At the same time, Blackbeard's crew appeared on the gloomy Level 6. Since Dragon had only rescued Jinbe, the other vicious criminals were still locked in their cells. After the recent uproar, Level 6 was already in a state of chaos, and the appearance of the Blackbeard Pirates brought the situation to a boiling point.
"Xi hahahaha! You trash, you have no dreams and can only waste away in a cage. Since all you can do is wait to die, why don't you fight to your heart's content in here?" Blackbeard grinned, his crooked teeth showing. He raised his arms and shouted, "The ones who survive will become my crew, and I'll bring you back your freedom! What do you say?"
"Hey, you ugly bastard, are you serious?" a voice from one of the cells asked.
"As long as we win, we can get out of this hellhole? That's... simple enough," another replied.
"Hahahaha! This is a great idea! It fits my needs perfectly. After being stuck in this place for so long, I've almost forgotten what it feels like to kill someone!"
"Damn it! When I get out, I'm going to kill those Revolutionary Army bastards! They dared to ignore my plea for help!"
"That's right! We can't let them get away with it!"
The sounds of shouting and fighting immediately echoed throughout Level 6. These murderers, without the slightest hesitation, began to fight, even against their former partners. All of them were scum. The Blackbeard Pirates didn't care about their character; all he wanted was strong fighters. As for morality... who could be worse than Blackbeard himself?
But when Blackbeard's eyes fell upon a few shadowy figures in the depths of the cells, a rare look of fear crossed his face. No matter how arrogant he was, he knew there were some legendary figures here that he absolutely couldn't afford to offend.
The battle on the warship quickly escalated. Onigumo initially thought his superior numbers would quickly turn the tide, but Jinbe's ability to manipulate the underwater currents prevented the other five warships from providing effective support. Onigumo himself was being relentlessly attacked by Sabo.
Anxiously, he called out to Adrian. "Corpse Collector! Didn't you say you'd prevent them from escaping? Why aren't you doing anything?!"
"Hey, Vice Admiral Onigumo, are you asking for my help?" Adrian said with a smirk, as if it had nothing to do with him. "Besides, they haven't been successfully rescued yet."
"You... damn it! All pirates are truly unreliable!" Onigumo sensed Adrian was toying with him and was infuriated. A proud Buster Call Vice Admiral and Akainu's most trusted subordinate, he had never been so disrespected.
That moment of distraction was all Sabo needed. "You can't get distracted while fighting me!" Sabo's laugh came from right beside Onigumo. Onigumo's expression changed, but it was too late to defend. He instantly wrapped his upper body in Armament Haki, ready to take the hit.
"It's no use... Dragon Claw!" Sabo's hand, also covered in Armament Haki, struck Onigumo's head. In the original Dressrosa arc, Sabo used this move to shatter the fighting champion Burgess's armor, which was also coated in Armament Haki. Unless your Armament Haki was significantly more advanced than Sabo's, this attack was impossible to block.
Crack!
A bone-cracking sound echoed as Onigumo's head was struck. The next moment, a fountain of blood erupted, and Onigumo's body collapsed to the ground. To save his two brothers, Sabo had used all his strength.
"Bravo," Adrian applauded. "Truly worthy of Dragon's direct disciple. Your physical abilities and Haki are far beyond what a normal person could achieve. It seems the strongest of the three of you is really you, Sabo."
Sabo finally noticed Adrian. He looked at him with suspicion. "Aren't you with Marine? Why didn't you help him?"
"Who said I was with Marine?" Adrian glanced at Onigumo's corpse. "But there is one thing I agree with Marine on... and that's that no one is getting rescued today."
As he spoke, a huge "sand monster arm" rose from behind him. It grabbed the Revolutionary Army's southern commander, Lindbergh, who was about to attack with his ice gun.
Pop!
With a slight squeeze of Adrian's hand, Lindbergh, trapped in the sand monster's grip, didn't even have a chance to scream. He was instantly crushed into a puddle of flesh.
"Lindbergh!" Sabo was horrified, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He never expected this guy, who looked to be the same age as Luffy, to be so powerful. With a single move, he had killed an advanced Revolutionary Army commander in such a brutal, bloody way.
"So the Revolutionary Army's southern commander is this powerful, huh? With this kind of strength were you guys talking big for decades without daring to take on the World Government?" Adrian mocked with a look of disdain.
"Damn it... Dragon's Breath!" A furious look appeared on Sabo's face as he shouted. He covered both arms in pure Armament Haki and struck Adrian with enough power to sink a warship.
"... Slash Wave!" Adrian scoffed, pulling out his sword, Oto, and casually slashing. A massive blade wave shot forward.
