Chapter 8

"Hey, brat! You—"

"…What exactly happened outside, do you know?"

Faced with several passengers who looked flustered, wanting to ask something but couldn't bring themselves to do so, Rossi calmly took out his tools and began cleaning the cabin.

"Nothing much, just three more sailors died on the ship."

?!

A group of noisy passengers seemed to be put on pause, no wonder the sailor who brought the food had a sour face, it was because of this reason.

But what does this have to do with us passengers? Could it be—

"Who, who did it?"

A muscular passenger's eyes darted around, his voice suddenly rising, making him look like the 'killer';

"Sir Clawhorn… is suspecting… me… us?"

Another middle-aged man with a big belly raised his hand, as if wiping away non-existent sweat, his nervous and hesitant appearance also made him very suspicious;

In an instant, all the passengers in the cabin were on edge, shouting, staring at each other, questioning, and pushing—

If Rossi hadn't done it himself, he would almost suspect the 'killer' was among them.

Although the passengers carried weapons, most of them were for 'show'; truly asking them to fight to the death would be too much. Not just anyone can become a warrior by picking up a weapon.

One must have the resolve to face injury, even death.

Tsk, these people can only make a show, the only ones who can truly be of help are them:

"Sir, Miss,"

When approaching the bearded swordsman and the pink-hooded little girl, Rossi's voice clearly reached their ears, while the others around them seemed not to hear.

"This ship is about to be in chaos, I think we need to talk."

?

——

"Boss, what do we do now?"

In the cabin below the ship's mast, a group of fierce sailors gathered around a few scattered and broken oak barrels, either squatting or standing in a circle.

In the center, leaning against the mast, was the bald boatswain with muscles bulging out of his clothes: Alec!

"Damn it, the pretentious old noble and that sissy must think it was me, I can tell! They're discussing something behind my back…"

He fiercely slapped his oily scalp, the corners of his mouth twitching in agitation, revealing a row of sharp teeth.

This was proof of his slight 'Fishman' bloodline, though it was so diluted that it couldn't even allow him to breathe underwater, his strength still far exceeded that of a normal person.

"But damn it, it wasn't me—"

"Boss, whether it was you or not isn't important… cough, I mean:"

A confidant of the bald boatswain coughed, asking the most important question.

"What do we do next?"

Where there are people, there is a 'world of martial arts.'

Even a group of children will have a 'leader.'

On this ship, different 'factions' also formed based on closeness and distance.

Truly 'like a family' ships in the vast sea… even twenty years later, only a few pirate groups like the Straw Hats, Doflamingo, and Red Hair could achieve this.

Now, the 'captain faction' and the 'navigator faction' sailors have suffered casualties.

Although the 'boatswain faction' is still unharmed, the looks from their colleagues have already turned to suspicion, anger, and even a hint of murderous intent!

At this point, even the most dull person would feel something was wrong.

As the confidant said: whether the boatswain did it or not is no longer important, what matters is how they should respond next?

Should they tighten their defenses, monitor the other two factions, or—

"Boss, let's just—"

Another sailor's eyes flashed with a fierce light, raising his hand and making a 'throat-cutting' gesture in front of his neck.

In the current situation, rather than guessing which faction is playing tricks, it's better to directly eliminate the other two factions!

Killing the captain and the navigator, this ship will be theirs!

The profit from a ship, divided among dozens of people, and among a dozen people, even the dumbest sailor can figure out the difference.

Anyway, in the vast sea, anything can happen, just say they encountered pirates… and those 'passengers' should also meet with misfortune.

"Let's do it, boss!"

"Directly cut down everyone else, I don't believe anyone else can die out of nowhere?"

The bald boatswain was not a smart person, and his confidants were mostly 'faster fists than brains' muscle men.

Faced with the hostility of other sailors and the current 'no enemy found' dilemma, their brute nature was fully exposed.

