Vic looked in the direction of the sound and saw a marine clutching his stomach, lying in front of a little boy. Although the marine was trying his best to cover his wound, bright red blood still stubbornly flowed out from between his fingers. The marine looked at the little boy standing next to him in disbelief, his face contorted in pain.
The little boy had cold eyes and a sneer on his lips as he glanced disdainfully at the navy man lying on the ground. His expression was completely unlike that of a child his age; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a ruthless pirate.
Yet this same expression appeared on a child's face. What had he gone through? At that moment, the dagger in his hand was still dripping blood. The other marines were drawn to the scream and looked on in disbelief at the scene.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
Just then, several more screams rang out. Several sailors were caught off guard and injured by the fishermen's weapons. Even Barnett's arm was cut by the little girl's sickle. This was only because he was a fraction of a second off; otherwise, his entire arm would have been cut off.
Wendy became alert upon hearing the screams and was not injured by the woman's unexpected attack. Frodeku, having foreseen the future, dodged and was also unharmed, but several marines who had been drawn into the attack were seriously wounded.
Others suffered minor injuries, more or less. They were completely unprepared for this group of seemingly harmless fishermen, and their attention was drawn to the child who had initially caused the injury. Even well-trained marines can get hurt.
"Scatter! Keep your distance from them!"
Barnett, his face grim, shouted. After glancing at the wound on his arm and then at the smug little girl in front of him, he swiftly stepped back.
Upon hearing the order, the others kept their distance from the fishermen, looking for an opportunity to retreat, because the fishermen had stopped hiding and started attacking.
The little boy who made the first move swung the dagger on his phone, intending to stab the marine lying on the ground clutching his stomach. However, Vic knocked the dagger out of his hand with a throwing knife. Vic then carried Ain and rushed into the chaotic crowd, throwing the marine out of danger.
"Hahaha! The navy is nothing special. Even if they saw through my plan, they still fell for it and drank my bathwater!"
Although Mora was still locked in combat with Rebecca, he was quite pleased to see so many Marines injured. He hadn't yet realized just how strong the Marines he was facing were. Although he had read about them in the newspapers, after a direct confrontation, he felt they were nothing special and had still suffered losses due to his abilities.
Just after Mora finished speaking, a series of explosions rang out from the fishermen's side. After the white smoke cleared, all the fishermen disappeared, and in their place appeared a group of menacing-looking pirates. There were no old, weak, or disabled people among them; they were all strong, middle-aged men.
Then an explosion rang out from Mora's body, and he too transformed into a middle-aged pirate with a long beard and wearing a pirate hat.
Rebecca and her companions were dumbfounded by what they saw. They hadn't noticed anything amiss with these fishermen before; they never imagined they were a group of pirates in disguise. This was truly impossible to guard against!
When Vic saw this, his eyes narrowed. He had previously suspected that these fishermen had been bewitched or threatened by Mora to help him do bad things.
He hadn't expected these fishermen to be pirates in disguise. These guys were indeed very well disguised. If they had encountered a branch of the Marine warship, they probably would have already gotten away with it. Even if they discovered the trick, they would most likely have fallen for it. Who knew that this Devil Fruit ability could also have a transformation effect? It was quite unexpected!
"Hahaha! I transformed into everyone exactly as these lowly fishermen do, perfectly replicating their previous activities. No change is the most brilliant disguise. If it weren't for that unexpected element of Haki you mentioned, you would never have discovered the island's secret!"
Mora continued, saying that his previous attempts to disguise himself with his abilities had always worked, but he hadn't expected to fail with an unfamiliar ability like Haki this time. He needed to come up with a new strategy.
Mora's words made Rebecca and Barnett grit their teeth; they were the ones who had been deceived the most, completely played for a fool!
If it weren't for the fact that Vic and the others had been made fools of, Rebecca would have been even angrier and wanted to rush over and kill Mora, but Vic grabbed her arm.
Now is not the best time to kill Mora. He wants to get some information out of Mora when he is at his most triumphant. Mora's Devil Fruit ability is too strange. Judging from his current performance, it is impossible to guess what kind of ability it is.
Based on Vic's knowledge of both his past and present lives, no Devil Fruit matches the abilities described above. Add to that the spatial abilities that haven't yet been demonstrated, and with so many potential development directions combined, it's really hard to guess. But Vic knows that this is definitely a Paramecia Devil Fruit.
"You've been using these methods to commit evil deeds; I doubt you have a bounty on your head from the Navy, right? Don't you want to be famous?"
Isn't the point of being a pirate to gain fame and fortune? You might make money by kidnapping and selling people, but you gain no reputation whatsoever. You might as well be a gangster; why be a pirate?
Vic grabbed Rebecca's hand and provoked her. He had seen low-key pirates before, but most of them were not very strong and could not be high-profile.
This was the first time he had encountered a pirate crew that only cared about making money. They did things in a secretive way, and after they were done, they were basically unsolved cases. If anyone found out, they would probably be killed by Mora immediately.
Mora's ability to enlarge her body and weapons is quite impressive, and coupled with her disguise abilities, she easily falls for people's tricks, leaving behind eerie legends wherever she goes.
"Hahaha! I'm just a nobody in the eyes of the Navy. Over the years, I've come to understand one thing: standing out too much when you don't have any power is the beginning of your destruction. So even after I got the power of the Devil Fruit, I've tried to keep a low profile."
Of course! If I had powerful backers, I would naturally become more assertive. Today, we can each compromise. I can release those people and leave this island, but you cannot chase after me.
"If you agree, I'll restore those people. It's not that I'm afraid of you; I have plenty of ways to leave here. If you don't agree, those people will never be restored!"
The pirate Mora is probably an experienced person. He hasn't had Devil Fruit for very long, so he knows that keeping a low profile is the best policy. He also knows that Vic and Rebecca are not easy to deal with, and that his previous sneak attack didn't cause any substantial casualties among the Marines. Relying solely on his Devil Fruit ability without a sneak attack, it would be difficult for him to defeat the Marines in front of him. Therefore, he wants to negotiate.