Madam Emily was awoken by a succession of deafening cannon fires.
Her enchanting, ocean-blue eyes narrowed slightly as she looked around, the familiar surroundings making her realize she was sleeping in her own room.
(To think it would flare up under these circumstances, that curse from the [Crimson]...)
Recalling that demon with blood-red eyes, even though a full ten years had passed, Emily could still feel that terror coming from the depths of her soul. She took a few deep gasps of air, wiped the thin sweat from her forehead, and her bloodless cheeks grew even paler.
(Without the [Bloodsource Bullets] for replenishment, with a body like mine, I really don't know how much longer I can hold out.)
Emily placed her hand over her left breast, feeling the steady thumping of her heart through a layer of thick fat. This stunning married woman flashed a genuine smile from the bottom of her heart.
Her heart was still beating.
"No matter what, to be able to live on as a normal person, I am already very satisfied."
BOOM!!! A tremendous roar suddenly echoed from outside the cabin, and the entire ship shuddered violently!
Madam Emily's expression shifted. Only now did she realize that her current situation was far from optimistic!
Rolling out of bed, she rushed to the cabin door. The moment Emily opened it, she saw a cannonball hurtling toward her with a piercing screech, causing her ocean-blue pupils to contract instantly in shock.
(What happened?!)
Madam Emily instinctively tried to dodge, but her frail body simply refused to listen to her commands.
At that absolute critical juncture—
"Guard Point!"
BANG! A tiny figure suddenly leapt into the air, expanding into a massive ball of dark brown fur in midair. Shielding Emily, its remarkable elasticity bounced the cannonball right back.
"Ah, you're awake, Madam Emily!" Returning to his original form, Chopper landed right in front of the guild president. "You should quickly head back inside the cabin, it's very dangerous out here!"
"You are from the Straw Hat ship..." Emily looked out into the distance. Upon seeing the flag flying from the invading enemy ship, she easily pieced together most of what was happening. She scanned left and right, but when she failed to find her precious son, her expression instantly grew tense. "Where is Napo? Where did he run off to?"
At the same time.
Next to the main cannon of the Napo, a certain brat who gave his mother endless gray hairs was rubbing his hair in frustration.
"Damn it! I was so close to hitting that pirate ship's powder magazine!"
Lowering his telescope, Napo barked orders at the sailors to reload the ammunition while muttering to himself, "As expected, precise strikes at this kind of long-range are just way too difficult."
BOOM!!!! An earth-shattering explosion rang out!
A massive pillar of fire erupted violently from the enemy ship Napo had just been aiming at. The raging flames reflected upon the sea with a blood-like brilliance, casting a crimson glow over everyone's shocked faces in the distance.
"The powder magazine... was hit by someone else?" Napo's jaw dropped in utter bewilderment. He truly hadn't expected anyone to be better at sharpshooting than him.
(This shouldn't be a shot from someone on our ship. Wait! Could it be...)
Snapping out of his daze at this thought, the young boy hurriedly ran to the ship's railing and looked toward the Going Merry.
There, on the deck of an old-fashioned caravel, wisps of blue smoke were still drifting from the muzzle of a cannon. Standing right behind the artillery piece was a long-nosed man.
He gazed quietly ahead, showing neither joy nor sorrow. The lenses of his goggles reflected the distant fire, and as the gentle sea breeze blew against him, he looked indescribably dashing.
(So... So incredible!) Tiny stars twinkled inside the little boy's sky-blue eyes.
At that very moment, he felt like he had found his idol.
"Nice shot, Usopp!" Nami flashed a thumbs-up, smiling at a certain long-nosed man who looked completely dumbfounded.
(Huh? What did I even hit? How did that ship just sink right away???)
Usopp stood dazed for quite a while before finally snapping out of it. He lifted his long nose high into the air and began to brag shamelessly, "Wahahahaha! Everything went exactly according to Great Captain Usopp's calculations!"
Usopp's astonishing display naturally drew the aggro of the remaining ships of the Ursa Pirates. In an instant, countless cannonballs came raining toward the Going Merry. Though their accuracy left much to be desired, the shockwaves from the explosions still caused the small ship to rock violently.
"Aaaaah! We're gonna get hit!" Watching a cannonball fly directly toward the Going Merry, Usopp lost his mind in terror, quickly crouching down while clutching his head.
"Cien Fleurs: Grand Net!"
Along with the scattering flower petals, countless arms formed a massive net over the Going Merry in an instant. When the cannonball hit this remarkably elastic net, it was immediately deflected to the side.
"Whew~~~ Thanks, Robin." Nami exhaled a long sigh of relief.
"It was nothing," the intellectual beauty smiled elegantly, keeping her arms crossed over her chest.
