Ye Yu charged straight toward the mountainous shadow of the Snake King lurking deep within the mist.
"Audacious!!" The Snake King's spiritual fluctuations instantly turned furious, like a volcano provoked.
How dare Ye Yu ignore its elite subordinates and charge directly at it? This was the most blatant disregard for its supreme authority!
Its immense will churned within the thick fog, its cold, vertical pupils locking onto the figure streaking toward it.
"Stop him!" The Snake King's command was an ironclad decree, branded into the minds of all serpentine Exotic Beasts.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
The several Three-Headed Serpents, long unable to hold back, finally received clear orders and unleashed earth-shaking bellows.
Their massive bodies fully emerged from the mist like moving mountains of flesh, their newly grown scales still glistening with mucus yet radiating an overwhelmingly ferocious aura. Each of them was no weaker than the vanguard commander Ye Yu had slain earlier—if not stronger.
The one on the left opened all three of its heads simultaneously. The central head spewed a torrent of dark-green venom, so foul that the very air sizzled and corroded in its wake.
The head on the right condensed a frost sphere radiating bone-chilling Cold Energy.
The one on the right had all three heads ignite with raging flames, spewing three intertwined fire tornadoes hot enough to melt steel.
The last one, positioned in the center and the largest of them all, let out a piercing shriek from all three heads. An invisible mental assault, sharp as a physical spike, shot toward Ye Yu first.
Three Three-Headed Serpents—nine terrifying Exotic Beasts each rivaling a top-tier Pirate Captain—unleashed their strongest attacks simultaneously.
Venomous torrent, freezing ice sphere, blazing fire tornadoes, and mental spikes.
Four distinct yet equally lethal assaults instantly sealed off all paths forward for Ye Yu, descending with world-ending momentum. The thick mist was torn to shreds by the terrifying energy fluctuations.
The hearts of the crew members on the ship leaped into their throats. Sun Long and the others knew that any one of them would perish instantly if faced with such an onslaught.
Yet Ye Yu, still charging forward, showed not the slightest ripple in his expression against this combined attack capable of annihilating even the strongest warriors. There was only an icy, murderous intent in his eyes.
"Annoying!"
With those two frigid words, Ye Yu didn't slow his charge—if anything, he accelerated!
Gripping Black Blade Night, his dark-red Conqueror's Haki surged like a boiling sea of blood, instantly coiling around the blade with crackling thunder.
No intricate techniques—just the simplest, most direct, and most domineering slash.
"Divine Departure!!!"
Boom!!!
An indescribably brilliant and terrifying dark-red Slash erupted as Black Blade Night swept horizontally.
Where the Slash passed, the dark-green venomous torrent evaporated like snow under the scorching sun.
The massive ice sphere, radiating piercing Cold Energy, couldn't hold for even an instant—shattering and dissipating like fragile glass.
The three raging fire tornadoes dimmed and scattered as if choked by an invisible hand.
The intangible mental spike crumbled outright before the Conqueror's Haki.
The Three-Headed Serpents' terrifying combined assault proved utterly fragile.
The next second, under the horrified gazes of the crew on the ship and within the abruptly constricting vertical pupils of the Snake King—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Three muffled, heart-stopping tearing sounds rang out almost simultaneously!
The three-headed serpent on the left, which had been spewing poison mist and ice spheres, had all three of its ferocious heads and necks cleanly severed. Its massive body crashed onto the icy surface, foul blood gushing like a waterfall.
The largest three-headed serpent in the middle was bisected at the waist. The cut was as smooth as a mirror, the upper half sliding down with an expression of disbelief while the lower half twitched unconsciously.
The three-headed serpent on the right, which had been spewing flames, instinctively retracted its three heads, but its enormous body was still struck mercilessly by the Blade Aura. Its tough scales shattered like paper, leaving a massive wound that nearly split it diagonally in half.
It let out a shrill, agonized shriek as its colossal body tumbled into the horde of snakes, crushing a swath beneath it.
One slash!
Just one slash!
Three terrifying three-headed serpents, each comparable to a top-tier Pirate Captain—one dead! One critically wounded and near death! One decapitated!
The residual force of the Divine Departure, like the scythe of death, carved mercilessly into the tide of snakes behind it. Wherever it passed, whether single-headed or two-headed serpents, all were reduced to dust. It plowed a horrifying vacuum trench hundreds of meters long, dozens of meters wide, and deep enough to reveal the frozen seabed beneath.
On either side of the trench, mountains of snake corpses lay piled, stunned or dead from the terrifying Slash.
The entire battlefield fell into dead silence in an instant.
On the Tyrant Feather Pirate Ship, every crew member stood frozen, mouths agape, forgetting to breathe, forgetting to fight.
They knew their Captain was strong—strong to an overwhelming degree—but now, they realized he was even stronger.
Those three terrifying Exotic Beasts that had exerted immense pressure on them were nothing more than clay chickens and straw dogs before their Captain.
"Captain, you're invincible!" someone shouted, their voice brimming with awe and fanatical worship.
Xiao Ke took a deep breath, his eyes blazing with intensity. He knew the moment for counterattack had arrived!
Sun Long bared his teeth in a savage grin, his fighting spirit soaring higher than ever.
Zhao Yan'er clenched her burning fist—this was the man she had chosen to follow.
And deep within the mist, the mountainous shadow of the Snake King fell into a dreadful silence.
The mocking, greedy, and condescending expression vanished completely. For the first time, its cold vertical pupils reflected unmistakable gravity—even a trace of disbelief and fear.
Three of its top generals had been nearly annihilated in a single slash by Ye Yu?! This human's power exceeded its worst expectations!
Though there were still many three-headed serpents left—even five four-headed serpent guards, its strongest subordinates—it had no intention of sending them against Ye Yu. They would deal with the other combatants of the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew. Ye Yu was its prey.
What it wanted was absolute dominance—whether in the battle against Ye Yu or the others.
"ROAR!!!"
After the brief silence came the Snake King's roar of utter fury, no longer a declaration but a wrathful howl of violated dignity and trampled authority.
The entire Mist Island trembled under its rage, the thick fog churning violently like a boiling sea of anger.
"YE YU!!!" The Snake King's voice, filled with annihilating malice, thundered across the island.
"This King will tear you limb from limb! Devour you alive!!!"
The massive coiled shadow finally stirred. The thick fog was parted by an indescribably terrifying force as an enormous serpentine body covered in eerie dark golden runes and gleaming with metallic luster slowly rose from the depths of the mist.
Just a single section of its torso radiated an oppressive aura ten times more terrifying than the combined might of the previous Three-Headed Serpent!
Cold, greedy, savage, and ancient—this palpable presence surged across the battlefield like a tsunami in an instant.
The Snake King, thoroughly enraged, was about to enter the fray personally.
Ye Yu's figure landed steadily at the edge of the chasm he had carved into the ice with his own blade. His left hand held Black Blade Night tilted toward the ground, the dark red Haki coiling around the blade like a living thing, growling lowly.
He raised his head, gazing at the terrifying serpentine form emerging from the mist. Not a trace of fear showed on his face—only icy battle intent and a flicker of anticipation.
"Finally crawled out of your turtle shell, huh?"
Ye Yu's voice wasn't loud, yet it pierced clearly through the Snake King's roars.
The Snake King, consumed by fury, unleashed its full power.
(End of Chapter)