The Rout of the Desperadoes

Artillery fire poured across the sea like a torrential downpour, and deafening explosions rang out one after another.

Firelight dyed the night sky red. Pirate warships shattered and capsized under the onslaught, their blazing wreckage floating across the blood-red sea like a scene from hell.

The air reeked of seawater and gunpowder. Screams, furious roars, and bellows intertwined, plunging the entire battlefield into chaos.

"Retreat! Retreat now!!"

The Big Mom Pirates' vice captain had gone pale, his throat already hoarse.

He stood atop a battered warship, staring in terror at the Neo Marines fleet steadily advancing in the distance.

The once-mighty Big Mom Pirates had finally begun to waver before this tidal wave.

Only hours ago, they had still been trying to organize a counterattack, trying to intimidate the Neo Marines with their former prestige.

But when the first flagship was sunk, when comrades who had once ruled the seas fell one by one, and when Jin An's warships closed in like grim reapers, every boast and every flame of vengeful fury had long since become bone-deep terror.

"Weren't we supposed to fight our way back?!

Now we're running away with our tails between our legs—what will happen to our reputation?!"

Someone roared furiously.

But even more chose silence, some with mockery in their eyes.

"Reputation? Do you think the dead care about reputation?"

A pirate sneered, his tone filled with sarcasm and despair.

He gripped the helm tightly, his palms drenched in sweat, terrified that being even a moment too slow would turn him into charred wreckage beneath the bombardment.

The Pirate Alliance's defeat had become inevitable. The remnants of the Big Mom Pirates, the main force of the Egwitan Pirates, and the scattered members of other pirate crews all had only one thought left now: survival.

Their will