( A/N: Hello, everyone! I'm back again, full of energy.

My break is over, and the schedule, for now, will return to normal.

So, Enjoy 💙! )

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After utterly crushing Smoker and rendering him in a miserable state, Austin canceled his 'Predator Mode' Skill.

The overwhelming pressure and killing intent that was pressing on everyone in the plaza disappeared with the canceling of the skill, resulting in many citizens dropping to the ground with a look of horror on their faces.

All the soldiers started gasping for air as soon as the pressure faded. They were in a pitiful state as every one of them was injured.

Surprisingly, all the soldiers were wounded in the same place - Their legs!

Austin focused only on their legs and tried not to give them any severe injuries that would permanently render them disabled.

He didn't want to cripple this Navy base because that would give a chance for other pirates to attack and wreak havoc on the town, which would result in the suffering and death of innocent residents.

Austin's goal was to rule this world and bring order to it, but by killing all the Navy soldiers here, he would be spreading chaos instead, which is against his ideals.

That's why despite wanting to make an example of Smoker, he chose to consider the big picture and went easy on the soldiers.

Between the shocked and injured soldiers, Tashigi was the first to come to her senses. She quickly grabbed an officer by his collar, who was still dazed beside her, and yelled at him.

" Call the first unit and tell them to cancel the operation!" Tashigi shouted at the officer, who abruptly woke up from his frenzy.

"But Captain Smoker said ..." Before the officer could finish, he was interrupted by the furious Tashigi. " Do it Now!"

" And request medical help here right away! Captain Smoker needs a doctor!" Tashigi roared at the soldiers.

A soldier who could still move a little complied and hurriedly went to get a doctor, while the rest of the soldiers heaved a sigh of relief after hearing Tashigi's order.

The truth is they wanted to stop the operations as well because this monster was clearly not lying. If anything were to happen to his ship, he would definitely slay them all and may even burn down the whole town in anger.

The officer quickly took his Den Den Mushi to transmit the order to stop the attack on the Black Storm pirates' ship.

" This is Chief Petty Officer Mashikaku! ... To all unit #1, stop the attack on the shore! ... I repeat to all unit #1, stop the attack on the shore! ... Don't attack The Black Storm pirates' ship! ... Over!" Mashikaku yelled desperately with all his might as if his life depended on this call ... which ironically was!

" This is Lieutenant Lazan ... We have already stopped the operation anyway ... Over!" The other person, or Lazan, replied bitterly through the Den Den Mushi.

" Huh?" Mashikaku was stunned and asked subconsciously, " What happened?"

" Huuuuh ... Well, it's like this ..." Lazan sighed in defeat before recounting what happened 10 minutes ago on the port.

.....

10 minutes before, at Loguetown's port, 100 Navy soldiers were wreaking havoc on the shore, destroying and burning every pirate ship they encountered.

" Lieutenant Lazan!" a Soldier came forward to give a report. " We have destroyed another pirate ship. It belongs to the 'Yes' pirates."

" Good work." Lazan nodded in approval and added, " As per orders, we need to ensure that nobody can escape here, so speed up the operation."

" Sir! Sir! " Another soldier comes running toward Lazan, obviously panicking.

" What's wrong?" Lazan frowned at this display and asked in displeasure.

" There's a black battleship at the end of the dockyard, Sir." The soldier paused and swallowed his saliva hard before continuing, " ... We suspect it belongs to the Black Storm pirates, Sir!"

"Huh?! A battleship?!" Lazan exclaimed in disbelief.

" Yes, Sir." the soldier replied affirmatively.

" Hmm." Lazan didn't think much and said, " Since it's a pirate ship, we were ordered to sink them all without exception, so gather everyone and prepare for the attack ... We will sink this ship as well."

" Yes, Sir!" the soldier saluted and went to relay the orders to the others.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Soon all 100 soldiers of this unit gathered together, ready to move.

Lazan took a last glance at his unit before ordering. " Let's move!"

The whole unit, consisting of 100 soldiers armed with many cannons, proceeded to where 'Black Star' was docked, ready to destroy the ship of this famous pirate group.

.....

Meanwhile, on 'Black Star' deck, Azuth was lying on the floor with his hands supporting his head, looking up at the sky, feeling bored with nothing to do.

" I bet the others are having fun now," Azuth murmured to himself.

Suddenly he heard many footsteps heading toward the ship. He stood up and noticed many Navy soldiers coming his way, obviously targeting 'Black Star'.

" Finally, some fun." Azuth smiled and jumped to the shore, landing on the ground in front of 'Black Star'.

Shortly, all the 100 soldiers arrived opposite the ship with Lieutenant Lazan at the front, who examined both 'Black Star' and Azuth.

" It's really a battleship!" Lazan murmured in shock.

It was a well-known fact that the battleships were the Navy's specialty and strongest ships, which is why he was shocked and conflicted seeing a pirate group have one.

" Who are you?" Lazan questioned Azuth, who stood before the ship as if protecting it.

" My name is Azuth Aindra!" Azuth smirked as he introduced himself, " I'm a member of the Black Storm Pirates."

