Creak—
Right then, the steel hatch of the submarine was thrown open. Several burly, dark-clad figures over three meters tall leaped out in rapid succession. They wore black, offensive exoskeleton combat suits and held rifles and blades, looking around with sharp vigilance.
Shuzo instantly recognized them as Millie's personal vanguard, all super-soldiers pulled from the Elite Strike Team.
However, of the original ten-man squad, only five remained. The rest had already perished in the deep, fighting to their last breath against the Fish-Men. After all, a Fish-Man's combat prowess underwater was an entirely different beast compared to their strength on dry land.
Thud—
Shuzo kicked a nearby Fish-Man away, wasting no time as he asked urgently, "Where is Millie-sama?!"
"Commander Shuzo, Millie-sama is safe!" One of the Elite Strike Team soldiers called back, recognizing him immediately.
Sure enough, Millie came scrambling up the hatch ladder, her boots clicking against the rungs as she held a revolver tightly in her grip.
"Shuzo! Jinbe's Sun Pirates have completely infiltrated the waters! All ships must remain anchored at the docks for defensive positioning, none can set sail!" Millie shouted, her voice thick with burning anxiety.
"But if we do that, won't our ships just be sitting ducks for the Germa fleet?!" Shuzo stared at Millie, completely shocked.
"We have no choice! Katakuri, Smoothie, Perospero, Daifuku, and Oven have all arrived. If we let the Germa Kingdom's dozens of warships shell the harbor unchecked, our losses will be catastrophic, and holding them off will become impossible!" Millie bit her lower lip, her face tight with bitter reluctance.
Trading the harbor's ships and the lives of the soldiers aboard just to buy precious time was a desperate tactic born of absolute necessity.
Otherwise, if the dozens of massive Germa Kingdom warships commenced a unified bombardment of Unzan Port, their sheer firepower would eclipse even a Marine Buster Call. Within moments, the entire port would be flattened into a wasteland of ash.
If that happened, aside from a few exceptionally powerful officers, only a handful of lucky survivors would make it out alive. When the monsters of the Big Mom Pirates eventually landed to sweep the battlefield, Shuzo and his forces wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance of holding out until reinforcements arrived!
"Understood!"
Shuzo knew they were backed into a corner. Gritting his teeth, he turned to organize the defenses.
Splash—!
Suddenly, a massive column of water erupted from the sea, hurtling forward like a projectile from an ancient siege crossbow. It tore through the air with a faint, piercing shriek, aiming straight for Shuzo.
"Watch out! Tekkai!!!"
Startled, Shuzo quickly dropped into a firm horse stance, every muscle in his body tightening to the density of iron.
BOOM—!
The dense column of water slammed violently into Shuzo's torso. The sheer kinetic impact blasted him backwards, sending him crashing onto the cobblestones dozens of meters away, fracturing the ground beneath him.
"Fish-Man Karate! Who's there?! Jinbe?!"
Millie's face paled with alarm as she stared intently at the bubbling surface of the sea.
Sure enough, a blue-skinned whale shark Fish-Man broke through the waves. Clad in a patterned red yukata, it was none other than the former Seven Warlords of the Sea and Captain of the Sun Pirates, "Knight of the Sea" Jinbe!
Jinbe leaped from the water, landing squarely on the submarine. He looked at Millie and said in a deep, gravelly voice, "Millie-san, it would be best if you surrendered quietly. I have no wish to harm you."
Seeing the legendary Fish-Man, the five remaining super-soldiers of the Elite Strike Team grew tense, instantly shielding Millie with their bodies.
"Hmph... if you want to capture me, you'll have to go through them first!" Millie let out a cold laugh.
"Railgun, prepare to fire!!!" one of the super-soldiers roared.
Instantly, three of the super-soldiers raised their left arms in unison, aiming directly at Jinbe.
With a rapid clatter of mechanical components, the metallic apparatus on the outer left forearm of their combat suits shifted and deployed, extending a 20mm caliber barrel measuring 30 centimeters in length.
Click!Crackle... Crackle—!
