Chapter 136: We Are Here to End This War
Prodence is a country located near the mouth of the New World, where the Grand Line's treacherous currents meet the even more dangerous waters beyond. The kingdom's land area is not that vast, almost the same as Dressrosa, and its population and prosperity are even lower than Dressrosa's former glory days under the Riku dynasty.
Although it is also a government-affiliated country, life is very tight. The Celestial Dragons' heavenly tribute drains the kingdom's coffers year after year, leaving little for the people who work tirelessly in the mines and fields. However, although it is not very wealthy, in the past time, this country has still been at least peaceful and stable, its citizens finding contentment in simple pleasures despite their hardships.
But now, this peace and stability is broken like glass shattered by a hurricane's fury.
Prodence's territorial waters have transformed into a theater of war. On the sea beyond the national border, dozens of warships have gathered together, forming a huge fleet that can cover the sky and the sun just by unfurling their massive sails. The armada cuts through the waves with predatory grace, their dark hulls bristling with enough firepower to level entire cities.
The cold muzzles reflected the gleam of the sun in the sky. When the countless gun barrels gathered together, there were stars on the sea - a constellation of death that glittered ominously across the restless waters.
"King Elizabello, you must protect us!"
At this time, on the coast of Prodence, the country's fleet has also been assembled. They are confronting the fleet on the sea at a long distance, their own vessels dwarfed by the enemy's overwhelming numbers. On one of the battleships, two men who were shaking like chaff were holding a muscular man's thigh with tears streaming down their faces, their terror so complete that they could barely speak coherently.
"These bastards want to kill us all!" one of them wailed, his voice cracking with desperation as he stared at the approaching armada.
The muscular man was wearing a cape and his upper body was naked, revealing strong muscles that rippled with barely contained power. He had a crown on his head and boxing gloves on his hands. He was waving his fists constantly in a steady rhythm, warming up with the practiced precision of a warrior preparing for battle, and ignored the two crying guys clinging to his legs.
His skin was an eerie red, and steam seemed to be rising from his body like incense from a sacred altar. The legendary King Punch required extensive preparation to reach its full devastating potential.
"Alright you two, don't interrupt His Majesty's warm-up!"
Next to the sturdy man, another big fat man who was also wearing a cape, shirtless and wearing a large gold chain said impatiently. Vasco da Gama, the kingdom's military advisor, understood the critical nature of the king's preparation better than anyone.
"Yes Yes Yes Yes."
The two men showed flattering smiles on their faces and nodded repeatedly, scrambling away from their sovereign's training space.
In this sea area, everyone knows that the Fist of the King, which has been passed down from generation to generation by the Elizabello family, has the power to destroy the world! The technique was legendary throughout the New World - a force of nature that could reduce entire fleets to splinters with a single blow.
Even such a huge fleet would disappear in an instant as long as King Elizabello could swing his fist at full power!
King Elizabello was still waving his fists to warm up, but his face did not look good. The weight of their circumstances pressed down upon him like a physical burden.
The Fist of the King is indeed amazingly powerful, but its only drawback is that it requires continuous warm-up for more than an hour before it can unleash its full power. His muscles needed to reach the perfect temperature, his breathing had to synchronize with ancient rhythms passed down through generations of his bloodline.
The trouble now is that the other party comes too suddenly, and there is not enough time to prepare. The enemy fleet's sudden appearance had caught them completely unprepared.
Vasco da Gama, a shirtless fat man and the country's military advisor, looked equally solemn as he studied the enemy formation with a tactician's experienced eye.
'The key to victory or defeat lies in whether we can wait until His Majesty has finished warming up,' he thought grimly, watching the enemy ships begin their ominous maneuvers.
The ships of the fleet on the opposite side have gradually begun to turn, and they are lined up on the sea, with the sides of the hulls pointed this way, which means that the densely packed gun muzzles are aimed here. The coordinated movement spoke of professional naval training and careful planning.
'It's too late!' Da Gama gritted his teeth, recognizing the tactical situation was deteriorating beyond recovery.
He turned to look at the King, finding the same bitter understanding reflected in the royal's crimson features.
King Elizabello nodded heavily, resignation weighing on his shoulders like a lead cloak.
