, it was obvious that was not the case.

"Finally caught you, Nezumi!"

Holding a gleaming longsword stained with blood, Tashigi stepped into the office.

Every step she took forward made Nezumi's heart shudder violently.

"Y-You... what do you want!?"

Nezumi trembled behind several confidants, but in order to survive, he still struggled to shout:

"You attacked a Marine branch. Aren't you afraid that all the Marines in the East Blue will hunt you down!?"

"Don't think you can do whatever you want just because you have a pirate with a 30 million Beli bounty!"

"You still dare bring up the Marines!!?"

Hearing Nezumi still dare to wave the Marine banner around, Tashigi suddenly flew into a rage.

Her blade gave Colonel Nezumi no chance to react. As if teleporting, it flashed forward and struck his forehead.

In an instant!

Colonel Nezumi's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.

"Hmph!"

Tashigi snorted unhappily.

If Captain Kael had not said that Nezumi likely possessed plenty of evidence of Marine corruption in the East Blue, she truly would have wanted to cut off his head with one swing!

Sheathed her Zanpakutō, then Tashigi suddenly turned her gaze toward Nezumi's two Marine subordinates and said:

"You two, carry him out to the Tiga."

"Then..."

Tashigi suddenly paused, as though she was not quite used to it.

But recalling Kael's tireless teachings, she still forced herself to say:

"Then move everything valuable in this building onto the ship!"

"You've been robbed!!!"

The facts proved that those who hung around garbage were not good people either.

Under Tashigi's threatening gaze, Nezumi's two confidants acted immediately without the slightest hesitation.

In fact, in order to leave Tashigi with a good impression, the two even dug up the safe hidden deep beneath the Marine base and promptly transported it onto the Tiga.

As some of the less severely injured Marines gradually woke up, more and more people joined this relocation effort.

As a result, not a single one of them noticed a small sailboat slowly drifting into the Marine base.

"Huh?"

Zoro stood at the bow of the small boat, holding two blood-soaked bundles in his hands, curiosity written across his face.

"What is this Marine 85th Branch base doing? It's so lively?"