"Don't blame us,Byrnndi World!!"
The man holding the flintlock pistol had a crazed expression and tone. "You brought this upon yourself!" He shrieked, roaring, "Of all people to kill, you had to kill a Celestial Dragon! They're World Nobles; even a slight provocation and a Marine Admiral will be dispatched. How dared you kill them!"
"Now look! The World Government won't let us go, the Marines will hunt us to the ends of the earth!"
"You... betrayed me?" World, however, seemed not to comprehend the anger in the man's words, merely repeating the last phrase in a daze.
"Betrayal? This isn't betrayal!" The man sneered, "We just want to live!"
A short while ago, World Government agents contacted them through special channels. Those agents promised them that as long as they helped deal with World, their safety would be guaranteed. The pirates, already terrified because their captain had killed a Celestial Dragon, hesitated repeatedly before finally being swayed by the agents. Thus, the current scene unfolded.
"You think only we want you dead?" The betrayer glanced at World, then sneered again, sweeping his gaze across the faces of the cadres who still hadn't reacted to what was happening. "How many here don't want you dead? As long as you live, we all have to die. Only if you die can we live!"
Hearing this, World's pupils instantly contracted. The muscles on his face suddenly began to twitch, as if he had heard something incomprehensible. The man known as the World Destroyer now spoke with a tremble in his voice as he looked at his most trusted cadres. "You... betrayed me too?"
"No! World!" The vice-captain, World's older brother, quickly shouted, trying to explain.
But.
Boom!
With no one to stop it, a cannonball suddenly landed nearby. The powerful shockwave from the explosion immediately blew World and his cadres away.
"Hahahaha! See, World!" The crazed betrayer now cackled like a banshee. "The Marines want you dead too! Everyone wants you to die quickly, so why aren't you dying already!!"
Die? Already severely wounded by gunshots and now suffering secondary damage from the explosion, World's mind was becoming unclear.
"No! I can't die! I still have to fulfill my dream!!"
Boom!
His fist, covered in black Armament Haki, smashed the reef beneath him. World staggered to his feet.
"You are the ones who deserve to die! You, who betrayed me!!"
"Boost—Hundredfold Speed!"
He appeared before the still-cackling betrayer almost instantly, smashing the man's head into his chest with a single downward punch.
"Quick, kill him!!" The betrayers, who had re-remembered the man's formidable power, shrieked and prepared to open fire again. However, the black Haki covering World's body easily blocked all the bullets.
"Boost—Hundredfold Punch!"
The black fist instantly transformed into a giant's fist, smashing all those men into a bloody pulp with a single blow. But even so, World's rage showed no sign of diminishing. He suddenly twisted his head, his violent eyes fixed on the cadres he had once deeply trusted.
World had always been a single-minded person, his thoughts uncomplicated. This also meant that once he set his mind on something, he wouldn't overthink it. When he trusted his companions, he trusted them completely. But when he became suspicious, the rage and killing intent almost overwhelmed him entirely.
Die! Die! Everyone, die!
But it was at this moment.
The warships on the sea were rapidly approaching, and faster than the warships were figures soaring through the air.
"CP's plan succeeded, World is severely wounded!" A leading Marine Vice Admiral shouted. "This is the best opportunity, don't give him a chance to escape!"
"All together! Capture him!" The Marine officers rapidly approached. The chance to earn merits had arrived! They had originally thought it would be difficult to capture World before Vice Admiral Garp and his forces could converge. But they hadn't expected CP's plan to be so successful! Even a strong individual like World wouldn't have much strength to resist after such severe injuries!
"Marines!!" World suddenly looked up. "Then I'll kill you first!"
Everyone must die, everyone must die!
"No! No more fighting! World!" The short vice-captain yelled at the top of his lungs, "We need to retreat quickly!" How could they possibly win against so many Marines with such severe injuries?
But World paid no heed; rage and killing intent had completely consumed his mind. All he wanted now was to kill everyone.
However, it was at this moment.
"Oh, it seems we've arrived just in time." A light chuckle suddenly echoed from the sky.
The Marines and pirates were both startled, simultaneously looking up. Above them, a Pteranodon was swooping down. And on the back of this ancient monster, stood a very familiar young man, flanked by two boys whose expressions were somewhat expectant and excited.
