Chapter 18: I Won't Draw You a Pie in the Sky; No Pay?!
Compass Town wasn't small, and within the island, there were more villages and small towns, but none were along the coast.
Pirates naturally robbed along the coast. If they went deep inland, they could be surrounded.
Water, food, salt, wood planks and nails for repairs—Sag robbed whatever he could find. Everything was loaded into barrels and boxes, and carried back to the ship by the pirates.
As for Sag and the civilians, they didn't clash.
How much could a ship carry?
Even if the town was destroyed, they could easily find these things.
As for why the civilians didn't care, first, they had already been destroyed by pirates, and second... these people had saved their lives. Wasn't it right to give them some things as thanks?
The mayor, looking at the nearly dilapidated ship docked at the harbor, said, "Captain... Although we can't provide anything too valuable right now, we can provide a ship."
"Old man, I'm robbing you!"
Sag's eye twitched. "Don't insult the profession of piracy, okay? No matter what, I'm dedicated to my work!"
Was he not dedicated just because he was unlucky?!
"What I want, I'll take myself. Hand over the ship," Sag said, shaking the flintlock pistol in his hand.
Others giving it to him, no.
Taking it himself, yes!
"As for ships, we have to wait for other transport ships to return before we have any extra ships. We don't have any now," the mayor shook his head. "But if you wait a while..."
"Captain!!"
A shout came from the harbor. A pirate quickly ran over, panting, and pointed to the sea. "War, warship! The Marines are here!"
*Boom!!*
As soon as he finished speaking, several cannonballs flew from the distant sea, accurately hitting the ship.
The already damaged ship, at this moment, was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The mast and planks flew apart, and the main body broke in two, becoming part of the wreckage in the harbor.
The pirates who had remained on the ship jumped into the sea under the aftermath of the explosion and quickly swam to the harbor.
"My ship!"
Sag's eyes widened, watching the ship sink, completely stunned.
He had just stolen a ship!
And now it was gone?
The warship directly passed through the wreckage and docked at the harbor. A group of marines jumped down and charged over.
"This is the Marine 23rd Branch. I am the branch's Major. Pirates, you are under arrest!"
The first marine to charge out shouted, quickly cutting down a fleeing pirate. The two marine soldiers behind him surrounded him, pointing their guns at the pirate.
"Captain Sag, what should we do!" Gin bent his body slightly, tightly gripping his staff, and asked.
"What to do?"
*Bang bang bang!*
Bullets whizzed past, some hitting the pirates, knocking them down.
Several bullets flew towards Sag, grazing past his body. One bullet was about to hit him, but he raised his arm and pinched it between two fingers.
The bullet fell to the ground, making a light sound. Sag looked at the approaching marines and sneered, "My ship is gone, so I'll steal a warship for a ship! Lads, fight back!"
"Oooooh!!"
Hearing the captain's order, the pirates beside him roared excitedly and charged towards the marines.
In terms of numbers, the pirates were definitely at a disadvantage. The number of marines who disembarked was at least double that of the pirates. In terms of combat power, ordinary pirates and marines were about equal, perhaps even slightly inferior.
But from the perspective of elites, the marines were at a disadvantage, because pirates with bounties... were not simple.
*Bang bang bang!*
The sound of gunfire rang out again, but it hit a shield.
Pearl knocked on his large round shield, letting the bullets hit it, creating sparks.
He extended his five fingers, throwing out fluorite stones, igniting a fire on the ground, blocking the marines who were chasing the remaining pirates.
"I am the invincible Iron Wall Pearl! I can even withstand your cannons! Both invincible and handsome... How about that, I'm quite experienced, right!" Pearl grinned diagonally, showing his gleaming teeth.
The shield on his back had been shattered by Gin and hadn't been repaired yet, but the shield on his front was still usable, more than enough to block bullets.
*Whoosh!*
A figure darted past Pearl like a cheetah. Gin rushed towards the marines, the iron ball on his staff plowing a furrow in the ground. As he approached the marines, he suddenly lifted it.
*Bang!!*
The ground shattered, carrying tremendous force, knocking the leading marine unit flying.
