Wisdom in All Things

"What's your name?"

"Dragon. You?"

"Vincent!"

The two of them shifted and moved, standing back-to-back as they faced the encircling gang members.

Though it was their first meeting, they instinctively trusted each other enough to entrust their backs.

"Dragon, I'll buy you a drink later!"

"Sure!"

With their agreement made, both were brimming with fighting spirit as they charged at the enemies in their respective directions.

Every move radiated youthful vigor. They avoided vital spots, beating the gang members until they fled in panic.

Just as they were about to deal with every enemy in the street, the young man in the black suit emerged from the restaurant with a group of subordinates.

The moment he stepped outside, he saw two brats beating up his men.

Especially the boy in the dark green cloak. His vigorous movements made his hood sway, revealing the face it had concealed.

He recognized that face. It was old Felo's son, Vincent!

Bang—

The young man in the black suit decisively raised his flintlock pistol and pulled the trigger at Vincent.

The lead bullet shot out, flying straight for Vincent's brow.

He wanted Vincent dead!

"Watch out!"

Dragon, unusually sensitive to gunshots, hurriedly turned around and tackled Vincent to the ground just as Vincent was throwing a punch.

Dragon lay on top of Vincent. Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, a tearing pain shot through his right arm.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the lead bullet had ripped open his right arm. Through the crimson blood flowing from the wound, muscle tissue was faintly visible.

Vincent saw it too, and fury immediately erupted within him. He raised his head and roared at the young man in the black suit:

"Hughes! You despicable bastard, taking cheap shots!"

"There's no need to talk honor with rats like you."

Hughes's expression was cold as he loaded another round and raised his gun again.

Since the Felose Chamber of Commerce had made the first move, he had to seize this opportunity to blow things up and drive these rats out of Shells Town in one fell swoop.

Bang—

The flintlock spat fire. Ignoring the pain in his arm, Dragon quickly wrapped his arms around Vincent beneath him and rolled across the ground.

The lead bullet struck where they had been lying, shattering the road and sending gravel flying.

After dodging that shot, the two rose to their feet in perfect unspoken coordination. They split left and right, sprinting toward Hughes at the restaurant entrance.

As they drew closer and closer, Hughes no longer had time to reload. Yet he continued loading without the slightest panic.

A disdainful smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Send you flying!"

Just as the two rushed up, each throwing a punch to crush Hughes's face from opposite sides, something unexpected happened.

The two burly men in black suits standing behind Hughes suddenly stepped forward, raising their legs even faster.

Armament Haki coated the surfaces of their leather shoes. With lethal intent, their kicks targeted Dragon and Vincent's chests.

If those strikes landed, even if the two did not die, they would be severely injured!

Dragon watched helplessly as the black shoes came flying at him. Aside from realizing things had gone wrong, there was nothing he could do.

They were too fast!

At that critical moment...

A figure in a Marine sailor uniform seemed to appear out of thin air, spreading his arms and grabbing the legs kicking at the two of them.

Dragon and Vincent watched as the leather shoes stopped a centimeter from their chests, unable to move forward even an inch.

"Hey, the Marines are still here. Who gave you permission to start fighting on your own?"

John twisted his waist and abdomen, swinging his arms like he was throwing a shot put. He flung the owners of the two legs away to either side.

The two burly men flew out like cannonballs, streaking past Dragon and Vincent. The gust they kicked up stung the pair's skin.

Boom—

Two more deafening crashes followed as two huge holes were smashed into the wall of the three-story building across the street.

Fortunately, the ordinary civilians nearby had already fled when the gang and the chamber began confronting each other. Otherwise, innocent people would have been hurt by that.

"How... how could this be..."

Hughes froze in the middle of loading his gun, staring blankly at the man's back. Bone-deep terror rose within him.

Those two burly men who had been thrown aside were retired pirates with no bounties on their heads. It was said that they had once been active on the dangerous Grand Line.

His father had spent a fortune hiring them for this job, disguising them as ordinary gang members so they could kill Felo and his son once the two sides came to blows.

As long as the leaders were gone, the Felose Chamber of Commerce would be nothing more than a disorganized mob, easily dealt with!

Yet those two great pirates had been taken down so effortlessly?

What kind of monster was this Marine?!

"Uh..."

At that moment, Reed came running out and witnessed John's attack.

"Y-you're this strong, and you never told me?!"

He felt utterly deceived. He had thought he was fleecing John for money, but it now seemed that John had been treating him like a fool all along.

Asking such embarrassing questions right in front of the man himself had definitely been intentional!

He had even thought this guy was simply naive and spoke without thinking, so he had not planned to hold it against him.

This damn bastard!

"You never asked."

John turned around and spread his hands helplessly at Reed.

But the mischievous grin on his face betrayed his thoughts, as if he were saying...

Heh! I just didn't tell you. I saved it for a surprise!

Reed's eye twitched, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He had personally recruited John and even helped him resolve the issue of his origins from a non-member nation!

Even if John was a hypocritical monster who never stopped talking about justice, he was still tied to Reed by the same rope.

Forget about squeezing money out of John in the future. Reed would probably have to clean up all the messes John caused.

"I'm finished. I'm completely finished!" Reed looked like he wanted to cry but had no tears.

John could not be bothered with the deeply regretful Reed. He raised a hand and pointed at Hughes and the gang members behind him.

"You, and all of you, line up by the side and squat down with your hands over your heads!"

"Why should we? Colonel Burns permitted you to interfere—"

Hughes craned his neck, ready to argue with John, but the moment he saw John raise his hand as if to slap him, he immediately cowered.

"Fine, I'll go squat down right now."

Hughes walked to the side of the street and squatted with his hands over his head. When he saw his men still standing dumbly at the restaurant entrance, he glared at them in anger.

"What are you standing around for? Get over here and squat with me!"

"Huh? Oh, right!"

The gang members hurriedly came to their senses and jogged over to line up beside their young master, squatting down to form a bizarre sight on the street.

"Young Master, are we really just going to listen to that Marine Third Class?" The tattooed burly man squatting beside Hughes was still unconvinced.

Hughes shot him a sidelong glance and asked, "What else are we supposed to do? Can you beat him?"

"Uh..." The tattooed burly man fell silent.

Seeing his men's spirits flagging, Hughes's eyes flickered. He lowered his voice to reassure them:

"We're only yielding for now. Once we go back and speak with Colonel Burns, I refuse to believe that mere Marine Third Class would dare disobey his superior's orders."

"So what if he can fight? Out here, you need brains. Use your head more in everything!"

"Young Master is wise!"