Chapter 97: My Father Was a Fleet Admiral, So I Am Also a Fleet Admiral
"The slaves are escaping!!"
"That's my slave! Guards! Go catch them back!!"
In the burning Mary Geoise, a large number of slaves were gathering in the same place.
As fellow slaves, there was affection between them. After obtaining keys, they were saving each other. The slaves of all Mary Geoise combined could form a slave army.
There was no shortage of powerful slaves among them. Although life as a slave had weakened them, once they picked up weapons, the anger and unwillingness in their hearts turned into new strength.
Whether guards or agents, the main forces were helping the Celestial Dragons retreat to safe places. For a time, no one could stop the actions of these slaves.
Even if the Celestial Dragons ordered them to catch the slaves back, these agents didn't dare to act.
What if they attracted the attention of those slaves? What if some slaves had already given up all hope and just wanted to drag a Celestial Dragon down with them to hell...
Regardless of whether they succeeded, even if they just injured a single Celestial Dragon, these guards couldn't bear the responsibility.
Covering their retreat was the correct thing to do right now.
"Hurry!!"
"Don't just stand there, run! Someone is causing chaos in the Holy Land; we can finally escape this hell!!"
Crying, cheering—under the rainy night, a large number of people who regained their freedom were running in the direction guided by the Fish-men, gradually converging on the edge of the Red Line.
"Don't push! Everyone can leave here alive! This is the only way out. If you break these two bubble elevators, you'll all die here!"
Relying on fists and words, a brief order was established amidst the escape.
So far, the operation could be considered smooth. Although there were some small conflicts, none amounted to a major crisis.
"They really are calm enough. In the eyes of these people, what exactly counts as a big deal?"
Although many members of the God's Knights were outside helping Garling find his child, some members remained in Mary Geoise. Yet so far, Nereus hadn't detected any signs of the God's Knights moving out.
Not to mention the Five Elders and Imu. In their eyes, these things didn't seem to count as issues.
"Just a mere pirate. Even if you can attack Mary Geoise, so what? How could the core power of the World Nobles choose to act over such a trivial matter?"
A pale-faced man, matching Nereus in height, walked out from Mary Geoise.
His long black hair, wet from the rain, clung to his face in strands. His eyes were filled with disdain, and there was a scar suspected to be left by an explosion on his left cheek.
"The master doesn't show up, but the lackey jumps out on his own. You really are a good dog, Marine."
"Hmph, quite boastful, Nereus. What right does a mere pirate have to judge the Marines who represent Justice?
Slaughtering Marines, attacking merchant convoys, destroying World Government offices—your crimes are too numerous to record.
In the name of Fleet Admiral Salazar, I hereby sentence you to death!"
Boom!
Rumble!
Thunder exploded, yet more piercing than the thunder was the sonic boom of a thrown punch.
Salazar, who was standing still just a moment ago, burst forward. Even the hard Red Line beneath his feet was left with a huge depression due to the powerful reaction force.
The wind pressure generated by the fist scattered the curtain of rain. However, arriving ahead of the wind pressure was the opponent's fist itself.
Bang!
The fist stopped abruptly several meters away from Nereus. An invisible shield had already blocked the opponent's attack.
The Red Line beneath Nereus's feet seemed unable to bear the impact of this punch, clearly showing a trend of collapsing, forming a huge deep pit.
"Barking dogs don't bite. You dog who only knows how to bark wildly really has no true skills."
There is a saying from next door (Bleach reference): battles between Shinigami are battles of Reiatsu (Spiritual Pressure). When Reiatsu is strong to a certain extent, no matter what the opponent does, it's just fancy little tricks.
And on this sea, battles between top powerhouses were gradually evolving into battles of Conqueror's Haki.
Without Conqueror's Haki, one is inferior. If the level of Conqueror's Haki isn't high enough, one can't even break the defense. Before exhausting the opponent's Conqueror's Haki, the opponent is equivalent to having an invincible golden body.
Salazar's fist couldn't penetrate Nereus's Conqueror's shield. This meant he didn't even have the chance to take Nereus's first life.
"No, just talking to you like this makes me more comfortable."
Because of the sunken ground, Salazar was now in a position looking down from above. In his view, pirates were unworthy of communicating with him as equals.
"Is that so? Hope you can maintain the same attitude before you die."
Seeing that Salazar actually cared about such issues, Nereus merely shook his wrist casually.
A stormy night was naturally his home field. The surface of the Red Line was relatively flat before, retaining little water.
Salazar's move, on the contrary, allowed this deep pit to start accumulating rainwater. For Nereus, this was actually a good thing.
