One Piece: Star Sea Legend

Chapter 13: The Fight Against Morgan

“Surround the base! Don’t let that straw-hat brat or the one who dared to throw a stone at me escape!”

Morgan slowly walked towards Qin Ming, loudly commanding his men.

Qin Ming wasn’t having an easy time—in fact, he was struggling quite a bit.

First, the wound on his back was throbbing with pain, preventing him from fighting at his full strength.

Second, the Marines surrounding him were armed with either swords or guns, while he was empty-handed, relying solely on hand-to-hand combat.

Third, the Marines outnumbered him. As the saying goes, “two fists are no match for four hands.” Qin Ming was already in poor condition, making the fight even more exhausting.

If it were just about ten ordinary Marines, Qin Ming could grit his teeth and take them down.

But now, Qin Ming was facing at least thirty Marines. What made things worse was that some Marines with guns were shooting at him from a distance. He barely had time to dodge, let alone focus on fighting back.

“Damn it, they’re taking advantage of me being unarmed!”

Qin Ming quickly dodged left and right, avoiding bullets, while inwardly complaining. When he set sail with Luffy, he had considered what weapon he would use in future battles.

But before he could decide, he found himself in this desperate situation, fighting bare-handed.

“If this keeps up, I’ll either be killed by these Marines or die from exhaustion from all this running.”

Qin Ming quickly turned around, knocking out a Marine who had caught up to him, then rolled to the side, continuing to move rapidly.

He did this to prevent the Marines with guns from getting a clear shot at him.

After all, Qin Ming wasn’t like Luffy, who was immune to bullets. A few more shots, and he might really be done for.

Qin Ming’s mind raced as he tried to figure out how to escape this predicament.

“It seems my only option is to circle around and take out those gun-wielding Marines first.”

Soon, Qin Ming made up his mind to prioritize eliminating the Marines shooting at him from behind.

And so, Qin Ming began running in a wide circle across the hundreds-of-meters-wide Marine base square, gradually closing in on the gun-wielding Marines at the back.

Earlier, under Qin Ming’s protection, Nami had already hidden far away. Watching from the shadows, she saw Qin Ming fighting desperately, repeatedly in danger of being cut or shot, which made her heart race.

Nami bit her lip, her brows furrowed. Several times, she wanted to rush out and help Qin Ming, but she held back. She thought of the people waiting for her in her hometown and knew she couldn’t openly assist Qin Ming.

“Idiot! Who openly provokes the Marines and picks fights with them?”

Nami cursed inwardly, anxious. She noticed that the blood on Qin Ming’s back seemed to be flowing more heavily.

Perhaps because Qin Ming had been running non-stop, his blood circulation had sped up, and his wound hadn’t healed, causing the bleeding to worsen.

By now, Qin Ming had successfully charged into the group of Marines shooting at him, throwing their formation into chaos.

Once Qin Ming got close, the dozen or so gun-wielding Marines became much less of a threat. In no time, they were all knocked down, unable to get up.

“Untie me, and I’ll help you!”

Zoro, tied to the wooden post, shouted at Qin Ming.

“Damn, I’d love to save you, but these Marines aren’t giving me a chance!”

Although Qin Ming had dealt with the gun-wielding Marines, he was still surrounded and couldn’t break free to help Zoro.

Koby, who had been shot in the right shoulder, could only use one hand. He had tried several times to untie Zoro but couldn’t manage it.

“Got it!”

Seeing a Marine charging at him with a sword, Qin Ming had a flash of inspiration. He punched the Marine in the stomach, snatched the sword, and threw it towards Zoro.

“This should cut the ropes binding Zoro.”

As Qin Ming thought this, he heard Zoro yelling at him, “What the hell are you doing, you idiot?!”

“What?!”

Qin Ming barely dodged attacks from three Marines and quickly looked back. The sword he had thrown hadn’t cut Zoro’s ropes but had instead injured him. The blood flowing from Zoro’s left arm was glaringly bright.

“Sorry!”

After knocking down a few more Marines, Qin Ming sincerely apologized to Zoro.

“Apologies are useless!”

Zoro was in a tragic state. After being tied to the post for three weeks without food, he had now been injured by his own ally before even starting to fight. The fact that he wasn’t trying to  cutover Qin Ming already showed remarkable restraint.

Qin Ming also felt embarrassed. He was quite accurate when throwing stones, but his aim with swords was far worse. He never expected that on his first day meeting Zoro, he would end up injuring him. This made him feel quite guilty.

