Chapter 36: Sakasuki's Appreciation and Satisfaction!

More than a hundred people on the pirate ship, from top to bottom, fell into pools of blood clutching their necks in a mere ten seconds. Shiryu stood amidst the corpses with a look of profound satisfaction, his murderous gaze sweeping toward the remaining pirate vessels.

[Boom! Boom! Boom!]

The warship where Sakazuki was stationed began a heavy artillery duel with the seven pirate ships. Glowing red-hot black cannonballs whistled through the air, either striking the sea to send massive plumes of water soaring upward or smashing into hulls to erupt in great bursts of flame.

The triple-barreled turrets at the bow of the warship, in particular, completely overwhelmed the opposing pirate ships in terms of range, rate of fire, and accuracy. The defensive strength of the ship's hull was even more disproportionate; even direct hits from several cannonballs left nothing more than shallow marks, causing no impact on the Marines aboard.

At this moment, Sakazuki maintained his posture with arms crossed over his chest. He appeared to be watching the struggling pirates, but in reality, his eyes were fixed on Shiryu's silhouette.

In his eyes, Shiryu had just leaped from the first pirate ship and was now skimming across the sea at extreme speeds, leaving a trail of afterimages behind him. Every time his body tended to descend, he would lightly step on a wave, using the force of the exploding spray to propel himself forward at high speed.

Sakazuki was also a master proficient in the Six Powers; he could tell at a glance that Shiryu was using a variation of Moonwalk, merely switching from stepping on air to stepping on waves.

Compared to air, stepping on waves was actually somewhat easier.

Immediately after, Shiryu leaped onto the second pirate ship and began a new round of bloody slaughter, which caused Sakazuki to frown slightly.

It wasn't that he had any issue with killing pirates, but rather that he felt Shiryu's method was too inefficient.

If it were him, he would have swallowed all the pirate ships whole with a single Great Eruption!

Shiryu's strength was clearly at the level of a master swordsman. Logically, he should be able to unleash flying slashes to quickly cleave the ships in half. Even if he couldn't cut seven ships with one stroke, cutting one ship per stroke shouldn't be a problem, right?

Judging by the current situation, if Shiryu continued to kill them ship by ship, he would eventually let one or two ships escape.

However, Sakazuki had no intention of intervening prematurely before those ships sailed out of his range.

In any case, it would only take a few high-altitude lava shells. With the predictive capabilities of Observation Haki, he could achieve precision strikes against large targets like ships.

In this regard, even the warship beneath his feet was far inferior to him!

But sometimes, as a commander, one cannot personally intervene at every moment. There is a logic to "soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals"; a general must not blindly snatch the combat merits of his subordinates.

On Shiryu's side, he sliced through an oncoming pirate along with his sword in a single stroke. He watched with excitement as the head slid down behind the broken blade, a pillar of blood erupting into the sky.

Refreshing!!

Looking back, the area behind him was already covered in corpses and blood.

"Vice Admiral Akainu, CP5 hidden in the Kingdom of Madanl has sent detailed information!" a Major on the warship ran up and reported loudly.

He had to raise his voice; otherwise, the whistling of the flying cannonballs and the subsequent explosions would easily drown out any human voice.

"Speak," Sakazuki said in a deep voice.

"Most of these pirates are civilians from that country. The leader is named Cass, formerly a mid-level officer in the King's army. Two weeks ago, his wife and daughter were taken by Viscount Gadwell of that country, and a week ago, they were sold to a slave company."

"In retaliation, Cass led his trusted soldiers to incite the commoners, who were already dissatisfied with the nobility. They first seized the King's warships at the docks, then hoisted a prepared pirate flag onto the masts. Acting under the name of the Cass Pirates, they attacked the King's army, plundered all the grain and treasure in the dock warehouses, and bombarded the upper city where the royalty and nobility live for nearly half an hour. It is said that the area is now a ruin, and the nobility has suffered heavy casualties."

After hearing this tale of nobility driving soldiers and civilians to rebellion, Sakazuki fell silent for a moment before coldly spitting out a single word.

"Idiots!"

The Major from Headquarters assumed he was cursing the noble, so he did not dare to say anything more.

"That idiot named Cass not only doomed himself but also everyone following him," Sakazuki said, gazing at the pirate ships currently being slaughtered by Shiryu in the distance.

"If he hadn't hoisted that pirate flag, this matter would have had little to do with the Navy."

The Major realized the truth, thinking to himself: *Indeed, if that Cass hadn't hoisted the pirate flag, they wouldn't be pirates, but rather an internal rebellion within the Kingdom of Madanl, which naturally wouldn't have drawn the Navy's pursuit.*

According to the laws of the World Government, the Navy has no authority to interfere in the internal affairs of its member nations without permission.

Unless the King of that country first applies to the World Government for assistance, and then the Government decides whether to help after reviewing the intelligence provided by CIPHER POL.

If the decision is made to help, the Navy Headquarters must be notified to dispatch troops. Subsequently, the Fleet Admiral must hand over the profiles of the main rebels to the relevant departments to determine their bounties and wanted posters.

Finally, they must consider what level of officers and what scale of fleet to deploy.

This entire process, at its fastest, would take one or two days. Adding travel time, it would take at least three or four days. For countries further away, it would take even longer.

Clearly, the King of Madanl knew these rules well, so he directly called the Navy, claiming that a massive number of pirates were attacking his country.

In doing so, he effectively bypassed all the tedious preliminary procedures; the Navy only needed to notify nearby warships to head over.

But in reality?

Cass and his crew had only just hoisted the pirate flag; they had not yet been placed on any Navy wanted lists.

So, could they be considered pirates?

Yes.

Because they hoisted the pirate flag. According to Navy regulations, as long as a pirate flag is flown or a skull pattern is painted on the sails, they are pirates. They can be captured even without a bounty; the bounty can simply be added later, or even omitted if they are already caught.

Therefore, it wasn't entirely unfair that Cass and his men were being slaughtered by Shiryu. It was just as Sakazuki said: they were too stupid, and that King was too clever.

While the warship was learning the details of the mission, the famous blade in Shiryu's hand, *Thunderstorm*, had already finished slaughtering the pirates on five ships.

But just as Sakazuki had predicted, two ships were gradually sailing away—or rather, fleeing for their lives in desperation.

This caused his right arm to begin flowing with scorching lava. Billowing black smoke rose into the blue sky, and as the fiery red magma dripped onto the deck, a thick scent of sulfur filled the air.

[Vroom!!]

Just as Sakazuki was about to act, a wide, crimson blade light suddenly flashed, streaking across the sea at an incredible speed. In an instant, it severed the mainmasts and sails of the two pirate ships.

With the sails falling into the sea, the ships could no longer utilize the wind to sail, and their speed rapidly dropped. Before long, they were drifting aimlessly with the waves, becoming nothing more than massive wooden coffins on the ocean.

The more than two hundred people on board could only watch in despair as the bloodthirsty demon approached.

Before long, more shrill screams and cries of battle rang out, but after only about half a minute, silence fell once again.

"Excellent!"

Sakazuki's eyes were filled with appreciation. He had originally thought about making 'Onigumo' his adjutant, but this Shiryu was also quite good.

Since they had hoisted the pirate flag and intended to form a pirate crew, they deserved to die; they had no right to continue breathing the air.

Pirates are nothing but a bunch of damn trash!