Formidable Dirt Soldiers

The clown boss froze for a moment. Then, a furious rage at being offended instantly crushed what little reason he had left.

First, there had been the Bernano Family's humiliation today, and now some group of fools who knew neither life nor death had popped up from nowhere and started spouting nonsense.

"Are you blind?! How dare you meddle in the affairs of the Five Great Families?! Open fire! Blast them to pieces!!"

He shrieked out the order, his voice cracking and warping with extreme fury.

"The Bernano Family is handling business. It isn't your turn to point fingers! Open fire! Let those Colombo Family idiots see who makes the rules in the West Blue!"

The hook-nosed man roared almost at the same time. He too felt the furious humiliation of being slighted. How could outsiders comment on the Five Great Families' internal struggles?!

Bang bang bang bang bang—!

Bang bang bang bang bang—!

Dense gunfire erupted like exploding beans. In an instant, pungent smoke and orange muzzle flashes completely swallowed the dock.

Lead bullets ripped through the air with deadly shrieks, sweeping toward the fifty silent black figures like two raging metal storms.

Yet the expected screams and flying flesh never came.

The lead bullets sank into them as though entering a sticky swamp, producing dull thudding sounds. They easily pierced the chests, arms, and heads of those tall men in black...

Then, trailing dark brown wet mud, they emerged from the other side of their bodies and struck the buildings behind them without strength.

The bullet holes in their bodies were plainly visible, and dark brown wet mud slowly seeped out of them, filling the wounds.

Their hollow eyes continued to stare impassively at the stunned mafiosos.

"W-What are those things?!"

A Bernano gunman's voice trembled. His finger was frozen on the trigger, yet he had forgotten to pull it again.

"G-Ghosts?!"

A Colombo member dressed as a clown had his teeth chattering.

"Fifty... fifty Logias?! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The paint on the clown boss's face twisted completely as he screamed hysterically, his voice breaking from sheer terror.

He stared fixedly at the holes slowly closing on the Mud Men's bodies, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.

Fifty identical Logias? It was a nightmare that overturned everything he knew.

The instant his scream broke out, the fifty Dirt Soldiers moved. Their stiff arms steadily raised their black gun barrels, their movements so perfectly synchronized that it sent chills down everyone's spines.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Lead bullets whistled through the air, sweeping viciously into the crowd like Death's scythe!

"Pfft!"

"Ah—!"

"My leg!"

This time, real blood splattered, accompanied by shrill, despairing screams.

The mafiosos in the front rows fell in swathes like harvested wheat. The Bernano Family's black suits were torn apart by lead bullets, while the Colombo Family clowns' colorful costumes were quickly dyed dark red.

The thugs who had been arrogant and overbearing moments ago had now become lambs awaiting slaughter.

"Bastards! Bastards!"

The hook-nosed man roared, his eyes bloodshot.

"Bring up the cannon! Drag it over here! Blast these mud monsters to pieces!"

Several burly Bernano men dragged a heavy cannon down the gangplank from the ship.

They hurriedly loaded the powder, rammed the cannonball into place, and lit the fuse.

The cannonball crashed down and exploded, sending mud flying everywhere. The upper half of the struck "man" was blasted open into a huge hollow, and scattered mud fell like rain. Yet the ruined body merely swayed, rooted to the spot as though its feet had taken hold. At the hollow, mud wriggled rapidly like a living thing, filling and reshaping it.

Not a scratch!

Despair. Icy despair coiled around every mafioso's heart like a venomous snake.

"M-Monsters... monsters that can't be killed..."

Someone muttered, and the gun in his hand clattered to the ground.

The Mud Men's counterattack never stopped. Precise lead bullets harvested lives without mercy.

The mafiosos completely collapsed. Some futilely raised their guns and fired, splashing mud everywhere;

Some swung long blades and charged in. The blades sank deeply into the mud bodies, only to be firmly trapped by the sticky mud. The next moment, icy gun barrels pressed against their foreheads;

Even more of them wailed and cried, throwing down their weapons and turning to jump back onto the ships in an attempt to escape.

This was a one-sided slaughter.

The Mud Men moved silently, fired silently, and killed silently. They stepped over the wet marks left by their cannon-struck companions, over shattered corpses and flowing blood, their steps steady like machines executing a program.

The gunfire gradually thinned. The screams weakened as well.

When the final echoes of gunfire rang out over the dock and faded away, the fifty Mud Men stood there silently.

Dark red, viscous blood wound soundlessly through the cracks in the dock's rough stone slabs, gathering into nauseating pools.

Twisted corpses, discarded weapons, scattered scraps of colorful cloth... covered the entire landing area.

First-floor hall.

After sending Perona upstairs to sleep, Adams sat in a solid wood chair, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest as if he were pondering something.

He could not keep relying on the bar owner for information. This time had merely been a coincidence. Next time, he might not get any useful information.

If he truly relied on pure luck like this to search for Robin, the efficiency would be far too low. He might not even find her in his entire life.

After all, there were more than twenty million islands in this world.

He needed an intelligence network that truly belonged to him, but he himself did not have the skills to gather intelligence.

Adams felt that he needed professional subordinates in that field.

"If it's intelligence gathering, Cipher Pol is still the right choice."

He thought to himself.

With that thought, Adams gave the order without hesitation.

"Open the nautical chart for the waters around Guanhao Island."

The face of his wristwatch instantly lit up. A dim blue glow projected outward, weaving and expanding before Adams.

An ocean model so precise it was unsettling floated in the air, its scattered islands like frozen stars.

A line of small text beside it was clearly marked: Guanhao Island.

Knock, knock, knock!

The short, forceful knocking instantly shattered the air of scheming that filled the room.

Adams did not even raise his eyelids. His fingertip lightly swiped the side of his wristwatch, and the dim blue ocean model floating in midair silently dispersed as though it had never existed.

"Enter."

He spoke the single word calmly.

The door hinges gave a faint scraping sound as a Mud Man soldier squeezed inside. It strode heavily to Adams's enormous solid wood chair and leaned close to whisper in his ear.

Adams listened quietly. A few breaths later, the Mud Man stopped speaking.

"The Five Great Families' subordinates are far too weak."

After hearing the Mud Man's report, Adams complained inwardly.

However, he quickly reined in his emotions and ordered the Mud Man soldier to finish off the heavily wounded Colombo Family underboss and throw the body into the sea, while releasing the Bernano underboss.

He let the Bernano man go because he had not yet provoked them and needed someone to return and deliver the message. The Colombo Family already had someone to report back, so there was no need to leave another survivor.

Although those lackeys were weak, as long as bullets and cannons could still strengthen Adams's physique, he would not wipe out the Five Great Families. When guns and cannons no longer worked, it would be time for him to destroy the Five Great Families and set foot on the Grand Line.

After receiving the order, the Mud Man soldier turned and left to carry it out.

The door closed, and the hall returned to its dim silence.

The dim blue light lit up again, and the precisely marked outline of Guanhao Island floated coldly before Adams.

TO BE CONTINUED

(PS: Guanhao Island is where Lucci and the others trained. Oda named it after a fan.)