One Piece Gunslinger

The problem was actually quite simple. As soon as Yuri and Hardman saw Jack blocking the road behind them with his boat, they immediately understood.

"So you've blocked this whole area with hidden reefs, huh?" Upon seeing this, the group almost spat out blood.

That's right, that's exactly it. Jack has already surrounded this area with reefs, leaving only two gaps. One is the direction they came from, which is the spot Jack is currently blocking. To pass through here, they'll have to face the cannon fire of Jack's two thousand men. Don't even think about fighting Jack slowly and sinking his ship before crossing; there are still two giant sea serpents chasing after them. Sacrifice the pawn to save the king. If the pawn is sacrificed and the king is lost, that's obviously unacceptable.

The second gap is in the direction from which the two sea serpents came, and this path is clearly impassable. If you can fight your way through the two sea serpents head-on, what are you afraid of?

In other words, the battlefield that Jack created is still a giant urn, trapping everyone inside to fight.

No one had thought of this before, until Jack had firmly blocked their path and was dealing with the group of two giant sea serpents, then they realized Jack's sinister intentions.

"Damn it, let's fight him!" Maxim, being more hot-tempered, charged forward to fight Jack without further ado.

The others were also furious, but at least they retained a shred of rationality and quickly pulled Maxim back: "Don't be impulsive. Jack might be hoping we fight him. If that happens, we'll be caught in a pincer movement and we'll be the first to die."

Maxim wasn't unaware of this principle, but he had a burning anger inside him that he couldn't help but feel compelled to vent.

“That’s still better than being slowly devoured by his schemes. If this continues, and he designs a few more scenarios like this, we’ll probably be wiped out completely,” Maxim said angrily.

"It's because we've always been timid and hesitant, cautious and calculating in this war, trying to win with the least possible loss, that our losses have actually increased, giving Jack an opportunity to take advantage of us."

Maxim's words make sense. From beginning to end, Jack was exploiting everyone's reluctance to fight and their fear of taking risks, setting up trap after trap. If everyone hadn't engaged in all that charades from the start, and had instead faced off in a fair fight in an open space, Jack would have had no good options. Even with all his tricks up his sleeve, he wouldn't have had a place to use them.

Even the most skilled cook can't cook without rice. If everyone acted like a group of knights, refraining from all that and relying solely on strength, Jack would have nowhere to maneuver. In fact, the more they did, the more loopholes they created. This timid and hesitant attitude of the crowd allowed Jack to thrive.

Like now, if everyone disregards the losses and insists on a final battle with Jack, they will definitely win in the end. However, even if he wins, all the hard-earned team will be wiped out overnight. After that, they might still have to face two more giant serpents. Of course, this is all based on the premise that Fujitora doesn't directly intervene.

Maxim's words left everyone speechless. They were all intelligent people; a little thought revealed that everything Maxim said was true.

However, in the end, Haa Anime was the first to emerge from this shadow. He punched a sea serpent's head, deflecting it, and advised, "No matter what, things have come to this. My biggest wish now is not to let that kid Jack get away with this. We absolutely cannot let him win the final victory. If he becomes the final winner with only two thousand men, then we'll be portrayed as incredibly stupid in history books. I'd rather die than let that happen."

This statement immediately resonated with everyone. Yes, although everyone's goal was to compete for the country, among so many competitors, only Jack could not become the ultimate winner.

Just like the small gang Yuri used as cannon fodder, Jack, like those people, was never considered a competitor from the start. And now, this cannon fodder-level individual has managed to completely outmaneuver everyone – how can this not be infuriating?

"What do we do now?" Maxim now shared the same belief as Hardman, but the difficulties ahead were discouraging. "There are sea kings in front of us and Jack behind us. How do we get through this?"

Without hesitation, Hardman forced out a single word: "Run!"

Chapter 105 Vulnerability

“Run! Run out of this area of ​​sea, and let’s go to the second line of defense I’ve prepared.” Hardman said without room for argument. “Jack has already done his best to make such a big change to this area of ​​sea. Now, my second line of defense is definitely safe. We can continue preparing for the live broadcast the next day there, forcing Jack to take the initiative to attack, and then we will have a chance.”

Faced with Hardman's suggestion, Vasily, who had been silent for a long time, spoke up and asked, "Run? That's a good idea. But the question is, can we run now?"

Yes, if they could really escape, they wouldn't be in such despair. Even if they abandoned some ships and people, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse; their remaining forces would still outnumber Jack's.

However, it is now obvious that they are surrounded on all sides, and the only two gaps have been blocked by powerful enemies, leaving them with no way to escape.

Hardman said firmly, "It's not that there's no way to escape. We can escape from the place where Jack ran away before."

"The place Jack went before?" Vasily asked. "Didn't you try it before? It was still a dead end. How did you escape from there?"

Yuri, aboard the flagship, had been watching their conversation from a distance. Upon hearing this, he immediately understood and gave the order from the command center: "Ships 8, 19, 21, the Cow, the Waterwheel, and the Nick—all six ships plus the two flagships—drop all their supplies overboard. Each ship must keep 20 cannons and 5 cannonballs per cannon; discard everything else."

