Chapter 255: The Screech and the Cruelty
As the voice with a hint of bewitching charm fell, it instantly made the faces of the high-ranking Marine officers all over the battlefield turn abnormally ugly. Their minds raced, quickly thinking of countermeasures.
However, before they could come up with a useful plan, a long, drawn-out note sounded from all directions, reaching everyone's ears precisely. Whether it was the citizens at the edge of Fish-Man Island or the Marine soldiers landing at the mermaid cove, the clarity and volume of the sound were no different.
The sudden singing caused the entire population of Fish-Man Island and the Marines to pause for a moment. But soon, everyone started moving again. Unlike before, this time the citizens' evacuation was no longer blind and helpless, but became more orderly and precise. And the soldiers who had been blocking the citizens from fleeing also had their gazes visibly become dazed. They stood rooted to the spot, silent.
In the mermaid cove, many officers, after hearing the long, moving voice, felt the world spin, and their whole being became exceptionally dazed. But in the first instant, they each used their special methods to inflict pain on their bodies, hoping to keep themselves awake. However, the actions of the vast majority of the officers did not have the intended effect, and one after another, they became like the soldiers. Only a few managed to survive this hallucinatory song with their Haki and tenacious will. Nevertheless, these survivors were still in a sorry state, panting heavily, their foreheads covered in sweat.
Gradually, the warships that had been continuously bombarding Fish-Man Island also stopped their cannon fire. One after another, the Marine soldiers and low- to mid-ranking officers had dazed expressions, their eyes vacant, like exquisite, lifelike puppets, frozen in place.
This scene made the few surviving Vice Admirals' eyes widen, and they were instantly drenched in sweat. After a moment, a Vice Admiral gritted his teeth, stepped forward, grabbed a Rear Admiral in front of him, slapped him a few times, and cursed, "Hey! Wake up, damn it! You're a Marine HQ Rear Admiral!"
However, before he could finish, a comrade from beside him reached out, patted his shoulder, and shook his head. When the Vice Admiral turned his head in confusion, the other pointed in a direction at his side. In a street not far away, two HQ Vice Admirals were standing in a daze, no different from the other soldiers.
"..."
This scene made the Vice Admiral who had been planning to wake the flag officers open his mouth, but in the end, he couldn't say a word.
In a corner of the battlefield, Junko, whose upper body was burning with black flames, quickly repairing itself, saw this, turned to look at the distant harbor, and a hint of unshakable amazement flashed in her heterochromatic eyes. "So this is a Siren? Like the Qilin fruit, it's a special fruit with a powerful effect on group combat. Plus, with the ability to communicate with sea beasts and Sea Kings... no wonder they're so highly praised."
At the same time, in the corridor connecting Fish-Man Island and the royal palace, Uta, after seeing the evacuation proceeding smoothly again, casually put down her Den Den Mushi. Then, she raised her webbed hand and patted the giant shark beneath her. "Megalo, swim faster! Shirahoshi is waiting for you to save her!"
"Gya-gya!" The giant shark named Megalo's expression became humanly serious, and his entire fish-self became incomparably excited. The next moment, the already incredibly fast shark's giant tail vibrated, stirring the seawater in the channel, and it turned into a blur, swimming rapidly toward Fish-Man Island.
However, just then, a terrifying roar once again erupted from the mermaid cove, and a blaze shot into the sky. Immediately after, countless magma bombs shot into the air like a volcanic eruption, occupying the sky. Just as they were about to touch the bubble at the top, they changed direction and began to cover the island. In that instant, countless giant fists forged of magma almost completely filled the light, and with a terrifyingly high temperature and power, they fell on Fish-Man Island.
In the corridor near the plaza, Uta saw this and frowned slightly.
On the other side, the members of the God's Knights looked up at the continuously falling fists of magma and all breathed a sigh of relief. "It's a good thing it was Akainu who came this time."
"Well done, Sakazuki!" Somazu's sunglasses reflected the approaching firelight, and he couldn't help but grin. "Just wipe out all the people on Fish-Man Island right here!"
Fukaboshi looked up at this scene and almost froze on the spot. But soon, he regained his senses and shouted urgently, "Lord Natural Water! Can you stop the magma in the sky? My safety is not important compared to the citizens who have not yet evacuated!!"
The next moment, the sound of surging waves came from the ground, and immediately after, a thick current of seawater shot into the sky. Then, like a chain reaction, more and more water pillars rose, connecting in the sky to form a giant wall of water that covered the sky above Fish-Man Island, separating the fists of magma from it.
However, the fists of magma, which were falling like a meteor shower, easily pierced through the thick water curtain. The high temperature on their surface was released, and a large amount of steam was vaporized, covering the area above. The magma, whose surface layer had been cooled, still fell rapidly, almost touching the low-lying buildings of Fish-Man Island.