Crack!
Sabo's entire right arm was sent flying, and blood spurted from the wound.
"Argh!" Sabo's face contorted in pain as he screamed, his slender body rolling on the deck, which was soon stained with blood. He couldn't understand it. His arm was coated in Armament Haki. How could it not withstand the opponent's slash?
"You're being noisy," Adrian said, kicking Sabo unconscious with a raised foot. He then turned to Ace and Luffy and smiled. "It's all good now. You three brothers are finally together. A good brother shouldn't just be born in the same year and month, but die in the same year and month! This should fulfill your childhood promise."
Ace and Luffy were petrified. Luffy, the clueless idiot, was crying loudly, shouting nonsense like "Give Sabo his arm back!" and "I swear I'll beat you up!" It was only now that he truly understood how strong Adrian was.
But Ace, who had been tempered by the Whitebeard Pirates, was silent, his face pale with fear. Sabo's attack just now might have injured him, but Adrian had effortlessly countered and cut his arm off. This calm power was something he had only seen once in his life: in his father, Whitebeard!
Does this guy have the combat strength of a Yonko? But he looks like he's not even 20 years old! The damned monster!
"Hey, what are you useless guys doing? Hurry up and tie him up!" Adrian ordered the terrified Marine soldiers. The reason he didn't kill Sabo was that he was worried a single prisoner, Luffy, wouldn't be enough to force Dragon to show up at the Summit War. With the addition of the Revolutionary Army's second-in-command, it was a much safer bet. Dragon would have no choice but to show up in person.
"Bastard! What did you do to Sabo and Lindbergh?" Karasu roared from the sky. His body instantly transformed into a swarm of black crows that shot toward Adrian's vital points like sharp arrows.
"It seems you and they were very close. I'll send you down to reunite with them... Lion: Thousand Slice Valley!" Adrian pulled out his sword, Kogarashi, and a pillar of sand rose from his feet. Then, a huge, crescent-shaped, golden blade wave flew into the sky, enveloping the black crows.
Rumble!
The thunderous explosion shook the sky, and blood and minced meat rained down, which was a horrifying spectacle.
"Brother Ace, I'm sorry, but I have to get this news back first..." Jinbe had struggled underwater for a long time before finally diving deeper. Adrian's power far exceeded his expectations. He had killed three people with a few simple moves. This was someone Jinbe could not handle. His only option was to get the news to Dragon so they could prepare.
A dead silence fell over the deck. In less than five minutes, with the exception of Jinbe who escaped, three of the Revolutionary Army's top commanders—who had just moments ago overwhelmed the Marines—were either dead or seriously injured. The surrounding Marines were so terrified they had forgotten to even collect Onigumo's corpse. No one dared to come within ten meters of Adrian. They were afraid of offending this god of death.
"Come over here and transfer Ace and the other two to a different ship. Then, continue toward the Gates of Justice. I'll stay here to handle any remaining enemies," Adrian ordered.
He wasn't being kind. He had to keep the Summit War on schedule. Besides, he planned to go to Impel Down later to "harvest" some more.
"Yes, sir!" At that moment, no one on the warship dared to disobey his order. Ace and the two others were quickly transferred to another ship, and the five warships sped away as if fleeing for their lives.
"Even if they're not strong, it's a waste to leave them here," Adrian said, looking at the corpses of Onigumo and Lindbergh, who had been flattened into a pancake. He then lightly tapped his right foot on the deck.
Rumble!
With a slight tremor, two pitch-black coffins slowly rose from the ground.
Clank...
Immediately, two chains shaped like ghostly claws shot out of the open coffins, dragging the corpses of Onigumo and Lindbergh inside. As for Karasu... he had been disintegrated by the earlier slash.
At the same time, a system notification sounded in Adrian's mind.
[Ding! The system has detected the bodies of 'Onigumo' and 'Lindbergh,' who died within a day. The conditions for plundering have been met. Host, please choose between [Common Plunder] or [VIP Plunder]?]
"Of course, I'll use Common Plunder. Why would I waste a billion Berries on these guys?"
[Ding! Host's selection is complete. Proceeding with [Common Plundering]. The system will randomly draw one ability from the newly deceased. Host, please ensure the coffins are not disturbed by anyone other than the host for five minutes, or the plunder time will reset!]
As the notification ended, the black coffin lids on both sides closed with a heavy thud.
"Huh, it's all plunder. But there's still a big difference between the payed one and free one." Adrian's eyes flashed with excitement as he slowly turned to the foggy sea behind him, muttering to himself. "Dragon, you've really put in a lot of effort to save your son."