The girl's smile got even wider as Zypha finished her speech. "You're...you're really nice!" She said to Lenwood and Zypha. Some people began to leave their houses, while others remained. Those who remained were still struck with fear. It was clear that these people had a lot of pirate troubles in the past. An old man came out, as well. He began to speak.

"Excuse me, pirates...I am the village elder. I am sorry to say...that we do not have many materials left. The Navy forces who were ordered by the World Government to protect our island, along with many pirates who came here in the past, have taken everything from us. When these Marines came, the pirates stopped terrorising our homes...but now, these Marines took advantage of the fact that this island is very far away from the Navy Headquarters. The Navy Captain abuses his power without the World Government to keep an eye on him, and makes us pay him 300 gold every week in order for him to protect us. We do receive trader's ships from time to time, but we have run low on supplies ourselves. Most of our gold, including other materials that we had is now within the Navy Base. It lies there, within the forest." The old man said, pointing at the path that led into the forest.

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As Asus headed down the path, he would see many trees on his left and right, seemingly without end. The forest was quite large, but the path was surprisingly well-maintained. As he headed further within, he would see five Marines in the distance, standing guard upon the path. They did not spot him yet. 

"Oi, are those pirates gonna arrive now or what? They haven't even put the village on fire yet! I bet Rick was making that whole story up! There were never any pirates!" One of them shouted, yawning. He pulled out a flask of ale and drank from it. "Hey, you shouldn't drink! Captain's gunna kill us!" Another shouted. "Don't ya tell me what to do George! I'll do what I want!" The first Marine responded. 

As Abigail appeared beside Asus, she ended up stepping on a branch that was on the ground. It made a loud snapping noise, and the Marines glanced over towards Asus and Abigail. "Pirates! Let's get em!" One of the Marines shouted. The five men drew their blades, and charged at Abigail and Asus in an orderly fashion, their blades at the ready.