Gin straightened up, swung his staff into a circle, and with the whistling sound of the wind, carried it on his shoulder, looking at the remaining marines and grinning.
*Clang!*
Just as he was about to say something, a silver gleam flashed beside him, forming a 'Z' shape, quickly slicing through the center of the marines.
It was Lily.
"Hakū..." (Empty Slash)
She played with her sword, flicking the rapier to her side, and then slowly sheathing it. The marines around her seemed frozen, waiting for Lily to return the rapier to its scabbard.
*Ka.*
"Zan." (Cut)
*Chih!!*
As the rapier gently entered its sheath, large amounts of blood spurted from the bodies of the marine soldiers, and they fell down with their eyes rolled back.
"Charge!!"
The pirates saw this and their morale soared. The pirates who had originally been fleeing were invigorated, brandishing their weapons and engaging the remaining marines in battle.
Knives and swords clashed, gunfire rang out, and flames burned. Sag walked slowly through the crowd. His cloak fluttered in the wind. With every step he took, the pirates pushed the marines back a little, until they reached the harbor, where all the marines fell.
Under the attack of the three, these marines were no match at all.
"You... I'm a Marine Major! I won't retreat!"
The remaining branch major, his hands trembling as he held a flintlock pistol, aimed at Sag, but he couldn't pull the trigger.
Sag glanced at him, not making a move, just looking at him quietly.
"I, I..."
The major, under Sag's gaze, couldn't pull the trigger no matter what.
Sag smiled slightly, followed the steps lowered by the warship, and slowly stepped onto the warship.
"Lads."
He turned his back to the crowd and said, "Move the goods onto the ship. We're setting sail!"
The marine major finally lowered the flintlock pistol. He couldn't fall. He still had to take care of the fallen marine casualties. He could only say harshly, "The Marines won't let you go!"
Sag smiled faintly, shook his head, and didn't speak.
As if the Marines would let him go if he didn't steal the warship.
Becoming a pirate, being attacked by the Marines, wasn't that natural?
What peaceful coexistence?
The pirates moved the goods they had looted from Compass Town onto the ship, hoisted the sails, and sailed out of the harbor.
This warship was a typical patrol ship, with a maximum capacity of eighty people. It wasn't large, but it was definitely better than the broken ship.
It had cannons.
Sag sat comfortably in the captain's quarters, opening a bottle of rum.
In terms of supplies, the things the warship carried were also very good, after all, they were for the Marines.
He not only drank wine, but he also found cigarettes in the captain's quarters.
Sag took a few large gulps of wine, then lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled slowly.
"Phew..."
He even felt like crying.
It wasn't easy!
To be able to drink and smoke so comfortably, he hadn't dared to imagine this scene in the past few years. He was always busy trying to start a business, not to mention being dirt poor, he was at least always worried about food.
He was always somewhere between starving and full, half-full, half-empty.
Otherwise, why would he have stolen the bandits' wine in Oykot?
Sag picked up a cup and said to Lily, who was collecting nautical charts and other materials in the captain's quarters, "Do you want a drink... Ah, no, you're underage, you can't drink."
Lily looked through the materials without raising her head and asked, "Sag, what are we going to do next?"
She didn't think there was anything wrong with robbing a warship. Wasn't that what pirates did?
Besides, they were already criminals who had committed serious crimes. They didn't care about offending the Marines anymore.
It would be better to say that a higher bounty could raise Sag's reputation.
"Continue robbing."
Sag, with a cigarette in his mouth, leaned back comfortably in his chair. "What's the use of just eating and drinking? We still haven't gotten any money. We can't rob one town, so we'll change to another town. We'll always get money!"
Pirates didn't just eat and drink. Going to sea was for making a fortune. Even if they were looking for One Piece, wasn't it also to get the Pirate King's treasure and become rich?
He now had these subordinates, although they were desperadoes, they also had families.
If they weren't too poor, who would want to go to sea...
Sag needed money for his dream, and the pirates also needed money, so they definitely had to rob.
Not paying the employees' salaries and just drawing them a pie in the sky was useless.