BOOM—!
A cannonball detonated nearby, unleashing a violent shockwave that sent a torrential spray of jagged stones flying through the air.
"Those Germa bastards—!"
Millie's lovely face paled slightly. Her expression turned exceedingly grim as she stood on the docks, watching her crew's vessels get systematically blown apart and sunk by the Germa Kingdom's armada.
These were all massive warships measuring over a hundred meters in length. Even their standard sailing ships of the line carried a staggering construction cost of 1 billion Berries each. Furthermore, anchored deep within the harbor were ten newly commissioned ironclad sailing battleships, cutting-edge vessels utilizing a hybrid steam-and-sail propulsion system. Though each ship cost a whopping 2 billion Berries to construct, they were currently reduced to nothing more than metal targets for the Germa fleet.
Shuzo cast a quick glance toward Jinbe out in the water, then turned back to Millie. "Leave Jinbe to me! Retreat to the safety of the urban district first!"
"I'm counting on you!"
Knowing she would only be a liability on the front lines, Millie nodded firmly and turned to leave the docks. The surviving super-soldiers of the Elite Strike Team immediately fell into formation, flanking her protectively as they retreated.
Jinbe made no attempt to intercept her. He watched quietly until Millie's silhouette vanished from sight, then burst from the sea with a loud splash, stepping heavily onto the stone docks.
"Why didn't you stop her? Are you afraid of Captain Aeridar?" Shuzo locked his gaze onto Jinbe from a dozen meters away. He raised his thick, reinforced, three-section-staff-like long arms, settling into a fluid combat stance.
"Afraid? Far from it. I simply make it a point not to raise my hands against women and children," Jinbe replied with resolute eyes, raising his own hands into the signature opening stance of Fish-Man Karate.
"Hmph... what a noble soul! Soru!!!"
Shuzo scoffed coldly. He slammed his foot down, shattering the stone pavers beneath his heel as his body vanished from the spot like an instantaneous blur.
When he materialized a fraction of a second later, he was dead in front of Jinbe, his five pitch-black fingers gleaming with a cold, metallic luster as they clawed ruthlessly toward the Fish-Man's face.
"Shark Tile True Punch!!!"
Jinbe's eyes narrowed slightly. Channeling the total explosive power of his physical frame, he drove a powerful straight punch directly into the incoming attack.
BOOM—!
Claw met fist, causing the atmosphere to violently convulse. A fierce shockwave erupted from the point of impact, howling outward in a torrential gale. With the two combatants at the epicenter, the stone pavers pulverized into dust across a massive radius, and a ten-meter-high swell surged out in the harbor just a few meters away.
Before the kinetic energy of the clash could even dissipate, Shuzo's other arm whipped out like a cracked leather thong. It came crashing down toward Jinbe's skull with terrifying velocity, nearly tearing the air apart.
"Sharkskin Palm Thrust!!!"
Jinbe barked low. Planting his feet, he slid backward across the ground by several meters, narrowly evading Shuzo's whipping hand-strike.
CRASH—!
Shuzo's strike missed its target and slammed into the earth, cleanly fracturing the stone floor and leaving a deep gouge in its wake, scattering fragments of debris everywhere.
"The reach of a Longarm truly is a formidable advantage," Jinbe muttered, his brow furrowing as he analyzed the situation.
The extraordinary length of Shuzo's arms meant his offensive and defensive perimeters were vastly superior to those of an ordinary human. Though Jinbe possessed the innate physical superiority of a Fish-Man, his raw strength wasn't immense enough to completely overwhelm Shuzo. If he couldn't breach that long-range defensive perimeter, landing a decisive blow would be incredibly difficult.
"Knight of the Sea Jinbe? You're nothing special!"
Shuzo laughed mockingly. Swinger his arms loose, he lunged forward once more.
"Shigan: Frenzy!!!"
His hands transformed into a blur of tearing talons, unleashing a torrential barrage of strikes that filled the air with countless afterimages.
Jinbe shifted fluidly, weaving and slipping through the gaps of the overwhelming onslaught. Suddenly, spotting a microscopic opening in the flurry, his hand shot out like a striking viper. With a sharp smack, he clamped his grip firmly onto one of Shuzo's elongated arms.
"Hah! Fish-Man Shoulder Throw!!!"
Jinbe roared, pulling Shuzo's arm taut as he pivoted his hips, violently slamming the commander over his shoulder toward the hard ground.
