On the shoreline
Pirate ships slammed into the beach one after another, and the pirates poured out like stampeding horses finally loosed from their reins.
Kaido led the charge, cutting straight toward G-1 Base.
On the deck
"So Admiral Sengoku is at G-1… what a pleasant surprise." Golden Lion Shiki's eyes glittered with murderous light. A savage grin spread across his face. "One Admiral won't stop the combination of the Golden Lion and the Bloodhand."
"Maybe this time… we'll make headlines that shake the whole world killing a Marine Admiral!"
He lifted his gaze to the sky.
Tengetsu Ares was already diving toward the base at terrifying speed, those amber eyes like molten gold, brimming with raw hunger for battle.
"That brat Ares is as thirsty for a fight as ever." Shiki snorted, then laughed. "I can't fall behind. Otherwise, how am I supposed to keep calling myself his big brother?"
With that, Golden Lion Shiki rose into the air and surged toward G-1 Base.
Cannons roared. Explosions chained across the battlefield.
Kaido swung his kanabo into a flying shell
The moment it connected, the cannonball detonated, vomiting a thick cloud of black smoke.
At the same time, several more shells punched into the smoke with booming impacts.
The blasts swallowed Kaido's silhouette whole.
"We got him! We killed Kaido the Beast!" a Marine shouted, voice bright with excitement.
But only a second later
His face twisted. Fear flooded his eyes.
Kaido burst out of the smoke untouched, laughing like a demon.
"Wororororo… you think a few cannons can hurt me? Keep dreaming."
Ever since he started running with Tengetsu Ares, Kaido had never slacked off on tempering his body.
He couldn't match Ares's monstrous physique
But cannon fire wasn't going to casually break him either.
Kaido pushed forward like a tiger charging down a mountain, unstoppable, carving a path through the chaos.
But the pirates behind him weren't Kaido.
Shells tore through them in waves, claiming lives by the dozen. Some were blown apart so completely there wasn't even a body left to mourn.
For this war, the Navy had prepared a staggering number of guns hundreds upon hundreds of cannons of different sizes and calibers.
Under that net of firepower, weaker pirates were simply… unlucky to be alive.
In only moments, pirate casualties climbed into the thousands.
"ROAR !"
A dragon's bellow shook the heavens, dragging every eye on the battlefield upward.
Tengetsu Ares opened his jaws wide.
"Demolition Gust!!!"
Crescent-shaped slashes cyan, sharp as blades shot from his mouth and rained from the sky, screaming straight toward the cannon muzzles jutting from the thick walls.
His goal was obvious.
Destroy those weapons.
On the wall, Sengoku still in his golden Buddha form stood like an unshakable mountain, expression grim.
"We cannot allow Ares to destroy the cannons. If we lose our artillery, the pirate masses will reach the wall in seconds."
"And the moment there's a breach, they'll flood into the base. Once it turns into close-quarters slaughter, Marine casualties will spike."
"It'll shatter our defense line… and give Rocks's main force still unseen a perfect opening."
Sengoku raised a palm and fired shimmering shockwaves, intercepting Ares's flying slashes.
Boom ! Boom !
Many of the cutting arcs were stopped
But not all.
Several slipped through, carving savage scars into the supposedly impregnable wall. Deep grooves split the stone like miniature ravines.
A portion of the cannons were destroyed, their powder stores igniting in violent chain explosions.
The battlefield became a meat grinder.
It chewed through Marines and pirates alike with equal cruelty.
Weaklings didn't get to choose how they died.
At the highest building, Fleet Admiral Kong remained motionless steady as a sea anchor overseeing the entire war.
"Ares's destructive power is terrifying," he muttered. "But with Sengoku stopping him, it should hold."
"What I'm truly worried about… is where Rocks's main force actually is."
His brows were knotted tight as he studied every detail inside the battlefield, and beyond it.
Behind him, "Black Arm" Zephyr, in a tailored purple suit beneath his Justice coat, asked in a low voice, "Fleet Admiral… the pirates are about to reach the wall. Should I move?"
"Not yet," Kong replied.
If they revealed too much strength too early, it might alert Rocks.
If the enemy withdrew, the Navy and the World Government's preparations would be like punching cotton wasted.
In fact, Kong even considered another option
Let the vanguard in.
Then slam the door and beat the dog.
Kong didn't move.
At the Gate
Kaido shot ahead of everyone and arrived at the main gate first, grinning like a predator.
"Wororororo… the first merit for breaking the gate will be mine!"
He raised his kanabo. Armament Haki surged over it, purple-black flames licking along the club like a living blaze.
Just as he prepared to smash the gate apart
A massive shadow dropped from above.
A Giant Vice Admiral landed with a heavy thud, swinging an enormous longblade down at Kaido, killing intent bursting from his roar.
"I'll take Kaido the Beast's head myself!"
"A Giant Vice Admiral!" someone shouted.
The giant stood several meters taller than Kaido.
Compared to that towering body, Kaido almost looked like a child only reaching the giant's abdomen.
The blade came down like a guillotine.
Kaido's eyes widened, feral and vicious
"Thunder Bagua!!!"
He drove his kanabo upward with full force.
CLANG !!
The moment club met blade
The giant's sword shattered.
Exploded into fragments.
The Giant Vice Admiral was hurled backward and slammed into the gate with a thunderous crash, making the entire wall tremble.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the gate.
The Marines stationed along the battlements went pale, shock rippling through them.
Kaido had established dominance with one strike
Crushing the field under his presence.
"A Giant Vice Admiral got blown away in a single hit… terrifying!"
Giants were synonymous with strength, their raw power beyond imagination
And even so, Kaido smashed one aside like it was nothing.
"Wororororo… giants are nothing but strength." Kaido's voice was low and brutal. "That won't stop me."
His massive, corded body rolled with surging battle intent, wild enough to make the Marines on the wall break into cold sweat.
"Kaido! Well done!" Golden Lion Shiki shouted from midair not only to inflate their morale, but to crush the Navy's.
With Oto and Kogarashi in hand, Shiki sliced dazzling golden arcs through the sky, cutting down incoming shells and easing the pressure on the pirates charging behind him.
The pirates surged forward like a flood.
Kaido lifted his kanabo again. His arm muscles gleamed darkly, polished like steel.
For an instant, he looked like a demon god carved from iron.
"Thunder Bagua!!"
The strike dropped toward the gate, wrapped in violent wind and overwhelming force.
Even if the gate was forged from steel and dozens of centimeters thick
If Kaido's club landed cleanly, it would be pulverized.
BOOM !!
The kanabo smashed into the gate.
The steel barrier shattered into fragments.
Even Marines behind the gate were blasted away by the lingering shock, bodies flying, consciousness snuffed out on impact.
Kaido raised his club high, roaring like a mad beast.
"Follow me in! Wipe out G-1 Base!"
"This sea belongs to us pirates!!"
"Kill !!"
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