"What?" In just an instant, the Marines who were charging towards World were completely stunned. Sweat uncontrollably poured from their foreheads, from their backs. In a few seconds, their faces were drenched, and their clothes soaked.
"Roa the Calamity! How did this monster get here!" World could only be called a strong man; this guy was the true monster! Even the Grand Fleet led by Admiral Sengoku was completely annihilated by him, and it was said that Admiral Sengoku himself suffered serious injuries!
"How could it be! Wasn't he still in West Blue? Why is he here so quickly!" A Vice Admiral cried out in disbelief. Mr. Zephyr and Admiral Sengoku hadn't even returned yet. Were they really that much faster than the Marine warships?
"How did he know about this place! Why did he know! Who leaked the information!" Another Marine Vice Admiral noticed something else. Although they were indeed extensively searching for the World Pirates, this operation was supposed to be top secret. Even the Marines who arrived here initially didn't know their destination.
"Alright, I'm not here for you." Roa glanced at the Marines. The Marines' habit of exaggerating their enemies' strength was also a generational corporate culture. During the Summit War, good heavens, Sengoku's hype for Whitebeard was so great that uninformed people might have thought the Whitebeard Pirates had a huge advantage against Marine Headquarters plus the Seven Worlds, but in reality, if Luffy, Blackbeard, and Shanks hadn't interfered, they would have been beaten like stray dogs.
Dylan lowered his altitude, flapping his wings to hover just a few meters from the ground, completely unconcerned by the approaching Marines. And the Marines, true to form, were completely frozen mid-air, daring to do nothing but use Geppo to stay aloft.
"Ro... Roa?" World Pirates' vice-captain looked up in a daze. How did the world-renowned young monster end up here? They had never had any contact with him!
Roa quietly looked down at the incredibly ferocious-faced World, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned. This surge of anger and killing intent had indeed come at just the right time.
"Are you here to kill me too, Roa the Calamity!!" World roared hoarsely, like a rabid dog, as he glared up at Roa.
"Don't misunderstand," Roa shook his head repeatedly, looking serious. "Daring to kill a Celestial Dragon, you indeed have guts. Our Calamity Company needs talent like you, World. I'm here to invite you to join my company. What do you say? The benefits are quite good; the five insurances and one housing fund are all very high."
World's brain wasn't very good, which was perfect. Roa disliked those who thought too much; in the entire Calamity Company, he was enough of an idea man. Everyone else just needed to obey.
However.
"All who dare to stand in my way shall die!" Roaring, World slightly bent his knees and instantly shot up. "Boost—Hundredfold Speed!"
World instantly transformed into a streaking golden flash soaring upwards.
Roa's mouth twitched. He knew the guy wasn't smart, but he didn't expect him to be this not smart. Oh well.
The Pteranodon's wing flapped, cutting down like a blade. With a loud clanging sound, World, who was shooting upwards, was directly smacked down by Dylan's wing. His heavy body instantly created a crater in the ground.
"What a shame." Roa jumped down from Dylan's back, landing lightly on the ground, which was scarred by Marine cannon fire. "You made a wrong decision, World."
"Boost! Hundredfold Punch!" The giant's fist suddenly blew away the smoke from his fall, smashing fiercely towards Roa. Facing a fist much larger than himself, Roa simply raised his hand with a calm expression.
Boom!
The air exploded, spreading powerful shockwaves.
"What?" World's cadres instantly gaped. "He... he blocked it?" Not only did he block it, but Roa's arm didn't even waver, as if he hadn't blocked World's giant-like fist, but merely a gentle breeze.
"You want to arm wrestle me?" Roa clicked his tongue. "And, this isn't a hundredfold power, is it? Why are you lying to me?" The legendary Moa Moa no Mi didn't seem that impressive. World's fist only had "bigness" as its advantage, slow and powerless. And this was after a hundredfold boost? Was World a stray dog before the boost? Or, was there a limit to the Moa Moa no Mi when boosting oneself?
"Die! Die!!" World's rage intensified. Surrounded by Marines, betrayed by his companions, and now confronted by some inexplicable guy, the already dim-witted man just wanted to kill everyone!
"Enough already, I've seen enough." Roa shook his head. No wonder his bounty was only a paltry 200 million; even with a powerful Devil Fruit, a stray dog is still just a stray dog.
"You can kneel now." Roa's eyes instantly inverted to black and white.
