Engagement

Lion-Head Three-Masted Sailing Ship.

A group of pirates stood on the deck, their eyes filled with confusion, terror, and unease as they watched the Dog-Head Warship rapidly approach.

"Admiral Frode, what do we do?

They're about to come alongside us."

Paul Frode let out a lion's roar and activated the Zoan-type Cat-Cat Fruit, Lion Form transformation. His body rapidly swelled, turning him into a humanoid beast form over five meters tall, with a lion's head and human body.

"What are you panicking for?! They're already out of cannonballs. Prepare for boarding combat!

Take that warship for me!"

After Garp's barrage of Fist Bone Meteor Shower, twelve of his thirteen ships had been sunk.

Over a thousand Lion Pirates members had fallen into the sea.

At that moment, they were climbing up the outer hull of the three-masted sailing ship, continuously gathering aboard.

Paul Frode knew that in the world of pirates, one could ignore the law and morality.

But...

One could never do without loyalty and righteousness. Even if it was only superficial, it had to be maintained!

Once people lost heart, the crew would become impossible to lead!

Besides, if word spread that he had abandoned most of his crew...

His reputation in the pirate world would be completely ruined.

How would he recruit new pirate crew members then...?

Who would trust someone who had abandoned his companions before...?

To raise morale, Paul Frode could only lift the massive saber in his right hand and shout at the pirates around him:

"Kill those Marines and avenge our comrades!"

"Revenge!"

"Revenge!"

"Revenge!"

The pirates' low morale finally recovered somewhat under Lion Frode's lead.

Once they came within range, both sides exchanged gunfire for a while, taking out some of each other's men.

Dog-Head Warship.

Garp stood at the bow and shouted:

"Soldiers, charge with me!"

Then, he leaped onto the Lion-Head Three-Masted Sailing Ship and entered an unstoppable mowing-down mode, knocking out one pirate with every punch.

Seeing Garp take the lead, the Marine soldiers roared and charged up the gangplank into the pirates.

Sephiroth also blended into the Marine ranks and boarded the pirate ship. Wielding the Autumn Leaf Blade, he swiftly harvested pirate lives one after another.

Pirates constantly climbed from the sea onto the Lion-Head Three-Masted Sailing Ship. Even on the Dog-Head Warship's side, pirates climbed up the outer hull onto the deck and clashed with the Marines stationed there.

Using the two large sailing ships as their battlefield, pirates and Marines engaged in a desperate fight to the death!

When Lion Frode saw one of his combat captains, a pirate with a bounty exceeding one hundred million, get sent flying after taking just one punch from Garp—blood spraying from his mouth before he fell into the sea with a splash—he could no longer sit still!

"Damn you, Garp!"

Frode roared. Armament Haki rapidly wrapped around his massive saber as he flashed forward and charged straight at Garp.

Clang!

The blade of the massive saber collided directly with Garp's jet-black right fist coated in Armament Haki, producing a metallic ring.

"Interesting. I didn't expect to find someone who could use Haki in the first half of the Grand Line even now...

In the first half, I've caught quite a few powerful pirates capable of using Haki since the Great Pirate Era began!

Guys like you, who can use Haki, can barely be considered strong now..."

Garp laughed heartily, a fierce fighting spirit rising in his eyes.

"Don't look down on me, damn it!"

Armament Haki coated Frode's left hand as he smashed it toward Garp's head.

The punch landed solidly on target, yet Garp acted as though nothing had happened. He merely twisted his neck, then threw a right hook into Frode's chest, sending him flying into the cabin.

In a corner of the pirate ship's deck, Sephiroth turned his head and glanced at the battle between Garp and Frode.

"Die! You actually dared to lose focus while fighting me!"

A pirate in gray leather armor wore a vicious grin as he drove his longsword fiercely into Sephiroth's left chest, where his heart was, pinning him through the wooden wall behind him.

However...

The next moment.

Black Bats fluttered out from Sephiroth's chest.

Slash!

Before the leather-armored man's stunned gaze, the crimson Autumn Leaf Blade instantly severed his neck. Blood sprayed everywhere, staining Sephiroth's white Marine uniform red.

"How could I have been distracted... That was a feint to fool you...!"

After Sephiroth's body fully moved away from the sword, the Black Bats flew back into him again, filling the missing space around his heart.

It had to be said that Observation Haki combined with bat transformation was truly useful. It gave Sephiroth something close to pseudo-elementalization.

Even if the bats died or were injured, he could consume Life Force to rapidly restore the missing portions.

After this period of Fruit development and training, he had already become proficient at using bat transformation to evade sword slashes and the like.

Next, he planned to try using bat transformation to expel bullets and other attacks that entered his body. That would require even finer control...

Otherwise, after transforming into bats, the bullets would still remain inside the bats. When he restored his body, things would remain the same...

Lion Frode was very strong, but unfortunately for him, he had encountered Old Man Garp. After a barrage of Garp's fists, he was beaten unconscious.

