As they were nearing the floating restaurant, a rapidly nearing shadow attract their attention, more so was the ringing blast of cannon. As they were still all near the steering room, Alex rapidly made his way to the crow nest, taking a spygla.s.s, he looks their way.What he sees surprise him before his face became more serious.
"Girls, be ready, we will barge in." Say Alex with a predatory gaze.
"Who are they?"
"Kreig and his armada, he fighting against the marines."
"Kreig? Hadn"t he enter Grand Line?" Asked Nami.
"Yes, we had received a report that he did, a few days ago, for them to be already back, it doesn"t bode well for them." Say Tashigi.
"Yes, I had found similar reports among Nezumi files, and out of his initial 50 ships, I had only seen twenty or so, all with various amount of damaged. By the look of it, they seem to have been stricken by the tempest at the enter of Grand Line, before the first line of islands. Because of their near placement, the seas and weather are completely wrecked their, until the first island is attained." Add Alex.
"What about the Marines?" Asked Nojiko.
"The only one with enough power to take care of him here is Smoker, but he never leave the base, after losing 50 men, and two of his six warrant officers, I don"t think that he would move personally, all pirates would use the opportunity to pa.s.s redline into Grand Line."
"Shi-chan is right, Smoker doesn"t seem to be there, but I did see two warrant officers their, and around 200 of marines. Normally, they wouldn"t be of any use against Kreig, but if they only try to sink the ship, they could pull it off."
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Saying this, he was looking through the spygla.s.s, trying to follow the development of the situation. Of the twenty-four ship, two were already sinking, boats exiting it to rally the nearer ships.
From the foremost, and larger ship, a white flag was rapidly risen, just below the pirate flag of Kreig.
"They wouldn"t... Morons."
"What happens?" Asked Kiuna, voicing everyone question.
"Kreig just hoist a white flag."
"Shouldn"t be a good thing, then?" Asked Tashigi, Nojiko and Kuina nodding.
Only Nami was having an idea of why he was saying.
"It fake, didn"t it?"
"Yes, is it."
As to prove them right, a loud blast was heard, looking at the distance, the girls could make the blown away deck of the marine ship that had come forward.
"Why? Hadn"t them surrender, why blowing the marine ship!" Ask Tashigi shocked."
"Your joking, right?" Ask Alex, only to see that, apparently she wasn"t. "They are pirate, Kreig it also knows to trick of the marine, don"t tell me you didn"t see it coming?"
Blushing, the girl lower her head. Shaking his head, Alex gently ruffles her hairs.
"You need to be more aware of your surrounding Shi-chan, they won"t play fair, and will use any occasion to take you down, no more how dirty it is, alright?"
"Yes." Answer her back.
"Alright, let play a little. Kitten, you"re in Looting duty, Ku-chan, you go with her, cut anything that is a threat to you both. I and Shi-chan will go with Nojiko, its time she wet her feet."
"Why I"m the only one without a pet name!" Pout Nojiko.
"You will when you have your Bounty, until them, it Nojiko." Say his dryly. "Chop, chop, I want everything done before the day end."
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"Kreig! you b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you will pay for this!" Shout the only left Warrant Officer on another ship.
"HAHAHAHA, your marines are always that easy to trick, we are, pirates! I still have more than 2000 men! Do you think that you and your pesky 200 could go against us?"
"Were not alone! Captain Smoker is on his way as we spoke, we are only here to keep you in place until them!" Shout the marine back, proud of himself when he sees Kreig dumbfound expression.
"Are you a moron?"
"What?!"
"Why would we stay here when you just told us that, that monster is coming? Gin, full a.s.sault, let those fish bait sink, I want the ships, they would be useful."
"Yes, Don."
Taking a, bulkier than normal, pistol, he shot in the sky, letting off a red flare. On the surrounding ship of Kreig" armada, the order was easily received. all men prepare for the a.s.sault. All the ships star to near the other, forming a tight, large spot, and gangplanks were layered between all of them.
Soon, men made their way from their ship to the main galleon, ready to attack the neared marines ships.
Seeing this, the Warrant officer whitens, before giving orders.
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"Gunner, cannon full blast, aim for the deck and takedown as much as possible! Marines, ready for the boarding! Master chief petty officer Freedman, contact Captain Smoker, inform him of the situation and ask for emergency support!"
In a boot"s snapping salute, all marines scurry to their designated posts, and soon, cannonb.a.l.l.s were blasted to the foremost ship. Before they could even land, they see two ships of Kreig armada sails before them, tanking the blast with near-zero damaged as the b.a.l.l.s barely sc.r.a.ps the stern, falling limply in the sea on the other side of the deck.
