020 If you can run, the monk can't run away from the temple
The Marine warship was suddenly torn apart by violent artillery shelling, which not only shocked Lin Mu, but even the Marine soldiers stationed on the battleship were completely stunned. Every Marine's expression became extremely stiff and filled with disbelief, fear, and confusion at the same time!
"This... what exactly is happening here?"
"What on earth are those idiots from the 48th Marine Division doing right now?"
"Didn't they swear on the Den Den Mushi that they would provide fire support? Why are they bombarding our ship instead!"
Colonel Iden's face was ashen and ugly at this moment, his expression almost identical to the panic-stricken officers during the Enies Lobby incident. He hurriedly pulled out his Den Den Mushi, trying to contact Colonel Flender aboard the 48th Division warship, but the Den Den Mushi only rang briefly before falling completely silent!
"That treacherous bastard! If I manage to escape alive today, I swear I will never let you get away with this!"
Iden roared in fury, veins bulging on his forehead, then violently threw the Den Den Mushi out of his hand. He quickly swept his surroundings with his eyes, his mind already calculating an escape route just like the cowardly officers who abandoned their posts during previous Marine disasters.
And Lin Mu, after confirming that this sudden betrayal was indeed the handiwork of the 48th Division's Marine warship, could not help but feel his heart bleed with pain and anger, because these were nothing but a group of absolute bastards who were wasting precious experience points!
Lin Mu roughly calculated that this single round of indiscriminate bombardment had directly killed more than thirty Marine soldiers, which alone was worth more than seventy precious experience points!
And now that the Marine warship had been crippled and turned into wreckage, it became far more difficult for him to continue harvesting experience efficiently, meaning that this chaotic interference would cause him to lose nearly two hundred full experience points this time!
"Squeak... squeak..."
At this moment, Lin Mu suddenly heard a weak and painful squeaking sound, completely different from Zhizhi's usual lively and energetic cries, sounding fragile and heartbreaking.
Lin Mu immediately lowered his head, only to see Zhizhi, who had been hiding in front of his chest, clutching its short furry leg with tears welling up in its eyes. The leg was bleeding heavily at this moment, and the bright red blood had already dyed its originally snow-white fur a shocking crimson.
The little fox looked extremely aggrieved and pitiful at this moment. It had been lying safely in Lin Mu's arms just a second ago, but suddenly a sharp wooden splinter blasted loose by the cannon impact flew over and pierced straight into its leg. Lin Mu cried out in his heart: It must hurt so much...
Seeing this scene, Lin Mu's face instantly darkened like a stormy sea. If it had been any normal attack or direct strike, he would have unquestionably blocked it for Zhizhi without hesitation.
But the cannonball had arrived far too suddenly, and after smashing into the deck, it sent countless fragments of shattered wood flying everywhere. These fragments posed absolutely no threat to Lin Mu's hardened body, so he subconsciously ignored them.
He never expected that this overlooked debris would end up seriously injuring Zhizhi, who had been quietly resting in his arms.
To Lin Mu, Zhizhi could already be considered his only true companion in this cruel world. Although the time they had spent together was short, Lin Mu had genuinely grown fond of this silly, innocent little fox, and the sight of its injury made his killing intent surge uncontrollably.
"Marine Division 48! I've written it down!" Lin Mu said in an extremely cold and murderous tone, his voice carrying the same chilling intent seen when high-level pirates mark a Marine base for destruction. Then he gently patted Zhizhi's small head and comforted it softly, "Don't worry, I'll take you to see a doctor right away, even if I have to tear apart a Marine branch to do it!"
"Squeak..."
After comforting Zhizhi, Lin Mu's eyes slowly swept across the surviving Marine soldiers who had barely escaped the devastating artillery fire. He stepped forward lightly and instantly unleashed the full speed of Quicksilver. His figure blurred like the Soru technique used by CP9, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared directly behind a Marine soldier, then slashed out with his claw without mercy!
