From the rooftops and windows of the buildings, from both ends of the streets, gun barrels from numerous marines were pointed at them. There were hundreds of soldiers, at least five or six, not to mention those who couldn't fit into the immediate surroundings. Those who couldn't squeeze into the front lines were left behind as reserves and a second ring of blockade. And although Johnny and Yosaku didn't know this for sure, they were experienced enough to make such assumptions. At the moment, however, the guys saw no reason to be cautious. Regular guards, if not in the tens of thousands, couldn't stand up to Johnny and Yosaku.
"No, you don't get it," Johnny shook his head. "Cthulhu-aniki called and said that after we deal with the local captain, we should return to the ship."
"Cthulhu-aniki?"
"He said to call him that until we leave, especially around the captain."
"The captain… Cthulhu-aniki called him the strongest marine in the East Blue," Yosaku grinned, and a dangerous glint appeared in his eyes.
"The strongest marine in the East Blue… I'm very interested to see him," Johnny's expression matched Yosaku's in intensity.
To be honest, Johnny, standing beside Yosaku, looked even more dangerous than his friend. Zoan-type fruits, unlike Paramecia and Logia, had a stronger effect on their user's personality. So Johnny gained not only monstrous strength and the ability to breathe fire from his fruit but also the predatory bloodlust inherent in any predator. It was hard to find a predator more legendary than the mythical dragon, so Johnny's bloodlust was quite fitting for such a creature. Lately, the dragon's pride had also made itself known. Johnny had noticed that he welcomed strong opponents, while weak ones either bored him — 'if you're not going to attack, you can leave' — or filled him with intense rage — 'how dare such pathetic weaklings even attempt to challenge me?!' It was also safe to say that his recent extended vacation had done nothing to improve his temperament. At that moment, Johnny wanted to burn everything around him. Just corpses and ashes. And this was when he was in a great mood! What if he were in a bad mood?
"Let's make it easier for each other!" Yosaku's powerful voice echoed through the streets. "Everyone except your captain can get lost!"
"We're not interested in small fry!" Johnny added. "So if you don't want to be burned to hell, you have one minute, after which I can't be responsible for what happens next!" Having expressed his anger in words, Johnny felt considerably better.
Yosaku looked at his friend with some confusion. Maybe someone else could overlook the changes in Johnny's behavior, but not Yosaku. At first glance, Johnny's threat didn't seem different from any of his other threats, but Yosaku found Johnny's words unusually angry, which didn't quite fit his good mood. The emerging bloodlust also seemed a bit odd, especially considering that they were dealing with marines rather than pirates. Despite having become pirates themselves, Johnny and Yosaku still held a better attitude toward marine soldiers than to pirates. Even though they had become bounty hunters not for money but to protect ordinary people from villains, they still couldn't ignore the fact that Johnny's current behavior seemed unusually intense. It almost felt like the marines had offended him in some serious way recently, but that wasn't the case. So Yosaku found Johnny's behavior a bit strange.
The marines fell silent. An air of tension and fear settled over the area. Some of the rifles in the soldiers' hands shook noticeably... or rather, the hands of some soldiers trembled, causing their rifles to trace distinct eights in the air. Many palms were sweaty, and some soldiers had sweat pouring down like rain. While the reputation of the 'Pirate Slayers' had been only slightly less feared among the marines than among pirates, now that they had raised the pirate flag and became enemies of the Marines, the soldiers feared them even more than they did pirates. The additional details known to the guards, but unknown to ordinary people and pirates, were to blame. It was one thing to read about Don Krieg's massacre from the comfort of an armchair at home, and quite another to personally deal with the aftermath of that massacre. Many of the soldiers sent by Smoker as reinforcements had been among those tasked with cleaning up after Don Krieg's fleet was destroyed. They had described the horrors they witnessed to their comrades in vivid detail, often with embellishments. As a result, fear was the predominant emotion among the guards. As the tension grew, so did their fear. Some still found solace in their numbers, but not the reinforcements who had just arrived in Loguetown. They knew for sure that their numbers would be catastrophically insufficient. So it was no surprise that among them was the first soldier to lose his nerve.
Bang!
A bullet struck almost five meters to the left of the guys standing on the porch, but that wasn't the important part. Before any of the lieutenants could even open their mouths, a deafening cannonade erupted throughout Loguetown. Terrified guards no longer tried to hold back. At that moment, it didn't even occur to them that their actions might harm innocent people — the wooden door behind the guys was shattered into splinters by the hail of bullets. Johnny and Yosaku were already gone from the porch. At their level of strength, firearms in the hands of ordinary soldiers posed almost no threat. In fact, while Yosaku could still be hurt — something evidenced by the incident during the destruction of Don Krieg's fleet — Johnny was not at risk from ordinary weapons at all. After partially transforming into a dragon, the only vulnerable spots for bullets on him were his eyes, but with his speed, he could either deflect incoming bullets with his hand or simply dodge. Even if a bullet did hit him, his eyelids were still there — painful, unpleasant, and requiring time to heal, but not deadly.
The lieutenants, despite their fear and the surprise attack, managed to show their best side. Johnny and Yosaku reached the ranks of marines in no more than a couple of seconds. Each of them rushed in their own direction, not bothering to try to make a breakthrough to the ship. The difference was that the marines Johnny targeted nearly soiled themselves when they saw him charging towards them. Johnny's transformation wasn't the only change that had occurred recently. If previously, during partial dragon transformation, Johnny's appearance changes were minimal—apart from his eyes, nothing could be seen in the darkness — now his partial transformation was impossible to miss. Blood-red scales, each separated by a bright fiery thread, created the impression that Johnny was about to erupt in flames from within. His blazing eyes with vertical pupils and the dancing tongues of fire on his hands completed the picture. Johnny had transformed last time just a couple of days ago during a spar with Sanji, and his transformation then had been nothing out of the ordinary. Now, just two days later, Johnny felt significantly stronger. The reason was obvious — his body had reached a condition where he could fully utilize his fruit's power. The sparring session with Sanji, at the limit of his strength, had left its mark.
One of the lieutenants, managing to keep his wits, blocked Johnny's path, intending to prevent him from approaching the regular soldiers. It was futile. He lasted exactly half a second. Johnny drove his katana, along with his fiery fist, into the lieutenant's chest. The force of the blow sent the lieutenant flying backwards into the ranks of the soldiers behind him. Creating a path through the crowd, the lieutenant gathered about thirty marines with his back, forming a large pile of bodies. Meanwhile, Johnny began drawing in a huge amount of air, preparing to unleash his earlier promise and incinerate everything around him. Previously, he wouldn't have done it with such precision — he had never liked the smell of burning flesh. However, he wasn't thinking about that now. His character changes during transformation had become even more apparent. While Yosaku was openly having fun with his share of the marines — using his fists instead of swords, he was clearly enjoying himself — Johnny intended to crush all the 'small fry' with one blow. Only a miracle could save the opposing guards... and it didn't keep them waiting. Although it would be more accurate to say that He didn't keep them waiting.
It seemed that an inevitable catastrophe was averted at the very last moment.
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Thanks to everyone who is supporting with PS.
Please consider supporting with power stones and also consider supporting on patre*n -> moctopus
(the Loguetown arc is finished in there, and next one started explaining part of Luffy's past...)