Outside the Great Forest, at the watchtower.
"Hey! Brothers, wake up!"
Following Lan Li's advice, the Commander who had fled here looked at the heavily injured marines in the devastated watchtower, feeling both relieved and anxious.
He was relieved because the situation here was better than expected—although they had suffered a brutal attack and almost all the equipment in the watchtower was unusable, the marines' lives were at least not in danger.
It wasn't hard to guess that the other four bases were likely in a similar situation.
In addition, he had already reported the attack on Arashit Island to Headquarters.
But his anxiety also stemmed from this.
"The nearest support from the surrounding sea area will take half a day to arrive."
"But even if they do arrive... can we really be of any help in a battle of that level?"
Muttering under his breath, he looked towards the center of the distant Great Forest.
At this moment, from the center of that forest.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
Loud bangs and frictional sounds, like thunder, were still audible even from such a great distance.
And with each collision, he could see a giant tree in the Great Arashit Forest topple over with a boom, raising a violent cloud of dust.
From time to time, a massive slash would cut from the forest towards the sky, shattering all the dust.
Without a doubt.
It was a battle the likes of which the Commander had never seen.
"Commodore Lan Li... can he win?" he wondered in his heart.
...
"I can't win."
And at this moment, within the forest, Marine Commodore Lan Li, who was fighting fiercely with Roy, silently came to this conclusion in his heart.
"So this is an Ancient Zoan user?" he whispered to himself.
He had long heard his master, Vice Admiral 'Momonga', speak of the troublesomeness of Ancient Zoan users—in fact, among the renowned 'Seven Warlords of the Sea', there was one who was famous for his Ancient Zoan ability.
According to Momonga: facing that guy was like facing the ancient wilderness itself.
Lan Li hadn't quite understood before.
But now, he did.
"Boom!"
The sound of something tearing through the air came—it was a giant tail.
Lan Li barely managed to swing his tachi in a counterattack.
"Volcano Style: Explosive Slash!"
His full-power Haki and strength erupted.
But the next moment, he felt as if he had been hit by a mountain and was sent flying out of control.
"Rumble!"
His body carved a huge trench in the ground, and the giant trees he knocked down along the way testified to the impact's force.
Lan Li felt that he might have broken another rib.
"How many is that now? Three or four?"
He barely managed to prop himself up with his sword, swallowing the blood that was about to gush out. His heavy panting indicated that he was in a very bad state.
Then, he looked up at his enemy.
That monster was not far from him.
On the tail of its massive, over-three-meter-tall body, a gash he had just made could be seen, a slight opening.
But at this moment...
"..."
Lan Li could clearly see that the muscles and membrane at the edge of that gash were constantly repairing themselves.
In just a moment, the bleeding wound had already turned into a faint red mark.
And this was what was giving Lan Li the biggest headache, even making him feel despair.
"Vitality, stamina, speed, defense, strength... we're on completely different levels."
Even if his opponent wasn't using Haki—perhaps he couldn't, or perhaps he didn't want to.
Even if he had used his full-power Haki and slashes.
The difference between them lay in the very essence of life—the vitality brought by the Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit was simply too terrifying.
Therefore...
"My training is still not enough... If Master Momonga were here, he might be able to sever this guy's body."
Lan Li thought to himself.
"In a normal fight, I have no chance of winning."
"So... I can only bet everything on the next slash."
He had already made his decision.
And at the same time...
"This fruit... is truly monstrous. No wonder any Ancient Zoan user is at least one of the Beast Pirates' 'Flying Six' or 'All-Stars'."
Roy was having almost the same thought as Lan Li.
That's right.
His fight with Lan Li this time was also intentional, to use this skilled Commodore as a 'whetstone' to adapt to his new ability.
And as the fruit's user, he knew even better than Lan Li just how powerful the Pteranodon Fruit was.
"My basic combat skills and martial arts are not weak. Combined with this fruit's ability... I should have combat power close to that of a Marine Vice Admiral."
Roy came to this conclusion in his mind.
Of course, considering the huge gap between the upper and lower limits of the Marine Vice Admiral level, his words were still on the conservative side.
"Not to mention I still have... hmm?"
But just as Roy was about to continue his analysis, a thought stirred in his mind—the unique sense of danger of a Zoan user made him look in Commodore Lan Li's direction.
