However, before Black Merchant Duke Gate could give the order to bombard the Black Pearl, he first had to contend with one crucial fact: Silas would never agree to such a plan.
"Rocks, Ripley, I am entrusting the Black Pearl to you both!"
Silas's Observation Haki had already sensed many skilled swimmers among the pirates heading toward the Black Pearl. Although he had knocked out many with his Conqueror's Haki, there were still plenty of powerful pirates who had withstood his overwhelming pressure.
"Got it!"
"Leave it to me!"
A thrill shot through both Rocks and Ripley, their faces lighting up with excited expressions. This was their first time participating in a naval battle of this magnitude. When they had encountered the Marines before, Silas had resolved the battle entirely on his own, giving them no chance to act.
"Newgate, can I entrust this to you as well?"
Silas's voice startled Edward Newgate, who was still huddled in a corner. But meeting Silas's expectant gaze, the young man found he simply could not refuse.
"I will help too!"
After the words left his mouth, Edward Newgate felt a surge of pure excitement coursing through his veins.
The realization hit him like a physical blow. Was he actually fighting alongside the legendary White Wolf Pirates?
Silas leaped gracefully into the air, taking the lead in the assault.
The Black Gold Pirate Alliance's three massive pirate ships, along with several medium-sized vessels, all launched synchronized bombardments at the Black Pearl.
A dense storm of cannonballs blotted out the sky, raining down destruction upon their lone ship.
But against this onslaught, Silas needed only a single strike.
"Heaven's Net!"
Countless arcs of blade light crisscrossed the air, forming a turbulent net that enveloped the incoming cannonballs. A series of dazzling explosions bloomed across the sky, a violent and brilliant fireworks display against the encroaching darkness.
"White Wolf Silas!!!"
Aboard the Monster Pirates' ship, Monster Moz roared with primal fury. He kicked off forcefully from the deck, launching himself toward the airborne Silas with his great cleaver raised high.
Although his Conqueror's Haki had been crushed by Silas without a real, physical fight, Monster Moz's brain could not accept that he had already lost.
At this moment, he attacked from below, boldly charging at the airborne Silas with reckless abandon.
"This complete idiot!"
Seeing Monster Moz charge up alone, both Immortal Jason and Black Merchant Duke Gate became frantic. Had they not agreed to fight three-on-one? They needed to be careful to prevent Silas from defeating them one by one.
What was this nonsense about charging up alone like a mindless beast?
The giant pirate charged like a wild animal, the size difference between him and Silas like an adult versus an infant. Many of the onlookers qualified to watch this battle felt their hearts leap into their throats.
"How terrifying," Silas chuckled, his voice laced with amusement as he raised his sword in mid-air with casual elegance.
"Fall, Winter Kingdom!"
Haki, Devil Fruit ability, and top-tier swordsmanship all combined into one devastating attack!
Before Monster Moz could even reach Silas, he felt a bone-chilling cold spreading rapidly through his massive body. Even his reaction speed seemed to freeze under this supernatural power.
By the time he realized something was terribly wrong and tried to use his Haki to dispel the encroaching cold, the blade light was already upon him.
In a desperate, last-ditch effort, Monster Moz could only raise his great cleaver to block. But the moment the blade light collided with his weapon, his cleaver shattered into a thousand pieces!
Not only did his sword break, but the remaining arc of light carved a long, bloody gash across his chest. At the same time, the bone-piercing cold completely froze him solid.
And so, the stunned onlookers watched as Monster Moz, who had charged at Silas with such overwhelming confidence, was sent rocketing back toward his pirate ship at an even greater speed. The terrifying impact of his body punched clean through the vessel, from deck to keel, like a living cannonball.
An unnatural cold spread across the pirate ship. The entire crew, along with all the pirates aboard, was instantly flash-frozen into ice sculptures. Over a thousand meters of the sea surface froze solid, the ice spreading to affect several other pirate ships nearby.
The freezing attribute was just a secondary effect of Silas's Devil Fruit, so he could not instantly freeze an entire harbor's sea surface like the future Marine Admiral who ate the Ice-Ice Fruit.
But a few hundred meters was still easily achievable.
This was a feat Silas could only accomplish after recovering his peak condition. He would never have attempted such a "wasteful" display of power a year ago.
All of this was purely for intimidation.
"No way!? That cannot be possible!"
At close range, the pirates on Immortal Jason and Black Merchant Duke Gate's ships stared blankly in disbelief. Monster Moz was a great pirate, even one with a higher bounty than their own captains!
"One strike... and he took down Monster Moz..."
The pirates' voices trembled with terror. This was something they simply could not comprehend.
Why? Were White Wolf Silas and their captains not all great pirates?
Why was the gap between them this absolutely enormous?
Even the pirates who were still attacking the Black Pearl could not help but slow their assault dramatically.
Among them were quite a few members of the Monster Pirates.
After witnessing this devastating scene, they completely lost their will to fight.
"Our captain was taken down in one hit!"
So incredibly strong! Truly, so unbelievably strong!
Every time he witnessed Silas fight, it brought Rocks a profound and intense shock.
This time was no different.
The contrast was staggering. He struggled to even fight the crew members of these great pirates, but Silas? With a single, almost casual strike, he had utterly defeated a captain with a bounty over 100 million.
Newgate and his companions' faces also showed complete and utter shock.
In their eyes, Monster Moz was already the strongest pirate they had ever seen, a legendary great pirate. Some of them had even witnessed Monster Moz punch through a boulder dozens of meters high with one devastating blow.
Yet such a powerful pirate could not even last a single move against White Wolf Silas.
"Hehe, now you know, right? The old man is really, really strong!"
Hearing Ripley's words, Newgate just nodded numbly.
But a single, crushing thought dominated his mind: Do I really qualify to join a pirate crew this powerful?
Immortal Jason and Black Merchant Duke Gate were already numb with terror.
They had agreed to attack together, but their ally had to go up alone and throw his life away.
Fine, you went up and threw your life away.
But at least fight for two rounds!
What was this about getting one-shotted like a complete amateur?
Now, not only were their subordinate crew members beginning to waver, but they, the captains, were wavering too.
Could they really win against such a monster?
But the development of events did not change according to their will. After resolving Monster Moz with one effortless strike, Silas turned his predatory eyes to the remaining two great pirates.
"Let us go all out!"
As a great pirate, Immortal Jason still had the courage to fight.
"I am immortal after all!"
Immortal Jason roared, just about to join forces with Black Merchant Duke Gate against Silas, when he saw Duke Gate's vacant stare into the distance.
Huh?
Silas had already appeared directly in front of him. At his peak, Silas's speed was something that bottom-tier great pirates like Immortal Jason could not even begin to react to.
"Immortal? Heh."
Silas's hand closed around Immortal Jason's throat, pouring a torrent of penetrating Armament Haki into his body, infused with the bone-deep chill of his Devil Fruit.
In the blink of an eye, the self-proclaimed immortal's body was encased in a thick layer of ice, his regenerative powers frozen solid and rendered utterly useless.
"Just you left."
Silas turned to face Black Merchant Duke Gate. He offered a kind, almost gentle smile that promised nothing but absolute violence.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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