Yuri, being a clever man, immediately grasped Hardman's meaning and came up with the same solution. Although there was no Archimedes in this world, the principle remained the same. It was like Jack's approach: by reducing the load, the ship could float slightly, allowing it to barely pass over the reef.

Yuri gave the order, and the soldiers on both sides were of exceptionally high quality. Hearing the Den Den Mushi broadcast, although they didn't understand why these things had to be discarded, they began to act according to the instructions.

Maxim and Vasily also heard the broadcast and exclaimed in surprise, "So this is your method? But we'll do it this way..."

He didn't continue, but everyone understood. To abandon supplies like this, even throwing cannons and shells into the sea, was truly a desperate, do-or-die situation.

The eight ships that Yuri pointed out were all those that had suffered relatively minor damage in the war. They hadn't been seriously damaged and could still carry out normal operations after some repairs.

Yuri selected ships solely based on the extent of their damage, without showing any bias due to differing stances. Yuri also understood that those ships not selected would likely end up in the snake's belly, and even if some survived, the chances of rescue on this vast ocean were slim; being abandoned essentially meant death.

However, in order to punish Jack, Yuri had no choice but to issue such a cruel order and make such a ruthless decision. Everyone could win except Jack; this was the consensus, the belief that sustained their actions, or rather, the deep-seated obsession within them. To achieve this goal, they had become obsessed.

……

Jack and his companions, who were far away and hesitant to advance, simply guarded their escape route and quietly watched the battle between humans and snakes in the distance.

Fujitora was the first to notice the change in the fleet, and said, "Look, they seem to be preparing to escape."

Jack had been watching intently for a while, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle, and even had a craving for cola and popcorn. Hearing Fujitora's words, he said regretfully, "It's a pity this battle won't end. I was hoping to see them unite as one and defeat the two sea serpents. But they still managed to discover the only flaw in my plan and slipped out from there."

"Oh?" Fujitora said in surprise, "A loophole? I don't see any loopholes in your plan."

Have you heard of the "Law of the Barrel"?

"Uh, no."

“That’s right, it would be strange if you had heard of it,” Jack said. “The Law of the Barrel states that how much water a barrel can hold depends entirely on which of the wooden planks that make up the barrel is the shortest.”

Jack continued, "Of course, this usually refers to the collaborative ability of an organization or team, what they can do. However, it's not wrong to use the literal meaning here as well."

Haku chimed in, "So, based on this principle, we've laid down a series of reefs, which are like the planks of a wooden barrel. And we, the sea serpents, have blocked the two holes in this barrel. So, the place where the people inside can escape is that slightly lower reef we passed earlier. Is that what you mean?"

“Yes, that’s right.” Jack nodded. “If they take some measures to lighten the ship’s load, they might be able to slip through somewhere.”

Upon learning of this loophole, Fujitora asked with concern, "If this happens, and they manage to escape to the vicinity of the second line of defense, won't we be forced to engage in a hard-fought battle with them in the waters in front of that small island? We can't win that, can we?"

"Don't worry, although I left them a loophole, my loopholes aren't so easy to exploit." Jack paused for a moment, "Besides, I left that loophole for them on purpose. Otherwise, if I had just had 'The Able One' do a little more work and use his abilities to lift our ship a bit, we wouldn't have been able to get past any reefs, and there wouldn't have been any loophole at all."

Well, at this point, Fujitora is already considered a capable person by him.

"After all, if they run aground behind us and find that it wasn't the bottom of the ship that hit the reef, and they don't have the impression that 'the reef here only slightly grazed the bottom of the ship,' they might already be desperate and come to fight us. A cornered beast will fight to the death, and a cornered dog will jump over a wall. Although they might not be able to beat us in the end, I don't want to suffer too much loss. I have to give them some false hope so that they won't come to fight us."

At the same time, Jack felt a little regretful. If he had put some mines in that hole, then probably not many of the group would have been able to escape. It was a pity that he hadn't prepared any mines.

"So," Haku couldn't help but ask, seeing Jack's narcissistic expression, "how are we going to fight them after they escape from here?"

"Don't worry. This loophole of mine isn't so easy to exploit. By tomorrow morning, they'll have to pay the price for their actions."

In Haku's eyes, Jack's slightly curved lips looked like a devil's smile, dangerous and deadly.

Chapter 106 Winning Hearts

The allied forces led by Hardman retreated to the second line of defense in front of the small, isolated island. They had barely begun to prepare when the horizon where the sea met the sky began to lighten.

The battle has been raging since late at night, giving everyone no time to rest, and they also have to be wary of Jack's next attack. Even if these soldiers were made of iron, they couldn't withstand such intense fighting all night.

But precisely at this time, even if we can't rest, we still have to stay alert and deal with dangers that may appear at any time.

When will this terrible situation ever end?

This idea is spreading among many soldiers. They were previously in a state of high-intensity exercise and had no time to think about these things, but now that they have relaxed a little, this trend has emerged.

"This is bad. Morale is very low right now, especially after working non-stop all night. I'm afraid they'll crumble at the slightest touch when facing Jack in the end," Yuri said with some concern, having observed all of this.

