Ever since Roger announced they were "speeding up," the Oro Jackson had become like a wild beast breaking free from all its shackles.
The crew no longer deliberately avoided Navy patrol zones, no longer lingered too long on islands for supplies, and even their parties were more urgent and wilder than before.
Sorrow was buried deep in their hearts, fermenting into scorching fuel that drove this legendary ship charging toward fate's finish line.
New World, Edd War Sea.
The weather was clear with not a cloud in sight. Seagulls chased the waves at the ship's stern, and everything seemed peaceful and serene.
"Hey! Kyle! The weather's great today, how about a fishing contest?" Shanks came running over enthusiastically, shouldering a fishing rod taller than himself.
Buggy followed behind, holding a deluxe tackle box, snorting disdainfully: "Kyle's not as childish as you! He's definitely thinking about some great navigation strategy! Right, Kyle?"
Kyle was leaning against the ship's rail, whittling wood with a small knife. At their words, he just smiled without saying anything.
Just then, the lookout's voice cracked with alarm: "Above! Everyone! Look up!"
The chatter on deck came to an abrupt halt.
Everyone looked up in confusion, and in the next second, all their pupils contracted sharply.
A massive shadow enveloped the Oro Jackson, as if an entire continent had floated overhead.
That wasn't a cloud, but a fleet of at least twenty-five massive pirate ships blocking out the sun!
These vessels defied logic by floating in the air, casting shadows that turned bright day instantly dark as dusk.
At the fleet's front, on a flagship decorated with a golden lion's head, a burly man with long golden hair like a lion's mane stood with hands clasped behind his back, looking down at them from above.
"Shiki... the Golden Lion!" Gaban recognized that figure, unconsciously tightening his grip on the twin axes at his waist.
Every crew member tensed like they were facing a mortal enemy. Before this massive, almost suffocating pressure, the Oro Jackson seemed as small and helpless as a toy.
"Yo, Roger!" Shiki's voice rolled like thunder, carrying the arrogance of one who looked down on the world. "Long time no see! You look like you're in quite a hurry—did you find something good?"
Roger looked up at him and grinned, showing white teeth: "Gu ha ha ha! It's Shiki! You still love floating around up there—afraid of falling in and drowning?"
"Cut the crap!" Shiki waved his hand casually, bringing his fleet down to the height of the Oro Jackson's main mast. "Roger, I have a plan that could change the world, and all I need is a man like you!"
He spread his arms as if to embrace the entire world: "I have the mightiest fleet on these seas, the most elite subordinates! And you know the location of that legendary Ancient Weapon capable of destroying the world!"
"Become my right hand, Roger!" Shiki's eyes burned with fervor. "Combine your power with my forces! Together we'll own this world! Wealth, fame, power! Everything you could want will be within reach!"
His voice was full of temptation, and the Flying Pirates' crew listened with gleaming eyes, unable to help swallowing.
The Oro Jackson's deck fell deathly silent as everyone looked at Roger, waiting for his answer.
Roger's smile slowly faded. He just quietly looked at Shiki, as if looking at some fool from the neighboring port.
"Shiki!" he spoke up, his voice not loud but clearly reaching everyone's ears. "I have absolutely no interest in boring stuff like ruling the world!"
He paused, then broke into that signature fearless smile again: "What's the point of being a pirate if you're not free?"
Shiki's expression instantly darkened, the fervor in his eyes turning to cold killing intent: "So you're refusing? Roger, you're asking for death!"
"The meaning is we're going to take you all down!"
"Men! Since he doesn't know what's good for him, let's blow him and his ship to smithereens!"
At his command, the cannon mouths of all twenty-five warships in the sky turned toward the lone vessel on the sea.
"Fire!"
"BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM—!"
Deafening cannon fire echoed through the sky as hundreds and thousands of cannonballs rained down like black storm clouds, trailing death's screaming wind.
"All hands, intercept!"
Rayleigh's voice cut through the explosive thunder, his long sword somehow already drawn.
Without even looking back, he swung in a reverse grip. A flash of silver sword light streaked through the air, and the leading cannonballs were instantly sliced in perfect halves, exploding into two symmetrical bursts of flame in midair.
Kyle stepped forward and threw an utterly ordinary punch.
"Bang!"
With a muffled sound, the air in front of him visibly twisted.
