If there had only been a single naval branch stationed here, Judge might still have acted arrogantly. Even if he wiped out all the marines on the island and had to deal with the World Government afterward, paying a price, Germa wouldn't necessarily be in true danger.
But now—navy reinforcements had arrived.
That meant the higher-ups in Marine Headquarters were paying attention.
If he dared to move against the navy now...
He would be making an enemy of the entire organization.
And Judge understood exactly what that meant.
Even as a nation allied with the World Government, Germa would not be spared.
Those monsters at the top of the navy weren't the kind of enemies one provoked lightly.
So Judge held himself back.
But he was burning with frustration.
Was he really going to just give up the research data he had spent years perfecting?
'No... that's not right. When I questioned them earlier, the captain's expression didn't seem fake. Could it really be true that the navy didn't take it?'
'Then… who did?'
Suddenly, a possibility surfaced in Judge's mind, darkening his face.
He turned sharply toward Yuno and spoke coldly, "Was it you? Did you take it?"
Yuno's eyes flickered. He knew what Judge meant: the crystal card.
But his voice was calm, feigning ignorance. "Take what?"
Judge narrowed his eyes.
He didn't trust the navy—and now he didn't trust this man either.
That data was everything. It was the linchpin of Germa's future domination of the North Blue.
He had to get it back.
Even if it meant risking war with the navy, he would tear this island apart if necessary.
Just then, the clones who had been dispatched to the Orleans family's underground base returned.
A clone captain stepped forward and saluted.
"Sir. We found nothing. The laboratory had navy guards, and most of the equipment inside was destroyed. The card is gone."
The captain hesitated, then added: "Also… outside the lab, there's a gash in the ground. Over a hundred meters long. We couldn't determine what caused it."
Judge's face went cold. His eyes swept toward Yuno and the marines with growing suspicion.
"So it was you."
His voice was low, furious.
"And you're working with the navy?!"
"You dared lie to me again and again… Did you think Germa was just going to roll over and take it?!"
"Open fire!"
With a furious wave of his hand, the clone fleet opened fire without hesitation—on both Yuno and the naval forces!
Explosions erupted in the direction of the marines, who had barely begun to process what was happening.
"What?!"
Yara's face contorted in disbelief.
"Is he mad?! He actually dares attack the navy?!"
"Retreat! Everyone scatter—now!"
"Run for it!!"
"Damn it—Germa, you bastards!!"
Panic erupted among the marines. No one expected Judge to actually turn his guns on them.
Yuno was stunned as well.
He hadn't thought Judge would go this far, especially when the navy had backup on the way. But clearly, that research was worth more to Judge than peace.
He'd chosen to gamble everything.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Artillery fire rained down like a storm.
The clone soldiers' shoulder cannons and the battleships behind them all opened up, turning the entire coastline into a hellscape of fire and smoke.
Yuno's expression turned grim.
Even a top-tier warrior couldn't remain unharmed in such a sustained bombardment.
He had to tread carefully.
With a flick of his wrist, Yuno slashed into the air—cutting down the first wave of incoming shells with a blinding arc of swordlight.
Then, he vanished with a burst of instant step.
The ground beneath where he had just stood exploded in a wave of fire and rubble.
"Hmph…"
Yuno landed atop a shattered building, his cloak whipping in the wind.
He couldn't let Germa continue this rampage.
No matter how fast he was, a full salvo like this would eventually catch him.
He took a deep breath and raised his blade skyward.
Crackling energy surged through his entire body.
With a single sweeping motion—
"GETSUGA TENSHO!!!!!!"
A massive crescent-shaped wave of sword energy tore through the air, blinding and fast, slicing through one of the snail ships in the backline with devastating precision.
"Crack!!"
The ship split clean in half.
Screams echoed as the broken halves plunged into the sea, fire and smoke trailing behind.
Blood burst into the air as the first snail ship was cleaved in half with surgical precision, the shockwave of the slash throwing seawater into towering walls. Screams echoed as clone troopers, stunned by the sudden attack, dove overboard in a panic.
But the carnage wasn't over.
The sword's arc didn't stop. Like a scythe through wheat, Yuno's strike swept clean through the second and third snail ships, cutting them with such fluidity it seemed like time had slowed—only for all three ships to explode nearly at once in a thunderous chain reaction.
One slash—three kills.
Without a pause, Yuno raised his arm again. His fingers splayed, and the surging charge in his palm howled like a beast.
"Thunder Roar Cannon!"
A blinding bolt of white lightning roared through the storm-dark sky, slamming into a fourth snail ship. The electrical surge detonated its engine core in an instant, vaporizing its metal hull and turning every clone soldier aboard into ash in a searing flash.
"KEEP FIRING! DON'T STOP!!"
Judge's roar echoed across the harbor, his voice breaking from desperation.
This wasn't warfare—it was a massacre.
Even hardened pirates with bounties in the hundreds of millions rarely displayed this kind of overwhelming, pinpoint destruction. And yet here was Yuno—sword in one hand, thunder in the other—slaughtering fleets with the calm of a storm god.
From the distance, the navy's shells screamed down again.
Dozens of battleships joined the bombardment, their cannons unloading relentlessly. The harbor, already marred by flames and debris, shattered further under the barrage. Explosions bloomed like roses of fire, and towering columns of smoke billowed skyward—so thick, they were visible from the far edge of Donzik Island.
Aboard the lead navy ship, the vice admiral in command narrowed his eyes. "Don't stop," he muttered coldly. "Target Germa. Bombard everything."
With this new front opening, Germa's fleet was forced to shift their formation. Ships spun about, gun ports flaring open, and a brutal artillery duel erupted over the waves.
Yuno, seeing the naval forces pull Germa's focus, allowed himself a breath—but only one.
His brow remained furrowed.
He had taken no serious injuries, but the continuous rain of shells had tested his patience. A low, thunderous growl echoed in his chest—not from pain, but rage.
And then he moved again.
GETSUGA TENSHO!!!!!
Another arc of condensed lightning-infused sword force tore across the sea, cleaving a fifth snail ship from bow to stern. Splinters and fire flew.
Six, no—seven ships, all sent to the depths by one man.
Judge stared at the devastation, fists clenched so hard blood seeped from his palms. A flicker of fear shone in his eyes, quickly drowned by wrath.
His life's work—his clone army—was being butchered in minutes. The precious laboratory data had already vanished. Worst of all, he had now fully provoked the navy.
This battle was supposed to be a show of dominance. Instead, he was being humiliated. And it was all because of that masked man.
"DAMN IT!!"
With a roar of fury, Judge launched himself forward, moving like a bolt loosed from a war bow.
Yuno, distracted by the incoming navy shells, snapped his fingers—crack!—blasting apart the incoming projectiles with threads of white lightning. But the distraction cost him dearly.
He didn't sense the high-speed approach until it was too late.
Judge's spear, charged with voltage so dense it hummed violently, pierced the smoke and slashed toward him like a comet. Yuno's eyes widened.
"Shit! A sneak—!"
He barely had time to cross his arms in defense.
BOOM!
The spear struck him dead-on.
An eruption of electricity tore through Yuno's body, lighting up his veins in jagged lines as the impact hurled him like a ragdoll. The world spun before his eyes before he smashed into a nearby tower—stone and steel crumpling as he plowed through the structure like a cannonball.
The building collapsed.
Dust and rubble swallowed the street.
A moment of silence followed… broken only by Judge's heavy breathing, the crackle of static still dancing from his spear.
But in the ruins—beneath the shattered stone—something shifted.