"Use reverse mode! Everyone, switch to reverse!" the king shouted as the situation turned dire. Under the protection of his guards, he retreated to safety and began barking orders.
"Idiot!" Raymond almost spat blood from anger. If he didn't know the king's hatred toward their enemies ran deep, he would have thought he had been betrayed. Still, he understood—the king's obsession with revenge had clouded his reason.
Rosen and his crew immediately grew more alert at the command.
"Die. Shigan—Fist Cannon!" A thunderous shadow flashed forward. The punch shattered the crystal shards around Allen, his body arching backward like a shrimp as blood splattered through the air.
"What… what is this?!" Allen thought, stunned. The attack wasn't merely brute force—there was a strange suction pulling from Rosen's fist. It was a vortex of sand. Within seconds, Allen was trapped.
He looked down in horror to see his flesh drying and shriveling. His nerves went numb as the decay spread.
"Crystal Armor!" Allen cried out desperately.
This was his ultimate defense, even stronger than his personal device. Crystals erupted from his body like a torrent, spreading to encase Rosen's arm, while his organs crystallized to protect every inch of his flesh.
But with a crisp crack, the crystal shattered. His body could no longer resist—the life drained from him rapidly until he withered into a mummified corpse and fell lifeless to the ground.
At the same moment, Rosen's system notified him: Mission complete—400 million bounty target defeated. Defense ×4 acquired. A new mission appeared—Power ×4, target bounty: 1.2 billion Berries.
It was a rare power upgrade. Though finding such opponents was difficult, completing this would greatly enhance his strength.
A fighter worth 400 million could no longer withstand him head-on.
"Move out!" Raymond shouted upon seeing Allen's death. Soldiers across the battlefield suddenly launched thin metallic plates into the air.
But the Dawn Pirates, forewarned by the king's earlier outburst, didn't attempt to block them. They swiftly dodged away—whatever the devices were, it was safer not to touch them.
Even with their overwhelming advantage, Rosen's crew remained cautious.
However, the thin metal plates suddenly expanded to dozens of times their original size, spreading faster than the eye could follow.
Enel, with his exceptional Observation Haki, sensed the danger instantly and transformed into lightning to escape the area.
But Daz Bones and the others weren't as lucky. The activation was too quick—aside from Rosen, Hathaway, and Natalie, everyone else was trapped within metallic domes.
"Continue firing!"
"What are these… personal defense barriers?" Rosen muttered, dodging swiftly. "Those are supposed to be used for protection, not for trapping enemies!"
The barriers expanded almost instantly—fast enough that even Rosen nearly got caught.
Boom!
Hathaway and Natalie were enveloped as well. The domes deformed violently under their strikes—it was clear they wouldn't hold for long.
Inside other barriers, Daz Bones and the rest were already resisting fiercely.
"Focus fire! Take them down first!" Raymond commanded. The personal barriers were the pinnacle of Andia Kingdom's technology—designed for rapid deployment and near-total defense.
In reverse mode, however, they could trap enemies instead of shielding allies. But since they prioritized defense over offense, the barriers lacked any attack function. The plan was to imprison their foes, then eliminate them one by one.
"How naive, Blue Sea scum!—Ten Thousand Thunderbolts!" Enel roared, his Raijin form bursting with lightning. Thunderclouds churned above as countless bolts rained down, electrifying the battlefield and sending soldiers screaming in agony.
Lightning serpents danced wildly, annihilating everything in their path.
"Two Logia users remaining… troublesome," Raymond muttered as he and Colson dodged the strikes. Just one Enel was enough to hold them back.
Rosen stood still, frowning as he studied the metallic domes. With a loud boom, Hathaway's sword slashed one open, the others soon twisting and collapsing under pressure.
"Black Prison Bullet!" Rosen raised his hand and fired several focused shots, shattering the barriers and freeing Daz Bones and the others.
"Hathaway, bring me the king's head," Rosen ordered, scanning the surroundings. He stayed alert—there was another powerful presence nearby. Tesoro?
"So you found me? Impressive. I thought I hid well."
A man wearing gold earrings and rings stepped out from atop a building—Tesoro.
"How pathetic," Tesoro remarked, watching the king's army crumble. He raised his arm slightly, and the structure beneath him melted into gold. Liquid gold surged toward Raymond and the others, forming armor around their bodies.
"What is this?!" Raymond gasped.
Hathaway had been about to behead the king when Colson intervened. She struck him down with a single blow—she had become adept at identifying his real body among his reflections.
In terms of ability and strength, Colson was far superior to Allen, explaining Raymond's ambitions.
But just as Hathaway moved to finish him off, sparks burst from her blade—it had struck the newly formed golden armor.
"So tough," Hathaway muttered, frowning. Her sunblade, which could cut through iron with ease, failed to pierce it.
"Perfect projection—Hundred Shadows!" Colson shouted, rallying for a counterattack. The sudden boost in defense made him bold again, especially since the newcomer was clearly their ally.
"Lord Tesoro!" the king exclaimed in relief. Though Tesoro wasn't known as a frontline warrior, his power in the underworld was infamous.
"As long as we can hold out, we still have a chance," Raymond said. Now armored in gold, his Storm Troop's defenses were vastly improved—they could last much longer in battle.
Victory was still uncertain, but the pressure on the Dawn Pirates had definitely increased.
Natalie's dagger struck a Storm Trooper, only to rebound violently. Daz Bones' blades could no longer pierce their targets as easily as before.
"So this is the power of an awakened ability…" Rosen murmured, his expression hardening. Just one move—Golden Armor—and the enemy's defense had skyrocketed, and on a large scale at that.
Still, the difference in strength couldn't be erased so easily. They had lost Allen, only to gain a far more dangerous foe—Tesoro.
"If possible, I'd rather not fight you," Tesoro said with a faint smile. "But the king's price is excellent, and the Warlord wants your head. So, please die here, Crocodile."
He had only just arrived, but he could already sense Rosen's overwhelming power and that of his crew. This wasn't a foe to take lightly—but that only made it more interesting.
(End of Chapter)