''New World, near the G-11 branch waters.''
"Fire!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A fierce battle raged across the sea, though it was anything but balanced. It was a brutal, one-sided assault.
"Squads Two and Three, hard to port... Aim, fire!!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Cannons roared, belching flames as black iron shells arced through the sky. A relentless barrage rained down upon the enemy ship, reducing it to smoldering wreckage, its remains scattered like fireworks over the waves.
"Damn it! What are you fools waiting for? Breakthrough, now!"
King stood at the helm, commanding the battle. His usual composure was gone, replaced by barely contained fury.
It had all begun a day prior. After spotting Marine scouts, they had sailed cautiously, wary of an ambush.
But the attack never came. Their journey was suspiciously smooth.
Just as they neared the edge of Totto Land, ready to launch their assault, disaster struck. Blazing projectiles, faster than anything they had ever seen, ripped through the fleet.
King barely dodged one of the monstrous shells. Each was nearly two kilometers across, tearing through ships like paper.
His heart pounded as he beheld their devastating power.
And that was only the beginning.
Watching his fleet crumble, King made a swift decision— he would take to the skies and destroy the Marine artillery positions himself.
But the moment he ascended, his blood ran cold.
Beneath the sea, shadowy dots filled the waters. Countless black, disc-shaped objects hovered beneath the surface, neither sinking nor floating.
"What... are those?"
A bad feeling twisted in his gut.
A second later, a damaged pirate ship, its rudder destroyed, lost control and drifted straight into one of the dark shapes.
Boom!
It erupted in a colossal explosion.
"They're sea mines! Contact-triggered!"
"Watch out! Furl the sails! Don't move recklessly!"
"Furl the sails? But the Marines are still firing!"
Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Impossible! These things detonate on impact— how are they still intact in the sea?"
Sea mines in open waters? Ridiculous. The Grand Line was teeming with unpredictable sea creatures. A mine would never last long— some beast would surely bite into it, triggering it prematurely.
So how were they still in perfect formation?
Then, a chilling realization struck King. His eyes widened in disbelief.
"Could it be...?!"
Those Marine scouts from days ago— they had been spotted, yet no attack had followed. King had assumed the Marines feared his strength and didn't dare engage.
But now, it was clear.
They had never planned a direct confrontation.
While his forces remained on edge, bracing for an ambush, the Marines had been setting their trap— littering the waters with mines, crafting the perfect battlefield.
"We've been played!"
…
''Back to the present.''
Forced to use the wreckage of their own ships as a path forward, King had no choice. Remaining here meant certain death under Marine bombardment. He made his decision.
"Breakthrough!"
At his command, the surviving half of his forces charged forward, treading a path paved by their fallen comrades.
Anywhere was better than here. If they got surrounded, they were finished.
Beyond the battlefield, a Marine fleet had formed a deadly encirclement. Now, its ships shifted, pulling back beyond the minefield.
"G-5 boys, it's your turn!"
"Heh, don't worry— we've been waiting for this!"
Beneath the waves, inside a stealthy Marine submarine, a pilot exchanged a solemn nod with his comrade.
The reborn G-5, standing tall on Punk Hazard, carried the weight of past failures. Their shame ran deep, fueling an unyielding hatred for the Hundred Beasts Pirates.
And with Vegapunk's experimental weapons at their disposal, they were ready for vengeance. Their commander, the infamous cyborg "Steel Terminator" Mozambique, had made sure of that.
The newly restructured G-5 had developed a unique combat doctrine, blending Marine discipline with an overwhelming emphasis on explosive firepower. Their soldiers were highly skilled in handling specialized weaponry designed for maximum destruction, each strike leaving a distinct mark on the battlefield.
Rowen, ever the cynic, had taken to calling them the "Bombardiers" since nearly everything they carried— be it warships, mechanical gauntlets, satchels, or even flintlocks— had the potential to detonate in spectacular fashion.
And the sheer force of those explosions… was enough to send shivers down one's spine.
It begged the question— just what kind of war were they preparing for?
After the Marines initiated large-scale upgrades to their armaments, this destructive prowess only grew stronger.
Among these advancements was the deployment of underwater mines—initially devised to guard against Sea King attacks. But as it turned out, they had other applications as well.
Thus, despite Mozambique's absence, he dispatched his most formidable unit—the "Water Ghosts." Clad in sharkskin diving suits, they looked every bit as eerie as their name suggested.
"Move faster! They're slipping away!"
"Relax, they won't get far! Once they hit our minefield, they'll be nothing but drifting wreckage!"
With that, the submarines submerged, releasing cylindrical canisters into the depths. These devices settled onto the seabed, each one adorned with a small, blinking red light.
Tick, tick, tick…
The ominous sound reverberated through the control room, prompting the commanding officer of the submarine force to bark an order.
"Signal established! All units, retreat!"
No further instructions were needed. The submarines swiftly turned tail, accelerating away from the danger zone. Above, the warships received the alert and began to pull back as well.
Observing the sudden shift in Marine movements, King's eyes sharpened with suspicion.
"Something's off… It's a trap!"
But by then, it was too late. Accompanied by a deranged voice shouting, "Explosion is an art!" the seabed mines activated. The canisters trembled violently before surging upwards, rocketing toward the hulls of the pirate ships.
In an instant, thousands of mines, as if drawn by some unseen force, locked onto the fleet like iron filings to a magnet.
"Nani?!!"
King could only let out a furious roar before a blinding eruption of fire and shrapnel consumed the entire Hundred Beasts fleet in a maelstrom of destruction.
From a vantage point on the shores of Chocolate Island, Smoker lowered his binoculars, shielding his eyes from the searing brilliance of the explosion.
"The power is unreal… And I heard these aren't even infused with Dyna Stones." His tone was laced with grudging admiration. "Koby! Lieutenant!"
"Sir!"
"Make sure every last soldier understands—if even a single one of these damn explosives makes its way into our core base, I'll have their hides!"
Koby: "…"
He couldn't help but think, 'Aren't the pirates the real danger here?'
Just then, from within the inferno, a massive pillar of fire erupted into the sky.
A colossal figure emerged, wings outstretched, wreathed in flame. The fire coiled and twisted, forming the image of a blazing dragon ascending to the heavens—a sight akin to a phoenix reborn in fire, majestic yet terrifying.
"Damn you, Marines!!"
Through the smoke and embers, King, in his full Zoan transformation, let out a deafening roar. His crimson eyes burned with fury as he hovered above the battlefield, his wings churning the scorching air.
The battle had been completely one-sided. Not even a direct clash—just a meticulously laid trap. And yet, the once-mighty fleet of the Hundred Beasts Pirates had been utterly annihilated.
Thousands of men. Dozens of warships.
Reduced to just him.
"Oh? You're still alive?"
Smoker frowned as he exhaled a puff of smoke, his instincts kicking in. 'Not a Logia…'
"Vice Admiral, watch out! He's coming!"
Koby's voice was tense, his gaze locked onto the airborne King.
Even after executing the plan to perfection, even after wiping out the lesser fighters, "Conflagration" King still stood before them, seething with rage.
"This is going to be a pain…"
Smoker clenched his cigar between his teeth, coils of smoke spiraling around him.
"Looks like I'll have to take you down myself."
"Arrogant fool!"
King's murderous glare bore down on him as he let out a deafening roar, wings propelling him forward like a meteor of fire and fury.
(End of Chapter)
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