Zephyr's entire body was covered in Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) as he spoke coldly.
They called him Black Arm Zephyr. In his prime, his mastery over Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) had almost been able to catch up to Garp's. Even now, in his old age, he still retained seventy to eighty percent of his peak strength.
For Ain, he was a towering peak she could hardly hope to climb.
"Please guide me, Teacher Zephyr!"
Ain bowed respectfully, but the Falkor perched on her shoulder turned into a streak of lightning and shot into the sky.
If she couldn't leave, then she would let Falkor go and stop those two members of Blood Shadow.
But just then—
Boom!
A sharp explosion suddenly rang out from more than ten miles away, even making Zephyr instinctively turn to look.
Because that direction was where the navy's vanguard flagship was—
where Fleet Admiral Sengoku stood.
A vast and resplendent sword aura cleaved down from the heavens, spanning dozens of miles, its might overwhelming, enough to destroy cities and topple nations.
It was an evolved version of the giants' clan-guarding ultimate move, a technique unique to Big Mom:
Elbaf no Supia: Ikoku (Elbaf's Spear: Ikoku Sovereignty)!
Big Mom had chosen Sengoku as her opponent.
And from the very first clash, she unleashed her strongest sword technique, as if there were deep-seated hatred between them. It was as though something unknown lay in their shared past.
"Big Mom!"
On the flagship, Sengoku had already transformed into a gigantic golden Buddha, his entire body blazing with golden Buddha light. Roaring, he struck out with a palm from midair.
Boom!
The dull, mountain-crushing blast erupted forth, a vast, azure shockwave surging like an endless sea, crashing head-on into the Ikoku Sovereignty sword aura.
The residual force swept out in all directions, raising waves a hundred meters high.
The flagship beneath Sengoku's feet began to rapidly crack apart, and many Marine soldiers were torn apart by the peerless sword aura in the first instant, exploding into clouds of blood-mist.
Big Mom's sword was simply too domineering.
Even someone as strong as Sengoku could not fully protect the men around him.
"Big Mom!"
Sengoku charged into the air, slamming out palm strikes one after another. The azure shockwaves were like a hundred layered waves surging toward Big Mom, seeking to swallow her whole.
Big Mom stood eight point eight meters tall, but before the enormous Buddha form of Sengoku, she seemed as small and fragile as a child.
Even so, her aura did not weaken in the slightest.
"Sengoku!"
She roared back, her three Homies bursting with power. Thunder and flame erupted skyward as an enhanced Ikoku Sovereignty slashed out once more.
On an island to the west of the main battlefield—
"ROOM! Tozaijo (Slaughterhouse)!"
Law raised his hand and expanded a ROOM, instantly cutting all the Marines inside the spherical domain into pieces.
"Haa…"
After a string of fierce battles, his stamina was dropping at a frightening rate.
The Ope Ope no Mi (Operation Fruit) was a broken, heaven-defying power—but the price in stamina for using it was far greater than that of most other Devil Fruits.
"What's wrong, out of gas already? No wonder you only qualify as the Sixth Division Captain. Unlike me!"
Bartolomeo panted heavily as he taunted him from the side.
"Heh… If it weren't for this young master helping you lot, you'd have already died under the Marines' blades."
Not far away, Cavendish flicked the blood from his sword and spoke coldly.
"I don't think it's time to rest just yet."
Law looked at the new Marine warships sailing toward them and felt a headache coming on.
This time, the navy hadn't just dispatched a large number of strong fighters—they had also sent troops in numbers several times greater than the Creed Alliance. At this rate, they risked being ground down to nothing.
The divisions under their command were already more than half destroyed.
To call them three lonely division captains wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"Man… If that guy who could make those biscuit soldiers hadn't gone down, we could've held on a lot longer."
Bartolomeo bared his teeth in frustration.
Their side's decline had only really begun to show clearly after Cracker fell.
"Watch out! ROOM!"
All of a sudden, Law shouted a warning.
"Shugo Bariado (Guardian Barrier)!"
Sensing something wrong as well, Bartolomeo hastily raised his hands and deployed his barrier.
Clang!
A powerful slash flew in from the flank, smashing into the barrier and sending Bartolomeo shooting away like an arrow. He slammed into a distant slab of iron-hard rock and became stuck there, his condition unknown.
Shrrraaaash!
The sword aura, diverted by the barrier, scattered into countless fine blades of wind, forcing Cavendish and Law to simultaneously dodge and swing their swords to block.
"Sharp noses, huh… You sewer rats."
More than three hundred meters ahead, beside a jagged reef, a man had appeared without anyone noticing—
a burly figure in a blood-red cloak, a strange long sword in his grip, his face covered by a mask.
"Which Blade of Blood Shadow are you?"
Law drew Kikoku, and a faint chorus of wailing ghosts seemed to echo around the sword. He readied his stance, staring intently at the man.
Inwardly, though, his heart felt anything but steady.
In the long history of Blood Shadow, they had never fielded more than nine members at once. Yet each one of them possessed strength either close to a Marine Admiral—or surpassing one.
Not a single one was mediocre.
"Heh… Very well. Let me give you a little peace in your final moments: I am Blood Shadow's Fifth Blade. I've come to claim your lives."
The masked man tightened his grip on his sword with both hands, about to launch his assault.
Northwest of Ice Island's battlefield, more than thirty miles away, a hundred Marine warships were standing by in perfect formation.
This was the World Government's main force, personally led by Kong.
On the central flagship, communications officers and runners hurried back and forth, constantly relaying the situation at the front to Kong and Aegis.
"It's about time. We should head in as well."
Aegis spoke up.
He could not wait any longer.
While both sides were still evenly matched, pressing their advantage in one decisive charge to completely crush Creed's forces was, without doubt, the right choice.
Before absolute strength, any scheme was just empty talk.
"The enemy may still have trump cards. Shouldn't we wait a little longer?"
But Kong looked somewhat uneasy.
They were all still in the middle of playing their cards. Charging in recklessly at this moment felt a bit off.
"Commander Kong, this time Lord Imu is determined to obtain that Poseidon. I just received intelligence that, because the front line is under heavy pressure, Creed seems to be preparing to move Poseidon.
If we're too slow, we might be too late."
Seeing Kong hesitate, Aegis' eyes turned cold as he spoke.
"Move Poseidon…?"
Kong fell into thought.
The World Government's two primary goals in this operation were simple:
First, annihilate the Creed Pirates.
Second, obtain the Ancient Weapon Poseidon.
Both goals were equally important.
"I understand. Issue the order—full assault!"
Kong finally made his decision.
The Ancient Weapon Poseidon absolutely could not fall into anyone else's hands.
Perhaps she was still young now and had yet to awaken her divine power. But if she awakened in the future and fell under the control of someone with great ambition, the navy could forget about ruling the seas ever again.
According to legend, Poseidon's power even surpassed Pluton.
She was the one existence capable of overturning the seas and changing their very color.
Whoever controlled Poseidon would become the true—and only—sovereign of the oceans.
Whether they obtained Poseidon or not would decide the future of the navy.
Kong could not help but weigh this matter over and over.
Even though he had already sent the two supreme commanders of Blood Shadow to handle it…
The navy's full-scale offensive began at that very moment.
(End of Chapter)
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