On the vast, boundless sea, a weather-beaten wooden ship was gently rising and falling with the waves.
The ship's lights flickered in the dusk, their dim yellow glow reflecting on the hanging flag, revealing a hideous skull emblem.
A man wearing simple leather armor and a blue mask on his face was respectfully reporting to a figure standing at the bow:
"Captain Liji, Kachi has already taken his men and infiltrated under the cover of night. It's expected they will act according to plan as soon as dawn breaks."
"Mhm, well done, Mora." The man wearing a dirty Captain's hat, whose right hand had been replaced by a cold, glinting iron hook—Liji—grinned, revealing a hideous smile that was a mix of cruelty and triumph.
"So what if I'm not a Supernova? I still broke into the New World! Once we take that Naval Base ahead, we'll make a name for our 'Demon Pirate Crew' in the New World!
Let those look-down-on-others Marine scum see the consequences of underestimating me, 'Demon' Liji! Hahaha!"
Mora hesitated for a moment before asking about the concern in his heart:
"But Captain Liji, even if we successfully take this base, after that... which route should we take to withdraw?
This island isn't on our original planned route. We don't have a log pose pointing to the next island, so we have no idea where to sail..."
Liji let out a snort as if he had heard a joke and tapped the ship's railing with his iron hook:
"If we don't have one, do you think the Marines on the island won't have one either? Would the settled residents not have them? Once we take this island, everything on it will be our loot! Treasure, women, log poses, nautical charts... whatever we want, we'll have!"
"As expected of Captain Liji!" Mora's face was immediately filled with admiration. "It is my great honor to follow you!"
...The sun was bright and the sea breeze was gentle. A news-delivery Seagull flapped its wings and flew onto a San Juan Wolf flying a dragon horns skull flag.
"Lady Linlin! A new bounty poster has come out!"
Mia, who was in charge of intelligence and some logistics, ran onto the deck with an excited face, holding a roll of freshly delivered newspapers and a brand-new bounty poster.
"Oh, really! Let me see! I haven't seen Linlin's bounty poster yet!"
"Oh? Is that so! Quick, let me see! I haven't seen Linlin's bounty poster with my own eyes yet!"
Hearing this, Ripley immediately leaned in curiously.
Her giant body bent down, and she squinted her eyes, struggling to read the words and numbers that were far too small for her on the bounty poster: "Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands..."
"It's two billion, one hundred and forty-four million!"
Mia's arms trembled as she held Charlotte Linlin's bounty poster high, speaking excitedly.
Captured on the bounty poster was the silhouette of Charlotte Linlin standing amidst thunder, like a deity controlling lightning. Below was the striking text:
queen of thunder - Charlotte Linlin
bounty: 2,144,000,000 Berries
Dead or Alive!
Having sailed the seas for a long time, Mia already knew what such a bounty amount meant in terms of terrifying strength and threat.
To put it in perspective, as of now, Rocks is the only one with a bounty exceeding three billion, while only a few others like Roger, Whitebeard, and Golden Lion Shiki have exceeded two billion.
Now, her Captain, Charlotte Linlin, has officially joined the ranks of the top powerhouses on this sea!
"Wow! I didn't expect the Captain's bounty to break another record so soon after I joined!" Ripley looked at Charlotte Linlin and clapped her giant hands together in amazement.
While being watched by everyone with admiring gazes, Charlotte Linlin's attention was focused on another detail:
"The Marines actually changed my title? 'queen of thunder'... hm, sounds decent enough, more fitting than the previous 'Dragon Swordsman'."
"Waaaaah—! Waaaaah—!"
Just then, a sudden and sharp crying sound interrupted the cheerful atmosphere on the deck.
"Hmm? This is..." Charlotte Linlin looked toward the source of the sound.
Mia, who was familiar with communication equipment, immediately recognized it:
"It's an emergency signal from the public distress channel! Someone is calling for help. However... the sources of these signals are complex; many times they are traps set by Pirates or Marines, so the reliability isn't high."
"Captain, should I connect?" Lilith, who had already walked over to the crying transponder snail, turned back to ask for instructions.
"Connect!" Charlotte Linlin said without any hesitation, her tone carrying absolute confidence.
"Whether the other side is real or fake, a trap or a genuine cry for help, your Captain has enough strength to lead everyone away safely!"
"Long live Lady Linlin! Lady Linlin is our greatest Captain!" the Female Warriors cheered in unison, looking at Charlotte Linlin with hearts in their eyes.
Picking up the receiver from the back of the crying transponder snail, Lilith asked, "Hello, what happened?"
A tearful male voice full of terror and despair immediately came from the other side, shouting incoherently:
"Help! Help me!"
"What's wrong? Speak clearly!"
"Pirates! Pirates have landed! They're attacking us! Help! Whoever you are, please save us!"
Lilith frowned slightly, trying to get more accurate information: "Are there no Marines where you are?"
"Marines, Marines... I am a Marine!" The voice on the other side was filled with crying and background noise.
"I'm a Marine stationed here! But we can't hold out much longer! Those pirates, those pirates are like madmen! They're slaughtering us, my comrades are falling one by one under their guns, and I'm about to... ahhh!
No matter who it is, even if you can't save us, please save the other residents on the island!"
"Where are you?" Lilith asked quickly.
"Anyone, please, just help..." the transponder snail said while crying.
"This is Punk Hazard!"
Bang!
"Ahhh!!!"
A clear gunshot came from the other end of the transponder snail, followed by a short, shrill scream, and then the transponder snail's crying came to an abrupt halt, falling silent.
"Was... was he killed?" Gölz covered her mouth, a worried expression appearing on her face.
"So, Captain, are we going? The other side is the Marines." After hanging up the transponder snail, Lilith asked on behalf of everyone.
"I don't mind either way..." Charlotte Linlin scanned everyone on the ship, her gaze finally landing on Vina and the others.
"Vina, do you think we should go?"
"I..." Vina was momentarily at a loss for words, her heart sinking into a struggle.
In the past, she would never have felt the slightest bit of pity for a Marine's cry for help.
But at this moment, the image of that female Marine named Seira involuntarily surfaced in her mind—the weak but determined smile she had when she blocked a bullet with her body, and that phrase: "Because we are Marines."
Only... there was also a high probability that this distress call was a carefully laid trap.
"In that case, we're going!" Before Vina could think it through, Charlotte Linlin suddenly spoke.
Seeing the complex emotions in Vina's eyes, Charlotte Linlin already understood her concerns.
She had asked Vina just to see if she was opposed to them saving people; she didn't need Vina to completely let go of her emotional hurdle right away. As long as she wasn't against it, that was enough. Encountering a cry for help, she didn't mind seeing what the situation was.
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