After several rounds of bombardment, the frenzied beasts lured out of the city by Hothard and Shiro were nearly wiped out.

Garp's warship sailed into the port once the bombing ceased.

Before the ship could dock, Garp and Morgans leaped off the deck simultaneously.

Marine officers overseeing the orderly evacuation of civilians snapped to attention and saluted in unison.

"Vice Admiral Garp!"

Garp didn't pause.

He sprinted into the town at full speed, heading straight for the outskirts.

"Hothard, you better not die on me!"

Morgans, pouring every ounce of his strength into keeping up with Garp, couldn't shake Hothard's earlier command to open fire from his mind.

The thought that their artillery might have cost Hothard and a rookie their lives made his eyes burn.

With a furious roar, he pushed past Garp and surged ahead.

"Hothard!!"

Morgans shouted as he overtook Garp, accelerating again.

He raced towards the outskirts like the wind, heedless of any remaining frenzied beasts in the city.

Just as Morgans was about to leave the town for the outskirts, a frenzied beast—knocked unconscious earlier by the bombardment—suddenly stirred and lunged at him.

Morgans, focused solely on finding Hothard, didn't notice the threat.

As the beast was about to strike, a figure flashed into view.

The next moment—

A thunderous explosion erupted.

In an instant, the frenzied beast that had suddenly charged was sent flying backward, crashing heavily several meters away before lying motionless.

"Hmm?" Morgans, who had narrowly escaped death, narrowed his eyes slightly before turning to glare at Garp.

"Old man, why did you stop? Go save Hothard now!"

Bam!

No sooner had Morgans spoken than Garp punched him squarely on the head, leaving a lump on his head.

"!!!!!"

Morgans' eyes bulged again as he instinctively clutched his head, howling in pain.

"Ow ow ow ow! That really hurt! Did you have to hit me for real?"

Garp wasted no words, simply stating, "Follow me. Don't run off!"

"O-okay..."

Now subdued, Morgans clutched the lump on his head and obediently trotted after Garp.

Soon, the two arrived at the outskirts of the town.

Before them lay countless mutilated remains of frenzied beasts.

The stench of charred flesh mingled with gunpowder smoke filled the air—thousands of creatures had been torn apart by the relentless naval bombardment, leaving almost none intact.

Even Garp couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath at the sight of the dismembered limbs strewn across the ground.

At that moment, he finally understood why Hothard had urged him not to hesitate and to fire decisively.

Just from this horrific scene, he could imagine how many frenzied beasts had gathered here earlier.

Had Hothard and that soldier hidden and waited for Garp's arrival, these creatures would have lost their targets and returned to the town—directly threatening thousands of civilians yet to evacuate from the port.

"Vice Admiral Garp, they're not here!"

Just then, Morgans stepped over the sea of corpses and reached the giant boulder, his expression grim as he stared at its empty surface.

Earlier, when he'd observed this spot through binoculars from the sea, Hothard and the rookie had been standing right atop this boulder.

Yet now, not only were the two nowhere to be seen on the rock, but their bodies couldn't be found among the surrounding remains either.

Clearly, they had been obliterated along with the slain beasts during the bombardment.

Unwilling to accept this, Morgans continued rummaging through the surrounding gore.

"Morgans, stop looking."

Garp approached the boulder, tilting his head slightly to observe its small summit.

Softly, he said, "After that kind of bombardment... even I would struggle to survive, let alone them."

As he spoke, Garp removed his dog-shaped cap, straightened his posture and saluted solemnly towards the boulder.

*****

Meanwhile...

On the opposite side of the island where the town stood, a massive warship floated on the sea.

With a flash of light, three figures abruptly appeared on the previously empty deck.

At the forefront stood Admiral Borsalino, who had been absent for so long.

Dangling from his hands were none other than Hothard and Shiro.

After setting them down, Borsalino habitually adjusted his glasses and drawled lazily.

"How terrifying~ Almost didn't make it in time."

Hothard and Shiro remained dazed, their expressions blank as they stared at Borsalino's retreating figure, still struggling to process their sudden rescue.

They were all prepared to sacrifice themselves, even shouting the valiant cry of "Loyalty!" as the dense barrage of artillery shells rained down upon them.

Yet in the split second before the shells could land, a flash of light descended before them faster than the falling projectiles.

The next moment, they found themselves aboard this massive ship.

It took several stunned seconds before Hothard regain his composure - only to immediately widen his eyes in disbelief as he exclaimed.

"Ad... Admiral Kizaru?"

Before his words could fully leave his mouth, Hothard's widened pupils abruptly contracted.

Suddenly, from the cabin door ahead in his line of sight emerged a middle-aged man wearing a dark green overcoat, with a red square tattoo on his left cheek.

"Leader of the Revolutionary Army."

The moment he recognized the man, Hothard couldn't hold back his astonishment and exclaimed.

"Monkey D. Dragon!"

The one stepping out of the cabin was indeed Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army.

After glancing at the thick smoke rising from the direction of the island, Dragon turned his gaze towards Hothard and Shiro.

Then, the usually stern-faced man surprisingly offered what he thought was a gentle smile.

"No need to be nervous. In fact, I could be considered half your superior, as I was once a Marine myself!"

"What?"

Hothard's eyes widened as he stared dumbfounded at Dragon, wondering if he was hallucinating.

The leader of the Revolutionary Army, whose primary goal was to overthrow the World Government, was once a Marine?

If he were a rookie, he might have believed it, but he wasn't.

From a rookie to his current rank as a branch captain, he had served in the Marines for nearly eight years.

During that time, he had never come across any records mentioning Dragon in Marine archives.

Under Hothard's incredulous gaze, Dragon calmly walked over and sat at a round wooden table on the deck.

"It's normal you wouldn't know. After all, I'm now the Revolutionary Army's leader. The Marines and the World Government would naturally erase any trace of my existence."

As he spoke, Dragon gestured for Hothard and Shiro to approach, pointing to the chairs opposite him.

Seeing this, Hothard suppressed his shock and strode confidently to stand across from Dragon—though he refused to sit.

No matter Dragon's intentions, he had to maintain his stance and not lose his composure.

Observing Hothard's reaction, Dragon remained unperturbed and spoke solemnly.

"No matter how they try to hide it, the fact remains that i once served in the Marines. Unfortunately, I wasn't as fortunate as you—I never found justice there, so I left."

Before his words faded, Dragon suddenly looked up at Hothard.

"Luckily, today, I heard the echoes of justice."

--------------------------------

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