Second floor of the tavern, private room.
Kujaku hung from the ceiling beam with her hands bound together, her clothes in tatters and wounds covering her entire body.
The interrogation had ended at an eerie speed.
Gurd sat nearby with a cigar in his mouth, legs crossed, a blood-stained whip and a small Den Den Mushi confiscated from the woman placed on the table beside him.
His cold gaze was as emotionless as if he'd been slaughtering fish at Da Runfa supermarket for ten years.
"Pururu pururu~~"
After an unknown amount of time, the Den Den Mushi rang.
"Finally."
Gurd grinned.
For dangerous infiltration missions, there would always be scheduled contact with outside allies - this was the call he'd been waiting for.
"Kacha!"
"Hello, Navy boy!"
"..."
The Den Den Mushi fell silent.
"How's Kujaku?"
"Her? Still has one breath left!"
Gurd smiled cheerfully as he held the Den Den Mushi to Kujaku's mouth.
Hearing her comrade's voice, Kujaku struggled to open her mouth, her weak voice barely audible.
"Run... away..."
"Kujaku!!!"
The Den Den Mushi's eyes bulged with rage as it roared: "Damn Pirate! In the name of justice, I will never let you get away with this!"
In the dark alley outside the tavern.
Drake clenched his fists, pounding the wall in pained self-reproach. It was all because of his recklessness that Kujaku had been captured, tortured, and subjected to such cruel treatment.
It was all his fault!
"Pirate Gurd!!!"
Drake growled through gritted teeth, his face contorted with anger, veins bulging like twisted snakes.
When rage reaches its peak, reason is destroyed!
Drake picked up the Den Den Mushi again to contact all his subordinates: "Grus! Kujaku's been captured by pirates! Prepare for battle! In three minutes, we attack the tavern together!"
"What?!"
The brigadier codenamed "Prince," named Grus, was hiding on the other side of the tavern. Hearing Drake's words, he was shocked.
Kujaku had been captured?
Hadn't they specifically warned her not to act recklessly before this mission?
This was serious trouble!
The tavern was packed with pirate captains and several high-ranking officers from the Four Emperors' crews. With just their current forces, attacking would be no different from suicide!
"Hey Drake, calm down—"
"Kacha!"
The call ended!
Grus's face turned extremely grim.
With things having come to this, they had no choice but to forcibly attack the tavern. As comrades, they couldn't abandon Kujaku to die.
Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
"Attack!!!"
Members of the Sword Team shouldered their Special Rocket Launchers, aiming at the tavern and pulling the triggers. Several shells shot out, smashing through windows before landing inside the tavern.
"Huh? What's this?"
The captains were drinking merrily when they noticed the shells that had fallen before them. They froze for several seconds before breaking out in cold sweat.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!"
A series of explosions rocked the building!
"Waaahhh!"
The tavern was engulfed in smoke and dust as screams rose one after another.
"Bastards! Who did this?!"
The captains angrily searched for their attackers. They never imagined anyone would dare attack them so brazenly.
"THUD! THUD! THUD!"
The ground trembled continuously!
"ROOOAR!!!"
Then, an enormous monster came charging out from the smoke, bellowing as it clamped its jaws around one captain before flinging him high into the air.
"A dinosaur?!"
The captains stared dumbfounded at the dinosaur that had appeared before them.
Why was there a dinosaur here?!
"ROOOAR!!!"
The dinosaur roared, its massive tail sweeping out with devastating force!
"BOOM!!!"
Near the bar counter.
"Hey hey, what the hell is going on?!"
Marco watched as the rampaging dinosaur destroyed everything in sight, reducing the tavern to ruins. The entire situation left him utterly bewildered.
He'd gathered the captains here for Hachinosu Island's peace talks. Who had they offended to deserve this kind of disruption?!
"Marines?"
What surprised him even more was that the attackers were a group of Marines.
Just then, Gurd came downstairs carrying an unconscious Kujaku over his shoulder, having thoughtfully dressed the woman in fresh clothes.
However, the whip marks on her neck and legs were impossible to conceal.
"Marco."
"Huh? You're done already?"
Marco gave him a strange look.
That fast?
And what's with the injuries on that woman?
That's way too rough even for playtime!
Gurd gave Kujaku's backside a pat.
"This woman's a Marine!"
"A Marine?!"
Marco frowned, his gaze shifting to the Marines causing chaos. The pieces quickly fell into place in his mind.
His expression darkened immediately.
"How should we deal with them?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Gurd looked at the rampaging Allosaurus, a dangerous smile spreading across his face.
"Let's slaughter them all!"
(End of chapter)