The sea breeze brushed gently across the surface. Fish leapt playfully out of the water before diving back in again.
Splash…
As they reentered the sea, the small impact sent a string of droplets scattering into the air. Crystal-clear beads of water danced and shimmered, reflecting the sky above in perfect clarity.
The sky was a deep azure, with white clouds drifting like ribbons.
But suddenly,
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The dull roar of cannon fire tore through the calm sea. Pitch-black cannonballs, round and heavy, trailing the scent of gunpowder, ripped through the sky. This violent scene was captured within those airborne droplets.
In the blink of an eye, the droplets fell again, merging back into the sea.
The black cannonballs arrived above The Logan in an instant.
"They're really not holding back, huh?" Rojen sneered.
The Deva Path leapt upward, instantly reaching high altitude, suspended in midair as his cold eyes swept the surroundings. In a flash, he was surrounded by cannonballs. The next second, they would all strike him.
"Shinra Tensei!"
A calm voice echoed out. An invisible repulsive force burst forth, forming an overwhelming power that enveloped everything within a radius of forty to fifty meters around him.
Boom!
The first cannonball collided with the force and exploded instantly. Immediately after, continuous explosions erupted in the sky, flames spreading everywhere.
Amidst this sea of fire, the Deva Path's robe fluttered as he descended back onto The Logan's deck. His Rinnegan swept across the scene, locking onto the approaching warships in the distance.
He slowly raised his right hand, aiming at them.
On the warship's deck, Amonga's eyes flickered. He wasn't surprised that the cannon fire had been blocked. With a wave of his hand, he gave another order.
"Full bombardment! Wipe them out!" He showed no mercy toward pirates.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Another barrage of cannonballs tore through the air, heading straight for The Logan.
The Deva Path's gaze remained cold as he thrust his right hand forward.
"Shinra Tensei!"
It was as if an immense explosion erupted at that moment. The invisible force churned the sea into towering waves before crashing directly into two of the warships.
Boom!
In Amonga's shrinking pupils, the two warships were instantly torn apart by the violent force.
In a moment, they were destroyed and sank into the sea.
Screams filled the air as flames spread across the water, throwing countless Marines into chaos.
…
On The Logan's deck,
Another figure flickered into view. He raised his head toward the incoming cannonballs and let out a cold laugh.
"Moa Moa no Mi (More-More Fruit), 100x enlargement!"
The Animal Path tossed a black sphere into the air. As it flew, its size and speed increased explosively. In an instant, it collided with the first cannonball, triggering a massive explosion.
In the blink of an eye, all threats in the sky were cleared.
After dealing with them effortlessly, the Animal Path turned and flicked his fingers again.
A pitch-black projectile shot out, arriving instantly at a nearby warship beside Amonga. Under his horrified gaze, flames and thunderous explosions erupted skyward.
Amonga was stunned.
"What… what is going on?"
From the moment he gave the order to attack until now, not even a minute had passed. Yet out of his four warships, only the one he stood on remained, the others had been completely annihilated!
"Who is he? Who exactly is he?"
"Someone with this kind of power cannot be a nobody!"
His hands trembling, he quickly raised his telescope to his eyes. As the image zoomed in, he finally saw clearly,
Rojen, standing on the deck, wearing a faint smile.
"It's him, yes, it's him! That face… it's way too familiar!"
"This person… who exactly is he?!"
After observing the Deva Path and the Animal Path, Amonga still couldn't identify them. But the sharpness of their attacks made it clear they were far from ordinary. Only that young man looked extremely familiar.
Amonga racked his brain. Three seconds later, when the Animal Path pressed his right hand onto the deck and used a summoning technique to bring forth a Sea King over a hundred meters long into the sea, he covered his mouth, his eyes filling with shock and fear.
He remembered!
"Roar!"
The Sea King let out a thunderous roar, swinging its massive body and sweeping the wreckage of the warships straight into the sea, once again throwing the Marines into panic. Then it lay quietly in the water, positioning itself between The Logan and the remaining warship, forming a "path."
Rojen stepped forward, walking onto the Sea King's body, advancing step by step.
A distance of several hundred meters, Rojen crossed it in just ten steps, arriving before Amonga.
The Marines raised their weapons in fear and vigilance, but with just a single glance from Rojen, they all collapsed weakly to the ground.
"Are you afraid?"
Looking at the young Marine commander before him, Rojen chuckled softly.
"Gol D. Rojen! You, you… how is it possible you're here?!"
Amonga exclaimed in shock, his entire body trembling.
Facing this legendary pirate who had once wreaked havoc in the Holy Land of the Celestial Dragons, he couldn't suppress the fear coursing through him. They weren't even on the same level.
In a daze, he suddenly recalled the skull flag fluttering in the wind.
"Right… that flag, that's the Nether Soul Pirates' flag! Even among pirates, it's so distinctive. And I didn't recognize it just now!"
Amonga clenched his fists, his tension reaching the extreme.
"I walked out of Impel Down and came here. Looks like you're quite surprised."
Rojen smiled, his gaze fixed on Amonga, without the slightest hint of threat.
Yet to Amonga, it felt as though he were being stared down by a massive Sea King, every hair on his body standing on end.
Surprised? This was sheer terror!
"A great pirate like you… lowering yourself to come here…"
Amonga said with difficulty.
What kind of joke was this? A pirate of this level should only be active in the New World! Coming to the West Blue was like bullying beginners!
"That's a bit too much, picking on rookies, isn't it?"
"Just handling some matters."
Rojen replied casually, then glanced at the sunken warships on both sides.
"Sorry about sinking your ships. Couldn't be helped, they attacked me first."
Amonga's face twitched. He fell silent, unwilling to respond.
Then he saw the smile on the young man's face slowly fade, his eyes turning incomparably imposing. Amonga's heart skipped a beat.
The gaze of such a powerhouse was simply terrifying!
"Stepping on the body of a Sea King to come before you, I only want to tell you one thing, and ask for your help."
"What is it?"
Amonga gritted his teeth.
The pressure was overwhelming. Though the other party had made no move, the invisible intimidation left him drenched in sweat, unable to move an inch.
"Tell your comrades. Tell the whole world…"
A faint smile appeared on Rojen's face as he spoke with a domineering, commanding tone:
"I'm back."
Then he turned, took a few steps, and quickly disappeared from Amonga's sight.
Amonga clenched his fists, watching nervously as the figure gradually faded into the distance. Only when he became a tiny black dot did Amonga finally let out a long breath and collapse onto the deck.
"Damn it…!"
"That was close, so close… I almost died!"
(End Of This Chapter)
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