The street was littered with nearly a hundred pirates lying in disarray, their agonized groans rising and falling incessantly.
Luffy, Ace, Zoro, and Sanji regrouped, their chests heaving violently, sweat beading on each of their foreheads.
Although the fight had been brief, dealing with a group of desperate outlaws had drained them far more than expected.
"Whew—"
"Finally took care of them." Luffy let out a long breath, rubbing his sore shoulders.
But before his words faded, heavier and more chaotic footsteps rumbled like muffled thunder from the street entrance, causing the ground to tremble slightly.
Their expressions shifted simultaneously as they all looked toward the source.
A burly man with a thick beard, carrying a massive battle-axe, strode forward with a sinister grin.
He was the captain of the "Iron Skull Pirates," "Iron Fist" Borg.
Behind him was a dense, black mass of pirates cramming the entire street.
A rough count put their numbers at least three to four hundred, each pair of eyes gleaming with bloodlust.
The fleeting sense of victory vanished instantly.
Zoro's right hand was already resting on the hilt of Wado Ichimonji, his expression grave.
Sanji instinctively reached into his pocket, only to find his cigarettes had disappeared during the earlier fight.
He clicked his tongue in frustration.
Ace tightened his grip on the steel pipe in his hand, the veins on his arm bulging slightly.
"We're done for! We're really done for this time!" Usopp, standing at the rear, trembled like he had a motor in his legs, tears and snot instantly covering his face.
"Luffy! Sanji! Zoro! Let's run! If we don't go now, it'll be too late!"
"We can't retreat." Sanji's voice was unusually calm. "If we back down, what about the people behind us?"
His gaze swept past the pirates, toward the civilians peeking out from alleys and shops, trembling with fear.
"Then let's wipe them all out in one go!" Zoro grinned, baring his white teeth, his eyes not showing fear but burning with even fiercer fighting spirit.
"My thoughts exactly!" Luffy pressed his straw hat down, flexed his wrists, and cracked his knuckles with a series of pops.
Ace wasted no words, using action to show his stance.
He was the first to charge toward the black tide, swinging his steel pipe.
"Usopp!" Sanji yelled back at the long-nosed sniper who was nearly collapsing.
"The four of us will hold them off! You get out of here now and inform Fleet Admiral Orion!"
"Hurry!"
With that, Sanji followed closely behind Ace, pushing off the ground and shooting forward like an arrow from a bow.
Zoro and Luffy also charged from two other directions in perfect coordination.
"Waaahhh!!" Usopp wailed hysterically, scrambling away on all fours, screaming with the most desperate cry of his life as he fled.
"Fleet Admiral Orion—"
"Save us—!"
The battle erupted once more.
"Gum-Gum Rocket!"
Luffy took the lead, stretching his arms back to their limit and using the tremendous recoil to launch himself like a cannonball toward the leader "Iron Fist" Borg.
However, Borg merely snorted contemptuously.
Facing this ferocious attack, he didn't even use his axe—he simply raised his thick right arm casually and slapped forward.
Thud!
A dull sound echoed as Luffy crashed into what seemed like an impenetrable wall of steel.
The tremendous force sent him flying backward even faster than he had charged, tumbling through the air before smashing into a shop by the street, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Luffy!"
"Two-Sword Style: Falcon Wave!"
Seeing Luffy sent flying with a single blow, Zoro roared angrily.
Crossing his two swords, he unleashed a sharp flying slash aimed directly at Borg's neck.
"Pathetic trick."
Borg didn't dodge or evade.
Instead, he met the slash head-on with his calloused fist.
Clang!
Fist and sword energy collided, producing a metallic clang.
Zoro's slash was shattered outright, and not even a scratch was left on Borg's fist.
In that brief moment, a black figure flashed like a ghost to Borg's side.
"Party Table Kick Course!"
Sanji's right leg, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, kicked like lightning toward Borg's temple.
Borg's reaction was astonishingly fast.
With just a slight tilt of his head, he narrowly dodged the fatal kick.
Then, with a sinister grin, he launched a savage counterattack.
He slammed his head directly into Sanji!
Sanji's pupils contracted
There was no time to retract his leg for defense.
An irresistible force struck his face, sending him flying like a kite with its string cut.
