Bonney stopped eating the moment she recognized him. Her pupils contracted.
The Marine holding the telescope trembled. Beads of sweat rolled down his pale face, and his eyes widened in shock. It took him a long moment to speak. "What is going on? How have we run into another monster?!"
"Who? Who dares attack the Marines?"
"Isn't that the Merchant Ship?"
The attack had indeed come from a Merchant Ship in the distance, far from the naval warship.
But two uninvited guests had appeared on its deck, and even the sight of a Marine warship had not stopped them from picking a fight.
The attacker held an imposing naginata. Seeing the Marines aboard the warship thrown into confusion, he exclaimed happily, "Mother, this is fun! It's really fun."
He pointed toward the distant warship and lowered his head with a grin. A long strand of snot dangled from his nose, swinging whenever he moved. It was revolting.
Beside him stood a short old woman leaning on a cane. She wore heavy red lipstick, sunglasses, and a leopard-print coat, and her face was covered in wrinkles.
Following the direction the hulking man who called her "Mother" was pointing, she could just make out the silhouette of a Marine warship.
Her expression changed. Frowning, she scolded him sharply. "You can't just attack a Marine warship for fun! What if there's a Marine Admiral aboard?!"
Spattered with his mother's spit as she berated him, the fat man said plaintively, "But I didn't see any insignia for a Marine Admiral."
His gaze settled on the shoulder insignia of the Justice Coat Wuli wore, even across that vast distance. "That looks like the Commodore insignia you told me about, Mother. Can't I play with them a little? Boo-hoo."
At that, the short, wrinkled old