The 20mm tungsten-core steel rounds locked into place. Radiant blue electricity began to dance inside the electromagnetic barrels, and the dark, glowing apertures sent a chill down the spine.
"Not good—!"
Jinbe's expression shifted. Without a moment's hesitation, he dove back into the ocean, plunging beneath the waves with a massive splash.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The next fraction of a second, a blinding flash of near-invisible electrical energy erupted from the three barrels. Traveling at a speed the naked eye could barely track, the arcs of plasma tore across the harbor in the blink of an eye, punching three gaping, half-meter-wide holes through a massive stone watchtower hundreds of meters away.
The super-soldiers quickly stepped forward, peering down into the dark water to track their target.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Suddenly, a volley of water arrows as thick as human arms shot out from the depths. They came fast and hard, resembling a coordinated barrage from a platoon of master archers, slamming ruthlessly into the super-soldiers.
Each water projectile carried tremendous concussive force. The soldiers groaned as the impact knocked them to the deck. Had it not been for their peak physical conditioning and the robust defenses of their exoskeleton combat suits, the strike would have left them coughing up blood.
"Millie-sama, we need to move!"
Seeing his comrades overwhelmed, the last standing super-soldier reacted instantly. Grabbing Millie by the arm, he leapt into the air, aiming for the safety of the shoreline.
Jinbe broke the surface once more. Spotting the two figures suspended mid-air, he swept his arm out, launching a compressed droplet of water the size of an infant's fist directly toward them.
Water Shot!!!
"Don't even think about it!"
A furious roar rent the air.
Shuzo launched himself into the sky, intercepting the projectile right in front of Millie. He threw a lightning-fast punch, his fist colliding directly with the water bullet.
BOOM—!
With a dull detonation, the water droplet exploded, bursting into a fine mist that scattered into the wind.
Immediately after, Shuzo kicked the air with explosive force. With a sharp sonic pop, he propelled himself downward like a rocket, hurtling straight toward Jinbe.
"Tekkai: Long-Arm Fist Gun!!!"
With eyes blazing with fury, Shuzo instantly coated his right arm in Armament Haki, turning it a polished, obsidian black before driving a ferocious punch downward.
"Five Thousand Brick Fist!!!"
Jinbe refused to back down, throwing his own punch upward to meet the assault head-on.
BOOM—!!!
The two fists clashed with an earth-shattering shockwave. The air rippled violently, and the sheer atmospheric pressure forced a deep depression into the surface of the sea.
The next instant, the ocean erupted in a towering geyser of water, nearly capsizing the adjacent submarine.
The concussive feedback jolted through Shuzo's entire frame, sending him flying backward through the air, while Jinbe was driven straight back down into the depths of the ocean.
Mid-air, Shuzo twisted his torso to stabilize his momentum, using Geppo to step along the air until he safely landed back on the docks.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!Rumble... Rumble... Rumble...
Meanwhile, the coastal artillery towers had engaged the Germa Kingdom warships anchored a nautical mile away, trading devastating salvos. Seeing that any ship attempting to leave the harbor was immediately sabotaged and sunk by the Fish-Men, the Chris Pirates remaining on the docks stopped trying to maneuver their vessels. Instead, they used their ships as stationary gun platforms, aligning their cannons alongside the coastal forts to rain fire upon the Germa fleet.
Faced with the fierce resistance from Unzan Port, the Germa Kingdom fleet unleashed a ruthless retaliatory bombardment. For a time, the thunderous roar of cannons was deafening, and the blinding flashes of artillery fire illuminated the pitch-black night.
From the very first exchange, the artillery duel escalated into a bloodbath. Coastal forts were systematically blasted into rubble, and the immobilized ships at the docks were torn apart and sunk one after another. In contrast, the Germa Kingdom fleet sustained virtually negligible damage.
This was because a majority of the Big Mom Pirates' elite officers had already gathered aboard the Germa flagships. These monsters were showcasing their terrifying abilities, utilizing Devil Fruit powers, flying slash attacks, and high-level martial arts to effortlessly intercept and detonate the incoming cannonballs before they could even touch the hulls.
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