Whoosh~
Whoosh~
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~
In an instant, numerous laser sounds erupted from the direction of the Calm Belt near the island.
Countless blue lasers shot out from the perpetually shrouded mist.
Their target: the five pirate ships of the Rocks Pirates.
"Damn Navy, I knew they were up to no good."
Facing this sudden onslaught of terrifying lasers, Shiki's expression drastically changed.
Reacting swiftly, he maximized the power of his Float-Float Fruit ability.
"Lion's Might: Imperial Sea Swirl!"
The seawater below instantly formed into a massive water lion dozens of meters high, attempting to block the fierce lasers.
Unfortunately, the effect was minimal.
Before the lion could fully materialize, the lasers had already arrived.
Boom~~~
Explosions rang out incessantly, instantly raising layers of gray smoke from the sea surface, mixed with the strong smell of gunpowder.
The sea area where Shiki and the others had been was instantly blasted into a huge crater, with seawater continuously pouring back in.
Subsequently, the affected seawater formed a tsunami over ten meters high, crashing heavily onto the nearby uninhabited island.
Crash~
Crash~
This once remote and uninhabited island now faced near-devastating destruction.
Countless trees on the island were uprooted by the tsunami, swallowed and carried away by the waves.
Within just a few minutes, the island's wildlife suffered near-annihilating damage.
The island was essentially rendered useless.
The ten Navy warships stationed nearby were also forced back significantly by this tsunami impact.
The explosions persisted for several minutes before gradually subsiding.
The dust and smoke from the explosions remained, refusing to dissipate for a long time.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~
It wasn't until a powerful hurricane swept through that the thick smoke was finally blown away, revealing the true state of the sea.
The crater blasted into the sea where the five pirate ships had been was still continuously filling with seawater, not yet full.
The seawater flowed with numerous debris—remnants of the pirate ships.
Dozens of meters above the crater, three pirate ships hovered, all appearing somewhat battered and covered in dust.
Though nearly in ruins, they stubbornly remained afloat.
Standing at the bow, looking down at the devastation below, Shiki wore a deep expression, all traces of his earlier joy gone.
"Good, good, good!"
"Navy, you've done well."
He spoke in a low voice, his anger reaching its peak.
Numerous red lightning bolts crackled around his body, and the sky instantly darkened.
Dark clouds pressed down, rolling incessantly.
The Navy's assault had dealt a massive blow to Shiki.
All five of the large pirate ships that had come this time belonged to his fleet.
Brian's ship hadn't arrived; he had only brought Griffin and Feixue, leaving the other Beast Girls behind at Hachinosu.
Before coming, they had already anticipated some underhanded behavior from the Navy.
Given the Navy's usual tactics, the probability of them launching a preemptive attack once the Celestial Dragon transaction was complete was extremely high.
They had made preparations in advance.
Shiki was highly confident in his Float-Float Fruit abilities, especially here on the open sea—it was practically his home turf. The Navy had very limited options in such circumstances. Over the years, their tactics had never changed: just endless barrages of cannon fire. But Shiki was different. With a mere wave of his hand, the vast ocean became his greatest weapon. Easy as pie.
Ever since his last victory over the Navy and capturing a Celestial Dragon, Shiki had clearly grown arrogant. Although he occasionally reminded himself that Brian had played a major role in that great triumph, he had unknowingly slipped into a path of overconfidence and arrogance. This inflated ego led to the Golden Lion Pirates' devastating losses today.
They lost two large pirate ships, with every pirate aboard annihilated—not even their bodies remained. The pirates' corpses had been vaporized by the earlier laser attacks. Even the three remaining ships had lost many crew members to vaporization. The survivors numbered less than half of their original force.
Shiki's Third Division Commander, Wild Wolf Billy, had just been erased from existence by the laser assault. Though the Second Division Commander, Blood Butcher Merlin, survived, he lost his left arm and was severely injured. Of Shiki's three top fighters, only the First Division Commander, Mad Mantis Mengdan, emerged unscathed. With the commanders suffering such fates, the ordinary pirates naturally suffered even heavier casualties. At a glance, less than half of them remained combat-ready.
It was these massive losses that sent Shiki into a full rage. His relentless outburst of Conqueror's Haki caused many Navy soldiers to collapse, though the proportion was small—this time, the Navy had deployed their true elites.
"Hmph, daring to oppose the Navy and lay hands on a Celestial Dragon—you brought this upon yourselves," Sengoku remarked with satisfaction. The World Government, that wealthy patron, truly had an arsenal of impressive gadgets. These laser weapons were ferociously powerful. If not for the Celestial Dragon incident infuriating the Five Elders, those miserly fat cats might have taken ages to authorize the Navy's use of laser weapons.
Still, Sengoku felt a twinge of regret. Shiki's Float-Float Fruit was simply too overpowered. Despite the laser weapons' devastating power and the element of surprise, they had only managed to destroy two pirate ships and just over half the crew. Although many elites were eliminated, the true top-tier fighters survived. He found this particularly disappointing. After all, Sengoku had personally sensed the terrifying might of the laser weapons—even with his Mythical Zoan Great Buddha Fruit abilities, a direct hit would likely leave him gravely wounded. Not everyone could manipulate massive volumes of seawater like Shiki with the Float-Float Fruit to block such attacks.
"Damn you, playing dirty with me?! Fine, let's do this! Everyone dies! Everyone dies!" Shiki roared. "Hah~ Lion's Might: Imperial Sea Swirl: Wild Dance!"
With his shout, three dozens-of-meters-tall water lions materialized around Shiki, lifelike and majestic. Within seconds, they were coated in black Armament Haki and surged toward the Navy forces. The water lions charged forth, whipping up tsunami-like waves in a cataclysmic dance.
"Hmph, bring it on," Sengoku retorted coldly.
"Great Buddha: Shockwave!"
"Knuckle Bone: Iron Fist!"
"Shatter: Bursting Fist!"
At the warship's location, Sengoku, Garp, and Zephyr leaped up simultaneously, unleashing their formidable power.
Boom~
Under the combined assault of the three, the three massive water lions were completely shattered, transforming into a downpour of rain.
The remaining threats vanished within the rainfall.
"The Navy's three Vice Admirals? Just the three of you think you can stop me?"
"Damn you Navy scum, this time I'll make sure you perish completely in the New World!"
Seeing the three disperse his furious attack with their moves, Shiki grew increasingly frenzied.
"You two old fools, how much longer are you going to wait?"
His roar finally echoed back.
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