Bright's face was disturbingly dark at this point.
Over the two years he'd been stationed at Sabaody Archipelago—as one of the Marine's front-line enforcers at the gateway to the New World—he had engaged in countless skirmishes and captured no fewer than a thousand pirates. But never had he faced something this absurd!
"What's the matter, little Marine? Not a fan of beauty~?" Dibani batted heavily mascaraed eyes at him, pouting flirtatiously.
Veins bulged across Bright's forehead. The flamboyant group in front of him had nearly cracked his professional restraint. His tone dropped like steel.
"These shemales—arrest them all!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Marines behind him surged with moral indignation. Their day-to-day might involve brutal clashes with pirates, but nothing prepared them for the psychological warfare that was the Okama Brigade.
Across from them, Dibani and her squad from the Kamabakka Kingdom—the New Kama land ruled by Emporio Ivankov—shrieked with flamboyant defiance.
"Say whaaat?!"
"You don't recognize beauty when you see it!"
"We come from Peachy Island, beloved paradise of the Kamabakka Kingdom!"
Bright's eyebrow twitched violently. "I don't care if you're from Kamabakka or Mariejois—anyone interfering with our operation to arrest the Straw Hat Crew is getting thrown in irons!"
These oddballs were popping up like weeds—one after another—just to throw the operation into chaos!
"Don't underestimate us!" Dibani howled. "We're the next stage of human evolution—New Humans!"
The moment she flexed, her biceps bulged like cannons, and her equally flamboyant team followed suit.
"Ughhh…" several Marines visibly gagged as they advanced, swords drawn.
Suddenly—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A thunderous series of impacts exploded behind them.
Bright turned around, eyes wide. Massive insects—easily ten meters tall—were pounding on the outer walls of the Marine Base.
"Colonel Bright! We can't hold them back! The 720s are breaching!"
Voices of panic rang out from the defensive perimeter.
The 720s—code for mutated Sea Insects from Karakuri Island, likely enhanced with Vegapunk tech—were overwhelming the few remaining Marines guarding the base.
"What?! Damn it—we can't let them break through!" Bright clenched his fists. "There are still hundreds of high-bounty pirates imprisoned inside!"
Over the past two years, the Sabaody base had been expanded into a fully fortified Marine checkpoint. As the gateway to the New World, it had seen massive pirate activity, with many criminals awaiting transfer to Impel Down. The latest prison ship hadn't even arrived yet.
"I'll handle it!" barked Coffey, the swift shadow of a rising Marine star.
In a flash—Shunpo—he vanished.
A moment later, he reappeared above a hulking praying mantis, mid-air.
His katana gleamed black with Armament Haki.
SHLICK!
The blade plunged down through the insect's armored skull. With a smooth drag, Coffey sliced it clean through the back. Green ichor sprayed in all directions as the monster collapsed, convulsing.
At the edge of a backstreet alley, Hercules, still wearing his unicorn-clad coat, watched the chaos unfold.
"Usopp… this is my final contribution," he whispered, eyes moist. "If I draw away the beast, you'll have a better shot at escaping…"
Back on the front lines, chaos had swallowed the Marine force whole.
Everything—absolutely everything—was being disrupted by forces coming out of nowhere. An Okama battalion. Genetically modified bugs. And now—
"It seems… I've got no choice but to step in," came a mellow, nostalgic voice from the shoreline.
Silvers Rayleigh, former right hand of Pirate King Gol D. Roger, gazed at the sea. He smiled faintly, despite the storm brewing.
"Luffy… your crew has earned the world's favor."
Nearly every Straw Hat had someone stepping in to help. If that didn't prove their worth, nothing would.
Just then—a deep, expressionless voice came from beside him.
"You'd better stay put."
Rayleigh didn't need to look to recognize the titanic silhouette beside him. "Old man," he said with a chuckle, "I've always meant to ask—are you really still human?"
The figure beside him was unmistakably the 'Tyrant' Bartholomew Kuma—a former Warlord, and now fully mechanized prototype for the Pacifista project.
But his actions today, his eerie silence, and his frigid tone… they were nothing like the revolutionary once known to fight for the weak.
"Whether I'm human or not is irrelevant," Kuma's voice was now colder than steel. "What matters is that your orders are to stay here."
Rayleigh exhaled, folding his arms. "Hmph. These old bones aren't meant to sit still forever."
"Then they should've stayed buried," Kuma replied, turning ever so slightly. "Vice Admiral Rubber Dragon already warned you once."
Rayleigh's pupils shrank suddenly. "How do you know that…?"
