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Chapter 120is out!!!! +40 advanced chapters monthly
"Reef the sails! Steady the helm! Everyone, find cover—now!"
Diles was clearly a veteran of the unpredictable seas; his orders were issued with calm, methodical precision.
However, Shiro wasn't in the mood to wait out the squall. Rising from his seat, he raised his right hand toward the roaring tempest. With a casual flick of his fingers, he fired two shots.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The explosions sounded like thunder crashing down from the highest heavens, the tremors echoing across the vast horizon.
Two massive mushroom clouds erupted from the sea. Under the horrified gaze of the crew, a violent shockwave tore through the storm, kicking up a monstrous wall of water that surged back toward the ship like a crashing tsunami.
"Koryu Bizho: Particle Barrier!" Shiro barked.
He thrust his hand forward, manifesting a massive wall of shimmering light in front of the warship. It stood firm, absorbing the full brunt of the incoming waves.
THUD!
Despite the barrier, the warship rocked violently. Several Marines lost their footing entirely, tumbling across the deck.
"Ah... looks like I overdid it a bit. Haha!" Shiro gave a sheepish grin as he looked at the disheveled crew. It seemed he had been a little too heavy-handed.
"Well, whatever. Not my problem anymore!"
True to his lazy nature, Shiro collapsed back onto the deck. He hummed a little tune, kicking his legs back and forth in total relaxation.
Once Diles managed to scramble to his feet, he immediately signaled for the ship to resume its course.
A few hours later, a massive Sea King emerged from the depths. This time, Shiro didn't lift a finger—he knew Diles could handle it.
"Hidenzan: Flying Lightning Slash!"
Seeing that Shiro had no intention of helping, Diles leaped into the air. He blurred toward the Sea King and drew his blade in a silver flash.
Diles landed softly back on deck and sheathed his sword. Behind him, the Sea King's massive head erupted in a spray of gore before the beast collapsed into the ocean, sending up a colossal splash.
The warship pressed on.
Roughly thirty kilometers ahead, directly in their path, a massive pirate ship lay in wait. Their Jolly Roger featured a skull with oversized, crimson lips against a black backdrop—a chilling sight.
These were the Red Lip Pirates. Their captain, "Red Lip" Melina, boasted a bounty of 250 million Berries. A Paramecia-type user of the Chun Chun no Mi (Lip-Lip Fruit), her crew was considered a formidable force in the first half of the Grand Line.
Having heard rumors regarding the new Shichibukai system, she had developed ambitions of her own. She was convinced her strength was no less than Moria's; she simply lacked his infamy. If Gecko Moria was fit to be a Warlord of the Sea, why wasn't she?
She had come here specifically to intercept the Marines.
What she didn't know, however, was that barely ten kilometers away, another pirate ship was also lying in wait. Their flag bore a skull flanked by massive, golden crab pincers.
The Golden Crab Pirates. Their captain was "Golden Crab" Moga, a man with a 260 million Berry bounty and the user of the Zoan-type Kani Kani no Mi (Crab-Crab Fruit).
He shared the same thought: if a "failure" from the New World like Moria could be a Warlord, so could he. In terms of power and influence, he felt he was a perfect match for the position.
And so, he waited.
Three hours later, Shiro and his crew sailed directly into Melina's hunting grounds. For the last three hours, they had enjoyed a rare moment of peace—no storms, no Sea Kings, and no accidents.
The silence was, quite frankly, terrifying.
Shiro had noticed the shift in the atmosphere, and Diles was no fool either.
"Looks like we've got a tough fight ahead of us," Shiro said, walking up to stand beside Diles.
"Yeah," Diles nodded. His expression had turned grim the moment they entered Melina's territory. "The air around here feels... wrong. Like we're being watched by a predator."
"In that case, let's see what they've got," Shiro suggested. Though Diles held the command, Shiro's instincts were sharp. "Tell the men to battle stations. Keep the engines hot—be ready to charge at a moment's notice."
"You heard Lieutenant Shiro! Do it!" Diles barked to his adjutant.
"Oh? Our opponent is a woman? Interesting." Shiro's Kenbunshoku Haki flared to life, instantly scanning the surrounding waters and pinpointing Melina and her fleet.
"A woman?" Diles frowned, surprised by the revelation.
"Hahaha! Listen up, Marines! Hand over that appointment letter, or don't blame me for being heartless!"
Almost as soon as Shiro detected her, Melina's arrogant voice boomed across the waves. A ship adorned with feminine, elegant flourishes slowly drifted into view, cutting off their path. Behind them, several escort ships emerged, completing the pincer maneuver.
