The Roger Pirates

Rear Admiral Jerry roared.

No matter how slim their chances, he had to try.

The warship's wheel spun hard over, and the ship turned to retreat. But the officers saw, to their despair, that the Flying Pirates' fleet had already surrounded them.

Whichever way they fled, they would run into the enemy.

And the ships ahead were closing in as fast as they could.

Fwoosh!

A flame flared. Rear Admiral Jerry lit the cigar in his hand, took a deep drag, then spoke quietly.

"Xia Le, do everything you can to stay alive."

Xia Le froze and turned toward the superior officer he barely knew.

Jerry opened his mouth, as though he had more to say.

Then his body jolted.

A piece of the cigar in his mouth vanished. A spot of blood appeared in the center of his forehead, rapidly spreading around a hole.

Only then did the faint sound of a gunshot reach them.

Xia Le stared, stunned. Then he understood.

The rear admiral who had been speaking to him a moment ago was dead.

A bullet from who knew where had ended his life in an instant.

At the same time, chaos swept the warship, and a shrill whistle sounded.

Grunts of pain rang out. Bullets from every direction pierced the officers standing on deck, spraying blood.

"Find cover!"

"Get down! Enemy snipers!"

Shouts rose across the warship.

Xia Le reacted. He glanced at Rear Admiral Jerry and started to duck.

On a pirate ship roughly two kilometers away, a cold-faced figure pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Xia Le's body jerked. A bloody hole appeared between his brows.

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Roger Pirates

"Xia Le!"

The shout reached him through the howling wind.

Xia Le shuddered. The hole in his forehead healed before their eyes, and a deformed bullet worked its way out and struck the deck with a clang.

He moved fast, ducking behind the gunwale almost at once.

"I'm fine!"

He drew a deep breath and shouted back.

Near the stern, Saron finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then he called, "What about Rear Admiral Jerry?"

"He's dead. Shot between the eyes!"

Xia Le glanced at the officer beside him, still standing straight despite the life having left him, and answered with a deep breath.

The mood across the ship shifted.

"Dead?"

Saron went still.

Tension and dread filled the warship. Though everyone tried to stay hidden, grunts of pain kept sounding.

Each one meant another comrade had been hit.

Xia Le soon noticed that the helmsman had been shot too. He lay slumped over the wheel, blood dripping steadily.

The ship hasn't moved!

His heart lurched.

"Saron, cover me! I'll take the wheel!"

A shout rang out. Xia Le looked up to see Simboo spring forward and reach the wheel in an instant. Saron roared and planted himself before Simboo like a mountain, swinging his great blade.

Metal rang as Saron blocked bullets coming from every direction.

The warship rocked, changed course, and sped across the sea.

Thud, thud, thud!

But there were too many enemies. Blood kept spraying from Saron's body as he swung both blades to protect his vital spots. After barely a minute, he fell with a thud.

Xia Le pressed his lips together and sprang to his feet.

What he saw made his pupils contract.

The vast fleet was almost upon them. Beneath the lightning and dark skies, the sight was enough to crush all hope. Countless pirates laughed wildly as they watched them with cold eyes.

From the sky to the sea, enormous pirate ships and skull flags stretched as far as he could see.

It was hard to believe that Golden Lion Shiki and the Flying Pirates, whom King Luffy had defeated in the movie, could present such a staggering, hopeless sight in person.

"Simboo!"

"I'll take over! Get down!"

Xia Le drew a sharp breath and shouted as he strode to Simboo's side.

Simboo paused. He looked down at his bleeding abdomen, nodded with difficulty, and moved aside.

In that brief encounter, so many officers had been shot that Xia Le could hardly count them. Few comrades remained.

"Roar!"

"Kill them all!"

"Look at them! They're scared, they're shaking! They don't even know which way to run!"

"Hahahahaha!"

The voices carried clearly over the sea breeze.

Xia Le gritted his teeth and stared coldly at the pirate ships filling the horizon.

Looking up, he saw a commanding figure standing with his arms folded at the bow of the leading flagship, gazing down at them.

The man was tall and imposing, his golden hair falling almost to the deck like a lion's mane.

At a glance, he looked like a proud, domineering lion.

He was Golden Lion, one of the three Great Pirates.

Xia Le wrenched the wheel around. The warship shuddered beneath his feet, cut through the water, and charged toward the weakest gap in the encirclement.

Meanwhile, in Golden Lion's fleet, a man with a rifle and a scope over one eye stared in surprise at the figure steering the warship.

"I know my shot hit him!"

"It did. That kid might have some kind of ability," his companion said with a nod.

He had seen the kid take a bullet between the brows and fall.

Yet there he stood again, completely unharmed. He clearly possessed some extraordinary power.

Above them, on the enormous pirate flagship...

"They're trying to break through!"

"They're only five hundred meters away. We can catch those little rats!"

"What do you say, Boss Shiki? Want to let the boys have some fun?"

The officers laughed and looked toward the imposing figure ahead.

"Jihahahahaha!"

"Now isn't the time for games!"

"I'm going to find Roger!"

Golden Lion Shiki looked down at the tiny warship ahead and laughed.

"We've chased him through these waters for three days!"

"And we still haven't caught him!"

"What a slippery bastard."

He narrowed his eyes at the sea ahead.

Suddenly, a black speck appeared. At the same moment, the sharp-eyed officers let out excited cries.

"It's the Roger Pirates!"

"We found them again!"

"And they're close! They've sailed right into our encirclement!"

The officers grew excited at once.

"Jihahahahaha!"

"Boys, give it everything you've got! Surround Roger!"

Golden Lion Shiki laughed.

"As for those few little Navy rats, their fate is up to luck."

He gave the warship below one passing glance and paid it no further mind.

The next moment, the vast Flying Fleet turned and raced toward the black speck.

The Flying Pirates had been about to reach them, but their main force suddenly withdrew. The comrades aboard the warship exchanged looks and breathed sighs of relief.

Then they spotted the ship that had been just as unlucky, caught inside the encirclement.

"That flag?!"

"It's the Roger Pirates!"

"I never thought they'd show up here."

At the voices around him, Xia Le looked ahead.

Pirate ships packed together were racing toward that black speck. It was the same scene playing out again.

When they had faced the Flying Pirates, all they had felt was despair and suffocation.

What about Roger?

"Get ready to break through, Xia Le. We're not out of danger yet!"

"Those five pirate ships are still coming after us!"

Simboo struggled to his feet and spoke in a low voice, his face pale.

Xia Le nodded. He had also seen the five pirate ships bearing down on them from behind.

"Five ships."

He murmured the words, and his narrowed eyes turned sharp.

"Prepare to fight!"

"Rear Admiral Jerry is dead, but you're all battle-hardened veterans! Move!"