"Rear Admiral, if the pirate captain is very strong..."
"Strong?"
Lorne twitched the corner of his mouth.
"Roaming the first half and daring to attack an Affiliated Nation king's ship? His bounty is three or four hundred million at most."
"Not even enough for a warm-up."
Kuina said no more.
She knew how strong Lorne was.
Against a man who had sent Jack the Drought, with his billion-berry bounty, flying and captured Perospero, worth seven hundred million, alive, pirates from the first half were simply no match.
Time ticked by.
The sea wind grew fiercer, and thick, dark clouds appeared overhead.
"Rear Admiral!"
"Smoke spotted ahead!"
The lookout atop the mast suddenly shouted.
Lorne raised his head and looked where the lookout pointed.
At the far end of the horizon, a thick column of black smoke rose into the sky. Flames flickered at its base, painting the surrounding sea red.
"I see it."
Lorne spoke in a low voice.
He activated his Observation Haki, and his perception instantly expanded.
Three large, armed pirate ships formed a crescent, trapping a badly listing passenger ship in their midst.
The passenger ship's mainmast had snapped, its side was ablaze, and dozens of bodies lay strewn across the deck.
There were still signs of life.
Faint, but still there.
"Seventeen people alive."
Lorne withdrew his perception.
"Five are in the passenger ship's lower hold. Probably the king and his last guards."
"The other twelve are all aboard the pirate ships. Likely captured sailors."
"What about the pirates?"
Ethan asked.
"A little over two hundred across the three ships."
Lorne's tone was casual.
"One stands out. A very powerful presence, on the flagship's deck."
"That would be the captain."
"Yes."
Lorne rolled up his sleeves, revealing forearms covered in old scars.
Muscles bulged beneath his