Horne's face turned pale. Rhett. I can't beat him. He considered begging for mercy, but the blood mist in the air... he had no idea why Rhett had come. But he knew Rhett wouldn't let him go.
"What... what the hell is this?!" A lieutenant retreated in terror, his military boots sizzling on the blood mist-covered ground.
Rhett's figure slowly emerged from the mist. He hummed an off-key tune, dragging the Black Tide greatsword behind him. Wherever the blade passed, concrete walls peeled away like rotting bark.
The blood mist formed a vortex, sucking screaming soldiers into its depths, leaving only floating military caps behind.
"Horne—" Rhett's voice echoed eerily through the thick mist, "Your people have come to collect you."
The glass in the command room suddenly shattered. The blood mist condensed into countless fine needles, pinning Horne to the tactical map.
The branch commander watched in horror as his right hand began to dissolve, revealing gleaming white bone.
"Wait! Please spare me! I can give you money, women—anything!"
Horne's screams mixed with the sound of his teeth shattering, "Please spare me... I don't want to die..."
"Shh." Rhett pressed a finger to his lips as the blood mist suddenly surged into Horne's mouth. "You've misunderstood. I'm not here to negotiate."
The entire base began to collapse.
The blood mist corroded the steel framework. Gun turrets melted, communication towers bent like softened chocolate.
The marines—they could still breathe, still think, even as they were wrapped in the blood mist. They could clearly feel their skin disappearing inch by inch.
The original user had just [used power] and bulldozed around recklessly.
Moriah stood at the ship's bow, admiring the massacre. His shadow twisted in excitement: "Heh heh heh... The captain isn't even leaving whole bodies this time. Gotta say, the captain is really being capricious."
When the blood mist dissipated, all that remained of G-44 branch were a few broken walls—proof that a marine base had once existed there. No wreckage, no bloodstains—as if some giant beast had licked the place clean.
Under such intense pressure, people can easily go mad. Horne soon laughed maniacally, "Heh heh heh, I have connections with the Celestial Dragons—"
But then he thought of something and his face turned to despair.
"Bang!"
A gun formed from mist suddenly pierced his right shoulder, pinning him to the wall.
Rhett couldn't bear to use the Black Tide greatsword, afraid of dirtying it. With a radiant smile, he said, "Sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm Rhett, captain of the Crimson Dawn Pirates. Really, with so many blood needles pinning you down, you can still bark like a dog."
He spread his arms, and the blood mist surged skyward.
"Now then, let me formally introduce my navigator—"
Against the backdrop of the blood mist, Tesoro's golden waves formed a staircase, paving a path from Lina's feet straight to Horne.
And Lina—
She walked steadily up the golden steps, her voice icy cold:
"I am the navigator of Crimson Dawn, Lorent D. Lina."
"Today, I've come to take your life."
The pain brought Horne back from his hysteria—
"Please... please..." Horne trembled as he begged, "I can give you money, status..."
Damn double-faced turtle.
Lina looked down at him,
"When you sold my sister, did she beg you like this too?"
She drew her rapier and stabbed Horne repeatedly. After sheathing her sword, she turned to Rhett: "Captain, the rest is up to you."
Rhett grinned, and the blood mist formed a giant hand, lifting "the honeycomb" high—
The blood mist contracted, and Horne's screams abruptly ceased.
As the Bluma Jackson sailed away from the now bare G-44 branch, Lina stood at the stern, quietly watching the flames on the sea.
Rhett walked over and handed her a cup of hot milk: "Satisfied?"
Lina timidly said, "But I wanted to drink alcohol."
Rhett knocked her head lightly, "Kids shouldn't drink alcohol."
Lina took the cup and suddenly laughed, "Captain, you looked so... chuuni just now."
Rhett: "..."
Tesoro was trying not to laugh, his internal organs hurting from the effort.
Even if the captain was chuuni at that moment, he was also the most reassuring.
Enel rolled his eyes at everyone, then looked at Rhett with shining eyes, "The captain was obviously super cool! They don't understand you, but I do. Of course, mere mortals can't comprehend gods like us."
Rhett sweated a soybean emoji: "Uh, thanks, Enel."
Perona floated over and hugged Lina, "Sister Lina was the coolest!"
Moriah's shadow gave a thumbs up, "Heh heh heh... Can we join in next time? Watching is making us itchy!"
Laboon: "Woo—!" (+1!)
Lina looked at her noisy companions, a slight smile on her lips.
Perhaps... this ship was what she had been searching for all along.
Sengoku smashed his fist through his desk. The image projected by the Den Den Mushi was still flickering—the final moments of G-44 branch dissolving in the blood mist.
This was Rhett, deliberately releasing it. No other reason, just to annoy the marines.
"Come hit me."
"Less than an hour, and the entire base disappeared into thin air?" Akainu evolved into Magma Dog, "Not even ruins left?"
Vice Admiral Tsuru adjusted her glasses, "With the strength of Marine Branch 44, there's no way they could have forced Rhett to show his true power. Therefore, we currently have no way to determine Rhett's current threat level.
This is the investigation report on Branch 44. Although I hate to admit it, we should thank him."
Kizaru crossed his legs, "So scary His ability is practically cheating"
"Rhett let this news get out, clearly wanting to annoy us." Sengoku's mood was relatively calm, "Update the bounties immediately! The Marines' justice cannot be violated."
Sengoku had to handle this matter, just like Major Mouse. This was a major issue, and the Marines had to make their stance clear.
[Captain] Rhett bounty: 3.6 billion Berries
[First Mate] "Golden Emperor" Tesoro bounty: 1.1 billion Berries
[Combatant] "Shadow Master" Moriah bounty: 1.02 billion Berries
[Combatant] "God of Thunder" Enel bounty: 790 million Berries
[Navigator] "Storm Eye" Lina bounty: 500 million Berries
[Doctor] "Healer" Stella bounty: 100 million Berries
[Intern] "Ghost Princess" Perona bounty: 5,000 Berries
[Pet] Laboon bounty: 800 Berries
Rhett looked at his crew's bounty posters. Sengoku was really something. When did Tesoro become first mate? Although everyone accepted it.
Logically, Moriah should be the first mate. If Moriah really wanted to be first mate, and was surpassed in bounty and position by someone else, Sengoku would have succeeded in causing internal strife.
But he didn't know that Moriah would become a shut-in in the future. Right now, his slacker aura was almost overflowing. If it weren't for Perona and Laboon knocking on his door every day, Rhett was afraid he might just die in his room.
"Pfft hahaha!" Rhett slapped Lina's bounty poster on the table, "'Danger level not inferior to combatants'?"
Lina's face turned red as she snatched the wanted poster back, "It... it's too ugly... Captain Rhett, please stop talking."
Rhett looked at Lina's flushed face.
Hehe.
The difference when she's not navigating is really big.
Enel grilled fish with lightning, his face full of disdain, "A mere 500 million is worthy of being compared to a god?"
Moriah's zombies were helping Perona hang bounty posters to decorate her room, "Heh heh heh... Next time, I'll make those trash marines' heads into collectibles!"
"Mr. Moriah, if you bring such disgusting things onto the ship, your allowance will be halved." Stella said gently, holding her face.
Tesoro swirled a glass of red wine, the latest newspaper headline in his hand—"The Most Evil Fleet in the History of the New Era! Can Crimson Dawn Become the True King of the New World?"