The Power of the Rank and File

Iska's wailing cry made Ace's heart pound.

He admitted that he had feelings for Iska, and she felt the same way about him, but that was not why his heart was racing.

It was because this firing formation was far too innovative.

Far too lethal.

Even he—no, the entire Spade Pirates—would not have fared any better if they had faced such a formation unprepared and off guard.

Most of his crew would have had no way to survive under such dense musket fire.

Before obtaining the Flame-Flame Fruit, even he would have found it extremely difficult to evade this kind of shooting.

If Haki were added to the equation, these bullets could even kill Logia Devil Fruit users—though at that point, it would come down to whose Observation Haki was stronger.

Right now, even most Devil Fruit users could not withstand this volley-style musket assault.

This newly emerged tactic had brought the numerical advantage of the rank and file into full play.

By the third volley, more than thirty Marines had already fallen across the deck.

One had to remember that the enemy had fewer than a hundred men to begin with.

The gap in their numbers had abruptly narrowed to eighty against seventy.

The fierce gunfire had even stopped them from daring to charge forward.

Only the wounded Marines' groans and Iska's mournful cries drifted through the air above the two ships.

"Forward, twenty paces," Leo called from the mast.

The entire formation suddenly moved forward in unison, startling everyone.

It was not a sloppy advance.

It was a soldier's formation.

Though still slightly uncoordinated, they were marching forward in step.

What Leo saw as disorderly and imperfect looked to everyone else as though a single person were moving, pressing forward slowly like a wall.

They ignored the Marines lying in pools of blood and continued to the rail, raising their muskets at the Marines gathered at the bow of the opposing ship.

When an army lost ten percent of its men, it would begin considering retreat. When it lost over thirty percent, it would collapse. When it lost over fifty percent, it would surrender.

And this was naval warfare. Comrades on the same ship had much closer bonds, and their officers were still on the opposite vessel, yet their morale had already been utterly shattered.

They hesitated and lingered, not daring to take another step forward, while the enemy had already pressed up to the rail, their black muzzles aimed directly at them.

Iska had only been shot in the thigh. She shouted loudly from within the crowd.

"We surrender! Stop killing them! Stop killing my men! We surrender!"

A complicated expression appeared on Ace's face. Seeing the woman who had once pursued him so spiritedly now breaking down in tears and snot made him feel terrible. He leaped to Leo's side in two quick bounds and asked, "This should be enough, right?"

"That depends on whether the soldiers on the other side surrender."

Leo shrugged, not denying it.

Without his order, the pirates below would not fire.

He was confident of that much.

The pirates remaining at the rear of the formation nervously loaded their muskets.

"Teacher" Michael keenly noticed that they used paper cartridges containing measured amounts of gunpowder. After biting them open, they could pour the powder directly into the barrel. Their loading method was worlds apart from that of ordinary musketeers.

A master musketeer like him could naturally pour an exact amount of powder even amid the chaos of battle—they could even adjust the amount according to the circumstances. Against distant enemies, they would use more powder; against nearby enemies, using less powder would speed up reloading.

But these pirates could achieve a loading speed comparable to experts with nothing more than a paper packet. It was truly astonishing.

That man had transformed this group of pirates completely. Could he transform the Spade Pirates as well?

Thinking of how the Spade Pirates had now joined Leo's camp, Michael could not help but look forward to it. What would the Spade Pirates look like after their transformation...?

The conversation between Leo and Ace in the mast's crow's nest could not be heard by those below.

The pirates, who obeyed Leo's commands completely, held their muskets trained on the Marines. Their formation did not waver in the slightest, and no one moved. It was impossible to tell whether they intended to fire or spare them.

Only Iska's hoarse wails drifted across the battlefield, and the silence was terrifying.

As though some switch had been flipped in the Marines' hearts, they began throwing down their weapons one after another. The sound of weapons striking the deck was wonderfully pleasing to the pirates' ears, and smiles spread across their faces.

When had they ever possessed such skill or fighting strength? Normally, the sight of Marines would make their legs tremble, and they would be ready to flee first.

But now, they had defeated the arrogant Marines. They had even beaten the Marines despite being outnumbered. They could hardly believe it.

In truth, when a person did not even believe in himself, he naturally could accomplish nothing. Those with confidence found success much easier in whatever they did. Luffy's single-minded certainty that he could become One Piece was incredibly convincing; Zoro's absolute belief that he would become the world's greatest swordsman allowed him to draw his sword bravely even before Hawk Eyes.

These pirate grunts were merely at the very bottom of the pirate world. What confidence could they possibly have had?

But now, Leo had instilled confidence in them. It was as though they had been stifled their entire lives, only to suddenly awaken. Every pore on their bodies seemed to be breathing, and the exhilaration left them beside themselves.

"Long live Leo!" someone finally could not help shouting.

Then everyone in the Cutlass Pirates began screaming wildly, "Long live Leo!"

All other sounds were drowned out, even Leo's orders.

Leo grinned at Ace and waggled his eyebrows. By the time he slid down from the mast, however, his expression had become serious and stern.

Ace needed no equipment at all. He simply jumped down from the crow's nest and landed beside Iska, pressing down on her wound.

"Ace?!" Through her tear-blurred eyes, in the midst of her breakdown, she saw a familiar face. How could she care about anything else? She immediately wrapped her arms around Ace's waist and began wailing loudly.