Meanwhile, Ace tried to rush over to assist but was tightly entangled by two of Borg's capable subordinates, unable to break free for the moment.
In just a few breaths, the three youths were successively defeated.
Borg shook his slightly numb fist, hoisted his battle axe onto his shoulder, and glanced disdainfully at the kids lying on the ground before letting out a scornful roar of laughter.
"I'm the great pirate 'Iron Fist' Borg, with a bounty of 110 million Berries! You think a bunch of snot-nosed brats like you can stand in my way? You're just asking for death!"
Before his words faded, his figure blurred and instantly appeared before Luffy, who had just crawled out of the rubble.
Under Luffy's horrified gaze, a large, iron-vise-like hand clamped tightly around his neck, lifting him into the air.
"Guh—"
A suffocating sensation instantly overwhelmed him.
Luffy's face turned purplish-red as his legs flailed helplessly in the air.
"STOP IT!"
At this critical moment, a figure rushed in from the side, fingers curled like claws, carrying a fierce gust of wind aimed directly at Borg's wrist!
"Dragon Claw!"
It was Sabo!
"Another one here to die?"
Without even looking, Borg flung Luffy aside like trash, then turned and threw a punch, colliding heavily with Sabo's Dragon Claw.
Boom!
A visible shockwave exploded outward.
Sabo grunted, sent flying over ten meters before tumbling several times on the ground before barely coming to a stop.
His claw-shaped right hand trembled uncontrollably.
"Heh, enough playing around."
Borg cracked his neck, his grin growing even more menacing as he raised his battle axe and pointed it forward.
"Boys, chop them to pieces!"
"Oooohhh!"
Hundreds of pirates behind him roared, brandishing swords and spears as they lunged like a pack of hungry wolves toward the five youths lying on the ground.
Watching the surging black tide of people approach, a glimmer of despair flashed in the eyes of Zoro, Sanji, and Sabo.
However, at that moment, Ace, who was being firmly restrained by two pirates, saw Luffy and Sabo about to be overwhelmed, and his black pupils abruptly constricted.
An indescribable emotion exploded within his chest!
"All of you! Stop! Right! Now!"
A roar from the depths of his soul echoed throughout the entire street.
The moment the sound faded, an invisible pressure centered around Ace swept out like a tsunami!
The pirates at the forefront had their ferocious grins instantly frozen, their movements as if paused, the savage light in their eyes rapidly fading, becoming hollow and vacant.
Two seconds later.
"Thud!"
"Thud! Thud!"
Like wheat being cut down, hundreds of pirates collapsed to the ground one after another, completely losing consciousness.
The originally noisy and chaotic street instantly fell into dead silence.
In the end, the only one left standing on the scene was 'Iron Fist' Bogart.
The ferocious grin on his face had long vanished, replaced by extreme terror.
His pupils trembled violently as he stared fixedly at the black-haired boy panting heavily not far away, his voice distorted.
"C-Conqueror's Haki?!"
Ace had no idea what had happened.
He looked at the pirates who had suddenly collapsed around him and was utterly bewildered.
Similarly, Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Sabo, who had just gotten up from the ground, were also stunned by this bizarre scene.
Amid this eerie silence, a crisp sound of clapping abruptly rang out.
Clap, clap, clap.
Everyone turned to look.
At the other end of the street, Orion was approaching slowly with his companions, a faint smile playing on his lips.
To his left was the tall, stunningly beautiful Hancock.
To his right was the silent, iron-tower Morgan.
Behind them were Brook, Nami, Reiju, Trafalgar Law...
All the apprentices were present without exception, forming a visually striking lineup.
Orion stopped, his gaze sweeping over the bewildered Ace before glancing at the disheveled Luffy and the others.
He smiled and said, "Not bad, Ace."
Before Ace and the others could react, 'Iron Fist' Borg, upon clearly seeing Orion's face, had his pupils abruptly contract.
Even though he was a pirate with a bounty over a hundred million, he couldn't help his legs going weak, his teeth chattering uncontrollably, almost kneeling on the spot.
It was a suppression from a higher level of existence, the instinctive trembling of an ant looking up at a deity.
Only one name echoed in his mind, making his very soul tremble.
The Fleet Admiral!
—Orion!
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