Flashes of sword-light flared, and several pirates shrieked in agony as they were slashed and sent flying.
What these pirates found even more unbelievable was that the barrel of their main cannon—forged from refined steel—had actually been sliced clean in two. The mirror-smooth cut made them wonder if the Oswald family had sold them defective goods.
"This guy can actually cut through steel!"
"How... how did we end up provoking such a terrifying bunch of enemies???"
Staring at the swordsman wearing a green bandana, this gang of small-fry pirates—whose combat power was barely a five—all took several steps back in unison.
"Though we had no prior grudges, if you guys want a fight..." Zoro firmly bit down on Wado Ichimonji, his gaze instantly turning as sharp as an unsheathed steel blade. "...I'm afraid you've picked the wrong targets!"
—Three-Sword Style: Dragon Twister!
—Mutton Shot!
BANG! Accompanied by a sickening thud, a massive pirate shrieked as he was sent flying backward. He plowed through a whole crowd of small-fries like a bowling ball, finally smashing violently into the pirate ship's mainmast with unimaginable force.
Suffering such a heavy blow, the thick mast let out a piercing screech before snapping and collapsing right before the terrified eyes of the pirates.
"Phew~~" Sanji loosened his tie, his right eye—uncovered by his blonde hair—glancing toward the green-haired swordsman who was currently mowing down enemies like grass on another ship.
(That marimo is being pretty damn efficient, though I guess he does have three swords...) Twitching his curly eyebrow, Sanji felt a sudden surge of urgency; he didn't want to fall behind his arch-rival in taking down enemies.
(Right now, the enemy still has six ships left. Luffy is currently in a one-on-one fight with their captain on the flagship. Subtracting these two ships we're on, that means there are three enemy ships left. Hmm, looks like I need to speed up—)
At this thought, the curly-browed cook's expression turned fierce, causing an unprompted chill to run down the spines of the surrounding pirates. But just as Sanji was about to dash forward and finish off these small-fries, a splash of blood-red suddenly flashed in midair, standing out exceptionally bright against the dark night.
"Sherlock?!"
Guided by that eerie, crimson light, Sanji instantly recognized the figure hovering in midair. Meanwhile, the three blood-red spears floating beside the Sorcerer, radiating waves of destructive aura, caused everyone's expressions to pale.
A certain four-eyes slowly raised his hand, looking as if the Grim Reaper had hoisted his soul-reaping scythe high. The three terrifying spears, wrapped in an astounding killing intent, instantly pointed their tips toward the remaining three enemy ships. In that instant, the very air seemed to freeze under the oppressive atmosphere.
(Well, looks like I won't be able to settle the score with that marimo this time...)
Sanji sighed helplessly. After all, when it came to the efficiency of clearing out mobs, mowing them down one by one could never beat a map-wide AoE attack.
(How can there be so many Devil Fruit users?! Just what kind of monsters have I run into?!)
The flagship of the Ursa Pirates was a complete mess. Inside, a massive white bear was roaring in sheer internal madness. This guy never in his wildest dreams expected that the fleet he took such immense pride in would be so pathetic; the battle between both sides had barely even begun, yet it was already drawing to a close.
"Wait, I surrender! I surrender! Spare me, I'll agree to any condition you want!"
Ursa had completely lost his will to fight. Staring in terror at the approaching Straw Hat boy, he begged for mercy, "What do you guys want? Money? Information? Right, you probably don't know what kind of good stuff Emily brought back from the outside this time, right? Word is that even the World Government wants it! I—"
"Shut up!"
Luffy's face was dead serious. He stretched both of his arms back to an exaggerated degree, and then, driven by a tremendous elastic snapback, they recoiled with unimaginable force, planting themselves squarely onto Ursa's bear face.
—Gum-Gum... Bazooka!
BOOM!!!! Bearing the brunt of such a devastating blow, the bear-man lost consciousness almost instantly. In the next split second, his bloated body was sent sailing backward through the air, turning into a shooting star across this restless night sky.
The Ursa Pirates: Annihilated!
"Hey, Luffy..." Sherlock landed soundlessly right behind his dimwitted captain. Although it was his first time applying it in actual combat, a certain four-eyes was already highly adept at using this flight ability. "Didn't I warn you earlier? I still had questions to ask him."
"Ahahahahaha, my bad, Sharlo!" Luffy laughed sheepishly. Despite saying so, there wasn't a single shred of remorse on his face. "I just couldn't hold back earlier and blew him away!"
"Sigh~~~~" Sherlock let out a sigh, pushing up his glasses.
Even though they had been sailing together for a while now, a certain four-eyes still found himself suffering from a massive headache whenever it came to dealing with this goofy captain who did whatever he pleased.
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