Two massive ships—each with four full decks, two of them lined with cannons—raced northwest through a storm of incoming artillery fire. One ship was black, the other white, but both flew nearly identical pirate flags featuring skulls, differing only in the color of their cat ears. They darted through rising columns of seawater as cannonballs tore through the skies behind them, desperately fleeing for their lives.
Pursuing them were over a dozen division-class naval warships, relentlessly bombarding them without pause.
"Damn it! What the hell is going on?! Why have these Marines suddenly gone rabid—like a bunch of dogs trying to bite us to death, nya?!"
Aboard the white ship, 'Cat-Fishing' furiously cursed at the distant fleet, eyes blazing. Just then, the Den-Den Mushi perched in his palm began to speak.
"Calm down, White Cat. My guess is that this is the work of those nobles from the South Blue. You know exactly how many royal ships we've robbed over the years, nya."
"Plus, don't forget what we did three months ago—storming the royal palace of the Lenna Kingdom and cleaning out their treasury. That probably pushed the nobles over the edge. I bet they paid the Marines a fortune to come after us, nya."
Aboard the black ship, a figure almost identical in appearance to 'Cat-Fishing' except for his jet-black clothes—'Three-Legged Cat'—spoke with a calm tone.
Even so, he still felt something was off. Could the nobles of these kingdoms really wield that much influence?
Ever since they were spotted by two warships yesterday, it felt like they'd been marked. No matter where they went, a fresh wave of Navy ships would show up to give chase. At one point, they were being attacked from three directions at once—that was just insane!
And what was even stranger: these warships always seemed to be keeping a deliberate distance.
"What are the Marines really after, nya?" Three-Legged Cat ignored the roaring cannon blasts around him, scanning the sea thoughtfully.
"Eh, who cares what they're planning! I'm furious right now. Let's find a target and smash it up—maybe if we scare them enough, they'll back off, nya!"
Cat-Fishing growled into the Den-Den Mushi.
At the same time, his eyes turned a pale yellow with slit pupils like walnuts, ten fingers extending sharp claws, and his ears stood tall—his whole body emanated the dangerous aura of a predator.
"No, nya!"
But the Three-Legged Cat immediately shut him down.
"There are way too many warships. With just our two vessels, we might be able to take on three at once, tops. But there are over twenty ships out there. You planning to move into a prison cell with me, nya?"
"If you say yes, I'll gladly go with you, nya!"
Hearing that, White Cat hesitated. The fury in his eyes gradually faded. Though impulsive and energetic by nature, he wasn't an idiot—nor did he want to drag his partner down. He had no choice but to bottle up his rage.
"Then what do we do, nya?"
Three-Legged Cat replied, "We keep running. Judging by their movements, I seriously suspect the Navy's trying to drive us into the Grand Line, nya!"
The words slipped out, but the more he thought about it, the more sense they made—his eyes lit up.
"Yes, that's probably it! The South Blue Navy took the nobles' commission, but they're still wary of how strong we are. They don't want to take heavy casualties, so they're trying to push us into the Grand Line. That way, they fulfill the nobles' wish to 'get rid of us' without paying the price, nya!"
"So that's how it is, nya..."
White Cat also found the reasoning sound and asked, "Then are we just going to go along with their plan, nya?"
"What else can we do? Looks like our actions these past years have finally pissed off the nobles of the South Blue for good. There's no place left for us here anymore, nya..." Three-Legged Cat sighed helplessly.
The white cat let out a cold snort.
"Hmph, so what if it's the Grand Line? Let's go! With the two of us working together, there's nowhere we can't make a name for ourselves. And while we're at it, we'll see just how rich the nobles of the Grand Line really are, nya!"
Meanwhile, five enormous warships—each several times the size of any South Blue division vessel—sliced through the waves in a tight triangular formation.
"Rear Admiral Dragon! Message from South Blue Division 175—The Black Cat Pirates and White Cat Pirates are currently being driven in our direction. They're just 10 nautical miles away!"
A colonel sprinted over, shouting the report.
"I see. Pass down the order—prepare for battle," Dragon replied with a stoic nod. Beside him, Rear Admiral Ivan let out a sharp laugh.
"South Blue Marines sure are enthusiastic, huh?"
In truth, Dragon hadn't expected the operation to escalate this far.
Originally, his plan had been simple: under the pretext of capturing the 'Black Cat' and 'White Cat', he would take a detour toward the Kingdom of Thutmose. On the day of arrival, he would notify three nearby Marine divisions to coordinate a surprise strike, catching the enemy off guard.
But who could have predicted the South Blue divisions would act like they were on stimulants? They were going all out, hell-bent on delivering the two 'cats' right to Dragon's doorstep. Rumor had it, they had even prepared to dispatch reinforcements the moment Dragon engaged in battle.
And what did that mean?
It meant that even if Dragon was nothing more than a flashy figurehead—good looks but no substance—the other divisions would still do everything in their power to help him devour those two pirates and rack up an easy battle merit.
That just showed how laughably naive the South Blue Marines were. Their narrow-minded ignorance had kept Ivan chuckling for days.
"Well then, may as well take them while we're here," Dragon said calmly as he gazed out over the sea. "Two Zoan-type pirates, each with nearly 50 million bounties, definitely pose a threat in the South Blue. Let's treat this as ridding the people of evil."
"Pirates with bounties under 50 million? And from the Blues? They probably don't even know Haki. Just send a few captains—it'll be enough," Rear Admiral Ivan shrugged, unconcerned.
"No. I'll handle it personally. End it quickly, then we turn at once and launch a surprise assault on the Kingdom of Thutmose."
Ivan immediately volunteered. "In that case, as the second-in-command, it wouldn't look good for you to move first. Allow me to take care of them. I promise a swift and clean operation."
"Thanks, but I'd like to handle this one myself. I want to test out my Devil Fruit ability," Dragon politely declined.
"Well, alright~" Ivan didn't mind. He assumed Dragon simply wanted to show off in front of the fleet.
But the truth was, Dragon wasn't thinking about any of that nonsense.
He had only recently become a Devil Fruit user. And because of the need to keep his powers secret after going rogue, he'd had precious few chances to fight using them. Aside from one brief clash with CP0, he had almost no actual combat experience.
So this was the perfect opportunity—to try out a few practical moves on those two 'cats.' After all, his next opponent would be the so-called 'Slave King'. And judging by the intel, that man was incredibly powerful: years of mastery in Haki combined with a long-established Paramecia ability.
A little last-minute sharpening wouldn't hurt!
"Rear Admiral Ivan, I'm leaving this to you. Inform the South Blue fleets that they can return now. Also, pass along my thanks and appreciation for their hard work."
"No problem. I look forward to your performance," Rear Admiral Ivan replied with a gentle smile.
Dragon shot the man a puzzled look—but just then, a familiar cannon blast rang out again.
Both of them looked up—only to see two blazing-hot shells screaming toward them at high speed.
"Heh, I didn't expect this. These South Blue pirates really have some backbone, charging straight at us like this!" Rear Admiral Ivan raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised.
At the same moment, Dragon soared into the sky in a pale green whirlwind.