In a smoke-choked town on Punk Hazard, a vicious-looking pirate raised his curved saber high above a little girl huddled in the corner.
The blade flashed cold light, reflecting his cruel grin.
'In your next life, don't be such a weak piece of trash!'
Just as the edge was about to tear through the child's small body—
Whoosh!
A nimble figure shot between them like a gust of wind!
Clang!
A piercing screech of metal rang out; the pirate's saber was flung aside by tremendous force.
Before he could even see who had come, a high-heeled shoe slammed into his chest. The immense power sent him flying like a kite with its string cut; he crashed into a distant wall amid spider-web cracks and slumped, completely unconscious.
The trembling girl lifted her head. Through tear-blurred eyes she saw a tall warrior-woman standing against the light.
Sunlight pierced the haze, haloing the woman's athletic frame with a ring of holy light; her warm smile drove off the surrounding gloom.
The child blinked her big, tear-filled eyes and asked in a quavering voice, "A-are you an angel come to save us?"
The warrior knelt, lifted the girl gently, and wiped away tears and grime with a handkerchief. Softly she said, "No, little sister, I'm no angel—but the one who guided us here to save you is."
Meanwhile, Charlotte Linlin, Dragon Wings already spread, arrived first above the Naval Base at the island's center.
What met her eyes was a scene from hell: buildings ablaze, black pillars of smoke clawing at the sky; among broken walls pirates delivered final torment to the last Marines. Gunshots, wild laughter, and hopeless screams filled the air.
A Captain with an iron hook for a right arm lashed a bound Marine lieutenant, roaring like a madman:
'Hahaha! See that? I'm the strongest! Supernovas are trash before me! Marines? Just stepping-stones for my fame!'
High above, Charlotte Linlin frowned, icy disgust flashing in her eyes. Without hesitation she loosed her mighty will, pink arcs crackling.
Boom—!
Invisible Conqueror's Haki swept the base like a surging tide.
Thud! Thud!
Except for Liji and Mora—who wore a blue mask—every pirate toppled like scythed wheat, eyes rolling back, consciousness gone.
The noisy, chaotic base fell into instant silence.
Liji and Mora, trembling, looked up at the deity-like figure in the sky.
'W-who are you?! What do you want?!' Liji's voice shook.
Mora swallowed hard. 'C-Captain! That's the "queen of thunder," Charlotte Linlin—a Great Pirate with a bounty over two billion Berries!'
'What! Two billion!' Liji's pupils shrank; cold sweat soaked his back. His own bounty was a mere seventy million—he hadn't even crossed the hundred-million mark.
But remembering she too was a pirate, Liji clutched at that straw and shouted, 'If you're a pirate too, why stop us killing Marines?! We should be on the same side! Would a Great Pirate really protect Marines?!'
Charlotte Linlin didn't even glance at them. Calmly she said to Gloriosa and Ripley, who had just arrived, 'Two small fish—perfect for the kids to practice on.'
'Indeed, so weak I can't even be bothered to draw my sword.'
Gloriosa folded her bat-wings and alighted on Charlotte Linlin's broad shoulder.
'Thought anyone daring to attack a Naval Base would be impressive, but they haven't even mastered Haki.'
She pointed and called, 'Go, Yellow Sponge!'
Gölz shouted at a swirling mass of deep-green air, 'Little Aranui, it's your turn!'
'Yes, Mama!' x2
Two flashes: the blocky Yellow Sponge-creature Yellow Sponge and the one-eyed wind-formed Aranui landed before Mora and Liji.
Liji gaped, then exploded in rage at the insult.
'Damn it! You send these freakish things to fight me?! How much do you underestimate the "demon" Liji?!'
'Captain, be careful—they don't look simple!' Mora leveled his custom long-rifle at the glowing Yellow Sponge.
Whoosh—!
A golden laser shot from Yellow Sponge's fingertip straight at them.
Boom!
The blast threw up a column of dust.
Mora tumbled out, battered. On the other side, countless ice particles gathered, reforming into Liji's body.
'Hahaha! Idiot! Think a puny attack can hurt me?' Liji laughed, arms of snow. 'I'm a Logia user of the Snow-Snow Fruit—physical attacks are useless!'
'Yellow Sponge, leave this Logia to me.' Aranui's wind-whip voice locked onto Liji.
'Fine.' Yellow Sponge answered, turned to a golden streak and vanished.
Reappearing behind Mora, arms folded, it raised a bamboo-pole leg glowing with light and kicked his flank.
'Speed is weight.'
Though it didn't quite understand why Papa wanted that line said with every strike.
'Too fast!' Mora's eyes widened—his mind saw Yellow Sponge, but his body couldn't keep up.
Bang—!
The shining whip-kick landed solidly.
Mora felt an unstoppable force; like being hit by a giant shell he shot away, crashing into the ruined base in a cloud of dust and silence.
Seeing his top officer fall in an instant, Liji, shocked and furious, turned both arms into surging snow and thrust forward:
'Blizzard!'
Fierce wind and countless ice-crystals rolled forward like a white tidal wave, freezing the ground thick and dropping the air's temperature.
Yet Aranui's body of pure wind merely spun faster; its huge single eye showed playful mockery.
Facing the onrushing snow, it didn't dodge—instead it opened its air-formed 'mouth' and inhaled—
Whoosh!
The flesh-freezing blizzard was swallowed like water by a whale!
Aranui's jade-green body swelled a little, then it gave a burp and puffed out a white frosty breath, as if after a nice cold drink.
'Wh-what?! My blizzard… eaten?!'
Liji's wild grin froze into horror; his ultimate move broken like a joke.
'My turn!'
Aranui spun, a razor-sharp cyan wind-blade forming in an instant. It tore the air and slashed at Liji.
Liji hastily raised a thick ice-wall—
Crack!
The cyan blade smashed through, barely slowed, and struck his half-Logia chest.
'Gahh—!'
Liji screamed, blasted away by explosive wind-pressure. He hit the ground hard, twitched, and could rise no more.
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