Chapter 44 News

The villagers stared dumbfounded at everything happening before their eyes, as if trapped in an absurd dream.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood, with Marine corpses strewn haphazardly across the beach.

Several timid children finally couldn’t hold back their tears, but their mothers quickly covered their mouths.

“Kaguya…”

Genzo’s voice trembled, his face etched with shock and worry.

“Do you know what killing Marines means?”

“Who cares what it means?

Should we just watch these trash continue to oppress the people if we don’t kill them?”

Kaguya flicked the blood off her blade, her gaze sweeping over the terrified villagers.

“But if you kill Marines, you’ll be wanted by the Marines…”

Genzo sighed, his eyes filled with concern.

He looked around, seeing the houses looted by the Marines and the scattered food on the ground, feeling both angry and helpless.

“Wanted?”

Kaguya sneered, her gaze sharp as a blade.

“These so-called Marines are nothing but robbers cloaked in the guise of justice.

They oppress the people and exploit the villages.

Someone should have dealt with them long ago.”

Nami stepped forward, gently patting Genzo’s shoulder to comfort him.

“Genzo, don’t worry.

We’re quite strong now.

Even if the Marines really put out a bounty on us, we’re not afraid.

Besides, we didn’t leave any survivors just now.

As long as everyone keeps quiet, the Marines won’t find out.”

“Nami’s right.

I don’t believe the Marines can detect from thousands of miles away that we killed them.”

Genzo wanted to say more, but seeing the villagers gradually recovering from their fear, he only nodded heavily in the end.

Several young people had already begun voluntarily cleaning up the corpses on the beach, while the women busied themselves tidying the ransacked houses.

A peculiar silence hung in the air.

Before these Marines appeared, the villagers of Cocoyasi Village had always believed that all Marines were upright and brave warriors like Belle-Mere.

However, everything that happened today completely overturned their perception.

Nami jumped onto the warship and checked the supplies on board with Kaguya.

The cabin was stacked with crates of Berries.

Thinking of the Marines’ actions earlier, Nami guessed the origin of this treasure.

“These guys truly commit every evil imaginable.”

Nami kicked open a crate filled with Berries, flames of anger burning in her eyes.

“It’s fine.

They’ve already received the punishment they deserved.

Let’s count how many Berries there are.”

Hearing this, Nami forcefully suppressed the anger in her heart.

During the counting process, she saw that many of the Berries were stained with blood.

Tragic scenes flashed through Nami’s mind—the villages looted by the Marines, the innocent civilians lying in pools of blood.

She clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms.

“There are forty-five million Berries in total…”

When she said this number, Nami gritted her teeth.

Because she knew that these Marines had only received the order to search the East Blue three days ago, and in just three days, they had plundered over forty million Berries.

And the number of innocent lives sacrificed for these forty million Berries was likely in the hundreds.

“I’ll go back first to inform Nojiko.

When riding the wind for ten thousand miles returns, we’ll transfer these Berries to the ship.

Then we’ll tow this warship farther out and sink it.”

“Alright, you go back.

I’ll guard it here.”

Nami nodded, watching Kaguya fly away from the warship.

Not long after, Nojiko returned with the ship.

Seeing Nami standing on the warship waiting for her, Nojiko leaped lightly and landed beside her.

“What’s going on?

Did you rob the Marines?”

Nami shook her head and recounted what had just happened to Nojiko.

“Those Marines deserved to die!

Then hurry up and transfer the Berries.

I’ll sink the warship quickly to avoid any complications.”

“Mm!”

The two women quickly transferred the treasure from the warship to the ship.

Then Nami threw a cable to Moomoo.

Led by Nojiko, Moomoo pulled the warship quickly away from the coast of Cocoyasi Village.

Nami locked up the Berries and returned to the tangerine grove.

“Kaguya, should we go into hiding for a while?”

“Hide from what?

We didn’t do anything.

Why should we hide?”

Looking at Kaguya’s calm and composed demeanor, Nami couldn’t help but feel admiration.

“That’s true.

The corpses have sunk with the warship.

No one can know what we did.”

Nami nodded in agreement.

However, what Kaguya and Nami didn’t know was…

Far away in the New World, Morgans received a fax from the East Blue branch.

The fax contained several pictures.

There was evidence of several Marine bases in the East Blue looting villages under the pretext of pursuing treasure, as well as on-site photos of the Marines being wiped out in Cocoyasi Village.

Morgans puffed on his cigar, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

“This is big news!”

He immediately gathered his subordinates, preparing to publish this news in tomorrow’s World Economic Journal.

Cocoyasi Village—

“Kaguya, I towed that warship to the open sea and sank it.

What should we do next?”

The first thing Nojiko said after returning was similar to Nami’s question.

Kaguya remained calm, continuing her sword-swinging training.

“Eat when it’s time to eat, drink when it’s time to drink.

Just carry on as usual.”

Nojiko instantly understood Kaguya’s meaning.

“Understood.”

Nojiko nodded and lifted a nearby large rock to begin her training.

“By the way, where’s Nami?”

Not seeing Nami in the tangerine grove, Nojiko asked curiously.

“She went to give compensation to the villagers, or you could call it hush money.

After all, those Marines had the opportunity to come and loot because of us.

Nami felt guilty, so she took some Berries to compensate them.”

Nojiko nodded in understanding.

As night fell, Cocoyasi Village gradually returned to its usual tranquility.

But on the other side of the world, Morgans’ news agency was brightly lit.

Typesetters were rushing to produce tomorrow’s headline news.

The front-page headline boldly read—”False Justice: In the Name of the Marines, Doing Pirate Deeds!”

The accompanying picture for the article was ironclad evidence of the Marines looting villages.

The article detailed how the East Blue Marines, under the pretext of searching for the Goa Kingdom’s treasury treasure, plundered civilians.

The second page of the newspaper featured another headline—”Retaliation from Civilians, Marines Wiped Out!”

The picture below showed the moment Kaguya killed Major Mouse.

The photo angle was very tricky, clearly capturing the situation on Cocoyasi Village’s beach.

Kaguya’s long blade was plunged into Major Mouse’s chest, with the villagers of Cocoyasi Village and the scattered Marine corpses on the beach behind her.

Morgans looked satisfied at the freshly printed proof, a meaningful smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

“Now the show’s about to begin.”

He murmured to himself, lightly tapping his fingers on the desk.