With the audacious gambit of detonating Methane Hydrate beneath the sea, Zephyr-san and his forces had instantly annihilated the Marine warships lying in formation and were now heading toward Pirio Island.
Naturally, we couldn't let that happen. We'd been hiding in the clouds on standby high above, and now we lowered our ship to block their course, planting ourselves directly in their path.
The plan was to board the Neo Marines' ship and fight them head-on.
But right at that same moment, just as I'd expected, an "intruder" showed up too.
While we blocked the Neo Marines' path from the front, they came charging in from behind, driving them forward.
Riding a Flying Ship, they plowed straight in.
The result:
"Good grief... I suppose they really won't let us through without a fight."
"'Neo Marines Supreme Commander: Z.' 'Pirate Literary Master: Venerdi Toto Sue.' Two targets confirmed. S-Ibis will now eliminate the objectives."
"We're getting this climax feel the moment the fight starts... so much for setup, development, twist, and conclusion."
The girl, presumably a Seraphim, came crashing toward Zephyr-san's Neo Marines flagship aboard her Flying Ship. Other ships threw themselves in as shields to intercept, preventing a direct collision.
Still, amid the rain of debris, the girl herself boarded the vessel. S-Ibis, or whatever she'd called herself. She looked at us with the same cold, inorganic eyes devoid of anything resembling emotion, just like when I'd seen her on Sekan Island a few days ago.
There were some differences from back then, though.
First, her equipment.
Ibis (probably her call sign), when we'd fought before, hadn't been wearing any particularly mechanical equipment or parts. Sure, things had extended from inside her body with a sort of metallic snap, but still.
Today, both her hands and feet were fitted with mechanical-looking gauntlets and greaves.
The level of blatant "artificial" feel was reminiscent of post-timeskip Franky's gear. At that point, those didn't look like equipment anymore; they honestly looked like actual robotic limbs. Wait, did she swap out parts? Detachable hands and feet?
...My face (from when I was little) with robot limbs. Kind of an unsettling sight, honestly.
And the second difference: unlike last time, she wasn't alone.
She had companions, it seemed.
Companions... I think. They had a similar look about them.
All four of those "companions" didn't share my appearance like Ibis did, though. All four of them looked like Kuma.
Specifically, a younger, child-aged version of Kuma. Yet they still had the same black wings, flames on their backs, and dark skin as Ibis. Most likely, they were Seraphim as well.
Five units total. Whether their combat capabilities were on the same level, I had no idea, but... what to do about this?
If they were only on par with the Pacifista that appeared during the Summit War, no problem at all, but... that was probably wishful thinking.
So much I didn't understand, but it seemed I didn't have the luxury of leisurely analysis.
"All Neo Marines personnel, intercept the attackers! But there's no need to fight to annihilation! Our objective remains the same: break through the defense line and reach Pirio Island! We detonate the Dyna Stones there and complete the Grand Reboot! All ships carrying Dyna Stones, advance toward Pirio Island! Everyone else, provide full support!"
"...S-Ibis to all units, mission directive. Zero One, Zero Two, Zero Three: detect the high-energy signatures aboard the vessels, identify the ships transporting Dyna Stones, and destroy them. Zero Four, accompany me in eliminating the two targets."
"...Zero One to S-Ibis. Unable to detect Dyna Stone signatures from any vessel. Estimated that concealment has been implemented using containers made of sensor-blocking materials."
"Acknowledged. Orders revised: attack indiscriminately and sink them all."
"Hmph, you think we'll let you? All hands, move it! The enemy won't wait around!"
At the same moment as Zephyr-san's roar, three Kuma-looking Seraphim moved. Zero One or whatever they'd just been called. Utterly impersonal, code-like names. Anyway, they moved.
One floated gently into the air and relocated. One vanished with such speed it seemed to simply disappear. The last one secreted some kind of viscous slime from its body, formed it into a dragon's neck, traveled through it, and relocated. Each one moved to a different ship.
...Wait, hold on. What was that just now? All three of those looked familiar somehow.
Especially the last one. Extremely familiar. I'd fought against it, the impression was so strong I remembered it vividly... hey!?
