Provocation

At that moment, every officer and ordinary Marine at the G-1 Branch had the same thought.

Provocation... This is outright provocation...

As Marines, they had spent months searching the seas for the Sky Pirate Crew without finding a trace. Now the pirates had come straight to their doorstep, as if mocking the Marines' incompetence.

The faces of the Marine higher-ups darkened.

"Well, well. How scary!"

"Ah, this is really hard to take!"

Borsalino and Kuzan were the first to make their feelings clear, stepping forward.

Whatever they had thought of each other before, whatever their positions, the Sky Pirate Crew had come to their doorstep and challenged them. How could they not be angry?

Tsuru, however, remained calm. She looked up at the pirate ship, with shock waves bursting from all around it, and said,

"I see. No wonder we couldn't find any trace of them. Their pirate ship can fly? Then it's no surprise they can cross the Calm Belt!"

That seemed to offer an excuse for the Marines' failure, but it raised even more questions.

"Who built that ship...?"

Zephyr clenched his fists and stared hard at the sky.

He did not dare make a reckless move. If the Sky Pirate Crew had dared to invade a Marine Branch so openly, they had to have something to rely on.

As if answering his thoughts, Ye Mu—the man every Marine present had longed to capture—stepped out onto the bow of the Twin Goddess.

"Don't misunderstand me, Marines. I didn't come here to fight you..."

Zephyr could clearly feel the ordinary Marine soldiers around him breathe a little easier.

"At a time like New Year, I'd rather not play the villain and ruin everyone's holiday..."

Zephyr stepped forward and roared up at the sky.

"Is that so? Then you shouldn't