Silas did his utmost to adjust to his current state.
He was now incredibly calm.
Anger would not affect his thoughts. It only made him more lucid.
Hoping to defeat Kong through verbal attacks like last time was impossible. Learning from the previous lesson, Kong had already concentrated his attention on fighting him. Whatever he said would be automatically filtered out by Kong.
Even if Kong would think seriously about it after the battle ended, that would be after the battle was over.
As for Rona, Silas could not figure out what she was thinking at all.
Having clashed with her many times in the past, Silas knew Rona had normal moral values. Often, she liked to act according to her own thoughts, not completely following Marine Headquarters' orders.
But sometimes, she would become very extreme.
Like now.
"An invader? Haha, so I am an invader?"
Rona scratched her red hair and laughed heartily.
"Admiral Crimson Snake, do not listen to his nonsense..."
"Kong, boy, shut up!"
Yes, she was an invader. She had understood this from the moment she received headquarters' orders.
She also knew many people would die in this battle.
But what was the use?
Headquarters had already issued orders. If she refused to come, they would just send another Admiral.
Among the current three Marine Admirals, with Crimson Horse dead, there were still two left.
Since nothing could be changed, why try to change it?
Besides, the fact that giants going to sea would disrupt the New World's order was true. How many adventurers were there really in this world? Even Silas, after all his adventures, had ended up becoming a pirate, had he not?
Always talking about change, but in the end, unable to change anything.
If you want to change things, then show me!
She had pursued Silas for so many years, just seeking an answer.
Do you remember what you said to me?
Bewilderment, wasting time, self-abandonment, and finally disbanding the crew.
When she heard the White Wolf Pirates had disbanded, Rona was disappointed.
In the end, Silas had accomplished nothing either.
But just half a year later, Silas had rallied again.
Not only had he rallied, but his strength had become even greater.
So now Rona did not care about invaders or non-invaders at all.
"Silas, can you do it?"
Rona's face showed an almost maniacal smile.
"If you can escape this time, if you can survive, then I will completely abandon the idea of pursuing you. I, Von Braun Rona, will never again participate in any mission to capture Norse Silas."
"Can you do it?"
Accompanying Rona's voice, crimson blade light almost dyed Elbaf's sky red. Kong had originally thought Rona would be shaken by Silas's words, but he never expected Rona to make such a "harsh declaration."
Moreover, her attack's ferocity even made his scalp tingle.
Rona's current combat power was definitely above his!
"Haha, little girl, then open your eyes wide and watch!"
Facing Rona's fierce offensive, Silas laughed loudly.
"I still have lovely crew members waiting for me to return. I have never thought about dying here!"
Rona thought his escape was basically impossible, but only Silas himself knew clearly. To escape, he only needed to do one thing.
Get close to Kozuki Toki!
He just needed to seize an opportunity to break through and create a chance to approach Kozuki Toki.
Then he could leave.
But even such a simple thing was not easily accomplished.
Because their battle intensity was too high.
So high that Silas might not even get close before Kozuki Toki died from their battle's aftershocks.
Then escape would be even more impossible.
But Silas could not understand!
Where did Rona's obsession with him come from? Under this obsession's enhancement, Rona's combat power could be fully displayed in this battle.
Strength was strength.
But combat effectiveness in battle was intimately related to one's convictions.
Even Kong did not have Rona's strong obsession.
Why?
No matter how much Silas did not understand, what he had to do would not change.
Clang! Clang clang!
The clashes between blades became increasingly dense.
Silas, whose stamina was beginning to decline, versus Rona, who was full of fighting spirit and at her peak.
Just dealing with Rona alone required Silas's full effort, let alone Kong, who would not observe any bushido spirit. While Silas concentrated on dealing with Rona, Kong used Shave to appear behind him, his fist striking down mercilessly.
"Meteor Strike!"
Armament Haki covered his fist, the muscles of his entire right arm bulging powerfully. Kong's punch struck Silas's shoulder without the slightest hesitation.
Crack!
Severe pain came from behind. The agony of his shoulder blade nearly shattering almost made Silas unable to grip his long sword, but he still gritted his teeth. Even as blood flowed from his mouth and nose, he used his other hand to tightly grasp the sword hilt and press down.
Clang!
A crisp friction sound, metal against metal. Originally, Silas and Rona were evenly matched, but borrowing Kong's punch, Silas forcibly overpowered Rona and knocked her back.
But neither Rona nor Kong worried.
Because...
"Grindelwald!"
The third person appeared in time, filling the gap. Even if Silas seized the opening from using force to repel Rona, he still had to face the third person's attack.
"Finger Gun: Falcon Claw Strike!"
