Lorne's teasing made the Mouse shudder. Hiding behind the young Marine, he screamed frantically:
"What are you all standing there for! Open fire! Everyone, open fire! Kill him! That is an order!"
While screaming, he kicked and punched the Marine in front of him, trying to drive his subordinates to their deaths to buy himself a moment to escape.
However, not a single person acted.
The surrounding Marines only looked at him with a complex expression mixed with fear, anger, and disdain; no one obeyed the orders of an officer who had long since lost the hearts of his men.
The Marine being used as a shield by the Mouse, even after being kicked until he staggered, simply gritted his teeth and refused to take another step forward.
Are you kidding me? Open fire on a monster capable of instantly freezing the sea? How is that any different from suicide!
Many Marines grew increasingly resentful of this Colonel who had initiated the trouble!
"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"
Seeing his threats having no effect, the Mouse realized he couldn't count on these subordinates at all.
He cautiously peeked out from behind the Marine, the ferocity on his face instantly fading, forcing out a smile that was uglier than crying, his voice filled with sycophancy and pleading.
"Misunderstanding... My lord, this is all a misunderstanding! I was blind and failed to recognize a superior person! I was blind! Please, with your magnanimity, just let me go like a fart! I'll leave now, I'll leave immediately!"
The Mouse's groveling appearance was only short of him kneeling and kowtowing to Lorne on the spot.
Watching this display, Lorne truly felt like he was looking at a fool.
From the beginning, when he deliberately avoided the shipping lane only to be forcibly intercepted by him; from his greedy hints to his furious embarrassment after being rejected; and now, to his own display of absolute power.
Did this guy really think he would let go of a potential threat who had harbored murderous intent toward him and was despicable and shameless?
Did he actually naively fantasize that he could leave alive?
"I don't have the habit of letting a tiger return to the mountain!"
Lorne stated the fact calmly.
This sentence completely shattered the Mouse's last shred of fantasy.
Pleading was useless!
Extreme fear gave birth to a final madness. He violently pushed the Marine in front of him, snatched the rifle from the man's hand, and pulled the trigger frantically in Lorne's direction!
Bang!
Just as the bullet left the chamber, it was encased layer by layer in mid-air by a coating of ice crystal that appeared out of nowhere, turning into a crystal-clear amber bead that lost all kinetic energy and clattered onto the deck.
At the same time, the Mouse's other hand pulled a black sphere from his chest, intending to throw it with all his might.
Just as his arm was raised and before the black sphere could leave his hand, an extreme chill surged instantly from the soles of his feet throughout his entire body.
Snap!
The entire Mouse, along with the crazy and ferocious expression on his face, was instantly frozen into an ice sculpture.
Immediately afterward, countless fine cracks appeared on the ice sculpture.
Boom!
With a dull crumbling sound, the entire ice sculpture instantly turned into countless glittering ice crystal fragments, which were scattered into the air by the sea breeze.
All the Marines on the deck froze in place, trembling as they raised their rifles, aiming them once again at the demonic man.
This seemed to be the only action that could bring them any sense of security.
Lorne's gaze swept over them.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
A series of crisp cracking sounds rang out, and all the rifles in their hands were covered in frost at the same moment, then disintegrated into a sky full of ice dust; the cold air brushed past their fingertips but did not harm them in the slightest.
The Marines, having lost their weapons, collapsed to the ground completely, no longer able to muster any thoughts of resistance.
Lorne paid them no further mind. Under the terrified gaze of the Marines, he found all the den den mushi on the Warship one by one, then mercilessly froze and shattered them with his cold energy.
After finishing all this, Lorne returned to the deck and reached out a hand, making a grasping motion toward the Warship beneath his feet.
Creak~ Creak~!
The structure of the entire steel Warship began to emit teeth-grinding sounds of twisting and breaking. Countless ice crystals grew from inside the hull, crushing and disintegrating the steel keel, the cabin bulkheads, and the sturdy gun turrets one by one.
In the end, only a huge and relatively intact wooden main deck was left floating on the ice surface.
After doing all this, Lorne leaped lightly back onto his small boat.
He snapped his fingers.
The sea ice in a circle around his small boat began to melt, turning back into blue seawater.
He untied the mooring line, adjusted the sails, and the small boat caught the wind, slowly sailing away from this devastated ice field.
Leaving behind only that huge wooden deck, and the dozens of Marines shivering in the cold wind, floating on this endless sea of broken ice.
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