"Ding, kill ordinary Marines and gain 2 experience points!"
After killing one Marine, Lin Mu flashed again with explosive speed and appeared behind another fleeing Marine sergeant, whose face was still filled with fear and panic. Lin Mu casually swung a claw and effortlessly ended his life!
"Ding, kill Sergeant Marine and gain 8 experience points!"
At this moment, Lin Mu suddenly noticed that the highest-ranking officer on the warship, Colonel Iden, had already lowered a Marine lifeboat and was preparing to flee the battlefield in disgrace, just like many cowardly officers recorded in Marine internal history, and Lin Mu immediately chased after him.
Others can be spared temporarily, but this Marine colonel must absolutely not be allowed to escape!
Moreover, Colonel Iden's value was clearly higher than Charrick from Marine Division 42. Charrick was only worth 40 experience points, while Iden was worth a full 50 experience points!
Under the same Marine branch colonel rank, this also meant that Iden was undoubtedly stronger than Charrick in combat ability and battlefield survival.
However, Lin Mu did not care about this difference at all. With his current strength, dealing with Marine officers at the level of branch colonels posed no real difficulty, and killing them was almost effortless.
Unless he encountered a particularly troublesome Devil Fruit ability that perfectly restrained his combat style, it might cause some inconvenience.
But Lin Mu was completely certain that Iden did not possess such an ability. If Iden truly had a way to counter him, he would not be fleeing in such a miserable and hurried manner.
With only a few rapid dodges, Lin Mu caught up to Iden and swung a steel claw straight toward Iden's back with lethal precision.
Iden clearly sensed the fatal attack from behind at the last moment. His body lowered sharply, narrowly dodging Lin Mu's claw, and then the long sword stained with fresh blood in his hand slashed backward in a desperate counterattack, aiming straight for Lin Mu's neck.
Lin Mu did not dodge. Zhizhi was injured, and he no longer had the patience or mood to slowly test Iden's strength. What he needed now was to finish Iden as fast as possible and obtain those 50 experience points!
Lin Mu directly stretched out one hand and firmly grabbed Iden's sword blade without hesitation!
If Lin Mu had attempted this before acquiring the Edman alloy–reinforced skeletal structure, Iden's sword would have instantly severed his fingers!
But now, Lin Mu's bones had fully transformed into extremely durable Edman alloy, a material comparable to Marine experimental metals, allowing him to easily block and restrain Iden's sword with bare hands.
While gripping Iden's blade, the steel claw on Lin Mu's other hand stabbed straight toward Iden's abdomen with ruthless accuracy!
Seeing this, Iden's pupils shrank violently. He immediately released his grip on the sword and retreated in panic, barely avoiding the fatal strike at the cost of abandoning his weapon!
But this also meant that he had completely lost both the ability and the capital to resist in front of Lin Mu, and Lin Mu's Quicksilver speed ensured that escape was absolutely impossible!
Only a few seconds later, Lin Mu's steel claws pierced directly through Iden's chest and into his heart, instantly ending the Marine colonel's life!
"Ding, kill Colonel Marine and gain 50 experience points!"
"Only 18 points left before reaching 1,000 experience points!" Lin Mu glanced at his experience value and felt a surge of excitement, but the warship beneath his feet was already shattered and sinking rapidly, while the warship of Marine Division 48 had long since fled into the distance, disappearing far away on the sea.
"If you can run, the monk can't run away from the temple, wait for me at Marine Division 48!" Lin Mu snorted coldly, his killing intent firmly locked on that Marine branch, then shifted his gaze toward the surrounding ocean.
At this moment, more than a dozen Marine lifeboats were scattered across the sea surface, with five or six Marines crowded onto each boat.
It was clearly impossible to chase down everyone. These lifeboats were too spread out, and he could only catch one at most.
Soon, Lin Mu selected his target, a lifeboat not too far away, carrying six Marines, all of whom were Marine non-commissioned officers.
"These guys together will give me 22 experience points, which is just enough to break through!"