Bege's expression was grim. His internal castle gates opened, and a stream of shadows flew out, entering his mouth to be swallowed. His body began to swell in size, and the supremely ferocious Conqueror's Haki radiating from him grew even more violent and savage.
He gripped his swords, his eyes, which were rapidly turning blood-red, fixed on Steel Bone Kong.
"Steel Bone Kong, you wanted to kill me, didn't you? Come on. Let's see how much power you really have left."
"You're courting death," Kong's eyes hardened. He shot forward, crossing the distance to Bege in a single step. His blackened fist punched through the air, the violent pressure alone creating a hurricane that blasted Bege's body.
Bege let out a savage laugh, slashing his sword to cut the pressure wave apart before ruthlessly striking Kong's iron-hard fist. A terrifying shockwave swept out from the impact.
In an instant, both of their figures vanished, leaving only two afterimages that constantly collided across the frozen battlefield, the ice below them being blasted and shattered again and again.
"We can't just stand here watching! Follow me and charge! Annihilate the Marines!" Atop the Sky God, Little Oars Jr. let out a massive roar that shook the entire battlefield.
He leaped down, landing on the ice with several other giants. Modi and the others also landed quickly, leading the Fire Tank crewmen in a charge toward the Marine warships.
"The Admirals are tied up by the top commanders! We'll take care of the other Marines! Brothers, with me!" The pirates on the remaining ships all leaped down, charging across the ice toward the Marine fleet.
With the crews of the four Emperors leading the way, the rest of the pirates naturally followed, streaming past the battlefield of Bege and Kong to assault the Marines on the other side.
The Marine warships were only a few dozen meters from the edge of the ice. On the decks, the Vice Admirals all wore grave expressions.
"All cannons, prepare to fire! Wait for them to get closer!" On the central warship, a strong, white-haired Vice Admiral roared into a Den Den Mushi. He was a veteran Vice Admiral and the ranking commander in the Admirals' absence, giving him authority over the battle.
On every warship, cannons and rocket launchers were loaded. The Marines nervously awaited the order.
The pirate horde drew closer and closer, finally entering the cannons' effective range. But the Marines still didn't fire; they were waiting for the entire pirate force to be within range.
Beads of cold sweat formed on the Vice Admirals' faces. Finally, the order from the central warship was relayed to the entire fleet.
"FIRE! UNLEASH EVERYTHING WE HAVE!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In an instant, thousands of cannonballs and rockets screamed toward the pirates. The barrage blotted out the sky. Many of the pirates turned sheet-white with terror at the sight; some were so frightened they turned and fled.
"One Sword Style: Tornado!" Modi drew his sword. A massive tornado shot up into the sky, sucking in a huge number of cannonballs. The projectiles were sliced to pieces by the wind, triggering a chain reaction of explosions in the air.
"Mochi Bullets!" Katakuri, having failed to find an opponent earlier, had briefly joined Marco in fighting Aokiji. But as the main army charged, he had immediately abandoned that fight to support the assault. He pointed his fingers to the sky, and countless mochi bullets separated from his hands, each one accelerated to the speed of a cannonball, shooting down the incoming rockets and shells.
"Flower Sword" Vista swung both blades, sending a sky-full of red rose petals upward, which shredded cannonball after cannonball.
Jack the Drought stomped his foot, cracking the ice, and hurled a massive chunk of it into the air, smashing dozens of shells.
Between the top commanders of the four Emperor crews and the other powerful pirate crews, the vast majority of the thousand-shell barrage was intercepted.
"Don't be afraid! We'll block the cannonballs!" Little Oars Jr. roared at the pirates. He swung his giant blade, unleashing a stunning flaming slash that detonated over a hundred cannonballs.
The incredible display of power from Oars and the others gave the pirates a massive boost of confidence. They regained their courage and continued their mad dash toward the warships.
"Brothers, don't fear! They've got the cannonballs! We just have to charge!"
The Marines continued to fire, sending wave after wave of artillery. Though most of it was blocked, cannonballs still found their way into the pirate ranks, blowing many of them to bits.
Suddenly, a deafening thunder-like crack roared from five of the largest warships, a sound so loud it even drowned out the sound of the thousands of cannons.
Five massive, meteor-like projectiles shot at incredible speed toward the pirate crowd. One of them was aimed directly at Little Oars Jr., whose immense size made him an unmissable target.
Oars Jr. brought his blade down on the giant shell. With a world-shaking BOOM, the projectile exploded, instantly creating a massive mushroom cloud. Oars's colossal body was blasted backward, crashing into the giants behind him. The terrifying explosion completely pulverized the ice in a hundred-meter radius, blasting straight through the nearly ten-meter-thick sheet. Everyone nearby was swept away by the shockwave, many killed instantly.
Of the other four super-shells, two were intercepted, but two landed among the pirates, causing catastrophic damage and resulting in thousands of casualties.
This incredibly destructive rocket was a brand-new super-rocket developed by the Marine Science Unit. Its destructive power was astonishing. However, the manufacturing process was complex, and their numbers were extremely limited. Only ten had been produced so far, all of which were deployed to protect the World Government and Mary Geoise. For this war, Steel Bone Kong had specially requisitioned five of them.
"Good! Reload!" The white-haired Vice Admiral on the central warship was overjoyed, roaring into the Den Den Mushi.
But just then, Little Oars Jr. climbed to his feet. His arms were covered in wounds, and his giant blade was severely damaged by the blast.
His face was a mask of pure rage. He swung his shattered blade and unleashed an enormous flaming slash that tore through the air, heading straight for the central warship.
The white-haired Vice Admiral's face changed drastically. He leaped from the ship, drawing his longsword and swinging it furiously. His own slash collided with Oars's flaming attack. There was a huge BOOM, but the flaming slash shattered his attack and continued right for him.
The Vice Admiral didn't retreat. He raised his sword with both hands and brought it down on the flaming slash. The attack exploded, but he was sent flying backward like a cannonball, smashing onto the deck so hard he broke clean through it.
He leaped back out from the hole in the lower deck, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. To be able to block Oars Jr.'s enraged attack, this Vice Admiral's strength was clearly top-tier.
"Fire! Keep firing!" he roared at his men.
The five large warships once again let out a heaven-shaking roar, the force of the launch making the ships themselves tremble. Another five giant rockets were fired.
But this time, the pirates were prepared. Modi leaped into the air, a massive wind blade from his sword slicing an oncoming rocket in half, detonating it safely.
In other directions, Katakuri and the others also made their moves, destroying the remaining super-rockets. The resulting firestorms rolled through the air.
"If they want a rocket fight, we're not falling behind!" One of the giants behind Oars Jr. angrily pulled a giant cannon barrel from his back. He grabbed a massive shell from his belt, loaded it, shouldered the launcher, and pulled the trigger, firing a huge rocket back at the Marines.
The immense recoil from the launcher was too much for even the giant to handle. The ice beneath his feet exploded, and he was sent stumbling back several steps, only stopped by the giant behind him.
"Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!" the giant howled, clutching his shoulder. His face was twisted in pain, and his entire shoulder was bright red.
The rocket, trailing smoke, shot across the sky, speeding toward the warship.
From the Marine side, a figure leaped out again, slashing his sword. The blade aura struck the rocket, detonating it. The massive explosion billowed outward. Because this explosion was so close, the warship was caught in the blast, shaking so violently that the Marines on deck couldn't even stand, and were sent rolling across the deck.
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