The others didn't look too good either, especially Hatton, who was standing to the side, still recovering from his injuries. Although his nephew had taken him to rest in the cabin while fighting the sea serpent, it had only been two or three hours since then, which was far from enough.

Hardman then feigned enthusiasm and said, "Why don't we say a few more words of encouragement to boost their morale?"

“This method works once, but it becomes completely ineffective after a while, and might even have the opposite effect,” Vasily muttered. “I advise you to save your energy.”

Maxim was displeased and shouted, "We can't just sit here and wait to die! Although we've lost a lot of stuff, we outnumber Jack. It's still uncertain who will emerge victorious in the end. Cheer up, everyone!"

"Goo~"

As soon as he finished speaking, Maxim's stomach started growling uncontrollably.

Upon hearing this, the crowd not only lost all morale, but also felt even more powerless.

"I'm telling you, stop yelling. Save your energy, or you won't be able to walk when Jack arrives."

Maxim blushed immediately and said, "We haven't eaten anything all night. Can't you make us something to eat?"

"Make something to eat?" Hardman shook his head with a wry smile. "If we could make more food, morale wouldn't be so low."

The food and other supplies had long since sunk into the sea. When Yuri ordered his soldiers to throw the supplies into the ocean, each ship was left with 20 cannons and very little ammunition, and the food, of course, was not spared either.

“Hey, then I’m telling you, if things continue like this, won’t Jack just sit back and watch us starve to death without doing anything?” Maxim complained.

Yuri shook his head and said, "It's not that simple. As long as we hold out until Donald finishes drafting the latest bill, we can designate Jack as an illegal pirate group and then apply for assistance from the Navy. So if Jack is going to attack me, it will definitely be during this period before Donald signs the bill."

The current agreement is the result of discussions between multiple parties. It's fair to say that neither side achieved their initial goal of monopolizing the entire kingdom.

Faced with the powerful Jack, they had no choice but to compromise. If the stalemate continued, no one would benefit when Jack arrived. So they jointly drafted a bill that was beneficial to everyone, thus continuing the state of dividing the kingdom.

Now we just wait for the time to come so Donald can read and sign it, and then everything will be settled.

"Report! Investigation complete, everything is normal."

Just as everyone was frowning in worry, a guard came in and reported.

"Alright, you can go now. Prepare for the upcoming battle."

After hearing this, Hardman's expression softened slightly. After sending the visitor away, he said, "It seems that Jack's reach hasn't extended this far yet."

It was precisely because of the large, pocket-like terrain that Jack had described that everyone was filled with apprehension, which led them to immediately begin exploring the surrounding area upon arrival.

“Even without scouting, we knew that Jack only had so much time. He'd be done with that large area of ​​the sea, so he wouldn't have the energy to operate on this side. He probably never even considered that we'd abandon our supplies and exploit a loophole to escape. So he didn't prepare any backup plans,” Vasily said belatedly after learning the results. However, he had long forgotten that he was the first to raise his hand in agreement when the decision was made to scout the surrounding area.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Yuri said with some concern. “If they haven’t done anything to this area, then in my understanding, they can deal with us even without any intervention.”

“It’s not as mystical as you make it out to be,” Maxim said. “I support Vasily’s point of view. You’ve all mythologized Jack. He just tricked us a few times, which is why you’re now losing the courage to confront him. That won’t do. In my opinion, Jack isn’t all-knowing, otherwise there wouldn’t have been a loophole that allowed us to escape.”

Seeing that someone was supporting him, Vasily added, "Yes, yes. If we're already scared out of our wits by the time Jack arrives, what's the point of fighting? We might as well just surrender."

Meanwhile, Jack was heading towards the deserted island.

"If only we still had that diving suit, we could have used this method again before the war even started, catching them completely off guard," Haku said regretfully.

"Forget it. We absolutely have to show him that diving suit and that person, otherwise he'll definitely get suspicious. Then it won't be so easy for him to slip into the suit again," Jack said helplessly. "Besides, you're going to exhaust Sergei like this."

"I was just saying. If we have the chance in the future, we can make some clothes like that too, so we can use the same trick again."

“It’s not just about being able to use the same trick again; there are so many places where it can be used on this vast ocean,” Fujitora chimed in. “We’ll have to figure out how to do some of these when we get back. Indeed, science and technology are the primary productive forces.”

"But I'm still a little worried. Will you be able to succeed in this last step?"

Jack shook his head and said, "I can't say for sure. In the art of war, winning hearts and minds is the best strategy, while conquering cities is the worst. But people's hearts are not so easy to fathom, so I can't guarantee anything this time. I can only say that I will do my best. If it doesn't work, then there's no other way but to sacrifice our spies."

"That's not bad either. Sacrificing one spy can liberate a country. If this happened every day, Long would be laughing his head off in Baltimore."

"Well, but I still want to complete this without sacrificing the spy. After all, he has made so many contributions and is looking forward to a peaceful retirement."

As Jack spoke, the silhouettes of enemy ships gradually came into view in the distance.

Chapter 107 Surrounded by Enemies