"How could this be...?" Hearing Alistair's words, everyone let out a long breath.
The idea that the Marines would let promising candidates chase pirates they couldn't defeat sounded utterly absurd.
But considering their own situation, they realized that everything Alistair said was true.
This was how the World Marines operated.
And in the end, several Marine Rear Admirals would capture them, either executing them or sending them to Impel Down to spend the rest of their miserable lives.
Except for prisoners with political significance, most people would only be sent to Impel Down if they were Devil Fruit users—these vicious Devil Fruit users could be used for experiments by Vegapunk to transfer Devil Fruit powers, or if they were killed, the Devil Fruit would reappear elsewhere. If another pirate ate it, it would create another great pirate, so it was better to lock them up.
Those without Devil Fruit abilities were on their own.
"So, you have a group of Marines following you?" Alistair asked Ace, who was still stunned.
"Yes..." Ace couldn't accept it. He clearly had feelings for Isuka.
"Then, defeat them, capture them." Alistair rubbed his hands together, smiling.
"Attack the Marines directly?!" Masked Deuce was shocked.
"Aren't you a Shichibukai?" Mihar couldn't understand this either.
"Us?" Alistair smiled. "Shouldn't it be you?"
!!!
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"Second Lieutenant! They should be just ahead!" On the deck, the Marines were nervously preparing their weapons. They were just a Marine company. Being allowed to pursue the Spade Pirates under Second Lieutenant Isuka's insistence was already a lenient decision from above.
And this was the first half of the Grand Line, with numerous Marine bases to support them. The further they went, the less likely they were to catch the Spade Pirates.
And the Spade Pirates' Log Pose might not have recorded the previous island. There was a high possibility that they were drifting aimlessly at sea.
Although they only had a medium-sized ship, their firepower was superior, with over twenty cannons and a hundred crew members. Even sheer numbers could overwhelm the Spade Pirates.
"Found them!" The lookout on the mast shouted to the Marines below, who were nervously preparing for battle.
"There's a large ship ahead!"
"Isn't that the Spade Pirates' ship?" Isuka was somewhat discouraged, but as Marines, they had no choice. Encountering pirates meant killing them without mercy!
"Uncover the cannons!" In naval battles, protecting gunpowder from moisture was crucial. Cannon barrels were prone to water damage, so they were always covered with oiled cloth to prevent moisture, only being uncovered when ready for battle.
Now, the Marines were serious. The lookout constantly monitored the ship ahead, but didn't notice another ship approaching from behind.
"Hey, are you really leaving it to them? That's a New World Marine unit over there. These guys..."
Ace wasn't on his small ship; they had all transferred to this large sailing ship with ten cannons, standing at the back of the formation.
They looked at the wall of men, as neat as a forest, muttering inwardly.
Although the Devils Luck Pirates were indeed strong, with a bounty of 50 million Berries like Ace, their captain and first mate were clearly with them. It seemed they were going to have their ninety-plus men fight against over a hundred Marines?
It was common knowledge that in terms of individual combat ability, this kind of large pirate crew couldn't compare to the Marines.
In terms of simple nutritional supply—small, elite pirate crews could carry a large amount of food to supply their crew's training and protein needs, but large pirate crews couldn't do this.
Large pirate crews could already consider themselves lucky if they could guarantee their crew's daily food and water.
Especially in the Grand Line, not every island had supplies. Encountering an island like Little Garden, full of meat—no, dinosaurs—allowed for meat replenishment, but on most other islands... landing was already extremely dangerous, let alone replenishing food.
The Marines had their own military bases everywhere, easily replenishing food and openly requisitioning food from merchant ships. In terms of resources and logistics, pirates couldn't compare to the Marines.
Therefore, they naturally couldn't be the Marines' opponents in terms of average physical condition.
Moreover, in battles between ordinary people without Haki or Devil Fruits, firearms and cannons played a crucial role.
The opponent had twenty cannons and a hundred Marines with muskets.
Did Alistair think that their ninety-plus people, with less than fifty muskets and ten cannons, could fight them?
Only by using their best fighters to charge into the enemy ranks and disrupt their formation could they win the battle.
Ace and his crew had extensive experience fighting the Marines.
But this wasn't what Alistair wanted.
"Alright, stay down there, watch carefully." Alistair slowly climbed the mast. The crew below, after half a month of training, had taken shape. They stood motionless.
Next was a baptism of blood and fire, to forge them anew.
"Approaching the enemy! Ready to board!" The lookout on the opposing Marine ship shouted.
Isuka gestured to acknowledge, but felt uneasy. They were almost three hundred meters away, and the opponent still hadn't fired. Was it because they had run out of ammunition?
Logically, at five hundred meters, these pirates should have fled and fired to stop them!
Or had everyone on board starved to death? Killed? Was this a ghost ship?
"No good! They're forming ranks on deck! It's not a ghost ship!" The lookout, sharing Isuka's initial thought, finally saw clearly through the canvas at two hundred meters.
It was an unprecedentedly neat formation, as if welcoming their arrival.
"It's the Devils Luck Pirates! They're waiting for us on deck! They're preparing for a boarding action!"
He shouted to those below.
Even Alistair could clearly hear him at this distance.
"Shut up! Shoot him down, but don't kill him. Mihar!" Alistair commanded the Spade Pirates, as if naturally commanding his subordinates.
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