Although it has not been fully charged now, it can only throw out a punch that is not powerful enough! The alternative was to watch his kingdom burn while he continued his preparation.
"I'm going to talk to them!!"
At this time, another voice sounded on the deck. King Riku came from afar and said loudly, his royal bearing intact despite the chaos surrounding them. His voice carried the conviction of someone who had spent decades mediating regional disputes through patient diplomacy.
"In the past hundreds of years, we all lived together peacefully. Now there is no reason to fight against each other."
He didn't finish his sentence, his diplomatic words cut short by the thunder of war.
Boom boom boom! !
The fleet in the distance had already opened fire decisively, and the cannons began to roar one after another. While the firelight spattered, densely packed black cannonballs shot through the air like a storm of death, their whistling creating a symphony of approaching destruction.
King Riku was completely speechless and just stared blankly at the cannonballs heading their way, his diplomatic overture dying on his lips as he watched the barrage approach.
Beside him, Kyros, his guard captain and his good son-in-law, had already tightened his grip on the sword in his hand. The gladiator's warrior instincts calculated the impossible mathematics of survival against such overwhelming firepower.
Cold sweat covered his forehead as the grim reality became clear.
'An artillery attack of this scale is completely unstoppable!' The thought hammered through his mind as he prepared for the inevitable.
"Anyway, let's survive the first round!!"
King Elizabello roared angrily, his voice cutting through the sound of approaching death. His right fist suddenly shot out with explosive force, the movement so fast it seemed to tear reality itself!
Whoooosh!
Taking him as the starting point, the wind suddenly rose, and invisible waves blasted out! The atmosphere itself seemed to bow before the incomplete King Punch, creating visible distortions in the air around his massive boxing glove.
King Elizabello's punch directly detonated cannonballs all over the sky, and the sky was filled with brilliant fireworks that bloomed like deadly flowers against the azure afternoon canvas.
Moreover, this punch continued unabated, pushing up huge waves on the sea surface. Wave after wave surged forward like liquid avalanches, directly dispersing the fleet formation in the distance, leaving them shaky in the mountainous swells that towered above even the largest warships.
But that's about it. The incomplete technique had reached its limits.
The fist dissipated, the waves gradually subsided, and the fleet also began to reorganize its formation. Despite the chaos they had endured, the enemy ships slowly returned to their attack positions with military precision.
"Amazing!!"
A man who had been crying bitterly just now became very excited, his terror transformed into rapturous admiration for his king's legendary power.
"King Elizabello, hurry up and keep punching!"
King Elizabello looked bitter, the weight of their impossible situation evident in his crimson features.
'If a single blow fails to accomplish anything, what could a second one do.' he thought grimly, watching the enemy fleet reform their battle lines.
"No! We can't go on like this!"
King Riku gritted his teeth as he looked at the fleet in the distance that had begun to rearrange its formation, his diplomatic instincts recognizing that their opponents were far from finished.
"Kyros, can you take me there!" His reputation as a regional mediator demanded he try once more to find common ground between former allies.
But before Kyros could reply, the dark muzzles of the cannons were already aimed at their side again, their ominous silhouettes swinging back into perfect alignment.
The next round of bombardment is ready, and this time they would not be caught off-guard by royal intervention.
"Damn it!!"
Da Gama looked pale, his strategic mind finding no path to victory in their current circumstances.
'Isn't there nothing we can do now?' The question echoed through his thoughts like a funeral bell.
But at this time, waves suddenly surged on the sea in patterns that defied natural explanation. The water rose and fell in perfect synchronization, as if responding to some unseen conductor's command.
"This is--"
King Riku was stunned for a moment, and then he immediately remembered something and said with joy, recognition dawning across his weathered features like sunrise breaking over the horizon.
"It's finally here!"
"Here?"
Kyros breathed a sigh of relief, his grip on his sword finally relaxing as understanding flooded through him.
He was already ready to take King Riku and jump into the sea to escape - a desperate plan that would likely have ended in both their deaths.
"What is that?"
On the largest battleship in the fleet ahead, five men in gorgeous clothes gathered together. Their ornate royal attire marked them as kings who had abandoned old alliances for conquest and plunder. One of them looked at the rolling sea in the distance and said with some surprise, unease creeping into his jeweled features.
