Pirates: Invincible from the Start

Since he did not know, Kuta asked, "Marine, what are you angry about?"

The Rear Admiral wanted to raise his hand and knock Kuta's hand away, but he discovered that, aside from his head, everything around him seemed to have frozen in place.

Of course, that included his body.

He turned his head to glare at Kuta and roared furiously, "Pirate, what did you do to me? Don't think that just because you're a great pirate with a 1.5-billion-berry bounty, I'm afraid of you! Let me tell you, I, Keduo, would never... fear a mere pirate like you!"

"Oh..."

Kuta nodded, staring at Keduo. The smile in his eyes vanished. "Commendable spirit, but how can you be so stupid?"

"You..."

"What 'you'? When facing an enemy you have absolutely no chance of defeating, you still go out of your way to provoke him, even rushing over to seek death. If that isn't stupidity, then what is?"

He looked at Keduo, withdrew his hand, pulled the Wine Gourd from his waist, tilted his head back, and took a drink.

"In this world, you don't have to be fearless to uphold Justice. There's nothing wrong with fighting Pirates, but you also have to know your limits."

"Whew~"

He lowered his head and breathed out a puff of alcohol-scented air. Then he chuckled at Keduo. "You can be fearless when protecting Civilians from Pirate attacks, of course. But when facing someone like me, who has no intention of harming Civilians or you Marines, don't you think provoking me is a foolish thing to do?"

"If I had been in a bad mood today and actually killed you all, did you ever think about the families waiting behind you, or the families of the several hundred men under your command?"

He paused, raised the