"They really aren't waiting around, things just keep escalating... Fine, no choice! Everyone, we're splitting up! Suzu, Leona, Alice, you three chase after those Kuma-looking things that just took off! If they detonate Dyna Stones at this range, not just our ships but every ship in the area is done for! Snow and Iris, back them up! As for Zephyr-san and that Ibis girl..."
Mid-sentence,
A massive pulse.
I used Conqueror's Haki without an ounce of restraint or hesitation.
...Good. Half of them, no, maybe a bit more than that. That should make the numerical disadvantage much more manageable.
"I'll handle them. That's all. Move."
"""Understood!"""
The three girls who had grown enormously over the past year as pirates, which is to say as my subordinates in the Golden Lion Pirates, flipped their switches cleanly and began moving on my orders.
Whether I should be happy about this kind of "growth" as a parent was a bit debatable, but... let's chalk it up to work mode. They really were reliable. And off-duty, they were as adorable as ever.
Then my two biological daughters from the future, Snow and Iris, moved to follow.
Snow went with Leona, and Iris went with Suzu, it seemed. That left Alice on her own, but she'd be fine. She was the strongest of the three.
And if things got dire, Blume and Beauty, whom I'd left on ship-watching duty, would provide backup.
Besides, I had my own situation to worry about. Whether I could afford to be watching the others was honestly questionable. Not with these two-plus opponents in front of me.
Before me stood Zephyr-san, Battle Smasher at the ready.
Ibis, clenching and unclenching her mechanical hand with a whirring hum as if testing the feel. Beside her, the fourth Kuma-type Seraphim, whose call sign I didn't know.
Most of the Neo Marines soldiers in the vicinity had been knocked out by my Conqueror's Haki, so they were mostly a non-issue. If anything, I was worried about them getting caught up in the battle about to start and dying, but... sorry, like I said, I didn't have the luxury to worry about that. My apologies.
I drew the Japanese umbrella from my back, leveling its tip forward like a weapon.
The next instant, without so much as a signal, everyone burst into motion as if spring-loaded, and the battle began.
☆☆☆
Around the same time the battle between Sue, Z, and Ibis erupted on the deck of the Neo Marines flagship, fighting had already broken out on the ships that Suzu and the others had pursued their targets to.
"Pad Cannon."
"Whoa, wh...!?"
Leona had chased the unit designated Zero One.
Its hands bore paw pads, and as it thrust its palm forward, an Air Cannonball of light-speed repelled air came hurtling at her.
But between her Observation Haki and her own sharp instincts, bordering on wild animal intuition, Leona sensed it and leaped clear.
Several Neo Marines soldiers behind her were caught in the blast and sent flying.
"That's... the real Bartholomew Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit Powers, isn't it? The real one's still alive, so how can this thing use the same ability? ...Could this be a future thing?"
"...No, probably not."
Leona had been talking mostly to herself, but Snow, who had come along, answered.
"This is also future knowledge, but... the Seraphim apparently use an artificial blood called Green Blood, developed by Dr. Vegapunk, which lets them use replicated Devil Fruit Powers. That's most likely why this Seraphim can use the Paw-Paw Fruit's abilities."
"Replicating Devil Fruit abilities... they can do that? That's amazing, Vegapunk. Wonder who's more impressive, him or Granny."
Even as she spoke with admiration, Leona's focus stayed firmly on the fight. She dodged another incoming Pad Cannon, closed the distance in an instant, and slipped inside its guard.
Shifting into Hybrid Form, she clenched her fist, charged it with Haki, and swung straight at its face. A metallic clang rang out and Zero One reeled backward, sent flying.
"Hard... I put Haki into that punch and it barely felt it. Tough as advertised."
"That's how powerful the Lunarian Tribe's traits are... it will get back up immediately. Please be careful."
"I know... but hey, Snow, isn't the way you talk kinda stiff? If you're Mama's daughter, then you and me are sisters, right? So why're you talking like you're a subordinate or something..."
"Huh? W-well, that's... for me, it just feels like... Aunt Leona, even though we share the same Mother, the age gap makes you significantly my senior, so I just... can't help being conscious of it..."
"Ah right, we're sisters but also aunt and niece... that's kinda complicated. But wait, age-wise you're actually older than me, aren't you, Snow?"
