BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A dozen cannonballs slammed into the sea in rapid succession, erupting into towering geysers of white foam. The surrounding waters churned violently, sending the merchant ship into a series of bone-rattling jolts that nearly capsized the vessel.
Strange as it seemed, not a single one of those shells was aimed directly at the hull; every single one struck the water surrounding the ship.
"He missed every shot?!"
Brook, white-knuckling the ship's wheel, looked back over his shoulder in bewilderment.
"Are we sure that guy is a Chris Pirate Commander?" Luffy asked skeptically. With aim that bad, the man seemed worlds apart from the elite officers they had encountered in the past.
"A mistake?" Zoro and Law both furrowed their brows. Something felt inherently wrong.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
As they spoke, another barrage of a dozen shells rained down. They crashed into the sea, raising pillars of water over ten meters high. The once-calm harbor was rapidly transforming into a chaotic, churning mess of white water and surging currents.
"Wait! He's doing this on purpose!"
"He's trying to churn up the sea so the waves flip us over!"
The violent rocking sent Nami sprawling onto the deck at the bow, but she had finally pieced together Dimitri's endgame.
If he attacked the ship directly, Luffy, Zoro, or Law would simply intercept the shells. By attacking the water instead, he wasn't just slowing them down, he was turning the ocean itself into a weapon to swallow the ship whole.
Back on the pier, Dimitri's expression was ice-cold. "Let's see where you'll run this time."
He moved with practiced, clinical efficiency, clearing the scorched residue from the cannon's bore before dumping in fresh powder and another cluster of grapeshot.
Dimitri continued his relentless bombardment of the target zone. The sea roared, waves rearing up like jagged teeth. Under the force of the continuous impact, the area resembled a stretch of ocean caught in the eye of a category-five hurricane.
Trapped in the disordered currents, the merchant ship could barely crawl forward. Several times, the bow dipped dangerously low, nearly disappearing beneath the frothing swells.
"Dammit! That guy..." Luffy gritted his teeth, glaring at the distant figure on the pier.
"As expected of that man... he always finds the most efficient solution," Law muttered, bracing himself against the railing. He was already soaked to the bone, and for a fleeting second, a sense of helplessness flickered in his eyes.
Suddenly, Usopp's eyes went wide as he spotted a flash of pink blurring across the surface of the sea.
"D-D-D-Doflamingo!!!"
Usopp shrieked in absolute terror, tears and snot streaming down his face instantly.
"What?!"
Everyone spun around. Sure enough, Doflamingo was gliding across the waves, his pink feather coat fluttering behind him. Even from this distance, they could see the murderous, predatory grin etched onto his face.
"I'll stop him!"
Luffy stepped forward, biting into his right forearm, which was already coated in obsidian-black Armament Haki.
In an instant, white steam hissed upward as air was pumped into his muscles at high pressure. His frame expanded violently, shifting into the hulking form of Gear 4: Boundman.
Boing! Boing!
Luffy bounced rhythmically on the deck before launching himself like a rocket. The force of his liftoff cracked the thick deck plating, sending a powerful shockwave outward.
"Fuffuffuffu! Aerial combat on the high seas... how interesting!"
"Bullet String!!!"
Seeing Luffy hurtling toward him, Doflamingo cackled. He extended his index finger, secreting high-tensile threads that compressed into a hardened tip, firing them off like a volley of sniper rounds.
…
Inner Dressrosa.
"Out of my way! Impact Wave!!!"
Standing in the center of a ruined street, Aeridar let out a thunderous roar and threw a punch. A massive, ring-shaped shockwave erupted from his fist.
RUMBLE—!
Stone turned to dust and the ground was gouged into a deep trench as the air pressure skyrocketed. Dozens of meters away, Nekomamushi was sent flying by the sheer force of the blast before he could even get close enough to touch Aeridar's clothes.
"Take this! Great Tengu!!!"
Inuarashi suddenly burst from the side, his longsword wreathed in visible, crackling electricity. He swung with a horizontal slash that tore through the air with a shriek, burying the edge of the blade into Aeridar's neck.
CLANG—!
The sound was that of metal striking metal. A powerful shockwave exploded at the point of impact, kicking up a storm of dust.
"I got him... Wait, what?!"
Inuarashi's moment of triumph vanished instantly. His sword had been stopped dead by a layer of glossy, obsidian-black Armament Haki. Even the intense electrical current coursing through the blade was being nullified by an invisible wall of force.
A moment later, Aeridar's fist blurred. With a dull THUD, he punched Inuarashi squarely in the chest, sending the Duke tumbling through the air, trailing a broken line of blood.
"Good power. Decent swordsmanship. My neck feels a little stiff now, though," Aeridar said, rolling his head as the Haki faded from his skin.
"Don't get cocky, Golden Ring Aeridar!!"
Sabo leaped across the ruins in a series of agile bounds, landing directly in front of Aeridar.
BOOM—!
Aeridar didn't waste words. He threw a punch that cratered the earth, creating a pit dozens of meters wide. Cracks spider-webbed across the ground as a hurricane-force gust blew the surrounding wreckage away.
Sabo nimbly evaded the strike, his right hand contorting into a black, metallic Dragon's Claw. "This strike is for the revolutionaries who died by your hand!" he roared.
In the next heartbeat, the obsidian claw struck with lightning speed, slamming into the center of Aeridar's chest.
"Dragon Claw Style: Dragon's Breath!!!"
KABOOM—!
The sheer scale of the power release sent air currents screaming in all directions. Aeridar's massive frame was actually lifted off the ground and sent crashing back into the ruins over a hundred meters away.
The earth shuddered. Debris rained down as a cloud of dust rose nearly fifty meters into the sky.
Hah... Hah...
Sabo exhaled a heavy breath, his chest heaving. It was clear that the attack had taken a significant toll on his stamina.
Rumble...
Suddenly, chunks of masonry were tossed aside like pebbles. Aeridar's ten-meter-tall frame rose from the dust, looming before Sabo once more.
"Impressive power. You almost killed me there."
Aeridar nonchalantly brushed the dust off his chest where Sabo had struck, a mocking smirk playing on his lips.
"Stop lying... you monster!" Sabo's face paled as he saw the man was completely unharmed.
"Since you're being so serious, I suppose I should show you the state I used when I fought Kaido. It's only polite to play host properly!" Aeridar grinned, his smile turning feral.
Immediately, Aeridar's muscles began to bulge and ripple. His frame surged upward once more, his stature reaching a staggering twelve meters in height.
Simultaneously, a layer of absolute Armament Haki coated his entire body, turning him into a massive, jet-black metallic statue. A terrifying aura of Conqueror's Haki radiated from him, a physical pressure so intense the ground beneath him began to crumble inch by inch. He looked less like a man and more like a god of war.
Not far away, Gergiel Haunger felt the weight of that Conqueror's Haki and fell into a daze. For a moment, he felt as if he were seeing the ghosts of the legends who once ruled the seas: Roger, Shiki, and Whitebeard.
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