Then, within a fan-shaped area, over a dozen cannonballs crashed into what seemed like an invisible wall and exploded thunderously!
Gaban was even more direct. Laughing loudly, he released his twin axes from his waist. They became two high-speed spinning wheels of death, carving brilliant yet deadly trajectories through the cannon rain, leaving explosions wherever they passed.
The crew members roared at their positions, wielding swords and manning the ship's small cannons, desperately intercepting any that slipped through.
However, this was ultimately an overwhelming numerical disadvantage.
Two fists couldn't defeat four hands; one ship could hardly stand against an entire fleet.
A main sail was torn open by a cannonball and fell burning.
The hull shook violently from explosion after explosion, wood chips and gunpowder smoke filled the deck, and several times the ship tilted to dangerous angles, nearly swallowed by the waves.
"Damn it! It's like rain—never ending!" Nozdon punched away a cannonball, his arm numb from the impact.
"Hard to port! Avoid the direct fire!" Spencer shouted, dripping with sweat.
Shanks and Buggy stood back to back, struggling against the explosive shockwaves.
Buggy's face was pale with terror as he cried out: "We're gonna die, we're gonna die! This time we're really gonna die! Shanks, you bastard, don't pull me! Behind the mast is safest!"
Shanks completely ignored him, his small figure gripping his saber, focused on cutting through explosive debris flying toward him.
Shiki watched the struggling Oro Jackson from his flagship with cold eyes, a cruel smile playing at his lips. "Roger, is this your answer? How pathetic!"
He drew his twin swords "Oto" and "Kogarashi" from his waist and pointed them at the sea below.
"Lion's Might: Earth Roll!"
As soon as he spoke, the calm sea suddenly boiled!
Two mountain-sized streams of water were forcibly pulled from the sea by invisible power, spinning and roaring in the air before finally forming two ferocious water lions that opened their massive jaws and lunged fiercely at the Oro Jackson!
If this attack landed, it would be enough to severely damage the Oro Jackson.
"Gu ha ha ha! Is that all you've got, Shiki!" Roger laughed heartily, his eyes piercing through smoke and fire to lock onto that golden figure in the sky.
Before his words finished, he kicked off powerfully with both legs, shooting skyward straight toward Shiki's flagship!
"Arrogant!" Shiki's eyes flashed coldly—this was the moment he'd been waiting for! Crossing his twin swords, he slashed down at that unstoppable figure!
"CLANG—!"
The instant their blades collided, a visible shockwave exploded outward with them at the center!
Black-red lightning frantically coiled and burst around Roger's saber "Ace"!
Shiki's twin swords were similarly covered with top-tier Armament Haki, but at the moment of collision, he felt an incomparably brutal force surge from the blade, numbing his arms and splitting his palm. He was forcibly knocked back several steps in midair.
The two water lions lunging at the Oro Jackson also collapsed thunderously in the collision's aftershock, returning to torrential rain that fell back to the sea.
"So this is your power, Roger!" Not only did Shiki show no fear, he broke into an excited, savage grin. "Excellent! Very good!"
The two engaged in lightning-fast offense and defense on the flagship's deck.
Flashing blades and sparking steel!
Each collision exploded with visible shockwaves as black-red lightning and golden sword light intertwined and burst, carving the flagship's solid deck into a network of gouges.
The pirates on the ship couldn't get close—the slightest approach would have them coughing blood from the aftershocks of the two fighters, flying like broken sacks to crash unconscious against the railings.
"Slashing Wave!"
Shiki swung his blade, and a golden slash like a flying blade tore the very air apart!
"Divine Departure!" Roger neither dodged nor avoided, meeting it with his own strike. The black-red blade light was even more domineering, directly splitting the golden slash down the middle and continuing toward Shiki with undiminished force!
"Whoa! Did you see that, Shanks!"
On the Oro Jackson, Buggy hid behind a broken mast, poking out his little head and pointing excitedly at the distant flagship: "The captain's almost wrecked their ship! Shiki's finished!"
"Idiot! Watch the front!"
Shanks shouted without looking back, backhanding his blade to deflect a stray cannonball.
Buggy jumped in fright. Just as he pulled his head back, a burning piece of wood whooshed past his nose and smashed where his head had been, turning his face green with terror.
"We're gonna die, we're gonna die! People really will die!"
The battle below had also reached white heat.
However, this was ultimately an overwhelming numerical disadvantage.
