Once Dawei chose to fight, there was no turning back. The battle could only end when one side lay broken, bloodied, or wiped out entirely.
Both crews burned with fury, their eyes blazing with unyielding killing intent.
The Hell Pirates aimed to crush Dawei and claim their place as true overlords of the seas. Dawei, meanwhile, knew retreat was no longer an option. Even if he wanted to flee with Calypso, Brook and his crew would hunt him down without mercy.
That fleeting thought of escape dulled Dawei's edge. Brook seized the moment, unleashing a barrage of soul-infused sword slashes that further weakened Calypso's already fading aura.
The battle was relentless—dodging left, striking right, slashing up, and hacking down. Every move was massive, every swing a gamble. Calypso's wounds worsened with each exertion, but the woman bore the pain in silence, refusing to distract Dawei.
Even Brook couldn't help but admire the bond between the old lovers. But enemies were enemies—pity had no place here. One slip, and Dawei could cut him down in an instant.
Dawei sensed the dire truth: if this dragged on, even if he survived, Calypso would fall to her injuries. He began fighting his way toward the sea, desperate to escape.
Brook's crew tried to block him, but Dawei was a force of nature. The Hell Pirates, still young and lacking the Haki reserves of seasoned veterans, struggled to keep up. A few more years, and they'd have matched him blow for blow.
"Newgate, rip open an earthquake fissure! Shiki, block him with a mountain! We can't let him get away!"
Brook wasn't about to let him slip back into the wild. He brazenly targeted Calypso, forcing Dawei to roar in fury and turn back to parry. When he couldn't block, he threw his body and tentacles in the way, soaking up the damage.
Charlotte Linlin, seeing Brook's strategy pay off, tossed aside any notions of honor. She joined the assault on Calypso, slowing Dawei's retreat to a crawl.
...
Shakky, quick to read the situation, led a squad to the coast. They sank the Sea Siren Pirates' ship and joined Fishman Tom in overwhelming the Sea King, Dawei's last hope for escape.
On the shore, Ashura Jakun clashed with the Witch Tia. Crocus, the ship doctor, unleashed bursts from a Fire Dial to burn away Tia's swarms of venomous insects. Silva fired relentlessly, aiming to take out the Golden Silkworm, the heart of Tia's toxic arsenal.
But the silkworm was cunning, shifting within Tia's body to evade attacks while launching its own strikes against Jakun and the others.
Crocus, realizing flames were ineffective, switched tactics. He scattered poisons, insect-repellent powders, and finally a bottle of bug spray. The results were instant—screeching insects fled or dropped dead. Crocus cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner.
Tia, desperate to escape, shrank as she ran, her power waning. Crocus trapped the Golden Silkworm in a glass jar, eager to study the thing that controlled her insect hordes.
...
Dawei's heart sank as he heard the anguished cries of his new Sea King pet. That creature was his final escape route. Even as an Octopus Siren Fruit user, he couldn't swim the open seas. In the past, his old Sea King had saved him from Vesper and other overlords, hiding him in its maw as they dove into the deep.
His last pet had been slain by the Ice Demon Pirates' giants, landing him in Rocks' clutches. Now, this new Sea King, tamed less than a year ago, was on the brink of destruction too?
Panic crept in, but Newgate's earthquake fissures and Shiki's towering mountains blocked his path to the sea. Worse, Brook and Linlin kept targeting Calypso, fueling Dawei's rage.
"Brook, must you slaughter us all? Can't you give us a chance to retire in peace?"
Dawei's voice softened, stripped of the vengeful bravado he'd shown at the start.
"If this were a fair fight, I might let you go. But today, we'll grind you both down until you're done!"
Brook wasn't about to leave a threat like Dawei alive. He'd already decimated the Sea Siren Pirates—there was no smoothing over a grudge this deep.
"Damn you!"
Like a cornered beast, Dawei fought desperately to escape with Calypso. His Mythical Zoan Octopus Siren Fruit granted unmatched regeneration, but it offered no flight or teleportation. He was stuck on Puso Island, hounded by Brook and his four top fighters.
Dawei's ferocious sword aura cleaved through Shiki's mountains and leaped over Newgate's fissures, but each move drew relentless counterattacks from Brook's crew.
...
The grueling battle dragged on for five days and five nights. Calypso, strapped to Dawei's back, slipped into unconsciousness, her breath barely a whisper. She endured countless blows, her condition worsening.
Believing his beloved dead, Dawei erupted in fury multiple times, landing a devastating blow that left Shiki gravely wounded. But when Calypso's breath flickered back, Brook's crew pounced, hammering the false overlord.
By the third day, Dawei's regeneration slowed—tentacles took minutes to regrow. By the fifth, he could barely stand, worn down by the onslaught of elite fighters and the emotional toll of Calypso's fading life.
Exhausted, Dawei gently set down the near-lifeless Calypso and collapsed beside her. The once-mighty overlord, tears streaming down his face, clasped her hands in despair.
"I regret it all. I should've listened to you, Calypso. We could've retired, sailed away together."
His tears fell onto her face. In a fleeting moment of clarity, Calypso opened her eyes, her trembling hand reaching to caress her lover's cheek.
Click.
Seastone cuffs snapped onto their wrists. Dawei had the strength to resist, but he couldn't bear to pull away from Calypso's touch.
Under the Seastone's draining effect, Calypso weakened further, slipping back into unconsciousness. Dawei let out a heart-wrenching howl, collapsing over her in sobs.
His hateful glare sent the Sky Island soldier who'd cuffed them stumbling back in terror, scrambling to flee.
"I respect the bond you two share, but the victor takes all. You're too dangerous to keep alive, Dawei, and I can't risk trying to tame you. So, you'll join her as my Generals—together forever."
Brook's voice was cold, his face unyielding. He ordered Crocus to stabilize Calypso's condition. These two were too valuable to waste.
Linlin, Shakky, and the others still had plans for them. Plus, Brook had a crucial experiment in mind.
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+188 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg