(One chapter owed)
That invisible power carried an unstoppable will, surging from Lorne's body like a tide and sweeping through every corner of the Baratie.
The tall pirate's pupils suddenly widened to their limit.
His lips moved twice, but he could not force a single word from his throat.
The cutlass slipped from his stiff fingers and struck the floor with a sharp clang.
Then his knees buckled, and he toppled straight backward.
His eyes rolled back, and foam spilled from his mouth.
The short pirate likewise lost all consciousness.
He pitched forward, his face slamming into the floor covered in food scraps. He twitched twice, then lay still.
The iron hammer finally fell from the Scarred Brute's hand.
But he did not even get the chance to look down at it.
The dark red pressure crushed his consciousness like an invisible giant hand, shattering every thought in an instant.
His remaining eye rolled sharply upward, and his massive body crashed to the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The sounds of falling bodies rang out one after another.
From the center of the dining hall to the doorway, and out onto the deck where pirates had yet to rush inside, every last one of the dozens of Krieg Pirates advance party members lost consciousness at the same instant.
They did not even have time to let out a cry.
Some fell among overturned tables and chairs, some landed on shattered dishes, and others rolled off the edge of the deck, crashing into the base of the railing before crumpling into heaps.
Foam seeped from the corners of their tightly shut mouths as their bodies went limp like puppets with severed strings.
The entire Baratie fell silent.
Lorne withdrew that power.
The dark red waves of pressure dissipated, and