NOVEL NEXT Chapter 7: Gawain's Career Planning
"Morgan is dead; those who surrender will not be killed!"
Gawain lifted Morgan's head with the sword.
His voice was not loud, but it made the two sides that were fighting stop at the same time.
The originally fanatical marines felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar the moment they saw Morgan's headless body.
The desire that had just been aroused by Morgan's few words was instantly dissipated. The scene before them was so different from what they had expected.
"Lieutenant Morgan... Died?"
One marine looked pale, and if it weren't for the knife wound on his arm, he would have almost thought he was having a nightmare.
"Are you kidding me?"
"How can we bow down to pirates?!"
Whoosh!
Before he could finish his words, Gawain chopped off his head with a sword, and blood splattered everywhere, landing on the surrounding marines.
"Warm, salty, and tastes like iron..."
"This is not a dream, I..."
The Marines, who were originally full of confidence and wanted to establish their achievements by taking Gawain's head, were now trembling with fear.
After all, if even Morgan is no match for Gawain, what is the point of their resistance?
Ding!
With the sound of metal falling to the ground, the marines present gave up resistance and squatted on the spot.
The fighting on the island stopped.
It was not until Gawain ordered his crew to tie up the marines that the pirates came to their senses. They looked at Morgan's body and then at Gawain, whose clothes were spotless.
There seemed to be a flame burning in their pupils.
"Captain, he actually... Really defeated Morgan?"
"Beat?"
"This is an instant kill!"
A man wearing the hat looked at Morgan's headless body, and then he reached out and touched his neck, his eyes full of awe.
"I'm afraid the captain will become famous in the East Blue this time!"
"Even the monsters in the Grand Line may not be a match for the captain!"
"Ah!"
"I have this feeling that the East Blue cannot contain him. No, it should be that the East Blue cannot accommodate him."
"Lancer's incident completely transformed him!"
"Whether it's his mentality, strength, or will, it's completely different from before. It's like... It's like he's become a completely different person!"
The pirates present looked at Gawain's back, and in addition to awe, there was also a confidence that they had never had before in their eyes.
With Morgan's defeat, the situation on the island was quickly brought under control.
The marines who followed Morgan to the island were all gathered together with their hands tied.
The warships left on the sea, together with the marines left on it, were easily captured by Gawain.
By the time the turmoil on the island was quelled, the sun had already risen in the sky.
Gawain stood on the deck of a warship with the captured marines in front of him.
"Captain, what do we do with these people?"
The hooded helmsman walked up to Gawain and asked respectfully.
After Lancer's death, he became Gawain's temporary deputy captain, and his abilities were quite outstanding in the pirate group.
Gawain glanced at the captives, and after a moment's silence, he spoke:
"Leave them on the island."
"Captain, these people have killed many of our brothers. Are you just going to let them go?"
The helmsman retorted subconsciously.
"Are you teaching me how to do things?"
"I don't dare!"
The helmsman knelt down hurriedly, his eyes full of fear.
Only then did he realize that the person in front of him was no longer the kind-hearted knight he used to be but the real pirate Gawain.
The man who had chased and beaten them couldn't even survive a single move from Gawain.
During this month, Gawain spent most of his time instructing them in their practice, which shows that Gawain had been hiding his strength all along!
He is not weak; he just has no intention of fighting.
It was them and the Marines who killed that kindness and created this monster together!
For a while, countless speculations flashed through the helmsman's mind. The more he thought about it, the more difficult it was for him to suppress his fear of Gawain.
"That's good to know."
Gawain spoke indifferently, glanced at the helmsman, and then looked at the prisoners on the deck.
Killing the enemy and torturing prisoners in battle are two different things. The former can still be eased, but the latter is a complete fight to the death.
He wasn't ready to have a complete falling out with the Marines, at least not yet.
Looking at the world of pirates, except for extreme examples like Hawk Eyes, big pirates will almost inevitably end up taking the path of splitting the land and becoming king.
Crocodile occupy Alabasta, Doflamingo owns Dressrosa, and the four emperors of the New World, Kaido, Whitebeard, and Big Mom, are kings in the true sense, ruling over a large area of land.
Even Red Hair has gathered a large fleet of his own.
There is only one reason why these big pirates all chose this mode of operation: Stability.
Relying solely on plundering for a living and living from hunger to fullness was okay in the early stages of starting a business.
If they still do this in the late stage, they are either really stupid or they are a team like the Straw Hat Pirates, which are more like adventurers than pirates.
But even in this situation, the Straw Hat Pirates have gathered a large number of fans.
From Fish-Men Island to Wano Country, these places with the Straw Hat Flag have actually become the Straw Hat Pirates' sphere of influence, regardless of whether they have such intentions or not.
For Gawain, who holds the Helm of Destiny System, the more stable his pirate group is, the faster his subordinates can develop, and the faster he himself can grow.
If he wants to build a stable force and achieve a virtuous cycle while at the same time avoiding the constant harassment from the ubiquitous Marines.
Either he's one of the four emperors who is so strong that the Marine Headquarters has to think twice before taking action, or he is one of the seven warlords of the sea who has obtained the plundering license from the World Government.
Therefore, after understanding this, Gawain's first goal was to surrender first, then rebel!
As for how to become a Warlord, Blackbeard and Ace have already given two examples.
Either he relies on his power to bring down one of the seven warlords of the sea, or he has someone protecting him from above, then it will naturally be his turn.
Or he could wait for a vacancy among the seven warlords of the sea and then recommend himself.
Both approaches have their merits and disadvantages, but the prerequisite is that one's own strength is strong enough.
Gawain, who has not even left the East Blue, obviously does not have this condition, but this does not prevent him from putting the plan of joining the seven warlords of the sea on his schedule.
But…
The top priority now is still to improve his strength as quickly as possible.
After leaving the captives on the island and performing a simple inspection on the ship to confirm that there were no problems, Gawain led his crew to set off in the direction indicated by the nautical chart to a nearby town for a wave of supplies.
Gawain did not change the naval flag on the warship.
After all, if you want to enter an ordinary city for supplies or do something, this flag is much more useful than the pirate flag.
… … ...
A few days later, at the Marines East Blue branch base, the conference room was filled with smoke, and the atmosphere was depressing and solemn.
The Marine officers from various branch bases in East Blue are all gathered here at this moment, looking at the two bounties on the table with serious expressions.
One of them was wearing an orange fur hat, had freckles on his face, and had a sunny smile.
The other one was wearing black leather armor, had a handsome face, a tall stature, and even his posture was extremely elegant, like a knight who walked out of a storybook.
Lieutenant Commander Brannew stood in front of everyone, his tone extremely serious: "Everyone."
"The situation in the East Blue is more serious than we imagined."
"Logia devil fruit user, Fire Fist, Ace wreaked havoc at the 151st Branch Base, causing numerous casualties."
"White Knight Gawain even killed Lieutenant Morgan. According to the marines present, Gawain only struck once from beginning to end!"
"The bounty for these two people needs to be re-drafted!"