Feeling guilty towards Zoro, Qin Ming avoided looking his way and focused on the Marines relentlessly attacking him.

Clang!

Qin Ming grinned, holding two swords he had just taken from the Marines. He clashed them together, producing a sharp metallic sound.

“Does he know how to use swords?”

Zoro, seeing Qin Ming holding two swords, asked Koby in surprise.

“I don’t know.”

Koby replied honestly. He had completely given up on trying to untie Zoro. The gunshot wound had left him weak, and just standing was a struggle. Using strength was out of the question.

Morgan, watching from a distance, had noticed Koby’s inability to help Zoro and had choosen to ignore him. In Morgan’s eyes, Koby was just a minor character.

However, seeing Qin Ming armed and more and more Marines being taken down, Morgan’s expression grew darker.

“What are you doing? Have you forgotten my orders? I want that brat captured and brought before me so I can chop him into pieces with this axe!”

Morgan raised the giant axe embedded in his right arm, berating his men.

“Captain, he’s too strong. He’s hard to deal with.”

A Marine, trembling, saluted Morgan. He had been punched several times by Qin Ming and was in pain all over. Just standing and speaking was his limit.

“My men don’t need someone who only marvels at the enemy’s strength but doesn’t know how to fight to the death! Under my supreme authority, no one is strong enough to resist!”

With that, Morgan swung his axe, killing the Marine who had saluted him.

The Marines surrounding Qin Ming turned pale at Morgan’s actions but dared not protest. They could only continue attacking Qin Ming.

“If you’re so great, then come fight me yourself! Hiding behind your men and shouting orders just proves you’re a coward!”

Qin Ming, after dodging several Marine attacks, pointed his sword at Morgan and spoke calmly.

In truth, Qin Ming was starting to feel dizzy and knew he couldn’t last much longer. He wanted to end this quickly by taking down Morgan, which would make things easier.

That’s why he provoked Morgan to a duel.

“You, a nameless, insignificant brat, dare challenge me? Do you know who I am? I’m the excellent Marine Captain, Axe-Hand Morgan!”

Morgan glared at Qin Ming, slowly walking towards him. “All of you, step back! I’ll show this brat that no one can resist me under my authority!”

“Idiot, I was waiting for you to fight me one-on-one!”

Qin Ming felt a surge of relief. If he had charged at Morgan earlier without provoking him, he would’ve had to face both Morgan and the surrounding Marines. In his current state, he would’ve been quickly overwhelmed.

The Marines, under Morgan’s orders, stepped back, leaving an open space for Qin Ming and Morgan to fight.

“Damn, those Marines are really cautious. They’re keeping a close eye on Zoro.”

Qin Ming glanced at Zoro’s situation and felt speechless.

Qin Ming’s back was already covered in blood, a gruesome sight. He shook his head, trying to clear his slightly dizzy mind, and charged at Morgan.

Qin Ming swung the two swords wildly at Morgan but failed to land a single hit.

After watching for a while, Zoro couldn’t help but shout, “Is that how you use a sword?”

“Damn, I may not know how to use swords, but it’s better than fighting Morgan unarmed with his giant axe!”

Just as Qin Ming was about to retort, he saw Morgan’s axe coming straight at him. He quickly raised his swords to block.

Clang!

Qin Ming’s swords were shattered by Morgan’s axe.

Zoro, a swordsman at heart, couldn’t bear to watch. He cursed, “Having your swords broken by the enemy head-on is a disgrace to all swordsmen!”

“Disgrace my ass! I never claimed to be a swordsman. Why are you so worked up?”

Qin Ming tossed the broken swords aside, leaped into the air to dodge Morgan’s axe, and landed a kick on Morgan’s chin.

“Damn, that hurts!”

Qin Ming’s right leg felt as if it had hit something extremely hard. It turned out Morgan’s chin was made of steel.

“Die!”

Morgan raised his axe again, aiming to strike Qin Ming before he could land.

“You’re the one who’s going down!”

Qin Ming flipped in mid-air, enduring the discomfort in his body, and before Morgan’s axe could hit him, he delivered a powerful kick to Morgan’s nose.

Morgan, hit in the nose, staggered backwards. As he tilted his head back, a bright red arc of blood flew from his nose, glinting in the sunlight.

“Why hasn’t Luffy shown up yet?”

“Could the butterfly effect of me joining the Straw Hat Pirates finally be showing?”

Qin Ming panted slightly. After the intense fight, he was truly exhausted. Watching Morgan, whose nose was bleeding profusely, the pain in his back made his consciousness begin to fade…