77th Marine Branch

"Mark and Daisy finally sent word! Jaba, did you see it? The Moss Pirates—Mark's pirate crew has the same name as our village!" Aunt Ma arrived at the Oak Craft General Store holding a wanted poster.

Jaba had been dozing behind the counter. When he saw Aunt Ma arrive, he instinctively moved to hide behind it.

But the moment he heard what Aunt Ma said, his expression turned anxious.

"Let me see!"

Aunt Ma handed the wanted poster to Jaba. As he looked at that familiar face, an indescribable emotion filled his eyes.

Kid... had he finally gotten what he wanted?

Next, he would set out toward his dream.

The Moss Pirates!

"Hahaha!!!" Jaba suddenly burst into laughter, then turned and grabbed Aunt Ma's hand. "Mura, thank you for bringing me news of those two little brats."

Aunt Ma's real name was Mura. She had once been a famous beauty in Moss Town. The children had all called her Aunt Mu, but somehow it gradually became Aunt Ma.

Fortunately, Aunt Ma did not care, though Jaba still remembered her name.

The instant Jaba grabbed Aunt Ma, he felt her body tremble. A puzzled look immediately appeared on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing... nothing..." Aunt Ma smoothed her black hair, snatched up the wanted poster, and turned to leave the Oak Craft General Store.

"I'm going to tell everyone this good news!"

Jaba watched Aunt Ma's retreating figure with a smile on his face.

"You brat, I'll wait for the day your name resounds across the seas. Black Axe Mark... that title really doesn't sound very good... Hahaha!"

"Commodore Bulin Bulin, pirate ship spotted ahead!"

"Can you see which pirate ship it is?"

The lookout carefully observed the pirate flag. A moment later, he came before Commodore Bulin Bulin, his face covered in cold sweat.

"Reporting to the Commodore, it's... it's the Moss Pirates who destroyed the 16th Marine Branch!!!"

"What? The Moss Pirates? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!"

Commodore Bulin Bulin came out onto the deck, took the lookout's telescope, and observed the pirate ship for a moment.

He swept one large hand toward the pirate ship. "Concentrate all firepower! Shoot that pirate ship down!!!"

"Yes!!!"

The Marines acknowledged the order.

The adjutant stepped before Commodore Bulin Bulin and spoke somewhat uneasily.

"Commodore Bulin Bulin, the Moss Pirates destroyed an entire branch. They're ruthless pirates with a bounty of sixty million Beli. People like that aren't someone we can afford to provoke!"

Most Marines in the East Blue had joined the Marines for a better life.

Provoking a great pirate with a sixty-million-Beli bounty who had destroyed an entire branch was no different from courting death for their warship.

The adjutant's words made the eyes of several hesitant Marines around them light up. They looked at Commodore Bulin Bulin expectantly.

Bulin Bulin did not notice the looks in the surrounding Marines' eyes. At that moment, he was fully focused on the Moss Pirates.

"Precisely because they destroyed an entire branch, we must capture such vicious pirates! Impel Down is where these thugs belong!!!"

Commodore Bulin Bulin's voice was incomparably resolute.

The adjutant wanted to continue persuading him, but the sound of cannon fire cut him off. The warship had opened fire!

As he watched the cannonballs draw closer and closer to the pirate ship, the adjutant completely gave up trying to persuade Commodore Bulin Bulin.

"I can only hope they aren't as strong as the wanted poster says!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Twelve-pound cannonballs continuously fired from Commodore Bulin Bulin's warship toward the Moss.

"Boss, the Marines are firing at us!" Chiu Chiu flew to the top of the railing, and her blade-like wings sliced the incoming cannonballs in half, sending them into the sea.

"The 77th Marine Branch... Never heard of this branch before. Chiu Chiu... take me over there!" Mark looked through his telescope and saw the large number 77 painted on the warship's sail.

The incoming cannon fire did not make Mark panic in the slightest.

Twelve-pound cannonballs were not very powerful. Arlong could crush such shells with his teeth, so they posed no threat to Mark at all.

In this world, cannons were generally classified as thirty-two-pounders, twenty-four-pounders, and twelve-pounders.

The twelve-pounder was the weakest. It was not much more powerful than a grenade on Blue Star.

A twenty-four-pounder, however, was much more powerful than a twelve-pounder—fully three times as powerful. The standard armament of Marine Headquarters warships was the twenty-four-pound cannon.

The thirty-two-pound cannon was the main gun of a Headquarters warship.

This type of main cannon was generally not used lightly, because a single shell could sink a medium-sized pirate ship.

The Moss was equipped with one such cannon, which had originally belonged to Arlong.

Mark did not know where Arlong had acquired such a weapon, but on the black market, a thirty-two-pound cannon with a crate of ammunition could sell for the astronomical price of one hundred million.

It was a strategic-level weapon.

Of course, there were many unconventional cannons as well.

Take the Sunny's Gale Cannon, for example. Its power was nothing to scoff at.

Then there was Byrnndi World's island-sized pirate ship. The cannons on it were powerful to the extreme. Combined with the Momo Fruit, they were enough to level an entire island.

In a place like the East Blue, warships were generally equipped with twelve-pound cannons, and this 77th Marine Branch warship was no exception.

Whoosh!

The lightning surrounding Chiu Chiu knocked down every incoming cannonball, then she carried Mark toward the 77th Marine Branch warship.

"Commodore, a man and a bird are flying toward our warship! They're very fast!"

The lookout reported what he had just seen to Commodore Bulin Bulin.

Commodore Bulin Bulin sneered. "Hmph! Pirates really are bold. They actually dare to launch an attack on our warship! Shoot them down!"

"Yes!" Several Marines beside him raised their flintlock rifles and pulled the triggers at Mark.

But...

Crack!

A golden bolt of lightning struck the group, severely injuring several Marines who had raised their flintlocks.

"Damn it!" Commodore Bulin Bulin drew the flintlock at his waist. Just as he was about to raise it, an enormous fist suddenly came straight at his face.

Bang!

Mark withdrew his bloodstained fist and looked at the terrified Marines around him. Waves of darkness surged from his hand.

"Oh no! Black Axe Mark killed Commodore Bulin Bulin!" Several Marines saw that things had gone badly and prepared to jump into the sea to escape, but Chiu Chiu struck them with a golden bolt of lightning, making their eyes roll back.

"So he was a branch commodore after all!" A trace of surprise flashed through Mark's eyes.

A branch commodore was roughly equivalent to a Headquarters major or lieutenant colonel, but he held slightly greater authority than an ordinary base commander, so such officers were rare throughout the Four Seas.

"Still, his luck doesn't seem very good. He dragged all of you down with him too!"

Mark's right hand, wreathed in black mist, gently pressed against the deck.

Black Hole!