Seeing this, Fukaboshi's eyes widened.
Just as his mind went blank, a chilling screech swept over from all directions, instantly piercing the entire island. In that instant, countless people covered their ears in pain and subconsciously squatted on the ground, their faces filled with agony. The piercing sound even made the three members of the God's Knights cover their ears, feeling their heads tremble. They knelt on the ground, their ears ringing. Even the extremely powerful Shamrock felt a moment of daze and dizziness under this screech, his body's reaction slowing by more than a beat.
In front of him, Yelena, in her hybrid-beast form, seized the opportunity, raised her war hammer wreathed in black and red lightning and curse power, and smashed it down. If this blow was not blocked, the soul-targeting strike would be something that even an immortal body could not be exempt from.
The high-frequency screech instantly covered Fish-Man Island, shattering the remaining windows and the fists of magma in the sky from a distance, turning them into fine gravel and dust that scattered.
After a long while, the terrifyingly chilling screech stopped. But the three members of the God's Knights were still deafened and shrouded in an extremely intense dizziness, making it difficult for them to move.
Although they were also affected, the members of the Archangel Pirates, who had experienced this kind of screech before and had been completely healed by the Life Fixation Devices, quickly stepped forward and plunged their weapons into the bodies of the three. But the black flames ignited, telling everyone that this attack was also ineffective. Not only that, but the repeated blows actually accelerated their recovery, and they gradually broke free of their rigid state.
"A terrifying control ability," Quilinguame said, raising his hand to push the blade from his body. His gaze fell on Uta's location. "Even we, as God's Knights, were severely affected—"
Junko extended a series of bandage-like arrows, pulled out the weapons, and after knocking back the fish-men and the swordswoman, said coldly, "If she cannot return to the Figarland family and become one of us, it's better to just kill her."
"I don't think so. If we do that, we won't even be able to leave the Holy Land. There are two Four Emperors standing behind her," Somazu denied her idea. He felt that making an enemy of the Archangel was already troublesome enough. If Red-Hair were added to the mix, then in the future, the Celestial Dragons wouldn't even be able to leave Mary Geoise.
Just then, a giant roar sounded from the center of the battlefield, and immediately after, the already shattered battlefield collapsed again and again.
Shamrock's blood-soaked body was sent flying from the rolling dust. After crashing through dozens of buildings, he used his famous sword to support himself and stand firm.
The three members of the God's Knights saw this, and in the midst of their fight with the pirates, they subconsciously exclaimed, "Hey, hey! Is this for real?! Shamrock, you're injured again!"
Shamrock stood in the shattered pit with a single sword in hand. Blood trickled from his forehead, and the hand that had been injured by Red-Hair was soaked in blood, trembling slightly. His gaze fell on the figure who was striding through the ice and snow in the distance. "Ah... that's right. It must have been the soul attack of the Wendigo that Junko mentioned—"
As his words fell, a figure, clad in heavy armor, with grotesque oni and deer horns, raised a hand to disperse the smoke and dust, once again appearing before everyone's eyes. Immediately after, Yelena casually glanced at the group, which had made no progress, and her gaze flickered. The next moment, she raised her hand, and one after another, floating ice crystals extended by her side, a gray stream of light coiling within them. Then, in the subtle gazes of everyone, she controlled the ice crystals to shoot toward the members of the Archangel Pirates, hitting one after another of their weapons with lightning speed, freezing their blades and wreathing them in the gray light.
"..."
This scene made the three members of the God's Knights' brows furrow tightly, their expressions suddenly changing. "The ability of a Devil Fruit... can it actually be used like this?"
Unlike the three, Hajrudin, Kuina, and the others saw this, and the corners of their mouths turned up slightly. The way they looked at the members of the God's Knights was as if they were looking at dead men.
"You don't really think that the gap between us can be erased just by being able to harm us, do you?" the three from the God's Knights sneered.
To this, Hajrudin paid no mind. He swung his giant axe with both hands, sending out a series of terrifying blows powerful enough to split mountains at Somazu. After seeing that he was no longer using his immortal body to take the blows head-on, he couldn't help but sneer.
On the other side, Jinbe and Daz Bonez looked at Kuina, who was silently charging at Junko with her sword. They then looked at their own hands, wanting to say something but holding back. In the end, the two exchanged glances, changed their strategy, and also launched their attack.
On the other side, Marine HQ Admiral Akainu, even after seeing his first wave of attacks blocked, showed no change in his expression or eyes. He stood with a cigar in his mouth, looking at the fierce battlefield in the distance, lost in thought. He was once again considering whether to go and help the members of the God's Knights hunt down the pirates, or to stay and continue with his plan of destruction.
