"Don't think you can evade my thrusts, die!" Moratos roared, leaping over ten meters high, forcefully plunging the refined iron spear in his hand into the body of a stone flying dragon.
By the time he exhausted himself and dropped back to the ground, the ten-meter-long stone flying dragon also crashed heavily, booming as it shattered into pieces, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"General Moratos, the Marines have landed!"
"What?!"
Suddenly, Moratos heard his subordinate's surprised cry. He quickly looked up and saw four warships directly charging onto the port's land. Many stone knights, various beasts, and legendary monsters emerged, like a surging tide.
"Damn Marines! First flying stone and metal monsters, and now land monsters. Did they bring this army from hell?!" Moratos exclaimed, both shocked and enraged.
"General Moratos, don't say such terrifying things!"
"What do we do, General Moratos?"
"The brothers at the front can't hold them back anymore, we're next!"
"..."
The surrounding pirates were terrified, almost helplessly watching the surging tide of Enlivened creatures engulf their comrades along the port's shoreline in the blink of an eye. If the Roberts Legion weren't different from other pirate crews, with strict, military-like discipline, they would have already turned and fled.
"What are you afraid of?! Reinforcements are already on their way!" Moratos shouted, "General Reepel is personally leading several thousand brothers here. As long as we can hold off the Marines, Commander Roberts will give us generous rewards!"
Having said that, he swung the spear in his hand and immediately charged forward, leading the way with a fierce momentum.
Seeing this, the pirates around him, whose morale had hit rock bottom, finally regained some courage. They exchanged glances, then all raised their weapons, bravely following Moratos's lead, roaring as they met the oncoming Enliven Legion.
"Charge, brothers!"
"They're just a bunch of rocks, don't be afraid!"
"..."
"Advance! Fight for our Lord!"
"Roar—Roar—"
"..."
The densely packed Enlivened creatures also roared, fearlessly charging forward without any regard for death. The two sides collided in the ruined port city like two surging floods, instantly raising a spray of blood. In just a single exchange, dozens of Roberts Legion pirates fell, while the Enlivened creatures suffered negligible losses.
For powerful individuals, even mountains can be shattered, let alone mere stones. But for ordinary people, stones can be deadly, and it's easy to kill someone by smashing them.
Most importantly, those powerful enough to easily shatter stones are ultimately a minority. Even in the formidable Roberts Legion, ordinary people constitute the majority and are simply no match for an Enliven Legion composed of stone and metal.
"Die! Die! Die!" On the main street, Moratos roared in anger, desperately wielding his spear, shattering one stone knight after another, or stone beasts.
"Damn it, die!" A pirate, with a ferocious expression, aimed his rocket launcher at a group of stone knights ahead, then decisively pulled the trigger.
Whoosh—
Rumble—
A round, scorching cannonball whistled through the air, covering a distance of over ten meters in an instant, then erupted in a scorching flame, blasting four or five clustered stone knights into countless fragments.
"Hahaha~ Damn monsters, all of you go... Argh—" However, the next second, before the pirate could even finish his joyful words, a stone javelin swished through the air, as if piercing through space, instantly penetrating his body and pinning him to the ground.
Although the power of firearms compensated to some extent for the Roberts Legion's strength, against Enlivened stone statues carved from a single piece of stone, most firearms could not achieve a one-hit kill.
In the canyon of Oneway Port, the combat space between the two sides was not large, and there were many houses and buildings. There was only one main street, forcing both sides to fight head-on in a narrow space, making the battle extremely brutal.
Unfortunately, even if Moratos fought like a madman, and even if his subordinates fought with all their might, they could not overcome the enormous disparity in strength between the two sides.
The tide of battle quickly turned in favor of the Enliven Legion.
The Roberts Legion, led by Moratos, left countless corpses on the streets and was forced to retreat step by step.
"Hey~ My statues are very expensive, you're shattering a bit too many of them!"
Suddenly, Moratos, who was fighting with all his might, heard a young voice that made him subconsciously look up.
"Marine?!" Moratos was somewhat surprised. He saw a young man with short silver hair, holding a black-purple katana. He wore a blue karakusa-patterned black suit and a pure white shirt, draped with a Marine Justice coat.
It must be said, this was the first Marine Moratos had seen within the port since the battle began.
"Nice to meet you. Let me introduce myself, I'm Amphitrite Cross, Marine Headquarters Captain!" Cross said with a smile, politely and gently, "I know you. Your bounty is 137,000,000 Berries. You are Moratos the 'Impaler Snake', the quartermaster of the Roberts Legion!"
"Also, can we discuss this? Would you kindly put down your weapon and surrender? It would save me a lot of trouble, wouldn't it?" Cross approached him unhurriedly, his tone like someone coaxing a child.
"Alright, I'll put down my weapon!" Moratos replied unexpectedly, actually loosening his grip and dropping the refined iron spear in his hand. The two-meter-long, goblet-thick refined iron spear clanged as it hit the ground.
Moratos, unarmed, walked towards Cross as if truly surrendering.
But just as the two were about to meet...
"Die, you bastard!" Cross's expression turned stern. He suddenly raised his hand and swung Shusui, aiming a slash directly at Moratos's head.
"Die, you bastard!" Meanwhile, Moratos almost simultaneously pulled a flintlock pistol from behind his waist, aiming it directly at Cross's chest and pulling the trigger.
Bang—
Cross extended his left hand, lightning-fast, and with a shining black palm, seized Moratos's flintlock pistol. The lead bullet shattered upon impact with his palm.
Moratos also raised his left hand, covered in Armament Haki, and with a clang, blocked Shusui's slash.
"Pah, despicable!"
"Pah, despicable!"
The two looked at each other and cursed at the same time.
"Damn it, copying what I say, huh?!" Cross was infuriated. He raised his leg and kicked towards Moratos's abdomen.
Seeing this, Moratos decisively let go, opting to retreat backward. Then, with a push off the ground, he retreated to where he had thrown his spear and picked up the refined iron spear from the ground.
"Trying to escape? No chance!" Cross spat fiercely, directly discarding the flintlock pistol in his hand, and chased after Moratos, swinging Shusui.
——————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanPiece [remove the parenthesis ( )]
There are 100+ advance chapters available for you to read!