Then, with Garp in his unstoppable mowing-down mode, the pirates aboard were swept aside like autumn leaves in a gale.

Upon seeing this, some pirates who had been swimming in the sea surrendered voluntarily, while others clung to driftwood and desperately swam away, hoping to escape alive.

After the battle, the Marines detained the pirates. Frode, in particular, received special treatment and was fitted with Sea Stone shackles.

Judicial trials awaited these pirates. Those guilty of heinous crimes would be executed or imprisoned for life. The rest would be reduced to slaves, completely stripped of their freedom and human rights, then sent to the Bridge Kingdom in East Blue to be enslaved until death.

Of course, some high-quality slaves would also be kept by the Celestial Dragons for their own use...

Thus, pirates and serious criminals accounted for a large portion of this world's slave supply.

A law prohibiting the slave trade had actually been enacted long ago, but the World Government had never enforced it. Many people did not even know such a law existed.

If the slave system were truly abolished, the first to oppose it would undoubtedly be the Celestial Dragons, the world nobles.

After all, both the number of slaves they owned and the rate at which they consumed slaves ranked among the highest in the world...

To meet the Celestial Dragons' demands, the Sabaody Archipelago near the Holy Land of Mary Geoise had been turned into the world's largest slave-trading region.

The Celestial Dragons, who possessed supreme authority, openly bought and sold slaves in large numbers. Other nobles and influential people naturally followed their example, which was why the law banning slave trading had become something everyone ignored.

Therefore, Sephiroth had once suspected that the World Government was deliberately allowing pirate forces to grow, keeping them within a certain limit so the noble class could enjoy an endless supply of slaves.

After all, if the World Government truly wanted to eliminate the Great Pirate Era, it would not actually be very difficult for them.

The World Government could directly dispatch heavy forces and Marine Admirals to guard Twin Capes, the entrance to the Grand Line. The moment they spotted a pirate flag, they could bombard it with overwhelming firepower and give rookie pirates a nightmare-difficulty start.

The combined area of every island on the Grand Line was probably not even as large as one of the Four Seas. As long as Twin Capes became a pirate graveyard and the number of new pirates entering the first half of the Grand Line was reduced to a minimum, the pirate forces in the latter half of the Grand Line would lose a great deal of fresh blood.

That would lead to two possible outcomes: either rookie pirates would risk near-certain death by crossing the Calm Belt, which was filled with Sea Kings, to enter the first or latter half of the Grand Line; or they would reach the peak the moment they set out, possessing Marine Admiral-level combat power and forcibly breaking through Twin Capes' blockade.

As for the pirates in the Four Seas?

It was only because the Grand Line's magnetic field was chaotic, making it difficult to determine exact locations, and because many islands could not be located with a Log Pose, that pirates could appear and disappear unpredictably.

Otherwise, out at sea, as long as a pirate ship did not have a top-tier powerhouse aboard, the terrifying number of cannons mounted on warships would allow them to completely crush the vast majority of pirate crews in terms of firepower.

Moreover, Sephiroth had discovered a rather interesting Marine merit rule: aside from killing pirates with bounties, killing ordinary pirates did not count toward merit...

But if ordinary pirates were captured alive, one could earn a certain amount of merit.

Therefore, the Marines were actually very enthusiastic about capturing pirates alive.

Wearing the cloak of justice, flying the Marine flag, and doing the work of a Slave Trader Group...?

Back to the matter at hand, after the battle, they did not hold any celebration. Instead, they busied themselves treating wounded soldiers and cleaning up the battlefield...

"Those with minor injuries, come collect medical supplies and bandage yourselves."

"Those who aren't injured, hurry up and carry the severely wounded to the operating room for emergency treatment!"

Despite Garp's incomparably valiant performance in the battle, fighting one hundred enemies alone, the Marines still suffered casualties.

Seven men died on the spot, thirteen suffered light injuries, and six were seriously wounded.

The officers ordered Sephiroth and the other recruits to carry the seriously wounded soldiers on stretchers to the operating room entrance to await treatment.

There were only two doctors and limited medical staff, so two unconscious seriously wounded soldiers were left in the cabin corridor. They had also been injected with stimulants...

Those two were actually more seriously injured than the four who had been pushed into the operating room!

Sephiroth knew that those two had effectively been abandoned...

The two military doctors were far too busy to perform surgery on them, and the operating room was already full.

To ensure the highest survival rate, the military doctors could only make the most rational judgment and choose to treat those with less severe injuries...

At that thought, Sephiroth frowned and pointed with his right hand at four recruits in the cabin corridor.

"You, help me carry these two into the medical room next door."

At that moment, most of the recruits wore expressions of panic and helplessness.

They had only just enlisted and had witnessed a fierce battle before receiving any training. Deep down, all of them felt more or less frightened.

"What are you trying to do?"

