When she watched Pirate King in her previous life, she already disliked the Marines, let alone such a massive tumor.
And tumors are meant to be removed, just like helping a sea turtle get rid of barnacles.
"Hahahaha, Kuina, Platinum Longlong, you already knew about the filth here before we came. Now let us personally dispose of this place," Lu Yue said, laughing heartily.
On their way here, at Lu Yue's suggestion, Nojiko had already recounted all the evil deeds committed by Captain Mouse and the 16th Branch.
Hearing Lu Yue say this, one who was formerly a Pirate Hunter, and one who was inherently the embodiment of the coldest killing machine in the Ultraman World, both immediately sneered. Combined with Lu Yue herself, the icy killing intent emanating from them instantly startled Nojiko, who was standing nearby.
She felt cold all over, utterly stiff.
"You aren't really going to do that, are you?" Nojiko swallowed hard and couldn't help but ask.
"The facts are right before your eyes. Just watch how we take action. Watch our strength."
After Lu Yue finished speaking, the three simultaneously displayed their strength and attacked.
Their target was the Marine 16th Branch ahead.
Meanwhile, their presence had actually been exposed long ago. When they appeared here, they were spotted by the Marines guarding the entrance of the 16th Branch.
When these two guards saw that it was just a few young girls, they initially harbored malicious intent, planning to steal some money, as they had done before, or even commit sexual assault.
This place was a massive wolf den, a nest of bandits wearing the skin of Marines while constantly plundering the wealth of civilians.
However, they quickly recognized Nojiko among them, as she was Nami's older sister and they had seen her during their previous visit. They immediately connected this to the group from last time, the Straw Hat Pirates.
Out of panic, they quickly rushed inside, deciding that matters like this should be left to their Captain Mouse to decide.
Coincidentally, Captain Mouse, who had the look of a treacherous scoundrel, was just walking out with a large group of armed Marines.
But as soon as he stepped out, he witnessed the three girls making their move.
"Hah—!!" Kuina, drawing her demon blade thousand blades, unleashed an incredibly sharp purple sword aura.
"Hah—!!" Through their interactions over the past few days, Platinum Longlong had also learned from Kuina how to wield a sword aura. Thus, using her galactron axe, she likewise slashed out a magnificent golden sword aura.
"Hahahaha." Finally, it was undoubtedly Lu Yue. She used Gliza's ability, Gliza Vortex, sending a reddish-purple energy beam directly crashing into the target.
The group of Marines led by Captain Mouse were terrified into idiocy upon seeing this scene. Some were even so scared he wet themselves, but those who immediately sobered up, or rather, were shocked awake, quickly knelt on the ground.
"Rumble—"
The two sword auras and the energy beam slammed violently into the entire 16th Branch. Accompanied by the rumbling explosion, the place instantly turned into ruins.
All that remained in the ruins were burning flames, likely ignited by some flammable materials, and billowing black smoke.
Captain Mouse and his men, turning their heads and seeing this sight, were completely dumbfounded. How could this be? In just an instant, their Marine Branch had been destroyed.
Captain Mouse quickly recovered, feeling both enraged and terrified. He immediately stood up, pointing at Lu Yue and the others, and shouted.
"Where did you crazy women come from? How dare you destroy a Marine Branch! Aren't you afraid of the Marines' retaliation?"
Lu Yue sneered, then flew directly into the air.
"You called us crazy women, so forget destroying this place—I could kill all of you and still do it. The Marines' retaliation? Let them come if they dare."
After Lu Yue finished speaking, she immediately unleashed another one of Gliza's abilities, Gliza Dark Lightning.
Captain Mouse and his men displayed expressions of fear and despair, especially Captain Mouse. They probably never imagined that today would be their doom.
The day had come for them to pay the ultimate price for everything they had done.
Before dying, Captain Mouse showed a look filled with despair. He couldn't believe what he was hearing in his final moments: that these crazy women were truly unafraid of the Marines' retaliation, acting as if they didn't care about the Marines at all.
Because he would never know how miserable the Marines would become at Lu Yue's hands in the future.
Because he and his filthy Marine Soldier subordinates had now been completely annihilated by the massive, powerful, purple-edged yellow lightning-shaped beam of light Lu Yue released from her chest.
After the beam struck the ground and them, and the resulting explosion smoke cleared, they had vanished, leaving behind only some flesh and blood on the ground.
Just like that, Lu Yue and her companions' first declaration of war against the Marines—a beginning—
started with Lu Yue and her companions destroying the Marine 16th Branch and killing every Marine there.
At this moment, Nojiko was stunned, unsure whether it was because of the strength or the sheer audacity of Lu Yue and the other two.
