"Task completed. Escaped from the ice sphere. Reward: 100 attribute points."
The system's mechanical voice echoed in Marco's mind. He glanced at the reward and frowned slightly.
'Only a hundred? That's it?'
Marco clicked his tongue in irritation. 'This mission was way too dangerous for such a cheap payout.'
The explosion of ice and Marco's reappearance sent shockwaves across the battlefield. Both Aokiji and Kizaru instinctively turned their heads, their gazes locking onto the phoenix suspended in midair.
"He broke out!"
"Damn it, he actually escaped!"
"Fire! Shoot him down!"
The Marines roared in panic, rifles and cannons snapping upward.
Marco didn't hesitate.
He folded his wings and dove straight into the crowd like a falling star. Snatching a saber from the ground mid-descent, he landed in the Marine ranks and immediately began cutting a bloody path through them.
Screams rang out one after another.
It didn't take long for the Marine Commodore to realize the truth: numbers meant nothing against monsters like Marco and Jozu.
"Fall back!" he barked. "All officers below Vice Admiral—do not engage the commanders directly!"
Even so, Marco showed no mercy. His blade kept moving, harvesting Marine lives without pause.
His clashes with Akainu and Aokiji had burned a harsh truth into his bones—Right now, I'm still too weak.
If the Admirals truly went all out, he wouldn't last long. That awareness gnawed at him, fueling an even fiercer hunger for power.
Just then, a familiar figure caught up beside him.
"Marco!" Jozu shouted urgently. "Stop wasting time on these small fries! We need to support Ace—now!"
Marco halted mid-strike and turned toward Jozu, his expression cooling as his eyes swept across the battlefield.
"Support him…?" he said slowly. "Look around. The sea has been completely frozen into an ice continent by Aokiji. With Ace's injuries, even if we seize a warship, escaping is nothing but wishful thinking."
Jozu clenched his fists. "Then… what do we do?"
Marco fell silent for a heartbeat. When he spoke again, his voice was calm—but carried a chilling resolve.
"If there's no way out," he said, "then we stop running."
His words spread like wildfire.
"That's right!"
"If they won't let us live, then we'll fight!"
"Enough running—let's take them down with us!"
"Fight to the death!"
The Pirates erupted.
All the frustration, fear, and humiliation they'd endured—being chased, cornered, and slaughtered—finally exploded. They had wanted to honor their Pops' final wish and return safely to the New World… but the frozen sea beneath their feet and the tightening Marine encirclement had already sealed their fate.
Jozu looked around at the burning eyes of their comrades and understood.
Running any further would only mean dying tired.
And Marco felt the same.
If we're going to die anyway…
Then I'll carve a path forward with blood.
Besides—
This battlefield was also an opportunity.
An opportunity to strike back.
An opportunity to grow stronger.
And an opportunity to claim far more than just a hundred measly attribute points.
Marco spread his wings again—this time, not to flee.
But to fight.
Seeing the murderous resolve blazing in the pirates' eyes, Marco stepped forward and raised his voice, clear and thunderous.
"Brothers! The sea is frozen, our ships are gone, and there's nowhere left to run! The Marines won't give us a path to live—so we'll show them what happens when pirates are driven into a corner!"
His blue flames flickered wildly as his voice rang across the battlefield.
"Instead of running ourselves to death, we strike back! We hit them head-on! Even if we fall, we'll drag a Marine down with us! Those who want to live—fight for your lives! Those who aren't afraid to die—follow me!"
Marco pointed forward, eyes blazing.
"Counterattack! Follow me—and fight the Marines!"
With that, he surged forward, the first to charge.
"OOOOH!!!"
"Follow Captain Marco!"
"That's right—no more running!"
"If I'm going to die, I'll die fighting!"
The Pirates erupted.
Moments ago, many of them had been fleeing in desperation. But now—trapped by frozen sea, with their ships destroyed and hope slipping away—their fear transformed into fury. Once, they had believed escape was still possible: seize a warship, let Ace melt the ice, and retreat.
But Ace was gravely wounded. The last sliver of hope had been crushed.
If death was inevitable, then dying in battle was far better than being hunted down like prey.
On the Marine side, the sudden reversal caught them off guard.
"They're not retreating!"
"They're charging at us!"
For an instant, disorder spread—until Vice Admirals like Doberman and Onigumo stepped forward, shouting commands and rallying their forces.
"For justice—eliminate the pirates!"
"Today, we wipe out every last one of them!"
"Justice will prevail!"
This time, however, the pirates did not turn their backs.
They met the Marines head-on, eyes bloodshot, blades raised, fighting with the resolve of men who had already accepted death.
"Hey, hey, hey… this is bad," Aokiji muttered, watching the pirates charge with suicidal ferocity. Unease crept into his chest. His worst fear had come true—when pirates were cornered, they stopped fearing death.
And that meant casualties. Massive ones.
Kizaru observed the chaos with his usual indifference. "If this continues, we can wipe them out," he said lightly. "But our losses won't be small either."
Meanwhile, Jozu had been completely swept up by Marco's momentum. He charged at Marco's side, crashing into Marine lines like a living avalanche.
Together, Marco and Jozu were unstoppable.
They tore through the Marines like twin gods of war—ordinary soldiers falling with a single blow. With every strike, Marco felt the familiar surge of power as attribute points rapidly accumulated.
Yet in the midst of the slaughter, Jozu suddenly leaned close and shouted, "Marco! Are we really done running? Pops ordered us to return to the New World alive!"
Marco's lips curved into a faint smile, even as his blade flashed again.
"I know," he replied calmly. "That's exactly why I made this decision."
He glanced at the battlefield, where fleeing pirates were being cut down one by one.
"If we keep running, this war becomes a hunt—Marines as hunters, us as prey. We'd lose people every step of the way."
He met Jozu's gaze, voice steady and cold.
"Even if some of us escaped, how many of our fifty thousand brothers would still be alive to return to the New World? Instead, we fight with our backs to the wall. We counterattack. We make the Marines understand that when people are pushed too far—blood will flow."
Jozu fell silent, then nodded slowly.
"I get it now," he said, admiration clear in his voice. "I didn't expect you to start leading like this… stirring everyone's fighting spirit with just a few words."
Marco didn't answer.
He simply spread his wings, blue flames roaring brighter—and led the charge deeper into the enemy lines.
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