Chapter 181: Suppressing the Beast!
The deafening roar of war drums and frenzied battle cries echoed across the harsh, jagged landscape of Onigashima.
Amidst this terrifying cacophony of impending violence, the two great All-Stars, King the Conflagration and Queen the Plague, led the charge.
Behind them followed a massive, tightly packed group of elites, including the feared and ambitious Tobi Roppo.
Together, they rushed fiercely towards the island's rocky coast.
They moved with the unstoppable momentum of a black tide of fury, their collective bloodlust suffocating the very air around them.
When they finally arrived at an open, desolate space along the shoreline, the charging army abruptly ground to a halt.
As they clearly saw the scene unfolding before them on the horizon, the world seemed to freeze.
Even the two All-Stars, men who had weathered the greatest storms and survived the most brutal wars of the New World for decades, couldn't help but contract their pupils in instinctive shock.
Floating on the distant, dark waves of the churning sea, they saw an unimaginably huge steel warship slowly approaching the shore.
The ship, the magnificent Vermillion Wing, was entirely black.
Its hull lines were sharp, aggressive, and full of an advanced, sci-fi aesthetic that defied all logic.
It was clearly a product of an entirely different era, standing in stark, terrifying contrast to the crude wooden sailing ships that populated this world.
It looked less like a vessel and more like an indestructible steel mountain rising from the abyssal depths of the sea.
Countless dark cannon muzzles protruded from its reinforced armor plating, resembling the jagged fangs of a mechanical monster.
These heavy weapons exuded a chilling, suffocating aura of death, silently promising utter annihilation to anything in their path.
Just witnessing this colossal, moving disaster of a ship was enough to strike a deep, primal fear into the hearts of the many seasoned pirates standing on the shore.
Their hands trembled around the hilts of their weapons, the overwhelming pressure of the steel leviathan crushing their fighting spirit.
Just then, King's extraordinary, genetically superior Lunarian vision precisely captured a specific detail in the distance.
He locked his gaze onto the large, imposing flag fluttering wildly in the sea breeze, hung proudly at the highest point of the colossal ship's mast.
The pattern depicted on the dark fabric was unmistakable—a brilliant phoenix reborn from eternal fire.
It was the symbol of Suzaku!
"It's them..." King's voice was low, heavily muffled by his dark leather mask, yet it vibrated with a very dangerous, seething rage.
"It's the Suzaku Pirates!"
Queen, standing beside him with his massive cyborg frame, also recognized the infamous emblem.
The heavy layers of fat on his round face wobbled violently as his mechanical arm clicked and whirred.
After the initial wave of profound surprise washed over him, it was rapidly replaced by a twisted, manic, and wild joy.
"Wuhahaha! So it's the arrogant bunch who actually managed to injure Big Brother Kaido!"
Queen threw his head back and laughed, the sound grating and metallic.
"You brats had a clear path to heaven but didn't take it; instead, you willingly charged straight into the very gates of hell!"
He cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing like gunshots across the tense shoreline.
"This is the absolute perfect opportunity to avenge the slight against Big Brother Kaido and tear them limb from limb!"
The two highest-ranking All-Stars showed absolutely no fear in the face of the imposing warship.
Instead, their fighting spirit soared to unprecedented heights, their aggressive Haki flaring out and cracking the rocks beneath their heavy boots.
Meanwhile, high above the churning waters on the pristine deck of the Vermillion Wing, the scene was completely different.
"Wow...! Suzaku, your ship is so incredibly huge! Is it really all made out of solid steel?"
Yamato's loud, energetic exclamations hadn't stopped for even a single second since she first boarded the vessel.
Having been imprisoned on Onigashima for her entire life, she was acting exactly like a curious baby seeing a bustling metropolis for the very first time.
She was running around the deck, touching the cold metal bulkheads here and knocking on the reinforced armor plating there.
"Why doesn't it sink to the bottom of the ocean? It must weigh a million tons!"
She leaned dangerously over the railing, her large eyes sparkling with uncontainable excitement as she watched the Wano currents break against the unyielding hull.
"The ships I saw in Oden's journal and the ones docked at the ports before were all made of fragile wood! This is simply amazing!"
She was filled with an endless, profound awe for this magnificent creation that so thoroughly transcended the boundaries of her era.
Suzaku, standing near the command bridge with his hands casually resting in his pockets, completely ignored the chattering "Filial Son" of Kaido.
Instead, he looked down and simply reached out a warm hand to gently stroke the head of the petite Ship Girl standing beside him.
"Well done, Ship Girl. You navigated those treacherous currents perfectly."
The sentient Ship Girl looked up, a bright smile gracing her face, and she playfully winked at Suzaku.
Her confident expression seemed to indicate that handling such a massive vessel was merely a trivial matter for her advanced capabilities!
"Destroy all of their docked ships along the coast."