Gritting his teeth, the officer takes his pistol, aiming at any pirate other than Kreig, knowing that it would be pointless to try and take the man down from there. His action was soon followed by few others marines before they impact the tanking ship.
"Charge!"
In shouted battle cry, the two force clash on the deck of the ship in between.
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By the time they arrive at the large cl.u.s.ter of ships, Kreig ones have already been linked and vacated. Seeing this, Alex didn"t pa.s.s the gift horse in the mouth and, plunder any empty ships. Looking inside, they were mostly empty. Their food supplies were at an all-time low, but they did have tons of gunpowder and cannonball. Storing everything, he would trans.m.u.te each ship into wooden blocks, before going for the next.
While the two sides were warring, the group of five was slowly making its way through any ship at the back, staying unseen. After the two first were found empty of any man, he sends the girls to prepare the ship for him, making him gain a little time.
At the half-hour mark, a few things happen. First was the fact that Kreig had already lost a good 500 men while the marines only lost around 40. All this was because the pirates were starved and completely exhausted after being washed away by the tempest and wrecked by the sea Kings in Calm Belt.
They didn"t have time to resupply when they had been caught by a patrol. While they were sinking the boats, they were too slow, and their position busted. What had followed was three days of track, until they had finally cornered them near the floating restaurant.
After what was happening in those seas, the HQ had immediately sent Smoker deal with Kreig, unwilling to had him and Alex join. By sending that early, they had missed the fact that they had now a bounty on them and lack information.
The second and third things were linked. Smoker was near, by hearing the Marines report, all had looked on the ships nearing them rapidly. It was at this time that they see that the three-fourth of Kreig" ships had vanished without them knowing.
With the two tanking ships, that had now only three other left, with Kreig galleon. Those six ships wouldn"t be enough for all his men to flee, more so when the already their four left marine ships would be rejoined with three others. They would be overpowered and sunken as soon as they try to run.
Seeing this, Kreig being enraged, taking off his heavy coat and shirt, he unclips his left shoulders pauldrons. Mounting it on his arm like a shield. On the centre of the golden disk lined with white fur on the outside, his pirate emblem, a skull with hourgla.s.s linked at the end of the bones on each side and halved shield on the maw side, open. The lower and upper jaw moved, letting the halved shield part to pivot, leaving a round hole appears.
Aiming at the nearing ships, he shot a bomb the size of a largely closed fist to them, before three others were launched at the ships on the side. Done, he slams the right shoulder part with the left and creates his famous spear.
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On his ship, Smoker sees the sudden projectile coming flying straight at them. Knowing Kreig by reputation alone, he could easily guess that he would try to sink them before they arrive. By the size of the bomb, he knows that bullet would do nothing and cannon would be too slow to aim and take it down, if they ever were able to aim at something that small. Taking the next best decision, he rises in the air, turning his lower half in smoke.
"White luncher!" Shout him, taking his Jutte from his back, ready to strike the bomb.
With the propulsion of his lower half turned into smoke, he raises above the sea. readily his Jutte, he gives a powerful strike with the tip of his weapon. Even if he could lose it in the explosion, he would be damage-free with his logia power, or so he thought.
While he effectively strikes the bomb, it wasn"t an explosion who follow, but a large cloud of light purple, nearly white, gas. Being at point-blank, he couldn"t react rapidly enough and inhale a large dose of it.
Right as he stroked the bomb, the two other fired bomb struck the two other ships. This time, it was real explosives inside, who wrecked the three decks, turning a good part of the marines on, into mincemeat, and sending fly everywhere wood splinters.
Being in the blast zone, he was turned into a cloud of smoke by the shock wave and the scattered wood" splinters. Regretfully, it only turns things worse for him. By turning into a could, a large amount of gas mix with him. Poisoned by the man mortal gas, and losing consciousness, he reform, before sinking into the sea.
The marines on the ships would have gone to save him, was it not for Kreig still present ship do rain cannonb.a.l.l.s on them, decimating their numbers.
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On the side, the five looked at the scene, captivated. The moment he sees the gas, Alex know what it was, the MH5 of the manga, and secret ace of Kreig. Because every time it had been used, and targeted base wiped out, it had never been made known to the HQ, mixed with the arrogance of the logia, thinking themselves invincible in paradise, let alone the blues, Smoker pay the price with his life.
Even if they were able to drag him out of the water, from the amount of gas he had ingested and mix with, and the still-ongoing fight, he would die before being administered an antidote. Turning his head to the side, he says.
"You know now why I had said that I didn"t want any of you to carelessly eat a devil fruit? The Logia may give you enormous powers, but the arrogance you will gain from could be your demise, much like Smoker."