Four talons simultaneously covered with Armament Haki. Seizing the opportunity, Grindelwald in falcon form leaped down from a high altitude, striking directly at Silas's chest.
"Get lost!"
Violent air waves spread as black-red lightning erupted from Silas's body. Half-human, half-wolf, he let out a roar like a god or demon.
Facing Grindelwald's attack, Silas not only did not dodge but also charged headfirst at Grindelwald. But while charging, Silas's limbs also began growing larger.
In swirling ice mist, a wolf head suddenly emerged.
Grindelwald had transformed into a falcon, while Silas simultaneously released his beast-human form and changed into complete beast form.
"Zoan Fruit: Beast Form!"
Silas's wolf head charged directly at Grindelwald.
Bang!
Grindelwald was knocked flying by Silas, but similarly, his claws left four deep claw marks on Silas's wolf head.
At the same time, Kong and Rona attacked again.
Kong's fist struck the giant wolf's waist and abdomen, while Rona's blade nearly severed the giant wolf's front paw entirely.
"I never planned to keep Harald company!"
"Ripley!"
Kong and Rona only heard Silas roar, then scatter something around them. Using Observation Haki, they could see these were ice-blue fine particles.
Wrong!
"These are his ability cores!"
Rona called out softly. Combined with Silas just shouting that giant female crew member's name, it was predictable that during his days coming to Elbaf, Silas had definitely stored more than just the ability cores given to the giants.
This was all planned.
When Ripley and the others were safe, Ripley would choose to actively lose consciousness, passively releasing all items she had miniaturized.
Storing the mythical zoan's freezing ability, even though the mythical zoan's freezing ability was far inferior to natural-type freezing, when the quantity was sufficient, quantitative change could cause qualitative change.
"Ice Age!"
Hundreds of ability cores unsealed. Except for Silas, all of eastern Elbaf's coast, including Kong, Rona, and Grindelwald, was frozen solid.
One second!
Silas knew clearly his freezing ability could freeze Kong, Rona, and Grindelwald for at most one second.
But it was enough.
Silas rushed straight toward Kozuki Toki's location. One second was enough for him to distance himself from Kong, Rona, and Grindelwald.
Kozuki Toki was far from them.
To avoid the battle affecting her, Silas had deliberately kept the battle at a distance.
Crack!
Half a second.
Kong broke through the ice and pursued Silas.
One second.
Rona also charged out of the ice prison.
Two seconds.
Grindelwald's falcon form soared into the sky.
He absolutely could not let Silas escape. Having come this far, if he let Silas get away, his future in the CP organization would be bleak.
He was still young. He could still advance!
He could definitely become a powerful fighter like Kong and Rona, even surpass them.
But...
Boom!
A sudden gust of wind fell from above, as if alive, greatly reducing his speed.
Not just him.
Kong and Rona were equally affected by this wind.
"Get lost!"
With his powerful Observation Haki, Kong immediately spotted the anthropomorphic creation stirring up the gale in the sky. Just by throwing a punch at the sky, the wind hindering their advance disappeared.
But this delayed him another half second.
His distance from Silas increased further, but under his desperate pursuit, this small distance was slowly being closed.
"It does not matter. He cannot escape!"
Kong tried to convince himself. Silas's stamina was almost exhausted. Even if he wanted to flee, as long as they kept chasing, they would definitely catch up.
Unless someone was there to meet him!
This thought flashing through his mind, Kong felt unprecedented unease.
Impossible!
It was impossible!
What fruit ability in this world could escape their pursuit?
They had Haki and speed.
No matter what kind of power, they could intercept it!
Then Kong saw a woman in a pink kimono suddenly appear at the coast's edge. Even though shivering from the surrounding ice mist's cold, she continued using her ability.
How was this possible?
Kong gritted his teeth, almost drawing blood.
Five hundred meters!
Four hundred meters!
Kong raised his fist. He had to stop that woman from releasing her ability. Whatever her ability was, he absolutely could not let her use it.
He saw Silas rush to the woman and sweep her up in his arms.
Then run.
Kong nearly coughed up blood.
"White Wolf Silas!!!"
Kong roared, but their speed was faster than sound.
Silas could not hear what he was saying at all.
Whoosh!
Grindelwald's falcon form finally overtook from behind. If nothing unexpected happened, in at most five seconds, he could catch up to Silas.
But there were not five seconds left.
They saw the blood-covered Silas carrying the woman suddenly turn around, showing them a big smile.
"I won!"
No sound. Only lip-reading was possible.
The next second, Silas and Kozuki Toki disappeared from where they stood, as if they had never appeared.
The battle was over.