"That's only because I came from the future. Back then, Aunt Leona was properly older than me... well, no, um... you had already passed away, so I never actually met you, but..."
"Oh right, that's how it was. Sorr... hm?"
"...!"
"Ursus Shock."
In the middle of their conversation, a massive air bomb was suddenly launched at them from beyond the dust cloud. A sneak attack.
The instant that strike was unleashed, powerful enough to destroy a warship whole, Snow had already sprung forward. She channeled the earthquake power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit into the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in her hands.
Her swing shattered the incoming air bomb, completely canceling out the shockwave and obliterating it.
The impact even rebounded as if knocked back, sending Zero One flying yet again. Even so, the Seraphim showed almost no sign of injury.
"Please don't let your guard down, Aunt Leona. It may be easy for you to dodge, but if they detonate any Dyna Stones loaded on this ship, the damage would be catastrophic."
"Right, I forgot. Thanks, Snow."
☆☆☆
On a different ship, Suzu, Iris, and Zero Two were locked in battle.
Massive quantities of toxic slime poured from Zero Two's body, forming into three-headed dragons that rampaged in every direction.
Already, dozens of Neo Marines soldiers had fallen victim to those quite literal Fangs of venom, collapsing in agony.
Suzu was using her Mud-Mud Fruit Powers to produce enormous amounts of mud from her body, expelling it in a Muddy Torrent that washed away the poison and swept everything off the deck and into the sea.
Iris, too, was countering the same way, having her Homies companion Pneuma release torrents of water.
"I see, so that is 'Green Blood'... what an outlandish thing they have made. According to what I heard from Granny, the current state of artificially replicating Devil Fruits only had workable prospects for Zoan-types... but as expected of the scientist called the world's greatest."
"Technically it's not as an actual 'Fruit,' but still. And anyway, everywhere you look it's poison, poison, poison, can't even get close... ugh, this is so frustrating! Isn't this way too annoying?"
"Master, want me to just burn it all?"
"No, Ifijar! If you mess up the intensity and ignite the Dyna Stones on this ship, it'll be a catastrophe! Besides, Mom said that thing can potentially produce flammable poison too..."
"Yeah, yeah, got it. I'll behave and just... there."
Grumbling as if sulking, Ifijar casually shot flames diagonally behind them.
"Kh...!?"
Ain, who had been there, sneaking up from behind Suzu's group to launch a surprise attack, hastily leaped aside to dodge the flames.
While dodging, she picked her landing spots carefully, jumping around to avoid the spatters of poison dotting the deck.
"Don't push yourself. You're not in great shape yourself, so quit picking fights with us. It's a pain."
"Ifijar, your phrasing... that just sounds like you're provoking her."
"I... I am a Vice Admiral of the Neo Marines! I won't... I won't let the likes of you interfere with Zephyr-sensei! Not here!"
"See? You just made her angrier."
"...Also, what's a 'Vice Admiral'? Sounds like a rank."
"Going by the words themselves, it would be something like 'Vice Admiral,' would it not? A Marine Vice Admiral of the Neo Marines... a position akin to a Grand Executive, I would say."
"...Her?"
"I'm telling you..."
"...You're... mocking me...! I..."
"Hey, Vice-Whatever. Eyes front. Here it comes."
"!?"
"Hydra."
Once again, the toxic dragon's necks came stretching toward them.
As if returning the favor, Suzu formed a dragon's neck out of mud and slammed it into the poison, canceling it out. Iris swung her sword and launched a Flying Slash to kill the momentum, after which Pneuma blasted it away with a high-pressure water jet.
Ain leaped backward to evade.
While evading, she fired a barrage from her dual pistols into Zero Two's main body, but it didn't seem to have even the slightest effect.
"That Vice-whatever aside, what a troublesome thing that poison is. Mother said she had a hard time fighting it at Impel Down too, and I can see why. It sprays the stuff around so recklessly that getting close is nigh impossible, and on top of that, its defenses are an Iron Wall. Whittling it down from range is difficult as well, yet if we unleash anything too powerful, the ship is done for. Now then, what to do..."
☆☆☆
And over here, yet another ship.
