What's the point of keeping these prisoners alive?
One reason is to interrogate them and see if any additional wealth can be extracted. Some pirates are cunning and hide their treasures in secret locations. This is one of the reasons why so many "treasure" legends circulate across the seas.
The second reason is even more interesting.
Remember when the Sori family was wiped out, and Jay took a few "pirate" corpses to the Rose Kingdom as proof?
Where did all those prisoners in the dungeons come from?
Some of them were captured pirates, while others were just unlucky souls who had offended Colonel Hammond.
This was a form of waste recycling.
As for whether "killing innocents for military merit" ever happened, only Colonel Hammond would know.
At that moment, a few people exchanged glances and suddenly shoved their captives forcefully in a certain direction.
"Not good! The pirates have escaped!"
The captured pirates had already resigned themselves to their fate, but suddenly, they realized their ropes had mysteriously loosened, and they had been pushed away from the other marines.
If they could seize the lone marine in front of them, there might still be a chance to escape!
Without hesitation, they all lunged at Jay.
At this moment, Jay wasn't focused on these unarmed pirates.
His calm gaze passed over them and locked onto the so-called "comrades" behind them.
After waiting for so long, these guys had finally made their move.
Their faces showed "panic," but their hands all raised their guns simultaneously.
They appeared to be aiming at the "escaping" pirates, but in reality, they were aiming at Jay, who stood in the same direction.
Jay could even see the slight smirks on their lips, full of mockery.
"Die!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out in quick succession.
It was a clever plan, using the pirates as an excuse to kill Jay.
Even afterward, they could explain their actions, pay a minor "fine," and the matter would be settled.
After all, once someone is dead and no longer useful, who would care?
Unfortunately for them, Jay had been aware of their intentions.
The killing intent and malice they emitted felt like steel needles pressing against his skin, impossible to ignore.
Having anticipated this, Jay first used a pirate as a shield, blocking most of the shots.
Then, he grabbed two pirates at his sides and threw them with all his might!
They crashed into the marines who had fired, sending them tumbling to the ground.
"Watch out! Those pirates have bombs on them!"
Jay suddenly shouted, causing the other marines to instinctively retreat.
Boom!
A violent explosion erupted, instantly consuming two pirates and three marines in a fiery blast.
Jay had always believed in the principle of an eye for an eye, blood for blood!
As it happened, he had drawn a Gunpowder Orb from the system earlier.
To ensure the explosion was powerful enough to kill, he had stuffed a few extra orbs into their clothes.
"What the hell just happened?!"
Captain Dash strode over, furious.
A flawless victory with zero casualties had just been ruined!
He felt like he had swallowed a fly, utterly disgusting.
Jay, now looking shaken and innocent, quickly responded, "I don't know! Suddenly, three pirates broke free and attacked me. Someone fired to protect me. When I realized they had hidden bombs, I instinctively threw them away."
"I even shouted as loudly as I could to warn everyone, but some people didn't escape in time and were accidentally caught in the blast. It's my fault, I should have thrown them further, straight into the sea. I failed them."
Jay looked remorseful, but Captain Dash felt something was off.
However, after questioning others, he found that their stories were more or less the same.
Moreover, the pirates carrying the bombs had indeed been under the control of the marines who died.
It was a classic case of cause and effect, they brought it on themselves.
Had they survived, they would have faced severe punishment upon return.
But since they were dead, there was no need to dwell on it.
After thinking for a moment, Captain Dash made his decision.
"Bailey, Cobbs, and Aurelio died heroically in battle against the pirates. Gather their remains, we'll deal with them properly back at the base."
"Additionally, Nova Jay remained calm under pressure, discovered the bombs in time, and warned everyone. He is without fault and has earned merit."
"I will report this to Colonel Hammond and consider an appropriate reward."
No one objected to Captain Dash's judgment.
Strictly speaking, Jay was the primary victim.
If he hadn't been lucky, he would have either been shot to death or blown to pieces.
No one could have imagined that the "bombs" on the pirates were deliberately placed there by Jay himself.
Thus, this was an achievement earned through real danger, no one envied him, only admired him.
Jay immediately expressed his gratitude to Captain Dash!
But in his heart, he was thinking, his promotion to Sergeant was now guaranteed.
Not only had he eliminated two competitors (three marines had died, but one wasn't a rival), but he had also earned some merit.
Combined with the collective achievement of wiping out the Black Tiger Pirates, Colonel Hammond had no reason to deny his promotion.
After all, in Hammond's eyes, Jay was "one of his own."
The only ones suffering were the deck-cleaning crew.
They not only had to scrub the deck spotless but also separate the body parts from the explosion.
The blast had been quite powerful, leaving all five men blown apart and mixed together.
It was impossible to tell whose remains were whose.
So, they just gathered everything into one pile.
After all, back at the base, they would most likely be cremated.
Would it really matter if there was a little more or less in the urn?
"Found him!"
"'Black Tiger' Calomon's body has been retrieved, his head is intact!"
"Good! Excellent!"
Captain Dash's mood brightened once again.
With 'Black Tiger' Calomon's corpse as proof, the deaths of a few marines were just minor blemishes, not worth worrying about.
"Set sail! Return to base!"
Feeling reinvigorated, Captain Dash waved his hand, deciding to skip the rest of the patrol and head straight back to report the victory.
No one objected, everyone was in high spirits.
It was clear that such a fortunate event didn't happen often.
Back at the base, they would have plenty to brag about.
In the coming days, the mess hall would be filled with stories of "hundred-man slaughters," "superheroes," and "pirate slayers!"