He grimly returns his attention on the incoming ships and its crew, or what was left. With Smoker striking it while still airborne, the cloud had propagated far more that it would have, and englobe the three ships entirely.
With the bomb, the poisoned marines were barely able to respond, and have been put down by the rain of cannonball.
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On the tanking ships, Kreig looks with satisfaction at the marines demise while the other side looks with horror at their slaughtered support. Losing Smoker to east blue would be another heavy blow. This would leave the pirates nearly free reign in it, and with the still unknown pirate rising, it would lead to a time of chaos until reinforcement was sent to take care of them.
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"All right ladies, let put an end to this, clean the last ships, I will take care of the rest of them. Nojiko, you stay with me."
Nodding at Alex, they each leave for their targetted ship, while the two of them made their way inside. Killing any pirates that cross their way before they could give the alert, the two rapidly clean the galleon clean, leaving only Kreig quarter. Inside the more s.p.a.cious room, he found a complete replica of his armour as well as ammo of any of his weapons. Storing all, he was happy to finally gaining something worthwhile.
Looking outside, he could see that the marines were on their last legs. After seeing Smoker and their support being blasted even before arriving, they had lost a great part of their will. The pirates, on the other hand, had been rousted by it and fought back more aggressively. Even then, the decks wood plank was blood red, gorged of the blood of fallen men.
For what he could see, there was left only twenty or so marines. On Kreig side, he seems to have lost around 600 men, a fourth of them. While they were cannon fodder, he knows that the fight would be his first real challenge here. He could not burn the ship, nor turn it into an iceberg at he would risk a friendly fire. Plus, it was time that he see what they were worth. Logue town was now safe, and Whiskey peak wouldn"t be a problem, same as Little Garden.
It was Alabasta that worry him. He had long since decided that Crocodile was needed to be taken down, otherwise, the capital would be turned into a crater, with millions of victims. And that"s where the problems lie. Nearly all members of Baroque Works are Devil Fruits user.
Mr.0; Crocodile and his SunSuna logia. Miss all-Sunday; Nico Robin and her HanHana paramecia.
Mr.1; Daz Bonez and his SupSupa paramecia. Miss Double-fingers; Zala and her Toge-Toge paramecia.
Mr.2; Bentham and his Mane-Mane paramecia.
Mr.3; Galdino and his Doru-Doru paramecia. Miss Goldenweek; Marianne and her ability to influence sentient being with her paint.
Mr.4; Babe and his cannon-dog La.s.sou, a cannon fed with the Inu-Inu model ba.s.set zoan. Miss Christmas; Drophy and her Mogu-Mogu zoan.
Mr.5; Gem and his bomu-bomu paramecia. Miss Valentine; Mikita and her Kilo-Kilo paramecia.
All of them form a strong line, and with the messed up timeline, he couldn"t be sure that he would cross path with them. If he was able to follow the timeline, it would allow them to fight them in little groups. Mr.5 and Moss Valentine and Whiskey peak. Mr.3 and Miss Goldenweek on Little Garden, and the rest on Alabasta.
Not only it would thin the enemy lines, but also allow them to gauge their force before the last face-off.
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Thinking of it, I know that we don"t have other choices but to follow the timeline as possible, Otherwise, I wouldn"t be able to take care of the bomb before it blow-up. Shaking my head to chase off the thoughts, I exit the Galleon, turning it into an immense cube of wood before storing it. Thankfully, it seems to have expanded in size, otherwise, I would have been unable to store everything I had stolen since I arrived here.
I had felt the restriction loosen on my storage and the inner world since coming here, and I know that it would need only a last push before I was free to visit it. Not only would I free me the place, but I would be able to see my girls.
Hestia and Hephaistos would soon give birth and I was missing my three daughters. Even if they couldn"t come in this world, those from it could travel back and fro, with me. I would be able to introduce Nami, Nojiko, Kuina and Tashigi to their sisters.
-Better concentrate on the threat before you!-
Looking above at the appeared shadow, from CS warning, I barely evade Kreig spear, showered by splinters of woods that bounce off me harmlessly.
"You! You"ve stolen my ships! Give them back!"
Seeing his furious face, he wasn"t in any parleys mood. Looking briefly on my side, I could see that the girls had made it. Facing Kreig, all that was left around us was the bleeding corpse and the 1,800 men on the seven marines ships. Smoker"s one had drifted there, but without a single living marine on board.
"Each of you takes a ship and clean it." Ignoring Kreig for the moment, I look at them, seeing them nod back and rush to their chosen target, before starting to maul down on the men present.