"Ugh!!" The enraged World immediately recoiled two steps as if struck by lightning. Perhaps he had some willpower before, but the sudden "betrayal" of his family-like companions had completely shattered his conviction.
So, the result was.
After a shiver, World's eyes turned completely black.
"This—this is!!" The Marines in mid-air were drenched in cold sweat. It was no longer a secret that Roa possessed some ability to turn people into puppets. Thus, the Marines now felt a deep-seated fear. If World was like this—
"Oh!" Roa suddenly turned his head. "I smell it, the scent of fear!"
"Wahhhhhh!" A Marine Vice Admiral shrieked like an infant. "Run! Run!!"
At this moment, Roa was more terrifying, more horrifying to them than ten thousand Golden Lions, ten thousand Whitebeards, or even ten thousand Rogers! But fear would only hasten their transformation into puppets.
In an instant, half of them, four Marine Vice Admirals, plummeted from the sky. Their eyes were also pitch black, and like World, they had become Roa's thralls. The other half of the Marine Vice Admirals retreated without hesitation, running across the air towards their distant warships.
"Half of them resisted?" Roa rubbed his chin. Had his deterrent power weakened? But then again, how many Vice Admirals did the Marines even have? It felt like he killed one batch only for another to appear; how many had he already eliminated? They were simply inexhaustible, like stray dogs on the side of the road.
But it was fine. World plus four Vice Admirals was a big harvest. His thrall army was thriving! Oh, no, there was one more.
Roa turned his head again, looking behind World. That guy's cadres had also all become thralls. Except for one person.
"Ugh! No! Don't!" The beautiful woman in the white coat slumped to the ground, her face deathly pale, muttering, "Don't kill me!"
The woman named Naiten felt like she had fallen into a nightmare. First, she was inexplicably surrounded by Marines, then her former comrades betrayed and severely wounded Captain World, and the captain went mad, wanting to kill everyone. Then, just as they were about to be completely overwhelmed by the Marines, the true monster appeared, turning everyone into ghosts!
"Lady, don't be silly," Roa said indifferently, "I'm not killing women today." This woman was Captain World's ship's doctor, capable of creating all sorts of strange concoctions. Rather than turning her into a thrall, it would be better to throw her to Judge to research properly.
Then.
"Doffy, Bege, what are you two still standing around for?" Roa yelled towards the sky, "Come and test out the new equipment!"
The Moa Moa no Mi, that's also a very compatible ability with the Big Father and Gattai Gattai no Mi.
"Fufufufu! Coming!"
So a moment later, inside Bege's body, Doflamingo had already activated his ability, combining several heavy cannons into one larger cannon. World was also combined, wrapped in purple substance like Bege before, ensuring his hand could touch the giant cannon barrel.
"Fufufufu!" Doflamingo's expression was extremely excited. "Bege! Aim!" Behind him, Bege pouted but obediently controlled his external body to aim at a warship on the distant sea.
Then.
"Boss! Make him cooperate properly!" Doflamingo shouted again.
"Of course." Roa nodded with satisfaction. He also wanted to see the power Doffy could unleash after equipping his second weapon.
So.
"Fire!"
Boom!
With a roar, the cannonball shot out, propelled by gunpowder. At the moment it left the barrel, the cannonball grazed World's body, which was protected by Armament Haki.
Then.
The pea-sized cannonball expanded to half a human's size the moment it left Bege's body, and then in the next second, it expanded again, directly becoming the size of a small hill. Yet, a cannonball of such size moved incredibly fast. The air was instantly pierced by sonic booms, and as it swept across the sea, the ocean was literally cut into a trench by the air current! The distant Marine warship, let alone dodging, didn't even realize the attack was coming.
Boom!
The warship was directly smashed in half. The cannonball, its momentum completely undiminished, finally exploded only after hitting another ship behind it.
Boom!!
On the distant sea, a massive mushroom cloud rose into the sky, the flames of the explosion engulfing several surrounding warships. Even if they weren't directly swallowed by the explosion, the shockwave generated by it almost capsized the other warships.
"Fufufufu! That's amazing!!" Doflamingo's body trembled with excitement. "This guy's ability is truly amazing!!"
Bege also exclaimed; this ability truly suited him and Doflamingo very well.
Roa also nodded with satisfaction. With this, Doffy and Bege could also be put to good use.
"Again! Watch me blast all these damn Marines to the sky!" With his new toy, Doflamingo was in high spirits.