"He's a monster!"
Clutching the ship's rails, Gion stared at Darren's retreating figure, her expression one of utter disbelief.
Landing with an earth-shaking crash, Darren rose from a five-meter-wide crater, smoke curling around him. With a defiant grin, he muttered,
"Perfect landing."
Behind him, his cape danced wildly in the storm of dust and wind.
"Kill him! Take him down!"
Vinsmoke Judge, his pupils contracting, snarled his command with fury.
As the words fell,
Countless cloned soldiers emerged from the ruins of surrounding fortifications and turrets.
Dressed in identical uniforms and wearing sunglasses, the cloned soldiers moved in perfect unison, exuding an icy demeanor devoid of human emotion.
Shing!
In unison, they raised their rifles, hundreds of barrels aimed at the Navy Captain.
The triggers were pulled!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Flashes of fire spewed from the muzzles, and an endless hail of bullets roared through the air, leaving streaks in their wake.
"Haven't learned your lesson yet, huh?"
Darren grinned, a glint of madness flashing in his eyes.
Without relying on his Jiki Jiki no Mi ability, he calmly walked forward amidst the dense barrage of bullets.
Vinsmoke Judge's eyes widened in shock, as if witnessing an incomprehensible spectacle.
Clink! Clang!
Bullets rained down on Darren's body, tearing apart his suit and naval uniform, but the sound was like metal striking steel.
Sparks flew as the bullets ricocheted off his skin, leaving countless dents in the ground, fortifications, and nearby walls.
From afar, Darren resembled a traveler trudging forward through a storm.
What sheer dominance!
"How is this possible?! No human can have a body like this!"
Vinsmoke Judge roared, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
When gunfire proved futile, a cloned soldier emerged from a bunker, hoisting a small rocket launcher. He aimed it and pulled the trigger.
Whoosh!
A small rocket, no bigger than a palm, screamed through the air with a sharp whistle, trailing a fiery red tail as it hurtled toward Darren.
But Darren suddenly raised his hand and caught it!
"Innovative technology... This is far superior to the Navy's standard artillery," he remarked, observing the trembling rocket in his hand with interest. He then hurled it back with great force.
Boom!
The rocket reversed course and exploded in front of the cloned soldier who had fired it, engulfing a five-meter radius in flames.
"Powerful like a small heavy cannon, yet far more portable…"
Darren squinted at the blast, providing an analytical assessment.
By now, a plan was forming in his mind.
Darren had tirelessly siphoned wealth from the Mafia, funneling it into a budget several times greater than the Navy's standard allocation to fund the North Blue Navy. His goal was clear.
He intended to turn the North Blue Navy into his personal stronghold.
The entire North Blue Fleet would become his private military force!
As a transmigrator, he understood the greatest limitation of being a Navy officer:
No matter how one painted the concept of "justice," it was always overshadowed by the "authority" of the World Government.
This was an undeniable reality.
The Navy, the world's largest law enforcement body, was an institution under the World Government, serving as its façade.
At the core of this control lay military funding.
The World Government collected "Heavenly Tribute" from its member nations and used military allocations to directly or indirectly control the Navy's financial resources.
A Navy without independent financial power, unable to secure additional funding, was perpetually constrained and forced to bow to reality.
Darren's ultimate goal in amassing wealth was to control a self-sufficient and independent military force free from government interference.
For now, his efforts over the years had ensured the North Blue Navy's budget was entirely self-sufficient, even surpassing the Headquarters' standards for comparable units.
But it wasn't enough!
Darren was acutely aware of the North Blue Navy's shortcomings. In terms of combat strength, it was far inferior to the Headquarters' elite, and compared to the New World, where "haki" was a standard skill, the gap was astronomical.
Though his enhanced training and scientific methods had greatly improved the North Blue Navy's overall strength, it still fell short.
However, improving a military's combat effectiveness wasn't something that could be achieved overnight.
And that's where Germa 66 came in.
Germa 66 possessed some of the world's most advanced and cutting-edge military technologies. Their new weaponry, modified human technology, and combat suits could quickly elevate the North Blue Navy's combat capabilities.
If Darren could acquire Germa 66's technology to equip his fleet…
He was confident that in no time, he'd command an extraordinarily powerful North Blue Fleet!
With this resolve, Darren's grin widened, and his steps quickened.
His target: Vinsmoke Judge, Captain of Germa 66!