" So this is indeed the Black Strom pirates' ship." Lazan frowned, muttering in a low voice.

" Well, I will have to ask you..." Azuth examined all the soldiers and asked, " What are you doing here?"

" That's not your business, pirate!" Lazan yelled, adding, " You have two options. Either surrender, or we will destroy you alongside that ship behind you!"

" I see ..." Azuth narrowed his eyes, " As expected, you did come here for our ship."

" Now, tell us your choice." Lazan lifted his hand, giving the signal to his unit, which responded by aiming all their guns and cannons at the ship.

" What if I propose another deal?" Azuth smirked.

" Ho? ... What deal?" Lazan was amused as he asked back.

" Get out of here, and don't return back." Azuth grinned as he stated arrogantly. " In return, I'll not kill anyone of you here."

" Huh?" Lazan was surprised but laughed afterward. " Hahaha! ... Let's not waste time here, pirate!"

Lazan dropped his hand, giving the signal. And in response, a team of 10 soldiers equipped with cannons moved forward to destroy the ship.

" Tsk, I warned you, didn't I?" Azuth shook his head but smiled afterward because, finally, he would have some fun, " I hope your bravery last long."

All the soldiers were shocked by what they witnessed afterward!

The pirate hands turned into Gatling's guns and fired at the 10 soldiers who were prepared to sink the ship, resulting in all the 10 men falling to the ground, full of holes, dead!

" A Devil...Fruit...User!" Lazan retreated back in shock. Clearly, he didn't expect the man in front of him to be a monster who could massacre them anytime he wanted to.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Azuth fired afterward at the ground, drawing a line on the floor, separating him and 'Black Star' from the Navy soldiers.

" Now, gentlemen ... " Azuth's hands returned to normal as he added casually, " Anyone who passes this line will be dead."

" Also, if someone fires at our beloved ship ... " Azuth narrowed his eyes and added in a deep voice," I will kill him alongside the two standing near him!"

The soldiers were frightened by this statement and started looking at each other, especially those standing close to them, as if warning their colleagues to not act rashly, or they would also be dragged down.

Azuth nodded in satisfaction at the soldier's reaction and went towards the ship and leaned on it, facing the soldiers, clearly sending a message that he was ready to take action anytime something happened.

The soldiers gulped down their saliva as they looked at the monster before them and the line on the ground that represents, at this moment, the line between life and death!

The soldiers desperately wanted to stay in the safe zone on their side of the line. So, they couldn't help but glance at their commander as if begging him not to give orders to attack or do something that would make them face that death reaper, who was leaning on his ship, on the other side of the line, in the death zone!

Lazan gritted his teeth after noticing his unit's morale dropdown. But he knew he couldn't do anything about it.

As a matter of fact, he was also afraid and didn't want to face this monster either, so he could only stand still and wait for Captain Smoker to arrive here.

" Stand still! We'll wait for Captain Smoker before we move." Lazan encouraged his soldiers by adding, " When Captain Smoker arrives, everything will be simple ... so control yourself and encircle the area but don't pass that line."

The soldiers did as they were told and surrounded the area around the ship but didn't pass the line, or rather they didn't dare to.

The soldiers, along with Lazan, started waiting for Smoker to arrive after he took care of the other pirates, including the main forces of the Black Storm pirates.

However, Lazan actually began to doubt whether Smoker would be able to handle them. Because if even a no-name member of this pirate crew could render them in this state, then it was likely that the other Black Storm pirates would be even stronger and more formidable foes.

Lazan couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine when he imagined what the other individuals with bounties on their heads, which were considered the main force, could do!

In the next few minutes, Azuth and the Navy soldiers just stood in their places, facing each other without doing anything.

However, this calm was soon broken when a soldier, due to his nervous state, fired by mistake at the ship.

Lazan hurriedly wanted to explain that it wasn't intentional. But Azuth didn't care and decided to make an example of that soldier by killing him alongside the two soldiers standing near him.

This, however, resulted in the anger of two other soldiers who fired at Azuth in retaliation. Still, the latter didn't budge and killed them as well, alongside the four soldiers near them.

By the end of this 'little' incident, 9 soldiers were dead at Azuth's hand, which pushed Lazan to hastily order all the soldiers to put down their weapons to avoid firing by mistake again.

Soon, the stalemate situation returned again, with everyone looking at each other without a move, waiting for Captain Smoker to arrive and defeat this monster.

Alas, the poor soldiers didn't know that their savior, Smoker, was also in need of saving. Because, at this moment, he was confronting a more monstrous opponent compared to the one they were facing here!

.....

Back to the present, on the town's plaza, officer Mashikaku has just finished the call with Lazan, who told him what occurred at the port.

Mashikaku put down the Den Den Mushi in shock and murmured to himself while looking at Austin's group in fear, " What's wrong with this pirate's crew? ... This crew is full of fucking monsters!"

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( A/N: If you like to read some chapters in Advance, you can visit my Patreon page! You will find there up to 5 weeks' worth of Chapters in Advance.

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