Boom!!!
Home run.
Andrew had already been severely injured by the previous strike. When Mangu sent him flying into the air, he barely had any strength left to resist. The mace came crashing down again, and Andrew was blasted away once more.
Blood sprayed through the air without restraint.
This time, Andrew flew even farther. The savage spikes of Mangu's mace tore into him, ripping flesh from his body. In several places, white bone could be faintly seen beneath the shredded muscle.
It's over.
Kaito Arisawa, who had been calmly observing Mangu's battle, immediately knew that Andrew was finished the moment he saw that scene.
He was satisfied—deeply satisfied—with how easily Mangu had suppressed Andrew and secured victory. And yet, at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a trace of guilt.
That guilt was not for Andrew.
It was for Mangu.
I was the one who held him back all these years. With his talent and raw strength, he should have made a name for himself across West Blue long ago.
Andrew being crushed did not mean Andrew was weak.
Judging from his performance just now, Andrew's strength was roughly equal to Kaito before he awakened the talent panel. If measured purely in terms of combat ability—ignoring external factors—Andrew would easily warrant a bounty of forty to fifty million Berries.
That level of power, in a regular pirate crew within West Blue, would already rank in the upper-middle tier.
And yet Mangu had overpowered him.
That alone was proof of Mangu's excellence.
Kaito's sense of guilt stemmed from knowing that he had limited Mangu's stage. If Kaito had pursued expansion earlier, Mangu's strength alone could have elevated the Sword Gang into a first-class power like the Iron Fist.
But that was the past.
Now things were different.
Mangu had begun to shine—and Kaito had the confidence to lead him to shine even brighter in the future.
The battle raged on.
Andrew's disastrous defeat inevitably caused the morale of many Iron Fist members to plummet when they realized what had happened. Still, not everyone surrendered. A considerable number continued to resist stubbornly.
As Kaito watched the battlefield unfold, a faint red glimmer flickered in his eyes. He turned his head toward a distant direction.
The sound of rapid marching approached.
From the street beyond, a large force of Marine soldiers surged forward with rifles in hand.
"Quick! Open fire to support the Iron Fist Gang! Eliminate the invading pirates!"
There were thousands of Marines—an entire garrison. Leading them was a Marine Commodore, the base commander of the Marine branch stationed in Lovisa.
The Commodore took in the scene at a glance.
When he saw the Iron Fist headquarters reduced to ruins, he froze momentarily. Then, upon recognizing the clash between the War Pirates and the Iron Fist Gang, his expression turned grim.
Without hesitation, he issued the order to attack.
West Blue had always been peculiar in its structure. Gangs were neither fully criminal nor fully legitimate. In many cities, they operated in murky cooperation with official forces.
Lovisa was clearly one of those places.
The Iron Fist Gang's prosperity did not happen without tacit approval—and likely cooperation—from local authorities, including the Marine branch.
So it was no surprise that the Commodore chose to support the Iron Fist.
Besides, from Marine's perspective, pirates were always the primary target. The War Pirates had declared themselves openly. An attack against them required no justification.
Kaito's right hand moved to rest on the hilt of his golden saber.
He had no intention of allowing thousands of Marines to interfere. This battle was meant to temper his men. If the Marines joined, the intensity would spike beyond control, leading to unnecessary casualties.
But just as he prepared to act—
He stopped.
Someone else had already moved.
"Colossal Bloom — Giant Tree!"
Petals burst into the air.
As the Marines raised their rifles and prepared to fire, enormous hands erupted from the ground around their formation.
The hands were massive—each formed from the fusion of countless arms. They rose suddenly, like titans awakening beneath the earth itself.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The colossal palms swept outward with violent force, accompanied by howling wind. They smashed into the Marine ranks with overwhelming impact.
"AAAHHH!!"
Screams filled the air.
The entire sequence—from manifestation to impact—happened in mere seconds. Before most Marines could even react, they were sent flying. Their formation shattered instantly.
Bodies were hurled through the air. Rifles scattered. The once-tight ranks dissolved into chaos.
"Damn it! Devil Fruit ability!"
The Marine Commodore had also been targeted. But unlike his subordinates, he reacted faster. He barely avoided being crushed by one of the massive hands.
His face darkened as he stared at the towering palms.
"Devil Fruit…!"
The judgment was immediate.
Kaito shifted his gaze toward Robin.
She had been assisting the men in their clash against the Iron Fist. But the moment the Marines intervened, her expression had changed.
Cold.
Sharp.
There was no hesitation in her attack—no restraint.
The severity of her strike said everything about her feelings toward the Marines.
Kaito understood.
After Ohara, it would be stranger if Robin felt anything other than resentment.
Still…
She's been holding back in our sparring sessions all this time.
Kaito didn't know whether to feel pleased or slightly annoyed.
Pleased—because her growth exceeded expectations.
Annoyed—because she clearly hadn't gone all out against him before.
Either way, one thing was certain.
Robin was no longer the girl fleeing from the world.
She was now a combatant capable of shaking Marine formations with a single move.
And this battle was far from over.
-------------------------
For advanced chapters, visit patreon.com/Varnok