While Naruto and the others continued learning a great deal of things from Edward, a great movement was taking place on drum kingdom.
The whole island fell into a huge commotion from the large group of marines and Drum kingdoms soldiers running around the kingdom, searching everywhere. They left no stone unturned.
As a result a lot of pirates that took shelter on drum kingdom were captured. Even those who were once pirates were not spared. Just as Mapol thought, the pirates didn't give the marines an easy time as they fought back, wrecking havoc and destruction.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Fucking marine dogs!" A pirate shouted as she shot a marine from behind a wooden barrel. The whole area around her was a battlefield as pirates and marines fought and killed each other. The drum kingdom soldiers didn't interfere as this wasn't their fight, their own job was to make sure that nothing happened to their citizens.
She had just docked on this island to refill supplies when the marines had suddenly started to attack them. Most of her crew members were either dead or captured which enraged her.
She shot down one marine after the other not sparing anyone.
The rest of the pirates where in this same situation as they fought for survival.
The civilians hiding inside their houses huddled up together and cowered in fear as they heard the loud gunshots and explosion coming from outside their walls.
"Fire at will. Don't let any of them escape. I want them dead or alive!" A marine captain roared as he fought against a group of pirates on his own. The pirates were completely helpless as they couldn't even deliver a single hit to him. So many of their comrades had fallen to this monster.
The smell of gunpowder filled the air as bullets were fired back and forth. It wasn't uncommon for some people to even get killed by stray bullets. Dead bodies of pirates and marines alike laid scattered across the ground, however, nobody spared them a glance as they were too busy fighting to the death to care.
This kind of situation was taking place all over the island.
...
"Edward"
Roger and the others were busy having fun when Kureha suddenly ran into the room with a startled look on her pretty face. She carried a huge backpack which was almost twice her height on her back. Surprisingly, she only seemed to have a little trouble lifting it, something that shocked Roger and the others except Edward. He has seen Kureha do a lot of crazier things.
However, Edward wasn't concerned about that. As soon as he saw the look on Kureha's face his expression turned serious.
"Kureha is everything alright?" Edward asked. He couldn't remember the last time he saw Kureha like this. But for some reason he has a bad feeling about it. Naruto and the others frowned when they saw the expression on their faces. Although they didn't know what was happening, they could tell that it was anything but good. And Kureha's next words confirmed it.
Kureha gently dropped the huge backpack on her back before taking in everyone's expression before returning her gaze back to Edward and replied. "It's bad. I just got words from one of my contacts that the marines and the drum kingdom soldiers have started a manhunt for you guys.
"The marines?!" Naruto frowned. When he thought about it he realized that it was only a matter of time before this happened. After all, not long after they arrived on this island they have encountered not one but two marine captains. However, what upsets him was the fact that he hadn't even gotten the chance to explore the island yet and they were already being forced to leave.
"I had a feeling this would happen" Rayleigh sighed. They really shouldn't have gotten themselves involved back at the bar. Although knowing a great figure like Edward was a good thing, it wasn't worth losing their freedom over.
"I'm sorry guys." Roger apologized to Naruto and Rayleigh. If he had listened to them back then they really wouldn't be in this mess right now.
"What are you apologizing for? It's not like its the first time you are bringing us trouble. I doubt you'd stop even if I told you to. You always do whatever you liked no matter what the consequences may be. That's just the kind of man you are, Roger" Rayleigh said with a smile as he held the hilt of his saber. Trouble and Roger went hand in hand. Hell, he'd be wary if Roger went a day without causing any trouble.
More importantly, he already swore to follow Roger to the end of the world, even if they were to die in the process he'd help him achieve his dream of turning the world upside down. But now they were only up against a marine fleet which was nothing compared to the whole world.
"Rayleigh is right. You being a natural trouble magnet is nothing new to us" Naruto laughed, then his expression turned serious as he continued. "Moreover, if we can't even handle a single marine fleet then our goal of turning the world upside down would be nothing more than a joke"
Rayleigh nodded expressing his agreement with Naruto's words. As the saying goes it's either you go big or go home. If their journey ended here then so be it. It just meant that they were small waves in a huge ocean, never destined to make an impact.
"You guys." Roger was touched by their words. He promised himself that no matter what happens he would never let anything happen to the two of them. A grin soon appeared on his face as he said. "Let's give them hell"
"I knew there was a reason why I liked you guys" Edward laughed heartily after hearing their words. If they had cowered in fear after being informed of the marines he would have been greatly disappointed since he had taken a huge liking to them in the little time that he met them.
More importantly, it would have meant that they were no different from the other petty pirates who talk big but are nothing more than cowered.
"You guys are all crazy." Kureha shook her head, feeling that they were all too optimistic. This was a marine fleet they were talking about. "This isn't the time for this. You all need to leave now or else you might get me in trouble."
"This really is troubling. But it's not really surprising. I was hoping that we would be long gone by the time they started their search, but it seemed I was Ignorant of how badly the government wants to capture me" Edward frowned before he picked up the bag Kureha dropped and placed it on his back. He turned to Roger, Rayleigh and Naruto looking at him with serious expressions and said.
"We don't have much time to waste. The marines will be all over the place soon. Our top priority right now is to reach our ships and sail away from this island before the marines complete their encirclement. So try your best not to get separated."
"Don't worry about us. We can take care of ourselves." Roger said with a confident grin which Edward reflected back at him.
"Good" Edward nodded before looking at Kureha who was looking at them with a little bit of worry and anxiety which she was trying her best not to show.
"We will be going now, try your best not to get caught up in all of this"
"As if" Kureha scoffed and rolled her beautiful eyes at him before she added in a soft voice. "Be safe"
Edward smiled when he heard her words before walking out the door with Roger and the others in tow.
Roger stopped at the door then looked at Kureha seriously and said, "I won't forget our deal, Kureha. I will make you take back your words" then without waiting for her to reply he shut the door behind him before he ran to catch up with the others.
Kureha stared at the door with slightly parted lips even after Roger left. However, no words came out of them, instead a beautiful smile bloomed on her face.
Pirates. What a crazy bunch.
…..
Naruto, Roger, Rayleigh and Edward peeked out of a short alley. After they left Kureha's house they all agreed that they needed to analyze the situation first before deciding their next plan of action. Naruto peeked out of the alley to see marines in groups of five patrolling the streets alongside some drum kingdom soldiers. Unsurprisingly it didn't take long for the Marines to discover them.
"Shit. There really are marines everywhere" Naruto cursed when he saw marines and Drum kingdom soldiers parading the street. If there was a group of marines at every street won't they be overwhelmed at some point.
"They really don't plan on cutting us any slacks " Rayleigh frowned as he tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. At this point quietly leaving this island just became impossible. If they were to just carelessly fight a group of marines the commotion would only attract more of them to their location and the entire fleet would be on them like ants to sugar in a matter of seconds.
Edward took a step forward and everyone's gaze immediately fell on him. He took in everyone's expression before saying. "I guess we can only create our path to the port"
"What do you mean by that?" Roger asked but Edward didn't reply, instead walked out of the alley and stood in the middle of the street.
"Edward?"
Naruto, Rayleigh and Roger exchanged looks not knowing what to do. They could only hope that Edward had a plan in mind
When the marines first noticed him they were scared by his height. However they soon regained their confidence after realizing that they had guns while he was unarmed.
One of the marines, apparently the leader of the group pointed his gun at Edward and demanded.
"Hey you state your business and what's in that huge bag behind your back."