Chapter 37: Trajectory Adjustment
More experience was never a bad thing.
Especially for a royal princess.
King Cobra, Igaram, and the guards cared deeply for Vivi, but they refused to shelter her in an ivory tower. This fostered the little princess's strong character, the same fortitude that would one day see her infiltrate Baroque Works to stop a civil war.
Who knew how the "butterfly's breeze" would alter Vivi's fate this time?
...
In any case, Dalton's fate had already changed.
He was a Zoan user—the Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Bison—and Captain of the Drum Kingdom Royal Guard. He'd served the old king faithfully from a young age.
After the old king's death, the spoiled, cruel Wapol ascended the throne. Dalton, serving under him, constantly opposed his brutal policies.
In another future, after many twists, Wapol would be driven from Drum by the Straw Hat Pirates. The kind-hearted Dalton would be elected king by the people, rename the country the Sakura Kingdom, and attend the Reverie.
...
Back to the present.
At this moment, Dalton should still be Captain of the Guard. His conflict with Wapol hadn't yet boiled over; it was a simmering mutual disdain.
This made Vergil curious.
Dalton, as the old king's right hand, held high prestige. Wapol despised him but couldn't easily remove him.
So why was Dalton grievously wounded? And why had he fled to Alabasta on a Drum Kingdom warship?
Moreover, the ship he arrived on had its keel shattered by cannon fire, the hull riddled with holes, barely afloat.
"Whew…"
Vergil's arms still braced against the ship's prow. A few wisps of white steam escaped his clenched teeth. With a powerful twist of his torso, he lifted the entire vessel with staggering strength, adjusted its angle, and set it down gently on the sandy shallows.
...
"Here!"
Vivi released her grip on Vergil's horns and hopped lightly onto the warship's deck. Seeing the grievously wounded Dalton bleeding on the planks, she showed no fear. She moved toward him, intending to tend his wounds.
But a wary voice stopped her. Several figures clambered up from the lower decks. They didn't look like soldiers and bore their own injuries.
The lead, a young man, warned, "Stay back! Or else—"
He froze.
Because facing him wasn't a fierce enemy, but a small, blue-haired girl.
Confronted with Vivi, his hostility melted. A wave of utter exhaustion crashed over him. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed, unconscious.
"You…" Vivi noticed that besides the few on deck, there seemed to be more people below, all in a state of exhaustion.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The piercing alarm cut through her thoughts. A second alarm blared across Nanohana's docks!
The dusk sun was a blinding, bloody red on the horizon. Silhouetted against its glare, several more warships appeared, sailing menacingly toward shore.
The lead vessel fired its heavy cannon, aiming at the stranded ship in the shallows.
BOOM—BOOM!
The first shell plunged into the water nearby, churning up sand and spray.
The second shot came, its trajectory slightly adjusted.
Whoosh—
"Huh?!"
Seeing the danger, Vivi urged everyone on the wreck to flee, but the shell was too fast. Before they could move, Dalton—in a surge of adrenaline—shifted back into his hulking bison form. A massive black shadow enveloped Vivi.
"Ungh…"
Before she could react, Dalton wrapped his massive body around her, turning his broad back toward the incoming shell.
Thump!
His consciousness was fading, his actions pure instinct—he wouldn't let a child be hurt before him.
BOOM!
The shell struck the deck and detonated, but the searing pain Dalton expected never came.
Craning his neck, he saw another, larger black shadow standing over him and Vivi. A "monster" with thick limbs and dark green, curved horns—a creature he'd never seen. The cannonball had struck its face, leaving only a smudge of black powder.
Pfft.
It exhaled through its nostrils, blowing the powder away without a mark.
"…"
"Your Highness!"
Chaka stayed to guard Cobra. Pell, however, spread his falcon wings, swooped onto the deck, and landed beside Vivi. Seeing her unharmed, he sighed in relief. He glanced at the approaching fleet, confused. "Those are all Drum Kingdom ships. Why are they attacking you?"
"I…" Dalton tried to explain, but the brief surge of strength was spent. No words came.
Seeing this, Pell looked up at the towering figure nearby. "Mr. Vergil! We should evacuate, now!"
"…"
Vergil didn't respond.
Pell was about to call again when Crocodile, watching from the dock, noticed several tattered black ribbons beginning to drift around Vergil's form.
Ancient Armament Haki.
Understanding the core of the matter, Crocodile yelled, "Forget the primitive! Get the valuable ones out first!"
"Right!"
Pell didn't hesitate. His hybrid form twisted, and his razor-sharp taloned feet slashed across the ship's side.
Falcon Slicer!
Swish—CRACK!
A single slash ripped a massive gash in the hull. Seizing the chance, the people hiding below finally scrambled out, fleeing toward Alabasta's shore.
"Mr. Vergil…" Pell noticed Vergil's strange stillness. Meeting the creature's sidelong gaze sent an involuntary shudder through him. Sensing Vergil was waiting for him to leave, Pell grabbed Vivi and the barely-conscious Dalton, spread his wings, and launched from the deck.
As he put distance between himself and the wreck, his falcon-sharp eyes caught a detail.
A wisp of black "cloth" floated in the air near Vergil.
But it was changing, visibly hardening, acquiring a sharp, defined edge.
Scales?
Pell didn't understand, but the pressure building behind him grew undeniably terrifying. He flew faster.
Crocodile, braver or more curious, simply snatched a floating "piece" from the air. Feeling the Ancient Armament Haki thrumming within it, his pupils constricted.
So this is one of its properties.
When Vergil was in his base form, the Ancient Armament manifested as tattered cloth.
When he activated his Zoan power, those "cloths" transformed, adapting properties to better suit his current state!
He looked up. Indeed.
Alvin Vergil's limbs had streamlined once more. Emerald-green scales studded his spine, interwoven with the black Ancient Armament, resembling irregular, rust-like armor. He dropped to all fours. Earthen spikes erupted from the ground, piercing the broken hull, giving him a solid, elevated platform.
He opened his fanged maw.
Alvin Vergil took a deep, shuddering breath…
[Chīguǐ · Xiǎofēng] Composite Form!
ROOOOAAAAARRR!
"Invisible" airflow scarred the very air. Shockwaves, pulverized earth, threads of Ancient Armament… all merged into a lethally dense torrent roared from Vergil's throat, aimed unerringly at the distant fleet!
Whoosh!
The lead warship sensed danger too late to evade.
The next instant—
CRUNCH!
The airflow struck the mainmast, instantly vaporizing it into splinters and dust.
"Ha!"
Seeing this, Crocodile couldn't help a dark chuckle. "First time using it, I see. Your aim's a bit off!"
Hearing him, Vergil's roar didn't cease.
"Hah!"
He let out a loud, exhilarated laugh that startled Crocodile, then violently shook his head.
Swish!
The annihilating airwave followed the motion, plunging downward in a blink and striking the lead warship's hull.
KABOOOM!
The keel shattered. The vessel disintegrated into a cloud of wooden shrapnel strewn across the waves.
"…"
Crocodile watched, his eye twitching slightly.
He can adjust the trajectory mid-attack?
(End of Chapter 37)
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