"Fish-man Karate: Secret Technique - Oni Gawara Seiken!" (Demon Brick True Fist)
With a ghost-like figure and a seemingly ordinary straight punch, Nereus arrived in front of Salazar and unabashedly threw a straight punch towards the opponent's heart.
Boom!
Facing a pirate's declaration of war, Salazar didn't dodge. He also threw a punch to meet the opponent. An air wave spread out in all directions centered on the two, instantly clearing the surrounding rain curtain.
Crack... Crack... Rumble...
Amidst the thunder, nearby houses collapsed in patches under the wind of the fists.
Nereus was waiting before. As long as no strong individuals interfered with the slaves' escape, he wouldn't act.
And Salazar was also waiting. He was waiting for the nearby Celestial Dragons to evacuate completely. If these Celestial Dragons didn't leave, he wouldn't dare to use his full strength.
Mary Geoise had never been a good place for combat for the Marines.
Pirates could disregard the lives of Celestial Dragons, but Marines couldn't. Even the shockwaves of battle had to be controlled within a certain range.
That was why Salazar only appeared now that the Celestial Dragons had mostly evacuated.
Fighting an enemy like Nereus while holding back was no different from suicide.
"Fish-man Jujutsu: Doryuheki!" (Earth Style Wall - likely a pun or adaptation)
The shockwaves even reached the location of the bubble elevator in the distance. Seeing the air wave approaching, Big Pan hurried to grab the ground with both hands. Under the ability of the Swim-Swim Fruit (implied/adapted context), the ground was like water in Big Pan's hands.
The earth was reshaped by Big Pan. A tsunami of soil solidified into a sturdy wall.
But even facing shockwaves from afar, this wall appeared somewhat tottering.
"Don't be afraid! Big Bro is dealing with the enemy! Big Bro will definitely win!"
"Move faster! Hurry up and leave this place!"
People at the elevator accelerated their pace. The same was happening on Nereus's side.
Although he took the opponent's punch, Salazar didn't feel relaxed in his heart. This was his first time fighting Nereus.
He knew Nereus was strong, but the intensity of this attack still exceeded his expectations.
"Is this all you've got? My attack has just begun."
Thump!
Thump!
Salazar heard a burst of powerful heartbeats. And the source of the sound was his own heart.
"Inner Secret Technique: Blood Burst."
A scarlet glint flashed in Nereus's eyes. Salazar could even feel that at this moment, the flow rate of his own blood was accelerating.
Extreme Armament Haki could achieve internal destruction. Conqueror's Coating would destroy the enemy's external defense with the most violent means.
Compared to a body tempered a thousand times, the inside was always much more fragile. Therefore, in the evolution of attacks, internal destruction had become the ultimate goal.
The water manipulation strikes of Fish-man Karate happened to be able to achieve similar things.
Similarly, control over blood would inevitably affect the opponent upon physical contact with Nereus.
The blood flowing in his own body had now become an aid in Nereus's hands.
Thud!
A muffled sound came. Salazar's body stiffened. Through perception of his body condition, he could confirm that his heart had shattered.
Regardless of how Nereus achieved this, the result had been successfully attained.
"Weak to an excessive degree. Someone of your caliber can become a Fleet Admiral? These Marines are becoming more and more disappointing.
You should bring out your trump card now."
Someone with Admiral-level strength should at least be able to resist his control over blood with Haki, not be instant-killed like this. In Nereus's view, Salazar's Haki level was completely unqualified.
Unless the Marine Fleet Admiral was also a nepotism hire, the current Salazar definitely had other abilities.
"Why was I able to become Fleet Admiral?"
Although his face was pale, Salazar still spoke with full vigor. At the same time, the aura of the living on him was slowly fading, seeming to fall into a contradictory state.
"My father was once a Fleet Admiral; he died in battle against pirates. My grandfather was also a Marine, also died at the hands of pirates.
As their descendant, isn't it very reasonable for me to become Fleet Admiral?"
At this moment, there was no vitality in Salazar's eyes. But Nereus's Observation Haki could perceive that the fatal injury left in his body earlier had disappeared.
"I understand. Your whole family lacks strength. It's a pity your grandfather wasn't a Fleet Admiral; otherwise, it would be more interesting for you to say this."
"Sharp-tongued pirate... Rumors on the sea say you cannot be killed. Then let me see who is the true undead creature..."
A chill emanated from the corner of Salazar's mouth. Even nearby raindrops turned into ice crystals under the influence of this chill.
The ground beneath Salazar's feet also began to be affected by the chill, freezing over. Large patches of frost began to spread in Nereus's direction.
"You can kill the living, but how... will you deal with the dead?"
The aura of the living dissipated completely at this moment. Salazar had now become a dead man. And this death was precisely his Fruit ability.
Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Wraith (Dead Spirit).
☆☆☆
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