When Ian's identity was exposed, the sky over Mock Town instantly darkened, and the pirates in Mock Town became like startled birds.
"A... Celestial Dragon?! That man is a Celestial Dragon?!"
"Quick! Run! Get off this island! An Admiral is coming soon!"
"Set sail! Everyone get on the ship! If anyone dares to be a step slow, This Young Master will personally kill him!"
The pirates who were just boasting and chatting in the tavern a second ago, discussing where to get rich next, all rushed to the port like madmen.
They shoved and cursed, fighting for a spot to get on the ship first.
In the harbor, pirate ships, originally diverse in form and displaying their owners' personalities, were now enacting the most chaotic scene.
Some ships were in such a hurry to set sail that they didn't even have time to untie the mooring ropes, while others, to secure a clear passage, fired without hesitation at adjacent pirate ships.
On the street, watching the pirates flee in disarray like stray dogs, Ian's initially good mood instantly vanished.
He stopped, his brows slightly furrowed.
"How disappointing."
He turned his head and lazily instructed Gunko, who was beside him: "Go, grab a few over here."
"Yes, Young Master."
Before Gunko finished speaking, her figure had already disappeared.
The next second, several short screams came from the direction of the distant port, and then, several figures were dragged by bandages, leaving long marks on the ground, finally being thrown at Ian's feet like several bags of garbage.
They were three pirates who had just snatched a small boat, thinking they could escape to safety.
"P-please spare us! Sir!"
"We didn't see anything! We don't know anything!"
The three of them were streaming with tears and snot, their foreheads pressed firmly to the ground, not even daring to look up at Ian, their bodies trembling like leaves in the wind.
Ian looked down at them, then suddenly chuckled softly and asked, "Is This Young Master really that scary?"
His voice was gentle, even tinged with curiosity.
"Even if I am a Celestial Dragon, you are still pirates with bounties on your heads, you've lived lives on the edge of a knife, there's no need to be this afraid, is there?"
The three pirates stiffened all over, and one of them, as if grasping a lifeline, quickly looked up, forcing a smile uglier than crying onto his face: "Yes! Yes! Sir, you are not scary at all! You are handsome and extraordinary! It is us... it is us who disturbed your pleasure, we will leave now! We will leave immediately!"
The smile on Ian's face grew wider.
"Originally, I didn't plan to deal with you small fry."
He said unhurriedly, with a hint of playfulness in his tone.
"But you're so scared, it feels like if This Young Master doesn't do something, it would be a disservice to your fear."
"Eh?"
The smile on the pirate's face instantly froze.
Before he could react, Ian had already waved his hand and ordered: "Deal with them all."
"Pfft!"
Gunko was expressionless, and three sharp spikes made of bandages shot out from her sleeve, precisely piercing the backs of the three men's hearts.
Blood stained the flagstone road beneath them red.
Having done all this, Ian, as if casually dusting off his clothes, turned to Gion beside him and issued an order in an unquestionable tone: "Gion, immediately contact the nearby Marine warships."
"Tell them, not a single pirate ship that escapes from Mock Town's waters is to be left."
Ian paused, his cold gaze sweeping over Gion's slightly stiff, pretty face, and added: "All pirates are to be executed."
Gion's breath hitched, and her fingers gripping the hilt of her sword tightened subconsciously.
As a Marine Vice Admiral, she had executed countless missions and had ordered the shelling of pirate ships, but that was always under the premise that the other party refused to surrender and stubbornly resisted.
However, Ian's order was an indiscriminate... slaughter, without asking for reasons or giving any chances.
But she had no choice.
Disobeying a Celestial Dragon's order, especially this one's order, would have consequences she could not bear, and the entire Marineford could not bear.
"Yes, Saint Ian Sir."
Gion nodded in agreement, pulled out her den den mushi from her 懷裡 and dialed the exclusive emergency line... Fifty nautical miles southeast of Mock Town, two Marine warships were on a routine patrol mission.
"Buruburu buru..."
In the flagship's command room, the den den mushi rang urgently.
A Marine Colonel picked up the receiver, and the next second, his face instantly became extremely serious.
"Yes! Vice Admiral Gion! Mission accomplished, guaranteed!"
Hanging up the phone, the Colonel suddenly turned and shouted at the messenger behind him: "Order! The entire fleet turn around, target Mock Town! All gunports open, speed to maximum!"
"Yes!"
A young adjutant couldn't help but step forward, asking hesitantly, "Colonel, is there an emergency? Do we need to give a warning beforehand?"
"Warning?" The Colonel gave him a cold glance, "This is an order personally given by Saint Ian Sir! All pirates who escaped from Mock Town are not to be arrested, but to be executed on the spot!"
The adjutant trembled all over and dared not say another word.
The warship's boilers roared deafeningly, and the massive hull carved a huge white wave on the sea, rushing at full speed towards that pirate's paradise.
Soon, the lookout sent a report.
"Report, Colonel! Two pirate ships sighted ahead, speeding towards our waters!"
The Colonel picked up his binoculars and said coldly, "Enter firing range, open fire immediately! Blast them to pieces!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Dense cannonballs, trailing long plumes of fire, whistled down upon the two pirate ships, which were still celebrating their successful escape from Mock Town.
The explosions were deafening.
The mast of one ship was blown off on the spot, and a huge hole was torn in the hull of the other, with seawater pouring in frantically.
The pirates let out desperate screams, and those who miraculously survived jumped into the sea, struggling and crying for help in the cold water.
"We surrender! Surrender!"
"Stop firing! We are willing to be captured!"
The Marine warships did not slow down at all, charging straight towards the castaways floating on the sea.
Watching the warships getting closer, the pirates' faces showed the joy of surviving a disaster.
However, what awaited them was not lifelines, but rows of cold muzzles, neatly extended from the edges of the warship decks.
"Fire!"
"Bang bang bang—"
Intense gunfire erupted, and countless blood blossoms instantly bloomed on the sea.
Pleas for mercy, screams, curses... all sounds were instantly drowned out by the gunfire.
Blood stained this sea area a shocking red.
At the same time, in other sea areas near Mock Town, the same scenes were constantly unfolding.
As subsequent Marine warships arrived, a death net woven from 炮火 and steel completely sealed off all escape routes for the pirates.
Explosions and battle cries rose and fell, forming the doomsday symphony of this sea area.
The next day.
A news bird flew over the much calmer Grand Line, scattering the latest newspapers to various islands.
The front page headline of the World Economic News Agency published a world-shattering news in the most prominent font.
"Crown Prince of the Holy Land Neirona Ian Saint Arrives in Mock Town, Marine Fleet Ordered to Clear Out, Not a Single Pirate Escapes Mock Town."
The news was accompanied by an aerial photograph of a bloody sea area filled with ship wrecks and floating corpses.
As soon as the news broke, the Grand Line instantly exploded.
Especially in those islands that had long suffered from pirate raids in Mock Town, after seeing this news, the people were first briefly stunned, and then burst into thunderous cheers.
They ran around telling each other, reading the contents of the newspaper over and over to their families and friends, and many wept with joy.
They didn't care whether the person who ordered the massacre was a Celestial Dragon or not, they only knew that the nightmare that had long hung over their heads had vanished overnight.
"Long live Saint Ian Sir!"
On the streets, in the shops, countless people held up newspapers, involuntarily raising their arms and cheering.
—
My updates are so inconsistent, yet I still have godfathers sending gifts, I am truly undeserving.
o(╥﹏╥)o!