At that moment, everyone felt it—a dreadful premonition—as they looked up at the lone figure hovering in the sky.
"Retreat, now!"
Yara, sensing the surge of power erupting from Yuno, shouted back toward his troops.
Clatter...!
At her command, countless marines scrambled backward in a panic. They weren't clones, but they could clearly sense the oppressive force pressing down from above!
Judge also looked up, his gaze fixed on Yuno's palm, where crackling thunder began to coalesce. His pupils shrank sharply.
He too could feel it—a lethal, undeniable danger.
"Disperse!"
Judge roared at his children. The clone soldiers were disposable; he could lose all of them without flinching.
But his children—Reiju, Iji, Niji, Yonji—were different. They were his legacy, the cornerstone of his ambition to dominate the North Blue. He couldn't afford to lose them here!
In truth, he didn't even need to speak. The moment the danger struck, Reiju and the others were already moving, their high-tech boots flaring to life as they fled the battlefield at maximum speed.
Even though Iji, Niji, and Yonji lacked emotions due to their modifications, self-preservation was still deeply embedded within them.
Even genetically engineered beings weren't fools—they wouldn't just stand there and wait to die.
Then it happened.
The Thunder Roar Cannon required little charge time. Within seconds of Yuno raising his hand, an immense column of lightning erupted from his palm.
"Thunder Roar Cannon!!"
A blinding flash exploded forth, transforming into a searing beam of energy that shot directly into the battlefield.
The beam traveled at near-light speed—no one could react. The moment it fired, it had already pierced the heart of the crowd.
A radiant light burst outward. Thunder screamed. The sky turned white.
And then—
BOOOOM!!
A cataclysmic roar echoed across the island, loud enough to shake even the distant shores.
The ground heaved from the impact.
A violent shockwave swept outward, leveling everything in its path. It felt like a hurricane of force, a level twelve gale that ripped through the battlefield!
In the center of it all, the clone soldiers of the Germa Legion were disintegrated—erased from existence before they even had time to scream.
Stones, flung outward by the blast, became lethal projectiles. Each one carried enough power to punch through flesh like cannonballs.
Many clone troopers fell—not to the thunder itself, but to the debris it launched.
As the light finally faded...
Time seemed to freeze.
All eyes turned to the center of the battlefield.
A pit—dozens of meters wide—lay where the attack had landed. Its interior was charred black, scorched earth still crackling with residual electricity.
Silence fell.
"Th-this... this power...!"
"A monster… he's a monster!!"
"There's no way that was a human attack!"
"One blow... and the Germa army is gone..."
The marines were stunned, their faces pale with horror as they stared at the scorched crater. Their eyes shook with unfiltered fear.
They couldn't comprehend it.
One man...
One strike...
And half the battlefield had been annihilated.
"Damn it!!"
Judge's face twisted in rage and disbelief.
More than half of his clone army had been obliterated in a single blow!
Not even in the East Blue campaign had he suffered such devastating losses!
His fury burned with murderous intent. He wanted to tear Yuno apart with his bare hands.
Meanwhile—
From amidst the dust and rubble, the four Vinsmoke sons emerged, their combat suits scorched and dirtied, but their steel bodies unharmed.
They had fled the blast's center just in time. Though they were caught in the aftershock, their modified bodies endured without serious injury.
However, Iji, Niji, and Yonji all stared at Yuno, who had fallen to the ground, with ferocious expressions etched across their faces.
Yet none of them charged forward recklessly.
Yuno's attack had deeply shaken them.
An emotion they had never experienced before surged within their chests—foreign, unsettling.
They didn't even notice that their hands and feet were trembling slightly.
Standing amidst the chaos, Yuno calmly observed the scene his attack had wrought. He nodded slightly, a hint of satisfaction in his voice:
"Not bad."
He hadn't expected this Thunder Roar Cannon to be even stronger than the first.
'As expected… the stronger the physique, the greater the output of high-level Dao-Breaking Techniques.'
It was a fact Yuno had already realized—but now, it was confirmed without a doubt.
The attack had indeed left a massive impact—obliterating most of the clone troopers and scarring the land.
But it still wasn't enough.
He could sense it clearly—this wasn't the end. Germa's clone army wasn't limited to those he'd just destroyed.
From afar, more warships were approaching, laden with fresh clone soldiers ready to fight.
"…This is bad."
Though he still had some strength left, the chanting and execution of Thunder Roar Cannon had exacted a toll.
Against this relentless tide of fearless enemies, even his power would not be enough to last forever.
If this dragged on…
He would be the one to fall.
And that—Yuno could not allow.
Just as he was weighing his next move, a sharp whistling tore through the air—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—followed by a deafening BOOM in the distance!
A cannon shot!
The sudden explosion caught everyone off guard.
Yuno turned his head sharply toward the sound.
There—on the horizon—black specks dotted the sea.
Zooming in with his sharp senses, he identified them: warships.
And not just any ships—dozens of them, their masts flying the seagull insignia of the Navy.
With waves crashing beneath them, they advanced mightily toward the island, the seagull flag fluttering in the wind—a symbol of the World Government's might.
They had only fired a single shot—more a warning than an assault.
A declaration: The Navy has arrived.
"It's reinforcements from the other naval branches!"
"Finally—someone's here!"
A navy officer shouted with elation, his voice shaking with relief.
"Finally!"
Yara exhaled deeply, the immense pressure that had weighed on him lifting halfway from his shoulders.
But amidst the navy's joy…
"...The Navy."
Judge's expression darkened, his brow furrowed deeply.
Reinforcements had arrived—and not just a few.
Judging by their numbers, they could pose a genuine threat.
Reiju, unharmed but visibly disheveled, walked to her father's side. Frowning as she looked out to sea, she asked:
"Father, what do we do now?"
The other three sons gathered around Judge, their expressions serious.
The remaining clone soldiers on the battlefield instinctively regrouped, forming a protective perimeter around the Vinsmoke family.
Judge inhaled slowly, his gaze fixed on the approaching navy.
He began to think—coldly, precisely—about his next move.