"Nojiko, tell me your choice now," Lu Yue said, turning around and smiling at Nojiko below. Her eyes revealed sincerity.
"There's nothing left for me to refuse now, but please take me with you to fulfill my dream, Captain." Nojiko lowered her head and closed her eyes, but the corner of her mouth was already curving slightly upward. When she reached the end of her sentence, she finally looked up and said it with a smile.
This counted as her formally accepting Lu Yue's invitation; she was willing to join the crew.
"Hahahaha, that's wonderful! Welcome aboard," Lu Yue said, laughing joyfully after hearing her response, and landing steadily on the ground.
Especially since she had already heard the system prompt in her mind, indicating she had received the reward for this mission.
The two Haoshoku cards and the random Devil Fruit were now in her possession.
They were currently inside her system space.
It was a pity, though, that Captain Mouse was clearly a character who had appeared in the original story, yet he hadn't triggered a system mission for her.
So she still felt a bit resentful at the moment. However, thinking about what a piece of trash and waste he was, even without a system mission, she had originally intended to eliminate him upon arriving here.
Furthermore, the gains this time were already substantial: completing the mission and receiving rewards, plus successfully inviting Nami's older sister, Nojiko, who shouldn't be much worse than Nami herself, to become her Navigator.
"Welcome," Platinum Longlong said with a slight smile. She was still not very good at smiling; showing even a hint was quite an achievement.
"Lu Yue, didn't you want to invite strong individuals? But Miss Nojiko..."
"Hmm?"
Kuina suddenly asked, and upon hearing her words, even Nojiko cast a puzzled glance. What did she mean by that?
Platinum Longlong, standing nearby, also briefly explained Lu Yue's requirements for recruiting crew members. Only then did Nojiko realize, and she looked at Lu Yue with even greater confusion: I am not strong, so why did you invite me?
"Hehe, what they said isn't entirely correct. Actually, for me, as long as the other three points are met—young woman, beauty, and strong professional ability—strength is a factor we can temporarily overlook. After all, it can be cultivated slowly, right?" Lu Yue laughed heartily.
"..." Hearing this, never mind Nojiko, but Kuina and Platinum Longlong were truly speechless.
She hadn't said that on the ship a few days ago. If they weren't completely unable to beat her or even hit her, they would truly want to go up and teach this thick-skinned rascal a lesson.
But suddenly, Lu Yue spoke again.
"Furthermore, don't think that just because the three of us are strong now, we are sufficient for this entire ocean. We need to grow as well."
Kuina and Platinum Longlong immediately nodded upon hearing this. That's right, their strength was still far from enough compared to the vastness of the ocean.
They were both very clear about the enormous gap between themselves and the true powerhouses on this ocean.
Nojiko, however, suddenly spoke up at this point: "Can you train me to become strong?"
Nojiko had the same obsession with becoming strong as she did with her dream, because if she had been strong back then, she wouldn't have had to watch her adoptive mother,
Bellemere,
be killed by Arlong all those years ago, leaving the entire Cocoyasi Village to live under Arlong's tyrannical rule, and causing her younger sister to suffer for so many years.
Therefore, if there was a chance to become stronger now, Nojiko didn't want to let it slip away.
Furthermore, in her view, Lu Yue was indeed extremely powerful, stronger than the entire Straw Hat Pirates combined were back then.
So perhaps she really could make herself stronger too.
"Let's go back first and talk," Lu Yue did not answer her directly, but pointed toward the ruins in the distance.
They couldn't stay here long.
"Oh, then let's go back to my house first," Nojiko, being sharp and quick-witted, understood immediately and said.
Just like that, the group of four quickly returned the way they came.
However, Lu Yue, walking at the very back, secretly smiled, then casually waved out a small flag that she had prepared and hidden beforehand, planting it on the ruins.
It had taken them fifteen minutes to arrive, and it took the same amount of time to return. They quickly arrived back at Nojiko's house—which was, of course, also the home of Nami, who had already left to pursue her dream.
Opening the door, the group walked inside once more and sat down in the living room.
"Captain, tell me, how are you going to make me stronger? And if possible, can it be immediate and effective?" Nojiko immediately looked at her with a curious and pleading gaze.
She genuinely wanted to become stronger.
"My answer for you is this, hehe." With a giggle, Lu Yue directly pulled out the newly acquired Devil Fruit.
This was a Devil Fruit with the special patterns common to all Devil Fruits. It was mainly white and resembled a watermelon, but the most miraculous thing was that the dark blue leaves on it looked like long hair.
"A Devil Fruit." Kuina and the others all exclaimed, their eyes revealing astonishment.
They truly hadn't expected Lu Yue to suddenly pull out a Devil Fruit.