" 'Red Lip' Melina. Bounty: 250 million. A famous Pirate Queen in the Grand Line," Diles recited her file from memory. His eyes turned sharp, his body tensing. This was a 200-million-plus pirate—far beyond his own pay grade.
"So, you're Roner Shiro, aren't you?"
Melina completely ignored Diles, her gaze locking onto Shiro instead.
"Lady Melina, a pleasure to meet you," Shiro said, stepping forward with a harmless, easygoing smile.
"The 'Legendary Genius Lieutenant' of Marine Headquarters? You don't look like much," a woman standing beside Melina sneered. She was dressed in high fashion with a long sword strapped to her waist—clearly a swordswoman.
This was Fenty, Melina's top subordinate. With a bounty of 120 million Berries, she was a ruthless combatant in her own right.
"Haha, a bit of a letdown in person, isn't it?" Shiro chuckled.
Fenty had expected him to fly into a rage at her insult, but Shiro's reaction caught her completely off guard. He had admitted it without a shred of shame. It was like she had slapped him on the left cheek, and he had simply offered her the right one to finish the job.
"You..." Fenty stammered. She had met all sorts of people, but she had never encountered a "strong" man who lacked any sense of dignity or ego like Shiro.
"Enough small talk," Melina interrupted, growing impatient. "Give me an answer, Shiro-brat. Do you hand over the Warlord appointment letter and go home quietly, or do I have to take it from your corpse?"
"Now, now," Shiro leaned back against the mast, his casual demeanor shifting into something cooler, more detached. "You know that's not happening, big sis."
"Then don't blame me for what happens next! Boys, get them!"
At Melina's command, the pirates—who had been waiting like starving wolves—let out a roar and swarmed toward the warship.
"All hands! Aim your rifles! Ready the cannons!"
Diles roared the order from the command deck. "Fire!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Gunfire and cannon blasts erupted simultaneously, the roar of artillery turning the sea into a chaotic battlefield.
As a ship designated for Shichibukai territory, its equipment was far superior to standard Marine vessels. The first volley sent scores of pirates screaming into the sea, the water quickly blooming with crimson. One well-aimed shell even shattered the mast of Melina's ship, the Red Lip.
"Zanseki-u: Slashing Stone Rain!"
Fenty couldn't just stand by. In a blur of motion, seven or eight cold flashes of steel sliced through the air. She sheathed her blade with a click. Every cannonball flying toward her ship was sliced into harmless chunks, falling into the ocean as duds.
"Roner Shiro, die!"
"Yuuwaku no Kou-chiru: Seductive Crimson Lips!"
Melina leaped into the air above the warship. With a soft breath, she manifested countless pink hearts that floated toward Shiro and his men like shimmering petals.
"So that's your power? Pretty flashy," Shiro remarked.
"Koryu Hiryu: Particle Stream!"
Shiro wasn't about to let them touch him. He fired a blast from his hand, sending a dense cluster of light particles toward Melina.
However, something unexpected happened. The moment his light particles touched those pink hearts, they swerved mid-air, turning around to fly straight back at Shiro.
"Reflecting anything that touches them back at the user? Impressive," Shiro noted. He quickly expanded a light shield to block his own redirected attack.
On the other side of the deck, Diles and Fenty clashed with a resounding CLANG.
Swordsman against swordswoman.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Though Fenty was a woman, her swordsmanship was aggressive and heavy, filled with a masculine raw power that actually began to overwhelm Diles. He was forced into a desperate retreat, his every move spent on defense with no room for a counterattack.
"What's the matter, 'mighty' Marine Captain? Can't even beat a 'weak' woman like me?" Fenty taunted, sensing her advantage.
"Damn it!" Diles hissed. His pride was stinging. Being suppressed by a woman in a test of strength was a bitter pill to swallow.
But he knew his own limits. He truly had no opening against Fenty's blade; simply staying uninjured was taking everything he had.
"Haha! Not enough! Not nearly enough!"
Fenty's assault grew more ferocious. Each strike was faster and heavier than the last. She looked exhilarated, her eyes bright with battle-lust as a powerful aura radiated from her.
Diles blocked one strike, but Fenty immediately raised her blade and brought it down again with even greater force. Diles staggered, his boots skidding back across the wood.
Fenty lunged forward again, her heavy blade crashing against Diles's sword and shoving him back several more meters.
"Again!" she yelled, closing the distance and swinging downward with all her might.
CRUNCH!
Diles's face went pale. He felt a massive surge of force travel through his blade and into his body, the metallic taste of blood rising in the back of his throat.
CLANG!
Fenty knocked his guard aside, and before he could even reset his stance, her blade was coming down once more.
Her style was deceptively simple—pure, overhead cleaves—yet it was so refined and powerful that Diles, for all his mastery of technique, found himself utterly helpless against it.