Two fists couldn't defeat four hands; one ship could hardly stand against an entire fleet.
Kyle stood at the stern, placed his palms on the wet deck, and closed his eyes.
He needed an opportunity, a medium that would let him maximize his abilities.
Just then, without warning, the previously clear sky suddenly darkened.
Not because of Shiki's fleet, but from real storm clouds.
Howling winds arose, the sea began churning violently, lightning tore across the sky, followed by rolling thunder.
A sudden, unprecedented storm had arrived.
"What's happening?!" Shiki steadied himself, looking at this bizarre weather change and cursing: "Damn it! Of all times!"
Towering waves rose, sea currents became chaotic, and the airborne fleet began rocking violently in the fierce winds, their cannon accuracy greatly reduced.
The Roger Pirates were also stunned—this storm came too suddenly, too strangely.
"Is heaven helping us?" Gaban wiped rainwater from his face and laughed heartily.
Only Kyle suddenly opened his eyes the moment the storm arrived.
Far from panicking, a terrifying light ignited in his golden pupils.
Indeed, the opportunity had come!
Kyle murmured to himself, extending both hands with palms toward the turbulent sea: "Now, this is my domain!"
He didn't even need to create new waves, but directly took control of the fury the storm had given this sea.
Invisible ripples spread outward with him at the center, and the originally chaotic giant waves seemed to have found their king.
Rows of massive waves dozens of meters high, comparable to mountain ranges, defied natural law by changing direction and roaring skyward, charging straight at Shiki's airborne fleet!
"What?!" The pirates in the sky watched in terror as seawater lunged at them like giant beasts.
Kyle looked up at the lightning-filled storm clouds above.
He cupped his hands as if grasping countless invisible strings.
The wild lightning in the sky was no longer random—it began gathering and weaving according to Kyle's will, as if hearing a summons.
"BOOM!"
A lightning bolt thick as a divine spear precisely pierced a pirate ship's powder magazine, triggering violent chain explosions.
Flames and lightning complemented each other in the sky like a symphony of destruction.
"BOOM!" "RUMBLE!"
Lightning bolt after lightning bolt fell with precision, snapping masts, igniting sails, even splitting entire ships down the middle.
The giant waves on the sea and the thunder above became a three-dimensional assault against the Flying Pirates under Kyle's control, attacking from both sea and sky.
"It's Kyle! Kyle did this!" Buggy pointed at Kyle, his voice trembling with fear and shock. "That guy... he's not human! He's the storm itself!"
The other Roger Pirates stared dumbfounded at this scene.
They knew Kyle was a Devil Fruit user, but never imagined his fruit ability could reach such world-destroying levels.
Kyle: I don't create storms, I'm just nature's delivery man!
"You bastard!" On the flagship, Shiki watched his fleet falling into the sea like dumplings, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
He roared, trying to restabilize his fleet, but before Kyle-enhanced natural disaster-level storms, human strength seemed so small.
Just as he was distracted by his furious roar, an unprecedented giant wave, like an invisible giant hand, slammed hard into the pirate ship he stood on.
"BOOM—!!!"
The entire flagship was sent tumbling, pirates thrown into the raging sea.
Shiki was also sent flying by this tremendous force, spinning through the air.
In the chaos, a ship's wheel broken by the wave was caught by the hurricane and came spinning like a spear.
"Thunk!"
A muffled sound.
Amidst the wind, rain, and lightning, the high-speed spinning ship's wheel struck perfectly, driving deep into Shiki's head from above.
The supreme ship's wheel strike!
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
Shiki hung in midair, eyes wide, his expression frozen in that moment of shock and pain.
Blood flowed down the wheel and his golden hair, looking both bizarre and ridiculous.
He wasn't dead, but for him, this battle was over.
With Shiki's severe injury, the storm seemed to exhaust its strength and gradually calmed.
The clouds dispersed, sunlight shone down again, and only the burning, sinking wreckage of over twenty ships remained on the sea.
Though the Oro Jackson was also battle-scarred, it still floated stubbornly on the surface.
The quality of Treasure Tree Adam, bro!
The crew looked at this devastated battlefield, then at Kyle standing at the stern with only a slightly pale face, unable to speak for a long time.
Roger sheathed his sword, walked to Kyle's side, and punched his shoulder while laughing loudly.
"Gu ha ha ha! Beautifully done, Kyle!"