With Arashi's permission granted, Perona practically jumped with joy.
She had been looking forward to a real battle for a long time.
Although Arashi had always taught her on Ohara that she shouldn't constantly think about fighting and killing and should instead be a quiet, adorable young lady, after learning Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and the Six Powers, it had been driving her crazy to watch battles without being allowed to join in.
She hadn't expected Arashi to actually approve.
Even if his approval sounded rather absentminded, it was enough as long as she could fight.
Under Bell's stunned gaze, Perona transformed into a ghost and drifted toward one of the pirate ships.
Then an even more shocking scene unfolded.
The moment Perona landed on the pirate ship, the pirates aboard began dropping to their knees one after another.
Each of them looked utterly hopeless, as though life itself had lost all meaning.
Before Bell could even process what he was seeing, Perona's next actions left him completely dumbfounded.
She skillfully employed Finger Pistol and Rankyaku from the Six Powers, cleanly harvesting pirates one after another.
As miserable screams echoed across the sea, every pirate aboard the second ship either died from her Finger Pistol or was kicked into the ocean by a Rankyaku.
In only two or three minutes, Perona had wiped out every pirate aboard both ships without leaving a single survivor.
"Th-this…"
Watching Perona casually float back as though she still hadn't had enough fun, Bell rubbed his eyes repeatedly.
"Finger Pistol, Rankyaku, and even Paper Arts?! My heavens... how do you know the Six Powers too?"
"Arashi taught me!"
Returning to Arashi's side, Perona proudly lifted her chin.
Then she blinked her big eyes and looked at Arashi eagerly.
"Arashi, can I go kill all the remaining small fry too?"
"Oh, sure. Be careful."
Arashi's response was as casual as ever.
But for Perona, that was all she needed.
"What do you mean, 'be careful'?!"
Watching Perona turn and float away again, Bell looked at Arashi in utter confusion.
"Mr. Arashi, there are over a hundred pirates over there! And she's just—"
"Hm? What were you saying?"
Arashi finally withdrew his attention and glanced at Bell.
Then he looked around.
After noticing Perona was no longer beside him, he blinked.
"Where's my little ghost girl?"
"Huh?!?!"
Bell's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
He stared blankly at Arashi for a long moment before finally recovering.
"Mr. Arashi... your little ghost girl already charged out there!!!"
Only then did Arashi turn and notice Perona floating toward the pirate fleet.
"Ah. Right. Letting her have some fun is fine too."
"Hah?"
"Some fun?"
Bell almost coughed up blood.
Were important figures really this carefree?
Still, Bell quickly accepted reality.
Although Perona was young, Bell had already seen enough from her effortless destruction of two pirate ships.
Not only had she mastered Finger Pistol and Rankyaku, but she was also a Devil Fruit user with an incredibly bizarre ability.
Most importantly—
From beginning to end, Arashi hadn't paid any attention to these pirates at all.
It was as if they didn't even exist in his eyes.
Or perhaps more accurately—
They simply weren't worth mentioning.
Back when Smoker had endlessly praised Arashi's strength, Bell had suspected there was some exaggeration involved.
Now, however, it seemed Smoker hadn't exaggerated at all.
This Mr. Arashi was truly unfathomable.
But...
Even if Arashi was unfathomably powerful, surely his little ghost girl couldn't defeat the entire Strollo Pirates by herself... right?
The instant that thought appeared in Bell's mind, his eyes suddenly widened again.
His eyeballs nearly fell out.
He stared toward the direction Perona had flown.
Perona drifted across the Strollo Pirates' ships like a wandering spirit.
Immediately afterward, pirates aboard one vessel after another dropped to their knees.
Then all sorts of bizarre cries began ringing out.
"I'm sorry! Please throw me into the sea and let fish eat me! My existence is a crime!"
"Please step on me! Step on me! I don't want to live anymore!"
"I'm sorry, everyone! I don't deserve to exist in this world! Please execute me publicly!"
Listening to the endless chorus of despair, Bell's mind completely shattered.
In just a few short minutes, several pirate ships of the Strollo Pirates had already fallen.
The pirates barely even had a chance to attack before collapsing to their knees and begging for death.
The sheer absurdity and horror of the scene made Bell start questioning reality itself.
Perona's trademark sinister laughter echoed continuously across the fleet.
Wherever the laughter passed, whether pirate officers or ordinary crew members, everyone dropped to their knees.
All of them received the deadly baptism of the Ghost Princess.
Some members of the Strollo Pirates managed to recover from the negative effects quickly.
But faced with Perona's Finger Pistol and Rankyaku reinforced by Armament Haki, they were completely helpless.
One after another, pirates let out desperate screams as they were swept away by her strange Devil Fruit ability and overwhelming attacks.
"All... all of them..."
Standing beside Arashi, Bell maintained an expression that looked as if his eyes were about to fall out.
Watching Perona drift toward the final pirate ship of the Strollo Pirates, he stammered:
"My God... she's wiping out the entire Strollo Pirates by herself."
"I must be dreaming."
"Yes, that's it."
"I have to be dreaming."
Arashi had never doubted Perona's strength for a second.
During the six months on Ohara, while training her Haki and Six Powers, she had never stopped developing her Devil Fruit abilities either.
As long as the Strollo Pirates didn't happen to contain some freakishly pessimistic individual, Perona could have annihilated all these small fry even without using Haki or the Six Powers.
Looking at Bell's stunned expression, Arashi smiled faintly.
"You see, the only person in the entire Strollo Pirates who can actually fight is Strollo himself."
"And yet a pirate crew full of small fry managed to push the Marines into such a miserable state."
"Colonel Bell, you Marines really need to work harder in the future."
"It's not that we're weak—your little ghost girl is just ridiculously strong, okay?!"
The moment Arashi finished speaking, Bell finally exploded and roared in protest.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his lapse in composure.
Immediately, he bowed deeply.
"My apologies, Mr. Arashi. I lost my composure."
"No worries, no worries."
Arashi waved it off with a smile.
Then he turned his gaze toward the ongoing battle between Momousagi and Strollo.
Watching the clash, he spoke calmly:
"Judging from the situation... Momousagi is in danger."
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