But soon, he had his answer: annihilate the people of Fish-Man Island, who had been designated as the target.
Akainu understood that if he went to hunt down the pirates, it would take too long. This would allow a large number of the citizens of Fish-Man Island to escape, which would lead to the failure of the annihilation plan. And the super Buster Call, which was supposed to carry out this mission, had already lost its combat effectiveness. He had to personally see it through.
After giving the fiercely fighting battlefield a deep look, Akainu once again raised his arms in the swirling smoke and turned them into searing hot magma.
BANG BANG BANG...
Just then, a series of gunshots rang out. A dense barrage of bullets pierced through his body, sending dark red magma splattering.
"..."
"The people in this direction..." A special thought arose in Akainu's mind, and his expression instantly darkened. He turned his head with a dark face and looked. One after another, dazed soldiers were raising their weapons at him and continuously pulling the trigger. As he had expected, the ones attacking him were the very Marine soldiers who were supposed to be preventing the citizens of Fish-Man Island from leaving.
Soon, Akainu turned his head, not intending to bother with these soldiers. He prepared to launch a second wave of "Great Eruption" to annihilate the fleeing citizens in one go. However, the next moment, a cannonball exploded precisely beside him, and the light of the blast engulfed him. Immediately after, one after another, the cannonballs that were supposed to be concentrated on destroying Fish-Man Island were fired, shooting straight at him.
"..."
A violent explosion roared, reaching the ears of the several Vice Admirals who were being besieged by a small team of Flügel, and a look of joy appeared in their eyes. "Have the soldiers who were in the illusion recovered?"
However, when the Vice Admirals, while dealing with these inexperienced young girls, swept their gaze around, the scene that met their eyes made their joy gradually disappear. The soldiers and officers in their line of sight showed no signs of recovery at all. Then, when they saw the warships that were firing again, aiming at Akainu, their faces changed drastically, and their hearts almost stopped.
"Stop fir—"
BOOM!
A loud roar sounded. A warship was melted by magma. The ammunition depot exploded, sending a sky-high blaze and rolling heatwaves. Immediately after, one after another, fists of magma shot toward the still-firing warships, sinking them one by one in the terrified eyes of the Vice Admirals.
The group of Vice Admirals all looked at Akainu, whose face showed not the slightest hesitation, and opened their mouths, swallowing hard.
Akainu ignored their terror. The warships and the soldiers and officers who were unable to use Haki because they were being controlled were different. The Buster Call-level cannonballs, unlike the bullets that were not wreathed in Haki, could indeed interfere with his actions. Since he couldn't wake the soldiers who were interfering with him, Akainu had taken the most direct method.
The next moment, he once again used his iconic move, Great Eruption. A dense mass of magma fists instantly streaked across the sky, and with a terrifying high temperature and power, they came crashing down on the dense area of fish-men.
Several thousand meters away, Uta, in her mermaid form, holding a violin and a sword-like bow, stood in front of the Great Eruption. After taking in this scene, she fell into a brief silence. She had never thought that Akainu would make such a ruthless choice so decisively in this situation.
After a moment of silence, she gave up the useless act of controlling the Marine soldiers to attack him. After taking a deep breath, her amethyst-like eyes became incomparably serious. Facing the meteor shower that was powerful enough to destroy everything in an instant, she slowly drew her bow.
The power of the several members of the God's Knights was undeniable. After realizing that the pirates had obtained the power to harm them, the members of the Archangel Pirates found it difficult to inflict as much damage on them as they had before.
Quilinguame swung his trident, wreathed it in Armament Haki, and struck Artemis and Asmodai's bodies, once again knocking them back. Then, he swung his fist again, his Armament Haki released outward, and directly shattered Goldberg's heavy kanabō, sending black metal fragments flying. The terrifying shockwave instantly sent Goldberg himself flying back. He knelt and fell, kicking up a large cloud of dust.
Seeing this, a sharp glint flashed in Quilinguame's seemingly harmless eyes. He instantly crossed dozens of meters and landed beside Goldberg. The trident, wreathed in the ultimate Armament Haki, was pointed straight at the giant's neck.
Quilinguame turned his head to look at the others and shouted, "If you don't want to see your comrade die a miserable death, you'd better hand over the Mermaid Princess—"
However, the next moment, an unprecedented sense of crisis enveloped him, making the golden fur on his body stand on end.
A starry-sky-like portal opened at his side. A pure white, slender hand extended, and directly grabbed his trident.
CRACK—
With a piercing sound, the trident, wreathed in Armament Haki, broke with a crack. The fragments shot out, streaking past his eyes.
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