This Is What Pirates Are

When they carried him over for a look, damn, he had been shot more than twenty times.

If Carl's Holy Light had not been keeping him alive, he would have kicked the bucket long ago.

Carl helplessly used Holy Light to heal him as she asked, "What happened?"

"Uh, this guy thought that with your Holy Light around, he could fear nothing, so..."

"Jeez..."

Carl sucked in a sharp breath and stared in shock at the fool who had taken over twenty bullets. I gave you a healing buff, not Berserk!

Why did he think he was some kind of berserker? No wonder he got shot over twenty times. He deserved it! If Holy Light had not been keeping him alive, he would have been dead for sure.

"Sigh..."

Carl let out a long sigh and silently repeated to herself, He's a teammate. He's a teammate. He's a teammate.

After two Holy Light Balls, the fool finally regained consciousness. When he saw Carl, he seemed to understand what had happened, and his expression turned excited.

"Thank you, Carl! I-I was too impulsive. It was mainly because when I saw those civilians killed by the pirates, I somehow just..."

"It's not your fault, but remember this: only living Marines can carry out justice."

"Mm, I'll remember!"

Ten minutes later, the gunfire in town gradually died down as the Marines cleaned up the aftermath.

"Carl, the Musket Pirates had thirty-two members. We killed twenty and captured twelve alive. We suffered no casualties. It was a complete victory!"

"This is all thanks to you! Without your ability, how could we have taken down the Musket Pirates without losses?" Meow Meow Er said.

"Yeah! Long live Carl!" "Long live Carl!"

The recruits were extremely excited and all began praising Carl, making her a little embarrassed. After all, she really had just been slacking off!

"Ahem, everyone, no need to get so excited. Although I used my ability to support you, in the end, you were the ones who took down these pirates. This isn't my achievement, or any one person's achievement."

"It was everyone's combined effort! The Marines will prevail! Justice will prevail!"

Carl was thoroughly familiar with this kind of motivational combo. Back at Branch 108, this was how she encouraged her subordinates.

Seeing her comrades' invigorated expressions, Carl could not help sighing inwardly. Chicken soup really was humanity's greatest productive force.

Just as the Marines raised their arms and cheered, a middle-aged man walked excitedly toward Carl.

"Thank you! You Marines came at just the right time. If not for you, the residents of our town would have been in grave danger!"

"You flatter us. This is what we Marines should do. Ainz, take some men and return the treasures and other belongings stolen by the Musket Pirates to the townspeople."

"Yes!"

Hearing Carl say this, the middle-aged man was moved to tears. He thanked the Marines one by one, while the recruits all stood tall, high-spirited and proud.

Ain walked over to Carl and pointed at the tightly bound pirates. "What should we do with these scum?"

"What else? Are we supposed to send them all to Impel Down?"

Ain froze, then asked hesitantly, "You mean, kill them all...?" She then made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Who told them to become pirates? If they wanted to live this life, they needed to be prepared for this."

When Doman, captain of the Musket Pirates, heard that, he immediately shouted at Carl in agitation, "No, you can't kill me! I've already surrendered! According to Marine regulations, you can't kill us!"

"That's right, you can't do this! We know we were wrong! We're willing to go to Impel Down and repent!"

The pirates immediately erupted in outrage. They would die if they did not surrender, and they would still die after surrendering.

Then what the hell was the point of surrendering?

These pirates knew Marine regulations pretty well, but rules were dead while people were alive.

With a smile on her face, Carl, a ten-year veteran, slowly walked up to the loudly protesting Doman, drew her saber, and swung it at him.

Doman instinctively shut his eyes. Yellowish liquid seeped down his pant legs and pooled on the ground in a dark puddle.

Yet after waiting a long time, he felt no pain. He opened his eyes in confusion, only to discover that Carl had cut the ropes binding him. His hands were free to move.

"Take it!" Carl picked up a pistol and handed it to Doman.

"Huh?"

Doman swallowed and trembled, too afraid to take it.

The Training Camp recruits watching from the side also wore confused expressions, unable to understand what trick Carl was playing.

"I said, take it!"

Carl shouted, aiming the pistol at Doman as though she would shoot him if he refused.

"I'll take it! I'll take it!!!"

Doman's back was already soaked with sweat. He raised his trembling right hand and slowly reached for the pistol.

Bang!

A bloody hole appeared between Doman's brows. His eyes were filled with confusion as he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

"Captain!" "Boss!!!"

"You all saw it! He tried to snatch my pistol and attack me, so I shot him dead! I was forced to fight back!"

"Don't go tattling to Instructor Zephyr later, got it?"

The recruits present froze for a moment, then quickly caught on. "Ah, right, right, right!"

"Don't worry, Carl. We're not that kind of petty people." "That's right, we can all testify for you."

The pirates, meanwhile, looked as though their parents had died. Their eyes were filled with terror as they looked at Carl.

This Marine was truly rotten to the core! She could have killed the captain directly, yet she insisted on making him die "reasonably." He really... made them cry.

"Sir, if I'm not mistaken, you're the mayor of this town, right?"

The middle-aged man nodded. "Yes. My name is Rajed, mayor of Chunyu Town."

Smack.

Carl slapped the pistol into the mayor's hand. She had intended to let him decide the fate of these pirates himself, but he was so frightened that he jolted.

"Ahem, Uncle Rajed, don't be nervous." Carl then whispered in his ear, "I'll leave these pirates to you. I think you understand what I mean..."

Rajed calmed down and turned to look at the bound pirates, a flash of fury passing through his eyes.

"Don't worry, Officer. I absolutely won't let these scum go."

Carl patted the mayor's shoulder approvingly, then turned and shouted at the recruits, "Let's go! The Hunting Knife Pirates are still waiting for us!"

"Yeah!!!"

The Marines who had landed on Spring Island retreated like the tide, not taking so much as a cloud with them.

After the Marines left, the townspeople who had survived the disaster turned their eyes toward the eleven bound pirates.

"It was you! You killed my husband and took all the money from our home!"

A trace of panic flashed through one pirate's eyes as he roared in shock and anger, "What are you trying to do?! It wasn't intentional! Who told him to resist me?!"

"I'll make you pay with your life!"

A middle-aged woman with reddened eyes rushed at a pirate in a yellow shirt and viciously slashed him with a curved blade she had picked up.

Blood splattered across her face, yet it did nothing to ease the grief in her heart.

On the way back to the Training Ship, Carl listened to the intermittent gunshots and screams with a silent smile.

This was the fate pirates deserved.