"What?! Tekkai!!!"
Before Shuzo could even comprehend what was happening, his vision inverted as he was hurled over Jinbe's back. Facing an imminent impact, he desperately triggered Tekkai in mid-air, flexing every fiber of his musculature to maximum density.
BANG—!!!
It sounded as though Jinbe had hoisted a solid block of pig iron and slammed it into the earth. The catastrophic impact shattered a massive section of the ground, kicking up a dense shroud of dust.
Shuzo felt a violent tremor rock his entire skeletal structure, his blood violently churning within his chest. The sheer concussive force of the throw had nearly shattered his Tekkai defense entirely.
Yet, when Jinbe looked down, his eyes widened in deep shock. Shuzo hadn't even coughed up a single drop of blood, and his defensive posture remained fully intact. This guy's mastery over the Rokushiki techniques is completely off the charts!
"You bastard! Shigan: Five!!!"
Sprawled on the ground and burning with humiliation, Shuzo ignored the throbbing aches in his joints. He lashed out with a backhand claw strike, aiming directly for Jinbe's face.
"Fish-Man Jujutsu!!!"
Jinbe reacted instantly, snatching Shuzo's incoming arm before channeling his internal torque, violently hurling the commander away.
BOOM—!
Dozens of meters away, Shuzo's flying body crashed into a heavy steel shipping container, the sheer kinetic force leaving a massive, crumpled indentation in the metal structure.
Right at that moment, a brilliant streak of light cut across the heavens like a falling star, instantly drawing Jinbe's gaze. The blazing line of light traveled at an apocalyptic velocity, crossing the horizon in a flash before slamming directly onto one of the Germa Kingdom's warships.
BOOOOOM—!!!
A titanic explosion erupted instantly. Blazing firestorms engulfed more than half the warship's hull, and the resulting concussive shockwave physically shoved the surrounding vessels dozens of meters backward across the water.
Within seconds, the targeted Germa vessel was swallowed by billowing columns of pitch-black smoke. Its hull split cleanly in two, the bow and stern lifting helplessly toward the sky as the wreckage slowly foundered into the sea.
"What on earth was that? A meteor?"
Jinbe stared blankly, scarcely able to believe the sight unfolding before his eyes.
"Bwahahaha! Your little invasion has failed! That's the heavy railgun from Alvis Island, our reinforcements have arrived!"
Shuzo stepped out from the crumpled ruins of the shipping container, laughing hysterically as a savage glint returned to his eyes, glaring out toward the distant fleet.
"The heavy railgun of Alvis Island?"
Jinbe was entirely mystified. He stared up at the sky for a long moment, but aside from the thick, rolling layers of dark storm clouds, there was absolutely nothing to be seen.
Twenty kilometers away from Unzan Port, hovering at an altitude of five thousand meters, a titanic landmass floated silently amidst the clouds—Alvis Island.
Perched atop the highest mountain peak of the floating island stood a ten-meter-tall iron artillery turret. Built upon a massive metallic chassis, its uniquely designed, hollowed-out barrel pulsed with continuous arcs of brilliant blue electricity, radiating an aura of pure, futuristic technology.
"Direct hit on one Germa vessel!"
"Trajectory is perfect. No adjustment needed!"
"Reloading ammunition! Recalibrating distance!"
A flurry of coordinated callouts echoed across the platform as dozens of master engineers and artillerymen rushed around the railgun turret in a synchronized frenzy.
Clack-clack! Clack-clack!Crackle... Crackle—!
Surrounding the main battery were three identical railgun turrets. Their seven-meter-long hollowed barrels were pointed directly at the landmass thousands of meters below, their blue electromagnetic arcs pulsing faster and faster as they charged.
Because of the strategic threat posed by Big Mom herself, Alvis Island could not risk deploying its fleet of floating airships directly over the battlefield to bomb the Germa fleet. Instead, they had to rely on the island's four fixed railguns to provide devastating, long-range fire support from the safety of the upper atmosphere.
However, while the airships couldn't engage the harbor directly, they were currently deploying in massive numbers just outside the combat zone, airdropping legions of Dragonians and the various automated combat units built by Dr. Vade to provide overland reinforcement.
With a distance of a mere twenty kilometers, the vanguard would make landfall in no time at all.
It was a pity that Enrod's White Mane Pirates had traveled to the capital of Nakor; otherwise, they would have had another powerful faction ready to turn the tide right here at the port!