What was that thumping, pounding sound?
It sounded a little like a heartbeat.
But the rhythm was completely chaotic, sometimes long, sometimes short, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, like a child randomly banging on a drum.
As that sound echoed, Yemu, whose body had already been drained of every last trace of strength, suddenly felt a new surge welling up from deep within him.
"What is it?"
But at this point, the question no longer mattered.
In the next instant, Yemu's Flame Dragon Prison Fire Fist, powerful enough to melt anything, collided with Bullet's fist, which was simultaneously coated in Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki.
"Boom..."
Their fists clearly never made contact, yet an invisible force crashed violently into itself.
Under the friction of that overwhelming power, thunder and lightning crackled through the air.
"Why..."
Bullet's face was filled with shock.
"Why... why do you still have this kind of strength..."
The power transmitted from Yemu's fist was something Bullet simply could not comprehend.
The Yemu before him was clearly covered in wounds, utterly exhausted.
"Why... why..."
He unleashed every bit of strength he had in fury, yet what he absolutely could not accept was this—his power was actually being pushed back.
"Impossible... impossible... where did this strength come from!?"
Bullet roared in rage, but Yemu's reply was calm and indifferent.
"Who knows?"
At that moment, Bullet truly could not understand it anymore.
Vaguely, it felt as if he had returned to the days on Roger's ship, when he had been defeated over and over again by Roger.
"Roger... could this guy really be the inheritor of your will..."
In the blink of an eye, blinding flames burst forth from where their fists collided, transforming into a massive fire dragon. Carrying heat intense enough to melt the entire ice island, it instantly swallowed Bullet whole, tearing and gnawing at him as it smashed through layer after layer of thick ice, burrowing deep into the island's core.
"Boom..."
In that moment, the entire ice island completely shattered, exploding into countless pieces.
The surrounding seawater surged into towering waves, rushing in and instantly engulfing everything that remained of the island.
Aboard the Twin Goddesses, everyone witnessing the scene felt their jaws drop in shock.
Fisher Tiger was just as stunned, but he had more important things to do.
"Erik, the ship's safety is in your hands. Flare, send the signal and have First Mate Enel return. Then wait for me. We'll set sail once I'm back..."
With that, he leapt straight into the sea, his figure disappearing beneath the waves...
...
Three hours later, when the Navy warship finally arrived, it was already too late.
The entire island was gone, leaving only chunks of broken ice floating on the sea's surface.
"Gone just like that? Reykjavik!!!"
Vice Admiral Tsuru stood at the bow, staring at the island that had been completely swallowed by the sea, letting out an unprompted sigh.
Behind her, the number of people following her had clearly dwindled.
Not only was there just a single warship left, but among the Marines, only Yamakaji and Gion remained. As for CP9, Spandine was the only one left.
Seeing this, Spandine was furious.
"Those damned Sky Pirates... they actually killed Bulary and Pax..."
"You Marines are completely useless! If you hadn't insisted on wasting time saving people, we might have made it in time..."
At that moment, even with Tsuru's normally good temper, she couldn't tolerate Spandine's stupidity any longer. Already in a foul mood, she shot him a cold glance and barked sharply.
"Shut up, Spandine. If Jaguar hadn't shielded us with his own body, you'd already be in hell with your two subordinates. And you saw it yourself, the power of the strongest Logia Devil Fruit, the Goro Goro no Mi. Four warships were destroyed in an instant. That kind of power... we barely avoided it once. Do you really think we could avoid it a second time?"
When Tsuru became angry, her authority was overwhelming. Spandine was immediately left speechless, and in the end, he could only grit his teeth and snarl in frustration.
"What do we do now? Damn it... We finally tracked them down, and now they've vanished again... The Marines need to take responsibility for this too..."
"No. Those people are far too terrifying. We have to deploy CP0..."
The scene from three hours ago was still etched into his mind with chilling clarity. After the deafening roar of thunder, Spandine saw nothing but a blinding flash of light.
When he opened his eyes again, four of the five Navy warships had already been destroyed in an instant.
Only the ship he was on had survived. A giant Vice Admiral had used his own body to block the heavenly lightning, preserving it by force.
The sea was filled with the cries and screams of Marines begging for help, while shattered wreckage from the warships covered the surface of the ocean.
That was power no human could possibly resist.
What terrified him even more was that Bulary and Pax, who had been right beside him, were gone.
They were CP9 members. Even if they weren't the very top combatants, they were still among the elite of CP. And yet they had been taken out so effortlessly.
For the first time, Spandine truly understood the terror of the Sky Pirates.
He had already made up his mind. Once he returned, he would request the Five Elders to pull him out of this mission entirely. Hand it over to CP0 or the Marines, whoever it took. He had no intention of throwing his life away.
But for now, he still had no choice but to stay with this group of Marines.
After all, he was completely alone now, and he didn't even have a ship anymore...
...
Yemu's consciousness slowly surfaced once more.
Familiar voices reached his ears. He couldn't hear what they were saying clearly, but they had to be his companions.
That meant Tiger had succeeded. After that final, decisive clash, Tiger had managed to save him.
This was exactly what the two of them had agreed on.
Yemu had wanted to use Bullet to force himself to his absolute limit, to see just how wide the gap was between him and the monsters of the New World. But that didn't mean he actually wanted to die there.
So he and Tiger had made a deal.
In this battle, he would fight with everything he had, exhausting Bullet's strength as much as possible.
Winning was never part of the plan.
He might be crazy, but he wasn't stupid.
This wasn't his own movie where he could beat anyone he wanted.
Even at the very end, when he managed to gain a slight edge with his ultimate technique, Flame Dragon Prison Fire Fist, it didn't change anything. Once Bullet wrapped himself in Conqueror's Haki, even if Yemu could land a hit, there was no way he could win.
Their bodies, strength, and techniques were simply on completely different levels.
And the moment Yemu unleashed that move was the signal for Tiger to step in and save him.
A full-powered Flame Dragon Prison Fire Fist might not destroy an entire island, but altering the terrain was easy enough.
As a fishman, Tiger had a natural advantage. As long as he was in the sea, he was virtually unbeatable.
While he stood no chance against Bullet on land, rescuing Yemu in the chaos and escaping through the ocean was entirely possible.
Of course, there were risks involved, but judging by the outcome, it seemed he had won the bet.
Running away without a fight was impossible. But after having a proper, satisfying battle, things were different.
Even though Yemu had been overwhelmingly beaten by Bullet, with his only resistance coming at the very beginning and when he unleashed his ultimate move, he still felt genuinely happy.
That feeling of fighting with everything he had, of unleashing his power without restraint, was intoxicating.
More importantly, this battle had given him a clear understanding of where the true peak of combat power in this world really lay.
Before, he knew that people like Rayleigh, Sengoku, Garp, Whitebeard, and Roger were monstrously strong, strong beyond reason. But he had never truly understood just how strong they were. Now he did.
Once you know the gap, chasing it becomes easier.
He even believed that after this battle, it wouldn't be long before he could reach Bullet's level.
That gave him far more confidence about venturing into the New World.
Still, what was that voice he heard before the final blow?
What kind of power was it, to grant him strength again even when he was completely exhausted?
And that power had even managed to suppress Bullet for a brief moment.
There was no way to find the answer now. He would look into it after fully waking up.
For the moment, the most important thing was to recover. His body was in agony. Every single cell felt like it was screaming.
But it wouldn't be long now. He could clearly feel his body slowly reviving, and somehow, it felt stronger than before...