"Let's give them a greeting first!"
Garp grinned as he casually picked up a cannonball.
Seeing this, Alex couldn't help but admire him inwardly. He knew very well how heavy those pitch-black cannonballs were. From Garp's effortless motion alone, one could clearly see the terrifying strength in his wrists and grip.
No wonder his own head was still faintly aching.
The next second, Garp hurled the cannonball forward with force.
"Whoosh!"
The dark projectile shot through the air at an unbelievable speed, tracing a perfect arc before landing directly among the pirate ships docked along the shore.
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted. Flames soared into the sky, instantly engulfing an entire pirate ship as waves of screams followed.
Alex inhaled sharply. The moment the cannonball landed, the ship had already split apart from the impact point, breaking cleanly into two halves.
The warship suddenly accelerated, rapidly closing in on the shore.
Then the marines beside him, faces fierce and twisted with battle intent, drew their swords and weapons before leaping off the bow like dumplings dropping into boiling water.
"Charge!!"
"For justice!!!"
"Kill these bastards!"
The shouts shook the air, and the atmosphere instantly ignited with blood-pumping intensity.
Alex watched Kuzan rush forward as well, short blade in hand, radiating youthful passion and excitement.
He glanced down at his own empty hands, then turned, grabbed a nearby chair, and sprinted forward before jumping off the bow.
"Attack!!!"
Behind him, Garp had just been about to sit down when he suddenly noticed Alex charging along the shoreline wielding a chair.
He froze in disbelief.
"You brat!"
"That's my chair!"
…
Jerseylo Island.
The battle entered a white-hot stage almost instantly. Shouts and killing cries thundered across the battlefield.
Following behind the formation, Alex felt his emotions affected by the charging momentum. Adrenaline surged, and hot blood boiled within him.
The pirates reacted quickly. The destruction of one ship caused pirates from the remaining vessels to immediately jump ashore. At the same time, sharp alarm whistles tore through the air toward the nearby town.
"The Marines are here!"
"Notify the captain and officers!"
"Kill them—they don't have many people!"
Compared to the pirates' numbers, Garp's force consisted of only around a hundred marines.
Yet within barely a dozen breaths, more than two hundred pirates had already poured ashore, each wearing vicious, feral expressions.
An invisible pressure weighed down on Alex.
The enemy outnumbered them heavily.
This wasn't the passionate anime he once watched—it was naked, brutal reality.
Bang!
A gunshot rang out.
A muffled groan sounded ahead as the tall marine blocking Alex's view collapsed without a word.
Alex leapt over him and saw blood rapidly spreading across the ground.
This was war—a war where people bled and died.
Bang bang bang bang!
Gunfire quickly erupted on both sides. At roughly a hundred meters apart, the two forces exchanged fire relentlessly.
Every second, marines fell. Some were shot through the head, others through the chest or abdomen. The smell of blood spread rapidly through the air.
Pirates fell as well.
The unit Garp commanded was clearly elite among elites. Though they might not possess overwhelming physical strength, their courage and fearless resolve were undeniable.
"Charge!!!"
Marines in the front fired continuously while roaring madly.
The formation continued advancing, and soon the distance between both sides shrank to forty or fifty meters. At such close range, pirates began discarding firearms and drawing blades from their waists.
Close combat was about to begin.
Alex took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the chair.
It was his only weapon.
Bang!
Thirty-six seconds into the charge, just as the two sides were about to clash, his body suddenly trembled. He let out a muffled groan and looked down.
A crimson bloom spread over the left side of his chest.
A bullet had pierced his heart.
But almost immediately, it felt as though he awakened from suffocation and darkness. His body recovered in an instant.
The bullet slid out of his flesh and fell to the ground with a metallic clink.
He had revived again.
Shifting his gaze, Alex quickly locked onto the pirate who had shot him.
The rough-looking man wearing a pirate headscarf and holding a rifle stared back in utter disbelief, shock written across his face.
"Jerry, what are you spacing out for?" a companion shouted.
"H-hey, did you see that? I clearly shot that kid through the heart, but nothing happened to him!"
Jerry said incredulously.
"How is that possible? Hurry up and shoot him again!"
"Using a chair as a weapon while fighting the Black Ricks Pirates is a huge insult to us!"
his companion roared angrily.
Jerry inhaled deeply and aimed his rifle again at the black-haired Marine standing out among the crowd—armed with nothing but a chair.
Bang!
The shot fired.
The bullet screamed forward and struck directly between Alex's eyebrows.
Jerry froze again.
He clearly saw the boy's head snap back slightly before the youth immediately locked onto his position, glaring fiercely at him.
"That guy… he's a monster, isn't he?!"
Jerry trembled.
He had clearly hit him!
At this moment, Alex fully felt the cruelty of war. The mortality rate was terrifyingly high.
In such a short time, he had already been shot twice.
Meanwhile, the vanguard forces finally collided with the enemy.
An even more brutal melee began. Angry curses and screams echoed endlessly.
He saw Kuzan moving swiftly through enemies, saber flashing as he cut down pirate after pirate with sharp precision.
He also saw unfamiliar comrades beside him pierced through by pirate blades, blood spraying from their mouths as they roared and dragged their enemies into death alongside them.
Fearless in the face of death.
Whether Marine or pirate, both sides appeared utterly indifferent to their own lives, charging toward death without hesitation.
-----------
Access advance 40 chapters on my patreon: [email protected]/FicNest