clatter...
clatter...
clatter...
Just as everyone gave up resistance and knelt down to beg for mercy from the pirates, a sound of footsteps rang out, causing everyone to stop their killing spree and look in that direction.
"You thief! Hahaha, very good! Just lay down your weapons and beg for mercy, and I'll spare your lowly lives..."
Pirate Captain Lucas strode towards the cruise ship, glanced at the kneeling sailors, laughed heartily, and spoke.
"How could you do this? You are the loyal guardians of this cruise ship, the Goddess. How could you abandon your oath just to survive?"
The captain, enraged to see his men groveling before the enemy like grovelers, pointed a finger at them and demanded an explanation.
"I'm sorry, Captain, you should surrender too. You can survive that way, and you still have family waiting for you back home!"
Although some men lowered their heads and dared not meet his gaze, a small group of shameless soldiers still tried to persuade their captain to surrender to the pirates like they did.
"You, you, how could you say that? As the person in charge of this ship, I will not surrender. If you're going to kill me, then do it now..."
The captain was enraged by his crew's words. He couldn't understand how there could be such shameless subordinates. He then raised his head and, with a look of grim determination, addressed the pirates.
"Ha ha ha ha, so you're not planning to surrender, Captain?!"
Lucas walked up to him and looked him over.
"Fine, if you're going to kill, then kill. Stop with the nonsense..."
The captain didn't care about his life; in his eyes, his own glory was more important than anything else.
Since he had already been defeated by the pirates, he could only exchange his life for final glory, rather than beg for mercy from his shameless subordinates.
brush...
"You scoundrel! Hahaha, you've got guts. Fine, then I'll grant your wish..."
Seeing that the captain truly had no intention of surrendering, Lucas raised his blade and praised him.
Tear...
Thump...
Lucas swung his right arm down, and the captain's head, filled with an indomitable expression, was severed and fell onto the deck. Blood gushed from the severed neck before the body collapsed to the ground.
"Captain..."
Seeing their long-followed captain killed by Lucas before their eyes, everyone shouted loudly, tears streaming down their faces.
"Ah!! I'll fight you to the death, to avenge the captain..."
At that moment, a sailor, unable to contain his emotions, grabbed a knife and slashed at Lucas.
"No, George..."
"Don't be impulsive!!"
His companions below shouted loudly, trying to bring him to his senses and make him give up the idea, but unfortunately, he was too enraged to hear their shouts at all.
"Captain, I've avenged you..."
George charged at Lucas without any hindrance, raised his blade, and slashed at him, truly believing he could successfully defeat Lucas.
"Heh heh... Ignorant fool, daring to draw a knife in front of Captain Lucas!!"
"Yes, we'll soon see his miserable state..."
When the pirates saw George raise his arm to strike, they didn't panic at all; instead, they all waited silently to see what would happen.
brush...
"Die, you pirate! I'll make you pay for your captain's life..."
George finally swung the knife at Lucas.
"Hey, you ignorant kid, I'll show you what real power is."
Lucas wasn't alarmed; instead, he looked at him with a sinister smile and said...
Guh...
The knife fell and struck Lucas's body, but instead of splattering a lot of blood as George had imagined, it shrank back as if it were standing on a sponge.
"What?! How could this happen?"
George exclaimed in surprise.
"Hehe, it's here, the captain's ability..."
"Yeah... No matter how many times I watch it, it's always so exciting... Devil Fruit, Paramecia... Sponge-Sponge Fruit!!"
"Hahaha, you've seen it now, kid, this is my power."
Lucas didn't even look at the part of his body that had been cut, and smiled as he spoke to George.
"A Devil Fruit User, Sponge Human. As long as the attack doesn't exceed the limit, I can completely absorb and release it."
Like this...
As Lucas spoke, he stretched out his left hand and punched George.
boom...
"Puff..."
Upon initial contact, George appeared unaffected, but a moment later, under Lucas's sinister grin, he was suddenly struck hard, his body flying backward like a cannonball, crashing into the iron railing and twisting it into a grotesque shape.
"Hahaha, how about that? What do you think of my abilities? From being unable to withstand even a couple of hits at the beginning, to now being able to take punches, knife strikes, and gunshots—I can handle it all!"
I endured countless hardships to reach this level, and I've defeated countless officers and colonels. How dare you challenge me?
"Grab him and take him away. I'm going to torture him properly; how dare he hurt me!"
Lucas walked over to George, who was lying seriously injured by the railing after being bounced back by Lucas, and said with a smile.
"Yes, Captain... You're out of luck, kid. We've never seen the captain so angry before. Come with us!"
After receiving his orders, the two pirates walked over to George, patted his face with a smile, and then, ignoring his angry glare, lifted him up and took him to the dungeon on the pirate ship.
After locking him alone in a cell, they left, but as they brought George in, other prisoners in the cell kept knocking on the door and begging for help.
"Please, let me out. Whatever the cost, my family will pay..."
"Please let me out, I beg you!!"
The prisoners seemed to see a glimmer of hope and kept knocking on the door, pleading for help from the two pirates.
"What's all the noise about? If you keep making noise, I'll kill you all. Anyway, losing one captain won't make a difference!!"
Hearing the pleas for mercy, one of the pirates kicked a man who had reached out his hand to beg for help back inside, and roared fiercely.
Their shouts silenced the cell, and the prisoners gazed at them with hopeful eyes.
Unfortunately, they ignored it. The two pirates locked the cell door and left, leaving the group's eyes dimmed.
It can be seen that most of those detained here are young and strong men or beautiful young girls.
They were imprisoned here because they were slaves, captured by the pirate Lucas and brought here in preparation for being taken ashore to be handed over to slave traders, who would then sell them for a considerable sum of money.
Meanwhile, the passengers and sailors on the merchant ship naturally became his targets. Lucas not only planned to rob them of their money but also of their lives, intending to kidnap them for ransom or sell them as slaves to human traffickers for a large sum of money.
Because of his actions, the government and navy hate him intensely and have offered a high reward for his capture, but no one has been able to collect the reward money to this day.
His bounty is as follows:
Pirate Lucas
Bounty of 250 million Beli
The Devil Fruit User the Sponge-Sponge Fruit is the most heinous of all, regardless of life or death.