"No matter what it is, now is the best time to eliminate those annoying guys! Hahahaha, with enough weapons, we can dominate this area!"
Another guy said loudly, his cruel laughter echoing across the water as he gestured toward their scattered enemies.
"Get ready to fire--"
The words have not yet finished.
BOOM!
The sea surface suddenly exploded, and a huge shadow emerged from the sea like a rising mountain. Water cascaded from its enormous form in torrents that caught the afternoon light.
"ROOOOOAAAAAR!!"
The monster with the head of a lion roared and slapped its claws on the sea, its massive form towering above even the tallest ship masts. The impact sent shock waves rolling outward in all directions.
Immediately afterwards, more monsters emerged from the water, and the entire sea surface became boiling in an instant. Krakens with tentacles thick as ship masts rose alongside whale-like creatures.
After these monsters, several dark steel vessels emerged from the sea with sleek, streamlined hulls that spoke of advanced engineering far beyond surface world technology.
A high wall composed of sea beasts and mysterious vessels blocked the space between the two fleets, transforming the battlefield's geometry completely.
"That's a sea beast?"
On the fleet, the five kings gathered together widened their eyes, their earlier confidence evaporating like morning dew.
"Why are there so many!!" another gasped, terror replacing their previous arrogance.
"Also, what are those shuttle-like things!" a third added, trying to categorize the strange underwater vessels.
"Wait, there's someone on the sea beast!"
Another person exclaimed in shock, spotting humanoid figures standing atop the largest creature's head.
"Are these fish-men coming up from the sea?"
"The fishman and the sea beast immigration bureau of Fishman Island!!" Recognition dawned as the pieces clicked into place.
"These guy..."
Whoosh whoosh!
While he was speaking, the magazines on the tops of the shuttle-like steel ships were opened, and the shells soared into the sky, their advanced artillery revealing firepower beyond surface world comprehension. After crossing long parabolic trajectories, they fell towards the enemy formation.
Boom boom boom boom! !
Each cannonball landed on the surrounding sea one after another, and in an instant there was an astonishing explosion that sent columns of superheated water hundreds of meters into the air. The water columns splashed on the sea were almost tens to hundreds of meters high, creating temporary waterspouts that twisted like living things.
The waves caused by the explosion even caused several ships to overturn. Other warships were also precariously swept away by the mountainous swells, colliding with each other or flying away, their carefully planned formation completely destroyed, making them unable to be controlled at all.
The bodies of the kings, who were completely unable to stand due to the rocking of the ship, were now cold with the realization of how completely they had underestimated their opponents.
'If these shells were aimed at them, then the fleet would probably be completely destroyed by now, right?' The precision had been a deliberate demonstration rather than an attempt at total destruction.
'What's up with this firepower? Do the battleships on Fish-Man Island have such amazing power?' The questions raced through their minds.
The battleship bombardment ended after just one round, and then the sea beasts dived to the bottom of the sea, using the chaos as cover to reposition themselves strategically.
When they appeared again, they were already among the fleets, rising between vessels.
Seeing the sea beasts directly inserted into the gaps between the fleets, everyone on board the fleet was horrified. They are completely unable to compete with creatures that can attack from the bottom of the sea at any time, invisible until the moment of strike.
One of the sea beasts was directly in front of the fleet, with two people standing on its head. The largest creature positioned itself before the enemy flagship, its lion-like head rising majestically above the water.
"We are here to end this war."
The tall, muscular man spoke in a calm voice that carried across the water with supernatural clarity. His relaxed yet alert stance spoke of a seasoned warrior who had found calm in battle's heart.
But no one could ignore his voice, the absolute authority behind each word unmistakable to every ear that heard it.
"Who is in favor and who is against?"
The question hung in the salt air like a suspended blade - not really a request for opinions but an ultimatum delivered with formal courtesy.
The kings were silent, their bravado extinguished completely.
"Great!! Brett!!"
Behind, on Prodence's fleet, King Riku waved his fist excitedly, his weathered face transformed by profound relief and joy.
"The timing is just right!" His words carried across the water, proof that bonds forged in peace could endure even when war threatened everything.