Suzaku's voice suddenly shifted, becoming incredibly calm and bone-chillingly cold, as if he were merely stating an established fact of the universe.
"That way, they will be nothing more than pathetic lambs waiting for slaughter, permanently trapped on an isolated island with absolutely nowhere to run."
Seeing that the massive steel ship had docked securely against the rocky Wano coastline, he issued a new, absolute command.
"Next, you are fully responsible for blockading the entire coast. Don't let a single fish slip through the net."
He turned his gaze toward the massive, monstrous army waiting on the beach, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.
"We... should finally go ashore and deal with the Beasts Pirates once and for all."
"Understood! Commander Sir!"
The Ship Girl standing on the deck immediately snapped to attention, executing a crisp, perfect military salute.
However, she performed the disciplined motion with so much eager force that the small, decorative officer's hat resting on her head tilted comically to the side.
Suzaku couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at the adorable sight.
He reached out a single finger to gently help straighten her tilted hat, ensuring she looked her absolute best.
Meanwhile, Yamato, who possessed hearing as sharp as a wild beast, caught the end of their conversation.
Upon hearing the specific words "deal with the Beasts Pirates," her warrior's blood was already boiling with an uncontrollable excitement.
She gripped her massive, spiked kanabo tightly, completely unable to hold herself back any longer.
"Ooh ooh ooh! It's time to defeat Kaido...!!!"
She let out a wildly energetic, primal shout that echoed off the steel walls of the Vermillion Wing.
Without waiting for the gangplank to be lowered, she stomped her powerful, muscular legs fiercely against the metal deck.
The sheer kinetic force of her movement caused the incredibly heavy steel plating beneath her geta sandals to groan in protest.
She leaped into the sky like a fired cannonball, launching herself directly from the deck that sat dozens of meters high above the ground.
She sailed through the salty air in a perfect parabolic arc, her white hair trailing behind her like a comet's tail.
With a massive, earth-shattering "boom," she landed violently on the cursed soil of Onigashima, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and shattered rock!
Suzaku stood near the railing, looking down at her reckless, impatient back as the dust settled, and he smiled helplessly.
But the very next second, that gentle smile instantly vanished from his handsome face as if it had never existed.
The atmosphere around him plummeted to freezing temperatures.
He slowly turned around, looking at his fiercely loyal companions who were already standing fully prepared behind him.
His dark eyes sharpened, glinting with the ruthless, predatory light of an apex predator about to hunt.
"Let's go."
His voice wasn't loud, and he didn't shout to rally his troops.
Yet, his calm tone carried an undeniable, crushing authority and a cold, concentrated killing intent that made the air itself vibrate.
"...It's time to go ashore and hunt the Beasts Pirates!"
After speaking those final words, Suzaku led his elite group off the imposing steel ship, their boots finally stepping onto the polluted earth of Onigashima!
The rocky, uneven coast of Onigashima had already turned into a highly tense, suffocating battlefield.
On one side stood the well-rested, heavily armed, and extremely aggressive Beasts Pirates.
Their numbers were so vast that their dense crowds surged back and forth like a chaotic, dark tide of flesh and steel.
Mixed heavily among the standard pirate grunts were various strange, biologically horrific "Gifters."
These were the tragic, monstrous results of the artificial SMILE Devil Fruits.
There were people with massive, snapping crab claws bursting entirely out of their stomachs, clicking menacingly in the air.
There were strong, hulking men who had the elongated, disproportionately muscular arms of a Masira gorilla violently grafted onto their shoulders.
There were even grotesque, horrifying half-human, half-scorpion monsters whose venomous stingers constantly dripped sizzling acid onto the rocks beneath them.
It was a veritable army of freaks, an affront to nature itself.
On the other side stood Suzaku and his elite group, who had just smoothly landed on the shore to face this overwhelming horde.
Facing these thousands upon thousands of screaming enemies who carried such an overwhelming, murderous momentum, Nami's human instincts flared up.
She subconsciously took a step back, hiding her slender frame behind Suzaku's broad, reassuring back.
Her palms were slightly sweating as she nervously gripped her Sorcery Clima-Tact, feeling the immense, terrifying pressure of an Emperor's true military might.
But her powerful companions from different dimensions showed entirely different, vastly superior expressions.
"Hoh... what a spectacularly bloody sight."
Esdeath, the Empire's Strongest General, extended the tip of her crimson tongue and lightly, almost seductively, licked the corner of her mouth.
A chilling, terrifyingly cold aura began to radiate from her pristine white uniform, freezing the moisture in the air.
In her beautiful, ice-blue eyes, there flickered the chilling, wild, and unrestrained joy of a master hunter spotting their ultimate prey.
"This is truly wonderful. It completely saves me the tedious trouble of hunting them down and dragging them out of their miserable holes one by one."