Kill, kill, kill, until the blood flows like a river!

"Alright—"

At this point, the bald boatswain couldn't think of any good plan, so he just decided to act.

Directly eliminate everyone on this ship except for 'his own people,' he didn't believe the real killer could still hide.

——

"Unite?"

"Yes,"

On the other side, while mopping the floor, Rossi spoke to the bearded swordsman and the pink-hooded little girl.

"For some reason, someone is causing a series of 'assassinations' on the ship. The captain, navigator, and boatswain factions are facing off, ready to break out into a full-scale battle…"

In the confined space of a merchant ship, everyone has nowhere to run!

Once the blood is up, everyone except oneself is an enemy.

"If it really comes to that, I hope to form an 'alliance' with the two of you."

Rossi put the mop in the bucket, turned around, and continued:

"I want to survive, and I believe the two of you do too."

After saying that, he left the cabin with his tools.

"What do you think, Kiyoen?"

Faced with the bearded swordsman's question, the pink-hooded little girl's gaze fell on Rossi's departing back.

Although he was just a dirty, skinny little boy, compared to the panicked passengers around him, his performance was undoubtedly impressive. And—

It was him!

Maybe the uncle beside her didn't notice, but just now, when this little boy was talking to the two of them, the voices of others gradually faded and became vague.

For the others, the voices of the three of them were also the same.

This was why their conversation didn't attract others' attention.

Devil Fruit user!

As a little girl who grew up in the Marine headquarters, she guessed the answer immediately.

Although she didn't know what ability it was, Kiyoen had a hunch: the battle that happened last night, one of the parties involved was this little boy.

Interesting, didn't expect to meet such an interesting peer on this ship.

Her lips curled slightly, and her hand went under her robe, where there was a long sword made of 'memory metal.'

"Uncle, what this little boy said makes sense, we can consider allying with him."

Anyway, no matter what happens on this ship, Kiyoen believes she can handle it.

After all, she is a genius who has already mastered two 'Six Powers'!

——

The battle came faster than Rossi expected!

He thought the three factions would probe and bribe each other… after a series of overt and covert confrontations, set traps and suddenly attack! To achieve the goal of eliminating the other two factions with the least cost.

But he underestimated the habits of people in this world, when faced with something they can't understand, they use weapons to solve it!

Boom!!

A loud noise suddenly came from above, the entire cabin shook, making Rossi pause.

This is… someone has made a move?

"Someone has made a move—"

In the cabin at the front of the ship, a refined navigator sitting in front of a large sea map, who was resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes.

Beside him were seven or eight fully armed sailors, and Doflamingo wearing sunglasses.

"Let's start."

As the refined navigator stood up and drew the rapier from his waist, the sailors, including Doflamingo, immediately followed in silence, a heavy killing aura surging forward.

On the deck, the door of the captain's cabin at the back had already been blown apart!

A massive, dark double-handed axe split the door, tearing it into a shower of wood chips. The axe blade was extremely wide, dark like a millstone, and if weighed, it would be at least a hundred kilograms.

Yet such a deadly weapon was held in one hand!

Because in the other hand, he held a blood-red scimitar.

'Blood Blade' Alec!

After all, this is a merchant ship daring enough to transport goods on the Grand Line. If the boatswain had no strength, he would have been robbed long ago.

"Brothers, follow me—"

Since he had decided to eliminate the others, the bald boatswain naturally targeted the 'captain'… no, after eliminating that old man Clawhorn, he would be the captain!

However, just as the captain's cabin door was split open and the sailors were about to charge, Alec's pupils constricted!

Because inside the captain's cabin, a dozen sailors had already formed a small military formation: a row of sailors knelt on the ground, and the ones behind them held their guns at shoulder level.

All the long-barreled flintlock guns in their hands were aimed at the door!

"Fire,"

With the order from the noble in the back, the sound of triggers being pulled, a dozen lead bullets whistled towards the door!