One of the recruits frowned and asked.

"What am I trying to do?

I'm a doctor. Of course I'm going to perform surgery and save them!

Hurry up, don't just stand there!"

Sephiroth turned around and glared viciously at the recruit, making him shudder all over in panic.

Having just gone through a battle, Sephiroth's clothes were stained with blood, and there was blood on his face as well.

As a result, his words and gaze came with an intimidating aura. The recruits, who had never killed anyone or seen bloodshed, were immediately frightened into silence.

The few recruits hurriedly carried the unconscious wounded soldiers on their stretchers into the medical room and laid them on the white hospital beds.

"Cut open both of their clothes..."

"Ah!?"

"Why are you standing there? Go!"

"Pull the curtains shut..."

While directing the recruits to assist him, Sephiroth searched the medical room for surgical tools and other supplies.

With lives at stake, and Sephiroth's gaze too fierce, the recruits could only obediently comply.

What Sephiroth did not know was that while he was busy opening up the two severely wounded soldiers and removing bullets, Old Man Garp had silently walked outside the curtain.

Expressionless, he watched the silver-haired youth's busy figure through a gap in the curtain.

Only after a moment did he turn and leave the medical room.

The two Marine soldiers were badly injured, with multiple gunshot wounds. Even after being injected with stimulants, it could not stop their Life Force from draining away.

Helplessly, Sephiroth secretly used the Vampire Fruit's Life Reversal, slowly pouring the stored Life Force he had absorbed into their bodies and stopping their wounds from bleeding.

Life Force could be used on Sephiroth himself for accelerated regeneration and eternal youth, but when used on others, it could only strengthen their vitality, eliminate bodily aging, and suppress the worsening of injuries.

In truth, Sephiroth could have simply stood by and watched them die...

After all, he did not even know these two people's names. At most, they were comrades who had fought alongside him.

Whether to save them or not was entirely his choice.

But...

Having been a doctor for so many years, doing everything he could to treat the wounded had become an instinctive action.

Therefore, he had not thought much just now and had instinctively chosen to treat the two severely wounded soldiers.

Since he had decided to save them, then as a doctor, doing everything possible to keep his patients alive was a principle and bottom line he had to uphold!

"Which of you knows how to sew?"

After Sephiroth removed a bullet from one Marine soldier's wound, he raised his head and asked the four recruits assisting him.

"I do!"

"I do!"

Two recruits hurriedly raised their hands. Sephiroth nodded.

"Fine. Watch me do it once. Stitching wounds isn't the same as sewing clothes, but there's no time to worry about that now..."

After quickly stitching up that wound, he began removing a bullet from another wound. He performed two surgeries at once while the four recruits assisted according to his instructions...

The two wooden doors of the operating room were opened from inside by an elderly military doctor wearing glasses.

When he saw the empty cabin corridor, he froze for a moment.

Had those two severely wounded soldiers died...?

"Don't just stand there. Use cotton to stop the bleeding, then stitch the wound..."

Just as the old military doctor lowered his head and sighed, he suddenly heard a youth's reprimand from the medical room.

Filled with confusion, he hurried into the medical room and pulled aside the curtains that had been arranged in a circle.

What he saw was a group of recruits performing surgery on two wounded soldiers... No, it was a bloodstained youth directing four recruits as assistants.

Seeing the youth's skilled incision technique, the old military doctor could not help but feel surprised. Such skill could not be developed without five or six years of clinical experience.

As for the wound stitching done by those two recruits, it was a truly miserable sight...

In the end, the old military doctor could no longer endure it and angrily shouted:

"You two, are you sewing clothes or stitching wounds?

Move aside. Let me do it."

As he spoke, the old military doctor shoved the two recruits aside, swiftly took the needle and suture thread, and began stitching the wounded soldier's injuries.

Sephiroth merely glanced at the old man without saying anything, then lowered his head and continued focusing on the surgery.

The two worked for nearly an hour before finally treating the wounds of both soldiers.

After the operation, the old military doctor first lifted their eyelids to check them, then felt the pulses in their necks. Only then did he say with a look of astonishment:

"Unbelievable! I never expected their lives to be this tough..."

Nonsense! They used up ten years of the lifespan I absorbed. How could these two bastards not be tough...?

Sephiroth muttered inwardly as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Young man, have you studied medicine?"

"Yes, for a few years."

Upon hearing that, the old military doctor immediately beamed.

"How about submitting a request to join the medical department after your recruit training ends?

"The G-3 Branch has always been short on doctors..."

"Sorry! I'd still rather stay in a frontline combat unit and fight pirates."

Sephiroth shook his head and pulled off the bloodstained medical rubber gloves from his hands.

"I see! What a pity..."

The old military doctor let out a soft sigh and did not continue trying to persuade him.

For young people, combat was indeed the best way to quickly earn merits and get promoted.

But how many of them could guarantee that they would survive their next battle...?