On Punk Hazard, the freed test subjects stood frozen, jaws dropped in awe. The four Lunarians among them saw a glimmer of hope for vengeance against the Celestial Dragons.
Rocky, the giant, felt his ambitions swell like a storm. With the Hell Pirates as his backing, seizing the throne seemed within reach!
"Let's fight true titans! Spread the Hell Pirates' name across the seas!"
Brook gave the order and charged, his skeletal frame rattling with resolve. Without battle, how could they grow into the mightiest warriors?
More than that, Brook wanted the world to know: his crew wasn't just strong—every top fighter wielded Conqueror's Haki Coiling, a mark of unrivaled ferocity!
The Navy fleet scrambled to retreat, but the Hell Pirates craved close-quarters combat. Their airship fleet descended, each officer itching to carve their legend by taking down Admirals.
Kaido, the reckless beast, was the first to leap from the airship, crashing onto a Navy warship's deck with earth-shaking force. Brook could only describe it as sheer lunacy—no other word fit!
Luckily, Admirals Kong and Devo showed no interest in a wweakling like Kaido, their gazes locked grimly on Brook and his core crew. Otherwise, Kaido might've been flattened before he could grow into the monster he was destined to be.
"Kong's mine," Brook declared. "Redfield, Shiki, you handle Devo. Newgate, take on CP0. Linlin, support the others and cover our backs!"
Brook divvied up the foes with precision. His soul-infused slashes were perfect against Kong's pure physical prowess. Devo, a flyer, was best left to Shiki and Redfield, who could take to the skies. Newgate's Quake-Quake Fruit was ideal for countering CP0's sneaky, assassin-like moves. As for Linlin—her durability was unmatched, but Brook was protective of her, especially with her pregnancy.
If not for her stubborn streak, he'd have kept her in the rear, raining thunder and fire with Zeus and Prometheus. Wasn't that safer than charging in like a berserk sorceress? But Linlin insisted on front-line chaos, so Brook reluctantly assigned her to handle the Vice Admirals, steering her clear of the Admirals.
"Brook, you damned villain! The World Government won't let you off!"
Kong hadn't expected such a catastrophic loss in the New World—a rare blow for the Navy. Most pirates, even the mightiest, avoided tangling with the Navy's full might, content to rule their own turf and plunder at will. But ever since Brook emerged, the New World's balance shifted yearly.
The three false overlords who'd reigned for a decade, the thirty-year tyrant Vesper, and the century-old Ice Demon—all vanished in just two or three years, with Brook and Rocks at the heart of it. Brook reaped the biggest rewards.
Vesper, Saracha, and Dawei's souls were still in Brook's grasp.
It was clear: Brook was the one cashing in. Rocks might've been a hired gun with a sprawling empire, but compared to the Hell Pirates' meteoric rise from nothing, the gap was stark. From a rookie supernova crew to a juggernaut rivaling Rocks, Brook's saga was too wild for even the boldest news coo's stories.
"I knew that the moment I took down a Celestial Dragon!"
A massive emerald-green sword slash rocketed toward Kong's flagship—a direct answer to his taunt. This battle was being broadcast live; it was time for war, not words!
Fighting at sea was brutal. Dodging an attack risked your ship being sliced in half. No matter how sturdy, pirate or Navy vessels were fragile before true powerhouses. Yet, crossing the seas demanded ships—unless you were a freak of nature like Rayleigh, swimming the Calm Belt, or monsters like Sanjuan Wolf or Hawk Eyes Mihawk, drifting on a coffin.
Even ships crafted from Adam Wood, like the Straw Hats' Sunny, crumpled under an Emperor's casual blows, half their deck wrecked by Big Mom's strikes.
Kong's fists gleamed black with Armament Haki. He leaped up, shattering Brook's flying slash with a single punch. With that, the war officially ignited.
Golden Lion Shiki drew Oto and Kogarashi, tossed his cigar, and dove down with a manic grin. Redfield unsheathed his noble sword, transforming into a streak of lightning. He overtook Shiki, landing a slash on Devo.
Redfield's speed pissed Shiki off, but it only fueled his battle lust.
"Glory's earned in blood, not speed!" His twin swords darkened with Armament Haki, crackling with red Conqueror's Haki Coiling, and hacked into Devo.
True masters settled fights in close combat. Flying slashes burned stamina and were easily dodged—great for clearing fodder or wrecking ships, but inefficient against elites. In a duel that could last ten days and nights, every ounce of energy was precious. One reckless slash could be the straw that breaks you.
Newgate leaped onto a warship, turning it into his battlefield. Wrecking the enemy's vessel cut off their retreat and let him go all out.
Brandishing his naginata, its blade glowing with quaking energy, he charged CP0's captain, Gerlin. Whitebeard's shockwaves weren't something most could withstand—one hit could shatter bones.
The three CP0 agents, masked in white, felt the terror and vanished with Soru. But the next instant, the warship shuddered violently, split from bow to stern like plowed earth. Seawater flooded in as the ship crumbled into wreckage.
[Navy Warship -1]
The CP0 agents froze, dumbfounded. At this rate, with every ship destroyed, they'd be stranded. Their dodge was pure instinct, honed as spies—but they'd underestimated Whitebeard Newgate, a walking natural disaster. One swing, and a Vice Admiral-grade warship was reduced to driftwood.
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