The sea.
On the pirate ship.
These pirates, now considered outlaws, were busy with intense preparations.
"Hey, you lot, check the cannonballs again. These are high-class goods from the underworld, so not a single mistake allowed!"
The pirate captain frowned, repeatedly checking the sea charts around them.
He was also afraid.
"Outlaws" — these weren't people who truly sought death.
The reason they dared to act without fear of death was precisely because if they didn't, the alternative awaiting them was death.
They chose a path that looked like seeking death in order to survive.
The so-called "life" is, in reality, a very complicated thing.
And now, these pirates, in order to get enough funds to escape the Grand Line, avoid pursuit from fellow pirates, Marines, and bounty hunters, were planning to attack the "forbidden" ships in this sea area — that is, the merchant ships of the Four Seas Alliance!
For this operation, this pirate crew had prepared many things.
First, their weapons.
To give his subordinates combat power comparable to the elite Royal Army of Alabasta and the Fish-Man warriors, the pirate captain spent a lot of money to acquire a batch of powerful weapons from the underworld.
— Of course, the methods used for this so-called "acquisition" were certainly not honorable.
As a result, this pirate crew was also being hunted by some weapon merchants from the underworld.
It's worth mentioning that these weapon merchants even included the Donquixote family!
The weapons sold by [joker] were very popular in the underworld due to their immense power and extraordinary specifications.
But all of that didn't matter anymore.
After all, these pirates had not paid the Donquixote family as agreed, and the Donquixote family had recently been completely defeated in a country in the North Blue.
This matter had already spread throughout the underworld.
...
It wasn't just the weapons.
In terms of tactics, the pirate captain had also formulated a quite complete plan.
Their primary target was the merchant ships of the Four Seas Alliance. To ensure that the merchant ship they were about to plunder was a true "fat sheep," these pirates spent a long time investigating.
The merchant fleet they intended to raid had just bought goods from Sky Island and was heading to Drum Island to sell them.
Then, they had purchased a large quantity of furs and minerals, specialties of Drum Island, intending to transport them to Alabasta.
The pirates weren't interested in those furs, of course. They were truly only interested in the money and minerals on the ship!
Those minerals were very popular in the underworld!
Not gold, not diamonds, and certainly not jewels...
But a kind of "raw material."
— The raw material for making explosives!
The pirates had already figured out their scheme.
The underworld was not a united big family; the various forces were complex and intertwined.
The pirates just needed to arrange with buyers, then turn all those raw materials for making explosives into gold or Berries, and they could take the money and flee far away.
Buy a small island, or simply build their own paradise on some deserted island!
This was their ultimate goal.
Speaking of which... the minerals produced by Drum Island were actually raw materials for explosives?
These pirates had been wandering these seas for years and had never heard of this!
Had the previous kings of Drum Island not exploited this mineral?
Or did the original Drum Island lack the manpower, resources, and finances to develop those mineral reserves?
And the fact that this merchant fleet was transporting those explosive raw materials to Alabasta, was it that merchants there were heavily buying them?
Most of the pirates didn't care about this series of questions.
Even the most meticulous pirate captain shook his head when he thought of this, casting aside all these messy doubts.
The urgent matter was making money!
...
In short, this operation against the Four Seas Alliance was the last lifeline for these pirates before their downfall.
They had to succeed, make a huge haul, and then leave the Grand Line, never to return!
Therefore, the moment they spotted the Four Seas Alliance merchant ship, the pirates were already prepared.
"Take your positions!"
The pirate captain took out his telescope, stared intently at the "richly laden" merchant ship, raised his right hand, and shouted:
"Gunners, prepare!"
Almost instantly, the special cannons on the pirate ship, under the control of the gunners, turned their muzzles and aimed at the distant Four Seas Alliance merchant ship.
At this range, ordinary cannons would naturally not be able to reach the distant Four Seas Alliance merchant ship, but what the pirate ship was equipped with now were not ordinary cannons.
They were the specially made heavy cannons, famous in the underworld!
Simple to operate, with an extremely long range.
When combined with special cannonballs, they could even achieve powerful artillery coverage that even Marine warships couldn't match!
The only drawback — they were expensive.
If not for meticulous planning and incredibly good luck, the pirate captain would never have managed to get these crucial twenty special heavy cannons!
And this was precisely the trump card that allowed the pirate captain to dare touch the Four Seas Alliance's wrath!
At such a long distance, even the Fish-Men warriors, who moved as freely on the sea as on land, wouldn't be able to react or immediately close in to launch their attacks on the pirate ship.
As for the elite Royal Army of Alabasta, they had even fewer means of counteraction.
After several rounds of shelling, when the combat power on the Four Seas Alliance merchant ship was decimated, the pirates could use the maneuverability of their ship to quickly close in and begin their plunder.
And because their actions were extremely swift, the Four Seas Alliance escort ships patrolling nearby wouldn't have time to react.
This was the pirate captain's general plan.
Direct, simple — some might even say a bit crude.
But in a sense, it might indeed work.
"Ready!"
At the pirate captain's command, the pirate crew members lit the fuses of their special heavy cannons.
Then came the sound of dense shelling, like raindrops!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...
Countless cannonballs shot out like rain, heading straight for the Four Seas Alliance's merchant ship.
Before the cannonballs even landed, the pirate captain gave another order, directing his crew to continue loading cannonballs.
"Except for the reserved portion, fire all the cannonballs!"
"Aye!"
The pirates responded with loud shouts.
But as the first volley of cannonballs exploded near the Four Seas Alliance merchant ship, the pirate captain noticed something was wrong.
The location where the cannonballs exploded seemed to be... in front of the merchant ship?
Something had intercepted the cannonballs beforehand!
What on earth was that?
Suddenly, the pirate captain saw many "people in armor" emerging from the smoke created by the cannonball explosions.
They were stepping on "skate-like" vehicles, moving at a high speed from the direction of the merchant ship towards the pirate ship!
The pirate captain froze.
"What... what is that?"
"It's the Abandoned Ones unit."
A large man appeared behind the pirate captain at some point, placing his large hands on the pirate captain's shoulders.
He grinned, filled with pride, and said slowly:
"Marine G-T Branch Special, Abandoned Ones Sea Assault Unit."
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