The fifty top Chosen Ones, including Jin Mo at full strength, sneered at Ye Yu's words.
Jin Mo snorted coldly, "Make us truly afraid? How? Despite multiple alliances and attempts to suppress and kill you, you still couldn't eliminate us. Sure, you killed some Executives and powerful Combat Crew members before, but all us Captains are still alive and well. Frustrated, aren't you?"
Li Fengtian laughed arrogantly and provocatively, "You want us to fear you so we won't dare ally against you again? Hah! We'll keep allying as we please. After defeating you this time, once you're out, I'll quickly gather another alliance to finish you off. If Yang Luo and the others couldn't deal with you this time, we'll just regroup later. Don't think just because you're the top bounty, the undisputed number one, that we won't dare touch you. The more you act like this, the more we'll target you."
Ba Ye said grimly, "Blame yourself for being too overpowered, like a cheat. We have no choice but to target you."
Ye Yu's words failed to intimidate them. They were already planning to form more alliances in the future.
Even some top Pirate Crews that hadn't participated shared the same thought—if Ye Yu wasn't suppressed and eliminated, they would join forces against him later.
…
Seeing their utter lack of fear, Ye Yu's eyes turned icy, his voice frigid.
"Seems I'm still not strong enough to make you tremble. Then let this battle decide."
As soon as he finished speaking, terrifying attacks collided from both sides.
On the left were the fifty top Chosen Ones, unleashing a barrage of attacks. On the right stood Ye Yu and his two Phantoms. The numbers were vastly uneven, but in terms of presence, Ye Yu dominated.
In an instant, the battlefield instinctively stilled. All fighting ceased as everyone turned to watch the clash, knowing the outcome would be pivotal.
If Ye Yu failed to gain the upper hand here, he never would. The two Phantoms were his trump cards. Without an advantage now, the disadvantage would only grow. The Vice-Captains and Executives were already holding their own thanks to sheer numbers.
They were fortunate to have thirteen top Pirate Crews. Even one less would have tipped the scales, as their advantage was razor-thin.
Facing Ye Yu's three Divine Departures and Dominion Country, Jin Mo and the others unleashed their own torrent of attacks. The two forces collided.
BOOM!!
A deafening explosion shook the earth, splitting the clouds above as though the sky itself had cracked.
The onlookers trembled, staring wide-eyed at the heavens.
"The clouds split open like a chasm!"
"It really looks like the sky's been torn apart!"
"The sheer force of the attacks cracked the heavens!"
…
At the moment of impact, the two Phantoms gradually dissipated—not because they were shattered, but because they vanished after a single attack. Yet, the attacks they had unleashed remained.
Ye Yu stood unmoved, while his opponents' faces instantly paled.
Their combined attacks were crumbling.
A lion-shaped energy shattered outright. A massive scythe was sent flying, ripped from Li Fengtian's grip. He was stunned—how could the force be this overwhelming?
BOOM! CRACK!
Their attacks continued to collapse. At the center of the collision, a visible shockwave formed, but it was visibly caving inward toward Jin Mo and the others. Their feet skidded backward, carving a hundred trails into the ground.
Gritting their teeth, faces flushed with exertion, they strained to resist, unease creeping into their hearts.
This terrifying assault was far more devastating than they had anticipated.
Yang Luo said solemnly, "Hold on! Don't let them break our formation! That would be dangerous!"
Wang Jue was inwardly shaken. Having inherited the Red Earl's strength and possessing the Bat-Bat Fruit Vampire Form, he had believed himself to be the strongest in the later stages. While he could accept being slightly weaker than Yang Luo temporarily, he never expected Ye Yu to be so much stronger than him. Even with so many people united against him, Ye Yu was still putting up an immense fight.
Though it was partly due to the two Phantoms, making it feel like they were facing three Ye Yus attacking at full strength simultaneously, it was still hard to accept.
The fifty of them stood shoulder to shoulder, with the Executives behind them, hands pressed against their backs, exerting all their strength to prevent being pushed back.
Yang Luo roared, "Give it everything! Just this one push! If we can nullify his trump card—those two Phantoms—we win!"
They understood this well and desperately wanted to prevent Ye Yu from turning the tide, but they were powerless. They continued to retreat further, their attacks crumbling under the overwhelming force. Blood trickled from the corners of their mouths.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Some of their arms began to creak, bones on the verge of dislocation, their bodies wracked with pain as veins bulged across their skin.
"We can't hold on much longer..."
"This is terrifying..."
"He's far stronger than we imagined!"
"Damn it, can fifty of us really not withstand three Ye Yus?"
"Even if Ye Yu has seven Contracts, three times seven is only twenty-one. There are fifty of us!"
Meanwhile, the crew of the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew was exhilarated, their admiration soaring.
The crew of the King's Alliance, however, grew anxious and fearful, worried Ye Yu might kill a few Captains and force them to intervene.
Jin Mo, Lin Muxue, and the others looked increasingly grim and uneasy. They were on the verge of collapse, feeling that in just a few more seconds, their defenses would completely shatter.
Bai Shaohan was inwardly stunned. Even with the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, his attacks were incredibly powerful, yet they were still being overpowered.
Lin Muxue felt even more relieved she had withdrawn from the earlier Arena Duel. The gap was far wider than she had imagined—why was this?
Yang Luo was also taken aback. Even though he had already held Ye Yu in high regard, the reality exceeded his expectations. Why was this?
"Even if there's a disparity, even if I believed Non-Ability Users had great potential, why is he this strong? With seven Contracts, if seven top-tier Chosen Ones faced Ye Yu one-on-one, the worst outcome would be a fifty-fifty split. So why is it that even fifty of us combined are struggling so much?"
Yet Ye Yu, wielding Black Blade Night in his left hand and Enma in his right, his muscles bulging as he relentlessly advanced, let out a cold laugh.
"You think that because I have seven Contracts, seven top-tier Devil Fruit users could match me fifty-fifty? Yet now, even fifty of you are struggling, and you can't understand why? You've all forgotten one thing—the entire world has forgotten it."
At this, Ye Yu's voice boomed, icy and commanding, sending a shock through everyone.
Forgotten one thing? What was it?
With every step Ye Yu took forward, Jin Mo and the others were forced a step back, their flushed faces filled with confusion. What had they forgotten?
Ye Yu exuded an arrogance that surpassed even these top-tier Chosen Ones as he spoke coldly.
"You've forgotten my Talent. In this world, only I, as a Contract Non-Ability User, can form seven Contracts. Even Yang Luo, with his level-ten Talent, can only contract one top-tier Non-Ability User. As for you all, who have contracted top-tier Devil Fruits, you can only contract one Non-Ability User at most. So, this is the point you've all overlooked."
"I contracted seven Non-Ability Users, but the combined combat power isn't one plus seven—it's... seven plus seven!"
At these words, Yang Luo and the others' expressions changed dramatically, their hearts trembling with realization. The truth struck them with overwhelming force.
Indeed, they had always assumed Ye Yu's terrifying, unmatched strength came solely from contracting seven individuals. But now they realized their thinking had been clouded by those seven contracts—Ye Yu possessed the strongest Talent of all.
His tenth-level Talent wasn't because ten was the maximum—it wasn't Ye Yu's limit. It didn't mean his Talent was merely comparable to theirs.
They finally understood: even without contracts, if Ye Yu had trained in the Pirate world, he would still have been a powerhouse—likely possessing strength equivalent to all seven of his contracted individuals combined. So yes... it truly might be seven plus seven.
(End of Chapter)