Garou received the order to attack and didn't hesitate. He immediately led his squad and charged forward. He was a World Government agent, not Shiki's mole — he had no reason to hold back.
The Fool's Legion's advance force consisted of only thirteen squads, each with roughly twenty members.
Of the over a thousand pirates who had originally arrived at the offshore island, half had already fallen during the competition for squad captain. The Oniwan Group had taken their share as well, leaving just over two hundred in the end.
Garou commanded the First Squad of the advance force. Catal, a fellow World Government agent, led the Second Squad, while Chris and Roska jointly commanded the Fourth Squad.
The advance force had been following Yukiko all this time. They now knew that this seemingly frail woman was actually the Third Seat of the Fool's Legion — the Snow Woman. She was also their direct superior.
Possessing formidable power as a Logia-type Snow-Snow Fruit user, Yukiko's raw combat ability might fall slightly short of Garou's. However, that did nothing to diminish her authority.
On Shiki's side, five giants led the charge. They intended to leverage their massive size, wielding heavy axes taller than mountains, and smash those "rats" into paste!
Shutenmaru was about to counterattack, but Yukiko struck first. Her entire body transformed into a white blizzard vortex and surged forward!
A fierce freezing wind engulfed the giants in an instant. They felt a sudden chill, followed by the piercing sting of extreme cold and the burning sensation of frostbite.
By the time they snapped out of it, they discovered their bodies were already encased in a layer of ice and snow!
Yukiko's hair had turned entirely white, her form blurred and ethereal — like a phantom drifting through a blizzard.
"Your enemy is behind you."
Her icy voice drifted on the wind, seeming to come from everywhere at once.
"Don't underestimate us!" the giants roared. Their bodies moved, shattering the ice crystals coating them in an instant. Their massive axes swung upward and slammed into Yukiko.
Crack—
Yukiko's body shattered violently, like a snowman smashed apart!
"Tch, missed?" the giants gritted their teeth. They were worst at fighting elusive opponents they couldn't get their hands on. But by then, Shutenmaru and the others had already passed them, charging toward the rest of Shiki's forces.
The giants were about to give chase when tremors echoed from the coastline. All of them turned to look. From the massive warship hugging the shore, a towering machine slowly emerged.
"Those robots — there are more of them?"
The giants looked closer and noticed this new machine looked different from the previous ones. It was also somewhat taller.
They didn't think much of it. After all, while it was bigger, it was still under ten meters tall — nothing to a giant.
"Brothers, tear that thing apart, then sink their warship!" the lead giant bellowed, his voice like a war drum echoing through thunderclouds.
The other four giants roared in agreement. They completely ignored the "little mice" scurrying past their feet and charged straight for the coastline.
The Ancient Heavy Machinery unit had just activated. Sensing enemies, it immediately broke into a sprint.
Unlike the Ancient Guardians, the Ancient Heavy Machinery's charge was like a runaway locomotive — nothing could stop it.
Even though the enemies were three times its size and five times its number, it showed not a shred of fear, lunging straight at one of the giants!
"Get out of my way!" the giant glared, his massive fist crashing down on the Ancient Heavy Machinery. Its armor cracked under the impact.
But before he could celebrate, he found the machine had clamped onto his arm with the ferocity of a feral cat refusing to let go.
"Damn it, let go of me!" He dropped his weapon and reached to pry it off. That was when a crisp beep-beep sound reached his ears.
At first he thought he was hearing things. But the sound grew clearer and more urgent, and a creeping sense of death began to envelop him.
"Dogra, throw it away!"
"That thing's going to blow!"
The giant called Dogra's expression changed. He frantically tried to tear the Ancient Heavy Machinery off, but it was fused to him like it had grown onto his arm. He couldn't pull it free.
Another giant moved to help, but the Ancient Heavy Machinery's self-destruct countdown had already reached zero.
BOOM—
A blinding flash of fire erupted within black smoke. Four giants were knocked flat by a wave of scorching heat, then swallowed by a mushroom-shaped cloud!
THUD!
When the smoke cleared, the giant lay charred black on the snow, eyes rolled back. His body was riddled with holes from the explosion — blood and flesh scorched beyond recognition.
"Damn it, Dogra!" The giant leader's eyes burned red with fury. He turned and fixed a gaze of pure hatred on Ren, still standing aboard the Death Star — as if he wanted to tear Ren apart limb from limb!
Ren found it laughable. If glaring could kill, Shiki wouldn't have needed to go through all this trouble.
"Charge! Avenge Dogra!"
"Angry over one death? This is just the beginning," Ren said with a cold smile. The Death Star shuddered violently. Ten Ancient Heavy Machinery units stomped across the tundra, heading straight for the remaining four giants.
The enraged giants froze as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over their heads.
Ten Ancient Heavy Machinery units — each one three times the size of the one that had just self-destructed!
Just thinking about the destructive power of that smaller machine's explosion made it hard to breathe.
But Ren had no intention of triggering their self-destruct sequences this time. The Ancient Heavy Machinery was far more expensive to build than the Ancient Guardians!
While the four giants stood stunned, the ten Ancient Heavy Machinery units charged at them like sprinting mountains. They raised their arms and slammed into the giants, knocking them flat.
Then, the Chaos Furnace Cores embedded in their chests ignited, unleashing devastating energy lasers point-blank into the giants' chests, searing their bodies!
"Aaaargh—"
Caught off guard, the giants grew even more savage. Their arm muscles bulged as they used enough force to level mountains, hurling two of the Ancient Heavy Machinery units gripping their arms to the side and pinning them to the ground.
[
Hey everyone,
I need to tell you what's actually happening.
I just got hit with mass cancellations. On top of being buried in academics until the 9th. I'm in deep financial trouble right now—like, genuinely don't-know-how-I-cover-next-month trouble.
I want to do more for you. I have another Naruto fic ready to drop the moment this academic hell ends. But I can't keep creating if I can't survive.
I'm not powerless about the work—I know I can deliver for you. But I'm powerless to stop the bleeding alone.
If you've ever thought about supporting, this is the moment. Not "someday." Now.
If you're enjoying this story, consider supporting on Patreon. You'll get 30 advance chapters immediately, plus monthly updates and bonus content. Every subscription keeps the chapters coming.
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Every new member literally buys me another week of doing this. Every existing member staying is the reason I'm still here.
]