High above, several thousand meters in the sky.
Boom——
The sound of colliding explosions kept echoing.
Weevil's dull expression carried a trace of madness:
"Damn bug!"
"Where is this?! Where's Mom?!!!"
"Ahhhhh!!!"
He raised his naginata high and swung down toward Skarn.
Buzz——
There seemed to be a slight delay, then a massive slash appeared, tearing through everything in front of it, aiming at Skarn.
Skarn raised his hand and waved.
Countless fragments from the battleship gathered and reassembled.
They formed into a massive combined fist several meters tall, his hand resting on it.
Thick Armament Haki instantly covered it, turning it pitch-black.
He slammed it forward; the black giant fist shot out like a rocket, wrapped in airwaves, colliding with the slash.
Boom——!!!
A mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
Under the tremendous impact of the explosion, the battleship was completely blown to pieces.
Weevil lost his foothold, plummeting rapidly.
The battleship fragments reassembled, forming a gigantic arrow, coated in Haki, like a black meteor shooting toward Weevil.
The veins on Weevil's arms bulged as he swung his blade at the massive arrow.
A thunderous crack exploded in the sky.
Even though the giant arrow made of battleship fragments was coated in Armament Haki, it showed faint signs of breaking apart.
However, Weevil's falling speed multiplied several times, pressed downward by the massive arrow.
Skarn, meanwhile, had somehow appeared further below.
His arms were covered in flowing, pitch-black Armament Haki, his eyes narrowed, staring at the falling Weevil.
Finding the right spot, the muscles of his right arm bulged.
He punched toward Weevil's spine!
Crack——
A crisp sound rang out; Weevil's spine was clearly broken, though not too severely.
Because...
Not only was Weevil's body not bent at a ninety-degree angle from inertia and impact, he even twisted angrily to slash at Skarn.
Skarn's pupils contracted sharply; he retreated explosively in shock.
This guy... what kind of monster physique is this?
Just now, with the giant arrow smashing him downward and that punch to his spine from below, he actually endured it...
Too freakish...
Skarn's brows twitched as he stared at the furious Weevil.
He had only heard rumors of pirates with monstrous talents on the seas, but now he was seeing it firsthand...
Weevil, seeing Skarn so far away and unable to reach him, furiously grabbed the arrow pressing him down.
Aiming in Skarn's direction:
"Ahhhhh!!!!"
Boom——
Under Weevil's immense strength, the arrow controlled by Skarn's ability was forcibly torn free and shot toward Skarn.
Skarn's mouth twitched; he pushed his hand forward.
Crash——
The incoming arrow instantly shattered into countless fragments, scattering everywhere, all its force dissipated.
With a flip of his palm, the fragments reassembled into four giant hands charging at Weevil.
Skarn followed right after.
The four giant hands flew from four directions, smashing toward Weevil.
With a deafening roar, the four giant hands crushed inward, locking tightly around his body.
Before Weevil could break free with his monstrous strength—
A faint whistling through the air sounded, an infinite sense of crisis stimulating his nerves.
A violent explosion erupted from where the giant hands restrained him, sweeping across the sky.
Weevil tried to reach for his head.
But Skarn suddenly appeared, pinning his arms down for a moment.
Swish swish——
Darkness engulfed Weevil instantly.
Two iron spikes, under Skarn's control and coated in Armament Haki, shot through Weevil's eyes, piercing straight into his brain, vanishing inside.
The four pitch-black giant hands restraining Weevil trembled as if about to collapse, but it was too late to struggle.
Skarn shifted, appearing above Weevil's head, pressing down:
"Strangle."
The two iron spikes inside Weevil's brain snapped into countless tiny pieces, rapidly spinning and merging...
After a few screams and roars, Weevil completely lost all signs of life, his body going limp.
From his eye sockets, nostrils, mouth... red and white pulp mixed with iron fragments kept flowing out...
Skarn slowly released his palm:
"That just now... was that this guy's ability?"
His mind replayed Weevil's final outburst before death.
Skarn grabbed his shoulder and descended.
...
On the pirate ship below.
Zephyr looked at Skarn descending with Weevil's corpse and smiled:
"Finished, huh."
Skarn exhaled deeply:
"Yeah... took some tricks."
"This guy's physique was downright monstrous."
"Let's leave him for Enel to experiment on."
"He'll make great material."
Recalling the scene just now, Skarn couldn't help feeling a headache; what kind of monstrous body was that...
Even under such impact, his spine didn't snap; thrown into the sea, ninety-nine percent of people would be instantly paralyzed or dead.
But this absurd guy... even counterattacked midair...
Zephyr nodded, interested:
"Oh?"
"Tell me the battle details when we get back."
Skarn replied:
"Mm."
"Time to recall the troops?"
No helping it; two battleships destroyed meant half their supplies were gone.
Zephyr looked at the cheering cadets on the distant battleships:
"Hmph... recall them."
"But tell them first—no graduation."
"Another half month of drills when we return."
"Scare them a bit."
"No leaks allowed."
"Teach them a lesson."
"So they don't make such rookie mistakes again."
Skarn smiled helplessly:
"Yes~ yes~"
The pirate ship beneath them lifted into the air, flying toward the battleships...
...
New World, Egghead Island, early morning.
The sun hadn't risen yet, but the sky was already faintly bright.
Thick fog filled the area.
Enel, alone, escorted the battleship loaded with treasure and Belly to a rendezvous point not far from Egghead Island.
As soon as he arrived, the sea surface began bubbling.
A few seconds later, a massive robot emerged from the water.
It nodded at Enel, its chest opening, countless robots pouring out to begin unloading the treasure.
Enel yawned in boredom.
He released his Observation Haki recklessly, suddenly sensing something:
"Hm?"
"That is..."
Far away on the sea, a ship flying the Sorbet Kingdom's flag sailed along, escorted by government ships.
"Sorbet Kingdom's old lady, huh..."
Back during the Plowing Campaign, after discovering Dragon's ties to Sorbet Kingdom's king, Bartholomew Kuma,
Enel had recorded the magnetic fields of all Sorbet royal family members.
Those recorded people, their electromagnetic fields in Enel's Observation Haki shone as brightly as suns.
And the "old lady" in his words was Sorbet Kingdom's Queen Dowager, Conney.
Enel shook his head:
"Traveling with her granddaughter, huh..."
He withdrew his Observation Haki. Though unimportant, he still planned to mention it to Sakazuki later.
After all, traveling from South Blue to the New World... that distance was absurdly far.
Buru buru~ buru buru~
The sound of the Den Den Mushi rang out.
-----------
The fanfic is Finished on p@treon/tambeerg. 414 chapters in total