Hearing this, the man sat back down in his chair in shock, but the woman continued, full of determination.
"No reports of pirates? We've been living in hell for nine years! Ever since the Trump Pirates took over our town, they've been forcing us to create weapons for them! This island was once a dreamland, but now we can't close our eyes without nightmares!"
The woman went on, "We can't resist while King Bear holds the castle... from there he can sink the entire island if he wants!"
Troubled and trying to make sense of it all, Bill thought about the conversation he had with Aramake a week ago.
"Could one of the Warlords be involved here?"
He tried not to jump to such conclusions, as it would be too easy and would only reinforce his belief that granting immunity to pirates was an extremely dangerous policy.
Seeing the middle-aged couple's expressions, Bill didn't care if a Master of the Seas was involved. After all, the Warlords were not given the right to attack islands or countries that were part of the World Government.
While pondering this, Sasha spoke first, "Why does he need the castle to destroy the island?"
The man, still sitting, responded with a defeated look, "The castle houses the island's key. With it, they control the fulcrum, and overturning the island is a mere trifle for them."
The woman ran down the steps to Bill and, with a trembling voice, said, "Mr. Marine, you can take the Diamond Clock if you want. We finished it the day our son was born, but now..." She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Now looking at it only brings pain."
Nodding, Bill assured her that he would understand the situation and naturally seek justice.
But before leaving, he needed to know more about the people in the castle, so he asked, "You mentioned a person named King Bear. Who is he, and who are his subordinates?"
Taking a deep breath, the man descended the stairs and stood before the group of Marines. He was much shorter than Bill but looked at him with newfound courage.
"His subordinates are all his brothers and sisters. There are five of them, and two have special abilities."
He went on to describe King Bear's ability: he could become incredibly hard and hot, even melting iron beams with his hands.
The other ability holder was his sister. The man did not know exactly what her power was but claimed she could turn into a liquid. He also called her cowardly, but Bill was still concerned because the description reminded him of a Devil Fruit of the Water Logia type.
The rest of the Trump Pirates also seemed strong. According to the engineer, the second most powerful member of the crew was named Pin Joker and wielded a rapier. Then there were Boo Jack and Stank Odin, at which Sasha laughed and told Rans that this was his opponent.
Under the command of these five siblings were several hundred armed pirates and about twenty ships, but this did not greatly worry Bill.
Having obtained the necessary information, Bill said his goodbyes, and the team left the trinket shop.
"Bill, are we going to arrest those pirates?" Yoko eagerly asked, waving her sword.
"Well, you certainly aren't," Bill laughed, then turned to Miyagi and said, "You need to stay here with Yoko while we figure out what's going on."
"Absolutely!" exclaimed Mink the goat, pulling Yoko, who protested, claiming it wasn't fair.
"But you all fought pirates when you were younger than me!"
Seeing them head towards the grocery stalls, Bill chuckled and said they wanted her to be smarter than they were.
Bill didn't know what they would encounter, but he trusted Miyagi to take care of Yoko.
Looking back at the others, they exchanged glances and began ascending the mountain to the castle.
"If they all appear together, Ricky, you'll need to distract Queen Bee and Boo Jack. Make sure to hit the girl with electricity, and if she's not a Water Logia, just run.
Rans, you'll need to quickly disable Stank Odin, and then take on Boo Jack. I expect you to do this before their subordinates arrive."
Bill didn't need to tell Sasha what to do if there was a worthy opponent with a sword—she could handle it herself.
The climb to the castle didn't take long. It was still midday when the group reached the castle gates.
The gates were tightly shut, but unlike the rest of the structure, they were made of wood.
Seeing this, Rans jumped to look over them, but was immediately shot at several times.
Until that moment, Bill had no plans to attack—it would have been wrong until he understood the situation. But now that they had opened fire on a Marine, all the rules were broken.
The others understood this too, and Sasha and Ricky instantly drew their weapons.
With a hammer in hand, Bill waited for Rans to land and said, "If they don't surrender immediately, don't hold back."
Approaching the wooden gates, he raised his hammer and shouted loudly:
"Giant STRIKE!"
The blow from the hammer shattered the gates, sending pieces of wood flying in all directions, revealing hundreds of armed people, stunned by the sight.