He still remembered clearly—half a year ago, when he returned from Amazon Lily, Shakuyaku had already warned him: a man had come to the bar and left behind a chilling message.
"All I'll say is this—if you don't want to be crushed into the earth, you'd better stay put," said 'Nobita' coldly, then stopped, standing motionless.
Cold sweat trickled from Rayleigh's brow as he gazed at the massive warship docked beyond the shore.
Could he really just sit back and do nothing?
Aboard the "Oak Dragon", Vice Admiral T. Penn had already begun barking orders. "All batteries—prepare to fire!"
The colossal vessel—more battleship than ship—bristled with weapons far deadlier than standard Marine artillery. Each gun mounted had been enhanced with technology directly from Dr. Vegapunk himself. These weren't mere cannons—they were next-generation pacifist-grade energy weapons.
Particularly the main cannon under the bow, which gleamed with golden light—it wasn't just an artillery piece. It was a modified version of the Kizaru-model pacifista's laser cannon, but scaled up massively in output and destructive range. The energy readings were at least ten times stronger than a standard pacifista blast.
Hummm—
The glowing barrel of the main gun began to condense golden particles, gathering intense kinetic energy. The air before it shimmered and warped with rising heat.
On the Thousand Sunny up ahead, Usopp's face had gone sheet white.
"Guys—that thing's way too dangerous!" he cried, his knees buckling. "There's no way we can block that!"
"Why the hell are we running into something like this?!" Nami's voice trembled, her eyes full of despair.
Zoro stepped forward, eyes like steel, drawing his blades with calm finality. "Doesn't matter. We still have to try."
"That's right! We're not backing down!" Luffy said, stretching his arms with a wild grin. Sanji lit his cigarette beside him, expression grim.
But just as Rayleigh took a step forward from the coast—prepared to intervene—a wide palm halted him.
"You looking to die?" Daxiong asked coolly.
"Ahaha…" Rayleigh scratched his head, masking his frustration with a laugh. He glanced toward the Sunny. "Luffy… resist."
"Fire!" T. Penn shouted.
BOOM!
A searing golden beam erupted from the cannon, vaporizing seawater in its path as it tore toward the Thousand Sunny.
"Gomu Gomu no… Three Hundred Kilo Barrage—Jet Culverin!"
"Ifrit Jambe—Concassé!"
"Sanzen Sekai!"
From the ship's bow, Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro unleashed a synchronized, full-power counterattack. Three ultimate techniques fused into a crimson-blue shockwave.
"Siege Cannon!"
The opposing shockwaves collided above the sea.
BOOM!!!
A cataclysmic explosion erupted, forcing towering waves across the area. The Sunny rocked like a toy in a hurricane. The three Straw Hats at the front gritted their teeth, blood trickling from their lips.
"Hold it—HOLD IT!!" Luffy yelled, muscles bulging, armament Haki pushing back the golden wave.
Zoro and Sanji were drenched in sweat, each bearing the crushing force.
At last, the beam—its power spent—flickered and vanished.
"We did it?" Nami gasped, eyes wide.
"Barely," Zoro muttered, chest heaving. "But this isn't over…"
On the massive Oak Dragon, dozens of secondary turrets began glowing. Unlike the main cannon, these weapons didn't need cooldowns. They were rapid-firing plasma cannons—perfect for continuous barrages.
This was the devastating frontline artillery Vegapunk had specifically retrofitted for Carl, in return for his anti-Yonko war contributions.
On the Sunny, hope turned to dread once more.
"Over a dozen barrels… firing at once…" Nami whispered.
Even Luffy's hands trembled. "Can we really stop all that…?"
SKREEEE!!
Suddenly, a sharp cry tore through the sky. A massive shadow descended, blotting out the sun above the Oak Dragon.
"What now?!" T. Penn shouted, looking upward.
Sa!
From the clouds dove a giant avian beast—its talons gleaming like blades.
"Tch… now what zombie monster flew in?" Carl muttered, puffing on a cigar casually from the ship's command deck.
From the Sunny, Chopper's eyes lit up in shock. "That's…!! I know them! It's from the Bird Kingdom of Torino!"
Over the past two years, Chopper had trained on that island—home to these colossal birds, revered as both kings and guardians.
But before anyone could recover, a smaller figure shot skyward from the Oak Dragon—clad in white fur, hair cascading like a snowstorm, wielding a massive kanabo crackling with black lightning.
"Raimei Hakke!!!"
BOOM!
Under the looming shadow of the bird, the thunderous figure—Yamato—smashed her kanabo down with unrelenting fury.
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