The warship that suddenly charged into the battlefield was none other than the one led by Momousagi.
Standing on the deck, she looked ready to explode on the spot.
The damned Strollo Pirates had taken advantage of the climate and terrain of the Devil Sea to successfully scatter the fleet under her command.
If all they had done was split up her fleet, she wouldn't have feared those lawless pirates in the slightest.
But the pirates were extremely cunning.
The moment her fleet was separated, the Strollo Pirates' ships immediately launched attacks on isolated Marine warships one by one.
Meanwhile, several pirate ships deliberately kept her occupied.
If she chose to attack one pirate ship, the others would bombard her warship.
And once she turned to counterattack those ships, the pirate ship she had been chasing earlier would circle back and attack again.
Repeating this over and over, she eventually lost all sense of direction.
Clearly, this was a carefully planned ambush designed specifically for them.
And during this time, Strollo had already sunk two of her warships.
Without her personally overseeing the battlefield, the Marine officers aboard the other ships simply could not withstand the attacks of Strollo, a Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit user.
What infuriated Momousagi most was that Strollo absolutely refused to fight her directly.
He only targeted isolated warships.
And because she was constantly tied down by the pirate ships harassing her, she had completely lost track of the rest of her fleet.
Finally, after entering this stretch of sea, she spotted a warship surrounded by pirate vessels.
Already furious with nowhere to vent her anger, she immediately ordered a bombardment on the pirate ships flanking the warship.
However, she never expected that even this warship had already fallen and become a prize of the Strollo Pirates.
Just as her own warship accelerated toward the battlefield, Bell's captured warship suddenly started moving and rammed directly toward her.
Seeing this, Momousagi didn't hesitate in the slightest.
Using Moonwalk, she stepped into the air and instantly slashed downward.
How could the pirates aboard the warship possibly stand against a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral?
Faced with Momousagi's airborne slash wave, the pirates who had been celebrating moments earlier immediately screamed as they scattered in panic.
Before they could recover, Momousagi had already descended from the sky and landed steadily on the deck.
"Die!"
The moment she landed, Momousagi wasted no time whatsoever and launched an overwhelmingly fierce assault on the pirates.
Meanwhile—
With Arashi's help, Bell finally climbed aboard the Traveler.
Looking at the thoroughly drenched Bell, Arashi couldn't help laughing.
"You're called… Bell, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Arashi."
Bell bowed deeply and said gratefully,
"Thank you for saving me!"
"No need to be so polite."
Arashi waved it off casually before glancing toward Bell's warship.
"That woman—is she your superior?"
"Yes!"
Bell nodded immediately, then looked toward the heroic figure fighting aboard the warship with unconcealed admiration.
"Mr. Arashi should recognize her, right? She's Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Momousagi!"
Of course Arashi knew who she was.
Although this version of Momousagi was younger than in the original story, he still recognized her at a glance.
What surprised him was that she was already a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral at this point.
Momousagi hadn't appeared much in the original series, but she had still left a deep impression on Arashi.
Especially those ridiculously long legs.
The proportions were practically unreal.
Still, what truly intrigued Arashi wasn't her rank.
What interested him was the fact that a fleet personally led by a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral had been driven into such a miserable situation by pirates.
Had some terrifying pirate emerged in the West Blue?
With curiosity rising in his mind, Arashi withdrew his gaze and turned to Bell.
"Colonel Bell, could you tell me exactly who these pirates are?"
"The Strollo Pirates."
A trace of hatred flashed through Bell's eyes as he gritted his teeth.
"A pirate crew that suddenly emerged within the past half year. Their captain, Strollo, is a Logia-type Devil Fruit user."
"A Logia-type Devil Fruit user…"
Arashi nodded thoughtfully.
Clearly, this pirate wasn't just powerful—he also knew how to exploit the terrain of this Devil Sea for battle.
And with Momousagi appearing here completely unharmed, it wasn't hard for Arashi to infer that Strollo had never intended to fight her head-on from the beginning.
His real objective had been exactly what Arashi sensed earlier through Observation Haki:
Divide the fleet and destroy the warships one by one.
Under those circumstances, even a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral like Momousagi would be stretched too thin.
And after wiping out the rest of the fleet, the enemy would naturally concentrate all their firepower on dealing with her.
"A very impressive strategy."
Arashi suddenly found himself becoming interested in this scheming pirate captain.
And sure enough—
Not a single part of Arashi's deduction was wrong.
Just as Momousagi finished killing all the pirates aboard Bell's warship, a series of piercing sounds suddenly erupted from every direction without warning.
Immediately afterward, a dense rain of cannon fire engulfed both Bell's warship and Momousagi's ship.
Deafening explosions erupted continuously as shells rained from the sky, followed by wave after wave of violent shockwaves spreading across the sea.
"What a perfect strategy indeed…"
Watching the two warships disappear beneath the bombardment, Arashi walked to the edge of the deck and swept his gaze across the surrounding waters.
One after another, pirate ships emerged from the thick fog on both sides of Bell's warship.
Accompanied by endless screaming cannon fire, eight or nine pirate ships rapidly closed in from both flanks, instantly turning the two Marine warships into the filling of a sandwich.
"Hahahaha! Marines!"
On the deck of the massive lead pirate ship, Strollo clenched his fists tightly as he watched the two warships completely swallowed by artillery fire.
His face was filled with fanatical excitement as he burst into laughter.
"So this is all the Marines amount to?! Hahahahaha!!!"
Clearly, Strollo was extremely satisfied with the results of this operation.
Although he had lost ten warships and more than two hundred subordinates during the fighting, it was all worth it as long as he could annihilate this entire Marine fleet.
More importantly—
The destroyed pirate ships and dead pirates were nothing more than cannon fodder he had recruited along the way.
His true core crew remained standing behind him completely unharmed.
And so, after wiping out the other warships and their Marines, he had rushed here immediately without caring whether some of his own pirate ships were still in the area.
He simply launched indiscriminate bombardment against the two remaining Marine warships.
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