Fighting were Alice and Zero Three.
And Zero Three's ability was...
"Wh-whooaaaa!?"
"H-help... I'm, I'm falling... aaahh!"
The warship that Zero Three touched floated gently upward... then flipped completely upside down.
Soldiers on deck, unable to cope with the sudden reversal, fell screaming into the sea one after another.
Zero Three had no problem, floating under its own power.
And Alice had no problem either, using Reversal to invert gravity and hover in midair.
"Grandpa's Float-Float Fruit ability, huh. Probably reproduced artificially through some method, or maybe... well, anyway..."
In a sense, it was a deeply familiar Devil Fruit ability. She knew exactly what it could do, of course.
Including just how troublesome it could be when turned against you.
Yet not a shred of anxiety or panic showed on Alice's face.
If anything, she looked completely at ease, flashing a confident grin.
"Even if you can copy the ability itself, Mastery is a whole different story, it seems."
The next moment, whether the ability had been released or not, the warship that had been floating came crashing down all at once.
If it struck the ocean surface as-is, the ordnance stored aboard would ignite in a massive explosion, and if this ship happened to be carrying Dyna Stones, a secondary detonation would be inevitable.
Even if it wasn't, the blast's shockwave could reach surrounding ships, and if any of those were carrying Dyna Stones... the outcome might not be much different.
Alice solved the problem simply by touching the ship and activating her Reversal ability.
She inverted gravity and dropped it the opposite way: into the sky. Then she adjusted the degree of Reversal at an appropriate altitude and brought it to a stop.
Zero Three flew at her to exploit the opening, but Alice merely glanced its way, lightly dodged the incoming Laser, and fired the gun in her hand.
A Haki-infused bullet buried itself right between Zero Three's eyebrows. The Seraphim recoiled, but showed no sign of actual injury.
"Tough as advertised. Just as I'd heard. But your ability usage is still amateurish... Grandpa would fly many times faster than you."
Even as she spoke, she kicked off the air to accelerate, easily catching up to Zero Three as it tried to flee.
She dodged the Lasers fired to keep her at bay, slipped inside its guard, and with the hand not holding the gun, drew a tonfa and swung.
The tonfa struck the crown of its head with a resounding crash.
The impact sent its body spinning in a full rotation, and, apparently unable to maintain its ability properly, Zero Three began to fall.
But it recovered quickly and resumed floating. Once again, no real injury.
"Slow flight speed. Ability nearly deactivates from a little damage. And on top of that..."
Alice looked up at the warship she was currently keeping aloft.
"Can't re-levitate something once the ability's been released, from what I can see. The Mastery of the ability itself is sorely lacking. There seems to be plenty of raw output, but that's probably just brute-forcing it with cyborg stamina. Whether it's simply a freshly acquired ability that hasn't been trained enough to perform properly... or whether being a cyborg fundamentally prevents training and honing an ability in the first place..."
Still talking, she also glanced at the two units that Leona and Suzu were each dealing with.
"The Paw-Paw Fruit, well-balanced for offense, defense, and movement... The Poison-Poison Fruit, where just carelessly swinging around lethal poison is already dangerous enough... Maybe it's my bias, but they seem to have been unified around abilities that are reasonably strong even when simply wielded without finesse. The Float-Float Fruit, too, is powerful enough just flying around shooting Lasers or floating ships up and dropping them. Was that an intentional selection, I wonder? Chosen so that cyborgs don't need overly complex usage to still fight effectively. But..."
With a light tap, Alice landed on the deck of the warship floating inverted in the air, standing upside-down herself.
Looking up at (or rather, down at) Zero Three, which had regained its bearings, she smiled daringly and stowed the gun and tonfa she'd been holding.
"If you think that kind of half-baked combat capability is enough to beat us... you're in for a rude awakening. Well, I suppose you were created this way, so there's no point telling you that."
Then she drew something else. A different piece of armament.
It was shaped like a glove, or perhaps a gauntlet, meant to be worn on the hand.
"Lunarian Tribe Lineage Factor combined with replicated Paramecia abilities, huh... If I shut you down and bring you home to Grandma as a souvenir... think she'd be pleased?"
To be continued...