Chapter 138: Wrapping Up
On the boundless floating ice island, Louis slowly pulled the famous sword, Konpira, which was embedded deep in the ice. He held it in his palm, observing it closely.
Yelena, while manipulating the floating ice island to move into the distance, watched Louis's actions with great interest. "What's this? You're starting to get interested in famous swords?" she asked with a hint of curiosity.
"No, I'm just taking a look." Louis slowly sheathed the famous sword, which radiated a cold aura, and replied calmly. "I'm not a swordsman. A famous sword is of little use to me." Louis explained that he had taken the sword because a famous blade had a certain value. He might not need it, but he couldn't just let someone else get it for free.
Yelena heard him and nodded. She understood the logic. She felt that in the future, Louis would probably give this sword to a new swordsman who joined their crew. If Kuina wasn't an Ittoryu (one-sword style) practitioner and already possessed the Wado Ichimonji forged by her grandfather, this sword would most likely have fallen into her hands.
The distant roars were ceaseless, the sound waves rolling, the atmosphere rippling, and the sea churning endlessly.
The battle between Amit and Kaido gradually ceased. The two seemed to have reached some kind of unspoken agreement during the fight and had each broken off. Not long after, Kaido's massive and ferocious dragon head descended from the sky, looking down at Yelena, who stood on the ice with her war hammer.
After watching for a moment, Kaido realized that he did not know the name of this wild, older daughter of his. "Hey, what's your name?"
"Yelena." Yelena stared at Kaido, her eyes extremely unfriendly as she answered in a detached tone.
To this, Kaido did not get angry at Yelena's behavior, but instead gave her a meaningful look. "Yelena, is it? I'll remember your name."
Then, he turned his head to look at Louis beside Yelena, a feverish fighting spirit flashing in his eyes. "Louis—just you wait. I'll find you again in the future."
Of course, Kaido wanted to fight Louis, but not now. Compared to defeating the post-battle Louis and Yelena and bringing them back to the Land of Wano, Kaido preferred to defeat a full-strength Louis, to make him submit willingly and bring his pirate crew into the Beasts Pirates. In that way, the combat power of the Beasts Pirates would snowball. Moreover, promising individuals like Yelena and Yamato would continue to grow until they became top-tier fighters like himself and Louis. At that time, with the Land of Wano as his center, Kaido could launch a supreme war against the New World, the Grand Line, and even the Four Seas.
Louis looked up, showing a face that betrayed no sign of fatigue. "Why couldn't it be me who tramples your corpse and takes over your massive pirate crew?"
Kaido heard this, and a sarcastic smile appeared on his ferocious dragon head. "You can certainly try."
With that, Kaido took one last glance at Yelena and said in a deep voice, "In the future, come to the Land of Wano and see! I will make all the preparations for you to become the shogun of the Land of Wano!"
Because this wild, older daughter had grown up well on the outside, and her excellence far surpassed that of the Yamato he had let run free at home, Kaido had a sudden idea. He temporarily gave up the thought of taking Yelena back, preparing to let her continue her savage growth. Moreover, Kaido prepared to change his educational strategy for the free-range Yamato at home.
Then, without giving Yelena time to answer, Kaido turned and disappeared into the sky.
To this, Yelena's face was expressionless. Ever since she had learned that Kaido of the Beasts was a cruel tyrant, she had realized that he and she were not on the same path.
Then, Yelena maneuvered the ice layer to move near the shattered ice where Hajrudin and the others were. She saw Daz Bonez, Hajrudin, and the others standing in the center of a group of unconscious Marine soldiers.
Louis's eyes casually swept over the group, who were all listless and dispirited. His gaze finally landed on an inconspicuous female soldier among the Marines at their feet.
Yelena looked at the obviously uncomfortable expressions on the faces of Hajrudin, Daz Bonez, and the others. She raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"
To this, Gerd explained rather awkwardly. "The four of us and Daz went up together, and we still couldn't defeat that guy who looked old but was as strong as a monster—"
As her other companions' expressions grew more and more frustrated, she explained that at the beginning, that old man had held an absolute advantage against Hajrudin and Daz Bonez. Later, when Uta arrived and took on all the enemies except for the old man, he had faced the five of them alone. Apart from his breathing becoming more and more labored, he was still able to maintain a terrifying advantage.