And at this moment, Commodore Lan Li had already walked out from the dust.
At some point, the large tachi in his hand had been sheathed.
He crouched low, his right hand on the scabbard, his eyes frighteningly sharp.
"Time to settle this?"
Roy naturally understood his opponent's intention—he was clearly planning to decide the match with his next strike.
And so...
"Very well."
"I've gotten used to the Pteranodon Fruit's abilities. It's indeed time to end this."
Roy muttered to himself, then also looked at Commodore Lan Li in front of him.
And at this moment...
"Boom!"
Commodore Lan Li's hand gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, his breathing heavier than ever before.
"Hah!" "Hah!" "Hah!"
And with each breath, Haki slowly coated his hand, and all the strength in his body gathered at this moment.
At this moment, his presence was like... a gathering and about to erupt volcano.
"If you encounter a powerful enemy, it is of course a crisis, but it can also be an opportunity."
"Gather your presence, bet everything on one sword strike."
"Focus your mind, gather it to a single point—this is called 'Iai'."
In his ears, the voice of his master, 'Momonga', seemed to still be echoing.
And then...
"Boom!"
The next moment, a sharp glint appeared.
Like a volcanic eruption!
It was a slash—a slash like no other!
The speed and intensity of this slash far surpassed any of his previous ones, tearing through the atmosphere.
Wherever it passed, countless surrounding trees were split in two in an instant, and a huge cloud of dust exploded with the slash.
"When the heart moves, the sword follows; heart and mind as one—this is 'Battō'."
At this moment, Lan Li was very satisfied.
Because this was the strongest strike he had ever delivered.
"Volcano Style: Iaijutsu Slash: Momonga!"
And at this moment, even in Roy's beast-like vertical pupils, a flash of surprise couldn't be helped.
The next moment...
The slash flew past.
"Pfft!"
And the head covered in draconic scales, wearing the rooster mask... silently left its neck!
Decapitated with a single sword strike!
And so, Lan Li finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I won."
He slowly slumped to the ground, panting heavily, feeling as if even the slightest movement was extremely difficult.
But...
"Not a bad strike."
The next moment, a sudden voice almost made Lan Li's heart stop.
"Wh..."
He turned his head in disbelief.
And then, he saw a sight that he would never forget for the rest of his life.
At this moment, in the devastated forest, the sunlight was just right.
And Roy's severed head, with the rooster mask, was turning into countless fine, flowing golden particles of light.
And then...
"Hum!"
The scattered fragments of light continuously gathered, gradually re-condensing on the headless body.
In the brilliant light, the outline of a head was forming.
In a moment, Roy's figure had returned to its complete form.
But at this moment, Lan Li could see a change in him.
Golden ribbons of light were now clearly wrapped around his body, and even the dragon claws in his hands seemed to be glowing with a golden radiance.
And so, a dead silence fell upon the forest.
Lan Li's gaze was almost vacant.
He looked at Roy's incredible form, a sight that could not be described with normal words.
"A Zoan user, but... elementalization!?"
In his still-functioning brain, he was replaying the incredible scene from just now.
After fighting for so long, he was almost certain that Roy was a Zoan-type fruit user.
But the scene just now, he had seen it before in the Marines—it was extremely similar to the Logia ability of Admiral 'Kizaru'.
So, he involuntarily came to the almost only possible conclusion.
"You're... a Mythical Zoan?"
Only the rarest type of fruit in the entire sea, the Zoan-type Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, could possibly possess such incredible power!
And with that came another conclusion.
And that was...
"When you were fighting me just now... you weren't using your full strength at all?"
If his opponent was indeed a Mythical Zoan user, then this conclusion was almost inevitable.
And so, Lan Li was almost horrified.
He was confident in his own strength—among the Marines, below the rank of Vice Admiral, he was confident he would not lose to anyone.
But now, this mysterious attacker in front of him could defeat him without even using his full strength.
"Who... who are you..."
He opened his mouth to ask.
And then, he saw the other's slowly raised dragon claw.
"Hum!"
Golden light gathered on the dragon claw and erupted in the next moment.
"Boom!"
And the next moment, Lan Li lost consciousness.
"Who am I?"
And before he lost consciousness, he seemed to hear the other's calm yet confident voice.
"My name is... 'Rooster'."