"Prepare to retaliate! Don't be afraid! It's just a larger monster! You've fought against the pirates of the Giant Race before! They can be injured too. As long as it's a living being, it can die!"
Within the branch, there's a pyramid structure. Apart from the Vice Admiral who is the base commander, there are several Junior Admirals below who manage different aspects. At this moment, under the guidance of a Junior Admiral, the artillerymen are striving to lift the cannon, seeking a special firing angle.
Fixed coastal defense cannons can't do this, but the mobile artillery is different. The technology of gunpowder in this world is very crooked. As long as one's physique is sufficient, ordinary cannons can be lifted as anti-aircraft guns.
Some rocket launchers were also taken out from the warehouse. The Navy's standard equipment includes rocket launchers, but they're seldom used in peacetime as pirates don't have armored units, and here at the G-1 Branch, powerful coastal defense guns are much more useful.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The gun barrels spout flames, but the eight-headed dragon in the sky was not affected at all.
"Junior Admiral! We can't hit it! That thing is flying too high!"
The Navy's tech tree is quite crooked as well. Although capable of rapid fire, it's still an old model of a Flintlock Gun with limited range. Without special weapons, the snipers wouldn't know where their bullets would land a few hundred meters away.
Such precision weapons are available, but not widely equipped. They couldn't even reach the eight-headed dragon in high-altitude.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Boom!
Rocket launchers and cannons fired in succession. Their range is slightly longer, but the eight-headed dragon displayed agility that was completely incongruent with its size. Shells only trailed behind it, and its body wasn't even touched by a speck of dust.
"Wait till it comes down! That thing isn't here for a stroll, it has to come down to cause destruction, right..."
The eight-headed dragon has circled several times in the sky without taking any action, giving the Navy the illusion that it lacks long-range attack capabilities.
But in reality, the eight-headed dragon was assessing external threats. Though seemingly huge with immense destructive power inside, it's actually still a "child" not yet a month old.
Its basic understanding comes from Arceus's endowment, but it lacks knowledge of the outside world. Aside from those mythical beasts, other Pokemon are similar at birth and need some time to absorb external information.
The eight-headed dragon didn't know its position in the food chain. At this moment, it was assessing whether it was a hunter or prey.
The Navy's attacks gave it a general understanding: those bugs seemingly can't deal effective damage to it. After confirming it was in a safe position, the next step was to attack.
"Roar!"
A red gleam flashed in the eyes of several heads. From their opened bloody maw, scorching flames were released after compression, sweeping straight toward the ground.
With increased distance, the flames gradually spread, and in an instant, eight fire lines turned the area below into a sea of fire.
The eight-headed dragon indeed descended a bit, but not as the Navy thought, to use its massive body for destruction. Its descent was merely to bring the enemy within the burning range.
Boom! Boom!
A series of explosion sounds rang out. The ammunition piled below was ignited by high temperatures, and the square, once filled with Navy soldiers, turned into a purgatory in the blink of an eye.
.....
"This... this thing... this is not a monster we can contend with...."
Originally, many Navy soldiers were resting in the base. When the alarm sounded, they grabbed their weapons to support their comrades. Just one step away from the gate, a blast wave suddenly rushed in from the entrance.
The shockwave generated from the explosive shells knocked him back into the room. As he clutched his head and climbed up, all he saw was an empty field; the soldiers who had been fighting outside had vanished, leaving only scorched marks on the ground.
Bloodstains evaporated quickly under high temperatures, and a burned stench reached his nose. Being assigned to the G-1 Branch, he wasn't a rookie who'd never seen blood, but even as a veteran, recalling the previous scene and the source of the smell made his face turn grim.
He ought to muster the courage to continue fighting, but it was as if his feet were shackled, preventing him from stepping toward the gate.
They were human too and could feel fear. Facing an opponent where numbers were irrelevant, fear was an instinctual reaction.
Until the cannon sounded again, their commanding officers came to their senses, urging soldiers to pick up weapons and return to battle. As long as there were cannon sounds, it meant someone was still alive, and the battle was not a certain death.
...
Outside, under some cover, the surviving Navy soldiers continued to retaliate laboriously, and with the eight-headed dragon descending, the coastal guns on surrounding high platforms also had shooting opportunities.
Those coastal guns were of the same model as the main guns on warships, heavy artillery with calibers exceeding 300 millimeters. Both range and power exceeded previous weapons, posing a certain threat to the eight-headed dragon.
"Help... help me...."
"It hurts... someone save me...."
During pauses between cannonades, the cries for help from the wounded reached the reinforcements' ears. If this weren't the New World, where the Navy's strength was generally greater and some basic Haki was known, finding survivors in such an environment would be nearly impossible.
Some began rescuing the wounded, while others looked for weapons capable of attacking the eight-headed dragon.
At this moment, the eight-headed dragon paid no attention to the tiny bugs below. Amidst dense artillery fire, it was inevitably hit by a cannonball. Those heavy coastal cannons were enough to cause damage when they struck, allowing it to determine what truly threatened it.
With enough ants, even an elephant like Oars can't withstand continuous bombardment from cannons.
The wounds on the eight-headed dragon's back were healing swiftly. It lacked the sturdy armor of a Tyranitar but had an incredible self-healing speed.
This ability comes from the Yamato no Orochi Fruit. On it, the abilities bestowed by Yamata no Orochi weren't just simple extra lives.
The eight-headed dragon flapped its wings to ascend again, leaving the coastal defense cannons' firing range. High-temperature flames shot toward the barrels of the coastal guns.
"It's useless, these heavy cannons aren't something mere flames can affect. If you're so capable, come down!"
These cannon operators were positioned in lower operating rooms, so the high temperature didn't affect them.
Being able to inflict damage was a good thing. They thought they at least had a way to counter this monstrous dragon. But in the next instant, a terrifying purple solution was spat out by it. The cannon barrel, once standing firm under flames, was corroded with a large hole in the blink of an eye.