"Looks like they're waiting for us."
A streak of golden light shot across the horizon like a meteor and stopped above the Drum Kingdom.
Borsalino appeared high in the sky, looking down at the nation below.
Just as the live broadcast had shown, the royal capital had vanished, along with a layer of earth swallowed by darkness.
The Drum Kingdom's port remained largely intact and had suffered little damage.
After all, the Drum Kingdom had fallen too quickly, and its army had been unable to put up much resistance.
Apart from the royal capital, the army, and the kingdom's nobles, the Black Emperor Pirates had not deliberately gone out of their way to slaughter anyone.
The entire kingdom was still in chaos, with all its residents fleeing in every direction.
They fled away from the port, into the snow-covered wilderness, even though vicious beasts might be lurking there.
In their eyes, the Black Emperor Pirates were far more terrifying.
The entire port town was deserted except for the Black Emperor Pirates.
Half a day had passed since the Black Emperor Pirates invaded the Drum Kingdom.
That had been enough time for the Black Emperor Pirates to kill off all the kingdom's nobles and wealthy citizens.
And plunder most of its treasures.
The Drum Kingdom was not actually very large.
The Black Emperor Pirates had even had time to set up cooking pots and enjoy a hearty feast, conserving their strength as they waited for Marine reinforcements to arrive.
On orders from Marine Headquarters, Borsalino had been sent ahead to the Drum Kingdom to see whether he could contain the escalating situation there.
He would also probe the Black Emperor Pirates' strength and gather more intelligence.
The Marines' intelligence division knew very little about the Black Emperor Pirates and had few