Chapter 391: One Against Three
The war began, with four pirate crews clashing with all their might.
More precisely, the Flying Pirates were fighting one against three.
Shiki "The Golden Lion", Reinhardt, and Atlas, the three Three Giants of the Flying Pirates, each led four fleets.
Each fleet separately targeted an island and invaded simultaneously.
In other words, at the borders between the Flying Pirates' territory and the territories of the other pirate crews, five battlefields erupted simultaneously.
Of course, there was also another front.
That was the Flying Pirates' Thirteenth Fleet Captain, "Breath of the Storm".
Leading the Thirteenth Fleet, he advanced towards the west of the Flying Pirates' territory.
The west still had a relatively vast territory that the Flying Pirates had never been in a hurry to occupy, or rather, their expansion speed there had been relatively slow.
Now, it was time to completely take over this territory.
This was also a test of Goenitz's ability.
This sea area contained at least a hundred islands that had not yet been occupied, and among them were hidden some powerful pirates who had not yet undergone evacuation.
Within the Flying Pirates, there were also quite a few pirates who had targeted Goenitz's position.
The position of Thirteenth Fleet Captain had always been contested by pirates; no one expected Shiki to directly appoint someone.
This naturally didn't sit well with everyone; the strongmen of the Flying Pirates weren't limited to just the Three Giants and the Fleet Captains.
However, only by becoming a Fleet Captain could one be considered a High-Ranking Cadre of the Flying Pirates.
Goenitz must exhibit his strength and methods.
With the end time of this war as the deadline.
Shiki "The Golden Lion" was confident he could defeat the three pirate crews.
Before the war was won, Goenitz had to occupy all the islands in that sea area.
More precisely, he had to defeat and expel, or subdue, the Great Pirates remaining in that sea area.
This was a difficult mission, and it also represented Shiki's high regard for Goenitz; under immense stress, Goenitz could rapidly undergo growth.
As long as he exhibited strength, Goenitz could completely establish himself within the Flying Pirates.
At the border between the Flying Pirates' territory and the John Pirates' territory.
"That guy Shiki sent you? Kid, you're too arrogant."
Captain John laughed, drawing the longsword from his waist, his face covered in frost.
Those who knew John's subordinates knew their captain was angry.
With a fierce slash, he struck towards Reinhardt.
Swords clashed and blades flashed as the two engaged in a fierce great battle.
Reinhardt knew he was no match for Captain John.
There was still a significant gap between them, a gap that couldn't be bridged by time alone.
Since the leader had given him this mission, he wouldn't easily give up.
He just needed to hold John back and remain undefeated.
Once the leader defeated the Five Peaks Pirates, the scales would tip towards the Flying Pirates.
For now, he would treat Captain John as a whetstone; he still needed to become stronger.
As an Air Current Fruit Ability User, Reinhardt had his own advantage; he wouldn't easily be defeated by Captain John, not if he didn't want to be.
Aerial combat inherently held an innate advantage.
In the future, when Shiki "The Golden Lion" invaded Marine Headquarters, if he hadn't insisted on engaging Sengoku and Garp in close combat, he could have simply kept throwing islands to destroy Marine Headquarters.
Sengoku and Garp had absolutely no way to deal with Shiki.
On the other side, Atlas and Silver Axe were engaged in a great battle at sea.
The Titan who controlled storms, floating on the sea surface, continuously clashed with a figure clad entirely in silver armor and wielding a giant axe.
Atlas did not choose land combat; if they fought on land, he would absolutely not be Silver Axe's opponent.
However, fighting at sea, although Atlas's movement speed wasn't fast, he still had an advantage.
That was, Silver Axe found it difficult to exhibit his full strength.
Silver Axe, with his natural monstrous strength, combined with the Paramecia Type Riki Riki no Mi Ability, possessed strength far surpassing that of Giant Warriors.
Every swing of his axe seemed capable of splitting the entire Great Sea in two.
Facing such terrifying strength, even Atlas, who had transformed into a Titan, could only continuously retreat.
The powerful physique granted by his Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, even combined with Haki, couldn't fully withstand Silver Axe's destructive power.
Clashing repeatedly, he endured by relying on his powerful recovery power, creating storms to impede Silver Axe's operation, while also seizing opportunities to counterattack.
Under the constant stress brought by Silver Axe, Atlas's strength and the degree of his Titan Fruit development were slowly increasing.
Meanwhile, in the west of the Flying Pirates' sea area.
Goenitz, leading the Thirteenth Fleet, had already taken action.
Now that the Flying Pirates had sent out their entire force, Goenitz's single fleet alone wasn't enough to instill fear in those Great Pirates.
Battle, constant battle.
To prevent these factions from uniting to resist him.
After arranging his subordinate pirates to occupy the islands with weaker resistance.
Goenitz personally took action, heading alone towards the Base Camp of a Great Pirate.
Wearing a mask, his expression indifferent, he stood in the air with his hands behind his back, gazing down at the Great Pirate below.
"Come, let's battle. Defeat you, leave this sea area, or join the Flying Pirates."
"You should understand, no one can stop the Flying Pirates."
Invisible gales swept forth, driving all the pirate underlings of this pirate crew far away.
Clearing out an empty space, which would be the upcoming battlefield.
"Just you? Do you think coming out of the Arena makes you impressive? Then let me show you the cruelty of the Great Sea."
Goenitz's words angered him.
How could this Great Pirate so easily give up the territory he had painstakingly built?
"Then come and try. If I don't teach you a lesson, you'll never realize."
The general trend couldn't be changed.
Did they think the strength of three Hegemon-level Pirate Groups could stop the Flying Pirates?
Perhaps this situation gave them hope.
However, even if the Flying Pirates lost the war, they still wouldn't have the strength to stop the Flying Pirates.
This sea area had been designated as the Flying Pirates' territory long ago.
Pirates who realized this had already left this sea area in advance.
The remaining pirates either intended to join the Flying Pirates or were ignorant.
The pirate before him was clearly the latter.
They were unwilling to accept it; even if they were to fail, they would still struggle.
Then let strength show them that all their delusions are futile.
Either leave! Or surrender! Or die!
Goenitz seemed to completely regard himself as a member of the Flying Pirates, and indeed, that was the case.
His rising status within the Flying Pirates, relying on the strength he commanded, could also bring significant interests to Sound Nest.
Each of the Flying Pirates' thirteen fleets would rule a sea area, and Sound Nest could fully utilize the resources and trade within them.
The larger the territory, the more people were needed to guard it.
With Shiki's Float-Float Fruit Ability, controlling dozens or even a hundred islands was the limit, and these islands couldn't be too large.
The weight he could control ultimately had an upper limit.
Therefore, every Fleet Captain was like a regional governor.
(end of chapter)