"Hooray! A direct hit."
At the bow of the cruise ship, the child excitedly stepped on the barrel of the cannon behind it, turned his head to stare at the guard standing behind him, and shouted.
"Hey! Why aren't you reloading?"
Seeing the guard unmoved, a hint of displeasure flashed in the child's eyes.
"What are you spacing out for, do you want to die?"
"Hey?"
The child froze. He withdrew his foot from the cannon barrel, landed both feet on the ground, turned his body, and stared intently at the guard.
At that moment, he suddenly discovered something. The excited expression on his face vanished instantly. His eyes widened, pupils contracted, and his face turned pale, as if he had seen a ghost.
"Hey! When did that happen? Are you kidding me!"
He stared at the guard's forehead, his face filled with disbelief.
"Is this something a human can do?"
At some unknown point, the guard had completely stopped breathing. His eyes were still staring forward, and the excitement lingered in his pupils.
As if until his death, he was still imagining his opponent's ship being instantly devoured by cannon fodder under the bombardment.
Following the guard's gaze upwards, a bullet hole, passing completely through from front to back, was embedded in his forehead.
Through the hole in his forehead, the sails of the cruise ship behind could be clearly seen.
While the child was in a daze, the hole in the guard's forehead was instantly filled with blood, which then sprayed outwards like a water gun, through the opening.
*Ssshh!*
Red and white liquid sprayed all over the child.
Only then did the guard truly die. His legs went limp, and he fell straight towards the little boy.
The child, jolted by the guard's blood spray, and seeing the guard fall towards him, quickly retreated, shouting loudly as he did.
"Ah..."
His voice was shrill and loud.
"Quick, help! Escort, escort!"
*Bang!*
As the child was retreating, he couldn't quite control his footing and tripped, falling onto the deck.
*Bang!*
Just then, the guard's corpse landed with a low thud, his head getting stuck precisely between the little boy's legs.
His face was forward, and his dead, unclosed eyes, still bleeding, stared directly at the little boy.
His dull pupils were like black holes, instantly drawing the little boy's attention.
It was as if an invisible hand was dragging his soul, about to pull him into hell.
"Ah..."
A louder scream erupted from the little boy's mouth, reaching for the sky.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?"
*Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump!!*
A series of footsteps came from the rear of the cruise ship.
As the footsteps approached, a group of soldiers, wearing the same uniform as the deceased guard, quickly rushed across the deck and stood at the bow.
A tall man, clearly the leader of the guards, took one look at the scene on the deck and quickly kicked away the guard lying between the little boy's legs. He bent down and pulled the boy up.
"Your Highness, are you alright! What happened here?"
He glanced at the guard lying on the ground with unclosed eyes.
Upon seeing the bullet hole in the guard's forehead, his pupils constricted. He immediately knelt before the little boy with a *bang*.
The other guards behind him quickly followed suit, kneeling and lowering their heads, not daring to look directly at the little boy.
Only the leading guard raised his head and spoke to the little boy.
"Your Highness, this dog servant actually displeased you. He deserves to die. He must have scared you, right!"
When he saw the bullet hole, he had thought that this guard had angered the little boy, and was thus shot and killed by him.
He had seen such situations many times.
It was just a bit strange this time.
The little boy was always excited after killing someone, so why was he so terrified now?
As for the blood splattered all over the little boy, he didn't find it unusual; it had happened before.
Before he could ponder further.
The little boy snapped back to reality, looking at the guards kneeling before him. He suddenly seemed to regain his confidence.
He looked up at the guard leader, the terror in his eyes instantly vanishing.
"Quick... quickly push out more cannons. I want the sharpshooter on the opposite ship to be my slave."
Saying this, he quickly stood up, a flush of excitement crossing his face.
The little boy was only about ten years old. He had grown up surrounded by flattery, believing that everyone in the world was like his own countrymen, to be plundered and oppressed at his whim.
Although he had been startled by the guard's sudden death earlier, he had now recovered.
What if they had a sharpshooter? His country wasn't without sharpshooters. If he wished, wouldn't they obediently lie on the ground and become his slaves?
"Sharpshooter?"
A hint of confusion flickered across the guard leader's face. He then turned his head to look at the guard's forehead.
His heart skipped a beat.
He wasn't the little boy. The sharpshooters of their country and the sharpshooters of the Grand Line were simply not on the same level!
Earlier, he had thought the little boy had shot the guard himself, hence his arrogance.
But now...
He withdrew his gaze, quickly stood up, and looked towards the cannons, his sight following the barrels towards the distant sea.
This one glance.
Just one glance.
It was as if he had been struck by a petrifying spell, his entire body freezing on the spot.
"No way?"
"No... no way, we're that unlucky, are we?"
He stared with wide eyes at the front, his face full of disbelief.
"Hey!"
The little boy looked up at the guard leader, extended his foot, and kicked him hard.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you going?"
"Hurry up!"
He kicked again. Seeing the guard leader motionless, he turned to look behind him.
When he saw that all the guards who had stood up with the leader were frozen in place like him, his face immediately darkened, and he roared, "What's wrong with you guards? Do you all want to die?"
A hint of brutality flashed in his eyes.
However, the brutality that would normally make the guards tremble in the past had no effect at all this time.
The guard leader ignored the little boy.
His eyes were fixed straight ahead, his pupils contracted to the extreme.
*Drip!*
*Drip!*
*Drip!*
Countless beads of sweat poured from the guards, instantly soaking their clothes. The sweat on their foreheads gathered at their chins, forming water droplets that continuously dripped down.
By now, the little boy could sense that something was wrong.
The way these guards were acting now clearly showed fear, even more fear than when they faced him or his father when they were angry.
It was as if...
As if they had encountered the most terrifying thing in the world, and seemed to have lost the ability to act.
Although the little boy was brutal, he wasn't stupid.
Whatever could make the guards this terrified must be some formidable pirate.
Thinking of this, his body trembled. He stepped forward, grabbed the guard leader's clothes, shook him, and shouted loudly.
"Hey! Wake up! If you don't wake up, I'll kill you."
After saying that, he took a step back, drew the golden pistol from his waist, raised it, and aimed the muzzle at the guard leader's head.
"Tell me quickly, who is it, or I'll kill you right now."
Although he knew he might have caused trouble, he wasn't afraid.
After all, they were on their way to attend the World Conference, with two Marine warships escorting them!