He had fought one against five. Each of them had been knocked down several times when he found an opening. If it weren't for the life force that fell from the sky from time to time to heal them, they would have already died several times over. Among them, Road had suffered the most, having faced a life-and-death crisis more than a dozen times, and being one-shotted five or six times. Therefore, Road, who was already not very confident in himself, was on the verge of a complete breakdown.
To this, Yelena didn't know what to say.
Louis's eyes flashed with the scene of that old man tightly restraining him. He spoke slowly. "No, you don't need to dwell on it. It's not that you are weak, but that he was simply too strong for you."
Although Louis had quickly broken free from the old man's restraint, that did not mean he was weak. "That Marine, in both body and spirit, was an extremely powerful existence. It's no shame to lose to him," Louis said, slowly walking forward.
The group was taken aback. Looking at Louis's face, they were at a loss for words.
In the end, Road, his face bruised and swollen and a large patch of his hair shaved off, leaned over and asked tentatively, "Captain, we didn't defeat many Marines. Even so, you're not angry?"
To this, Louis gave him a rather surprised look. "Why would I be angry? Is it because I'm a Lunarian?"
"..."
Road was taken aback, then became a little bewildered.
Lying among the Marine soldiers, a rather inconspicuous female Marine, or rather, an agent disguised as a Marine, extended an arm, slowly reaching for Louis's ankle.
At the same time, Louis, while meeting the various gazes of the giants, accurately plunged the cursed sword Seven Star Sword into the hand that was reaching for him. The Seven Star Sword instantly flashed with a gloomy green light, slowly absorbing the blood from the blade.
This sudden turn of events made the faces of everyone present change. Hajrudin and Daz Bonez were horrified. They had defeated these Marines with their own hands, but they hadn't noticed that this person had mixed in among them, allowing her to launch an attack on Louis.
Yelena reacted instantly, drew her World-Breaker war hammer, and, after coating it in Armament Haki and her curse, brought it down on the head of the figure who was trying to get up and attack.
BANG. The sound of cold steel striking flesh was heard. The powerful Armament Haki and the power of the curse eroded the agent's body, making her instantly collapse.
With a series of pained groans, Louis spoke again. "I never asked you for these things." Louis was targeting the World Government, that was true. But in reality, he had never asked Uta, Yelena, Daz Bonez, or the others to do the same. In other words, if they had defeated the Marines and then ignored them, Louis wouldn't have said anything. Because they had their own personalities and styles of doing things. Louis would not erase his partners' personalities for the sake of his and his people's hatred.
Louis raised a hand, and from the body of the gradually losing consciousness agent, he stripped wisps of life force and transferred them to the others, healing the wounds that had not yet reached the specific threshold.
"And you all fought very well!" Louis never held back his praise for his partners. He knew that before they had faced the old Marine, they had already crushed the Marines' Giant Squad. This alone was enough to prove that they were not weak; their opponent was just too abnormal.
"..."
After a long while, Louis and his group found Uta and Kuina, who were carrying their spoils, and boarded Avant Heim to leave. Before that, Amit, as quietly as he had arrived, had also quietly departed, showing no intention of lingering or catching up with Louis.
Everything had come to a close. A long-planned ambush by the Marines had ultimately lost their control, turning into a counter-encirclement campaign against the Marines.
In this battle, the Marine Giant Squad was completely annihilated. Many Rear Admirals and Vice Admirals were killed or went missing. Among them were even two young Vice Admirals who were promising Admiral Candidates, as well as a true Admiral Candidate who had been famous for decades. The two renowned Marine HQ Admirals had both suffered injuries of varying degrees.
And the main culprits who had caused all this, the Archangel Pirates, had left victorious.
This shocking result, as if pushed by an unseen hand, quickly spread throughout the entire underworld.
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