Her smooth voice held a dark hint of morbid, sadistic excitement that made the hair on the back of the nearest pirates' necks stand up.
She slowly drew her rapier, the sound of the sliding steel ringing out like a death knell.
"Now, after such a long voyage, I can finally stretch my stiff muscles properly!"
"Lord Suzaku," Albedo spoke softly, her tone completely ignoring the massive threat before them.
The Overseer of the Guardians didn't even bother to look at the roaring "Myriad Beasts Army" gathered aggressively opposite them.
She just tilted her horned head slightly, her golden, slit-like pupils gazing up at Suzaku with deeply respectful and dangerously obsessive eyes.
"In front of us, the sheer number of these disgusting insects is entirely meaningless."
She slowly spread her majestic, jet-black angelic wings, a suffocating, demonic pressure descending upon the immediate area.
That deep-seated, absolute contempt in her voice made it seem as if the group standing opposite them was not a terrifying pirate crew famous throughout the New World.
To her, they were merely a pathetic patch of overgrown chives waiting to be effortlessly cut down by her master's scythe.
Beside the Succubus, the Oni twins Ram and Rem, along with the top assassin Akame, did not speak a single word.
They simply took half a tactical step forward in perfect, synchronized silence.
Together, they flawlessly formed a tight, defensive triangular formation to securely shield Suzaku behind them.
Rem readied her heavy, spiked morningstar, Ram's hands glowed with highly concentrated wind magic, and Akame's hand rested calmly on the hilt of Murasame.
The cold, utterly silent killing intent emanating from the three girls was the most direct, lethal response to this impending battle.
Suzaku casually surveyed the chaotic, noisy scene of the "Beasts" surging endlessly before him.
A playful, highly arrogant curve hooked up the corners of his lips, and he finally spoke slowly.
His voice wasn't loud, but infused with his formidable Will, it clearly echoed across the entire, deafening coast, demanding to be heard.
"As expected of the famous Beasts Pirates... just look at this dazzling, bizarre array of biological varieties."
He gestured vaguely toward the snapping crab claws and dripping scorpion tails of the furious Gifters.
"Anyone who didn't know any better would genuinely think this was a Zoo opening day special, with entry strictly by ticket only."
That single, profoundly mocking sentence cut through the noise like a razor-sharp blade.
It caused the clamorous, bloodthirsty shouts of the thousands of Beasts Pirates to instantly halt in sheer, unadulterated shock.
The silence lasted for only a fraction of a heartbeat.
Immediately following that brief pause was a towering, explosive, and volcanic rage!
"What the hell did you just say, you arrogant brat?!"
"Bastard! How dare you mock the great Beasts Pirates! We'll tear you to shreds!"
The collective fury of the mob reached a boiling point, their weapons raised high as they prepared to stampede.
But just then, a sharp, terrifying shriek violently pierced the sky, silencing the grunts!
A massive black shadow, burning fiercely with terrifying, hellish flames, suddenly shot up from the front ranks of the Beasts Pirates like a reversed meteor!
The heat was so intense it instantly vaporized the moisture in the air, creating a localized shockwave of steam.
It was a gigantic, prehistoric Pteranodon, its leathery wings spread wide enough to completely blot out the Wano sun.
The dark red flames roaring on its back looked like they could effortlessly burn a gaping hole right through the heavens themselves!
It was none other than the Beasts Pirates' lead All-Star, the terrifying right hand of Kaido—"The Conflagration" King!
"Mere, insignificant outsiders! How dare you look down on the absolute power of our Beasts Pirates!"
King's angry, rumbling roar, heavily amplified by the vocal cords of his ancient Pteranodon Form, turned into a deafening, monstrous bellow.
The sheer volume of his voice caused the rocks on the beach to tremble and crack.
"Let me personally show you what true, inescapable terror is!"
Before he even finished speaking his furious declaration, his massive, aerodynamic body had already transformed into a diving shadow of certain death.
He folded his massive wings slightly, targeting the insolent instigator standing calmly on the beach—Suzaku!
"Dan Kyu Ryu!"
This devastating move was a flawless, lethal combination of the extreme, blistering speed of his Pteranodon Form and his own terrifying physical strength.
It was a high-altitude dive powerful enough to instantly smash a solid mountaintop into fine dust!
The air literally screamed and tore apart around King's beak as he plummeted downward, a trail of fire marking his path of destruction.
However, despite the impending doom hurtling toward him, Suzaku remained standing exactly where he was.
His hands remained lazily in his pockets, and he didn't even lift a single eyelid to acknowledge the attack.
He showed absolutely no intention of dodging or defending himself.
Because someone else in his crew was much faster than the diving All-Star.
"You won't get to run wild in front of me!"
A clear, pleasant, yet profoundly authoritative cold shout rang out across the battlefield, vibrating with a power that froze the very soul.
[Akarin Note:
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