"Mm!" Otama bit her lip, nodding with absolute gravity.
Although the scene she had just witnessed delivered an immense psychological shock, her deep-seated yearning to sail the seas carried her through it. This was all well within her boundaries of endurance.
"I'm joining in too!" Yamato vaulted into the air, crashing onto the deck of a nearby warship.
A hulking marine giant, standing well over five meters tall, raised a massive cleaver and hacked straight down at her. Yamato countered instantly, her spiked club carving through the air as she unleashed a thunderous strike.
"Thunder Bagua!"
CRASH!
The giant's cleaver shattered into a thousand pieces, and Yamato's club slammed square into his face, leaving him drenched in blood.
"Vice Admiral!!" the surrounding marines screamed in absolute horror.
Who on earth is this newcomer? To take down a Vice Admiral in a single blow!
Having successfully landed her opening strike, Yamato blurred across the deck like a swift phantom. In a matter of moments, a chorus of agonizing shrieks echoed continuously from the warship.
KABOOM!
On the other side of the fray, Law and Kid had each systematically pulverized a warship, leaving the surrounding sea in total disarray. Kid laughed maniacally, his colossal mechanical arm sweeping outward to target yet another vessel.
Law refused to be outdone. Within his designated sphere of influence, his movement was indistinguishable from instantaneous teleportation. The two captains tore through the enemy lines in tandem, storming the decks.
"Captain Kid! And the former Warlord, Trafalgar Law!" The expressions of the marines twisted in sheer panic.
The destructive output of these two was fundamentally beyond their capacity to withstand. How had an isolated, unassuming country like Wano managed to gather so many world-class powerhouses?
"Captain Eustass Kid—bounty: 1,215,000,000 Berries!"
"Heart Pirates Captain, Trafalgar Law—bounty: 1,183,000,000 Berries!"
These were the latest bounties assigned to Kid and Law. Hearing those astronomical numbers read aloud, the remaining marines felt their sanity slipping. Every single one of these interlopers was a ten-billion-plus monster!
Ace stood poised in mid-air, a single spear in his hand as his mere presence completely paralyzed the entire battlefield. Even the leading Vice Admirals anchoring the flagship looked on with expressions of supreme gravity.
"The Emperor, 'Flame Emperor' Ace—bounty: 4,099,000,000 Berries!"
"First Division Commander, Marco—bounty: 1,500,000,000 Berries!"
Right then, Marco spread his wings and dove through the sky, driving his talons straight into the bow of a warship. A colossal rupture instantly tore through the hull. The massive vessel shuddered violently, losing its equilibrium as it began to tilt dangerously into the waves.
"Ah... no! There's a massive hole in the hull!"
"Damn it! Return fire! Return fire, now!"
"We can't! The cannons can't track them—we can't secure a lock!"
"I don't care if you can't, make it happen! Fire the cannons!"
"Yes, sir!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Faced with a sky saturated with incoming artillery fire, the corners of Marco's lips curled into a gentle smile. Flapping his azure wings in mid-air, he called out, "Oden! On behalf of the Whitebeard Pirates, Ace and I will leave your Land of Wano one final gift!"
With those words, Marco rocketed forward in a straight trajectory, channeling Advanced Armament Haki into his claws to cleanly sunder the warship into fractured pieces.
KABOOM!
The remaining marines were completely shell-shocked. How long had it been since their fleet entered Wano's territorial waters? Had it even been an hour? Five of their ten colossal warships had already been systematically eradicated!
"What an absolute disgrace!" The Vice Admirals anchoring the surviving vessels wore looks of intense humiliation. They were celebrated commanders of the Navy Headquarters, yet they were being forced to watch five of their capital ships get sunk right before their eyes, completely powerless to stop it.
"Fire the cannons!"
"Bring the warships closer!"
Onigumo managed to leap onto the deck of a surviving vessel, his gaze fixed on Ace, who hovered in the sky with the tranquil composure of still water. The sight sent a profound ripple through his soul.
Two years ago, despite carrying the moniker of "Fire Fist Ace" and serving as the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, this man had been pinned down and brought to the very precipice of public execution by the Navy. Onigumo had witnessed that version of Ace with his own eyes. He had known then that the bloodline of Gol D. Roger was destined for greatness, but a mere two years had passed since that day.
The man hovering before him now looked as though he had undergone a complete reincarnation. Every casual gesture he made radiated the absolute majesty of a born sovereign, forcing Onigumo to subconsciously lower his head. Through that single exchange, he realized this man was an adversary they could never hope to conquer.
Is this the true reality of the Pirate King's bloodline?...
"Vice Admiral Onigumo! Are you alright?!" a marine franticly inquired.
"I'm fine!" Onigumo waved his arm dismissively, before casting his eyes across the wider layout of the war.
It was a total slaughter. They had initially calculated that ten capital warships would be more than sufficient to pacify and annex Wano, but under the current parameters, their entire fleet was on the verge of total annihilation.
"Ace! Let's clean up these nuisances before we execute our definitive departure," Marco called out.
"My thoughts exactly!" Ace nodded firmly. The Land of Wano had just emerged from a cataclysmic war; it desperately required a quiet timeline to rest and rebuild.
"Flame Emperor!"
Following a low murmur, intense layers of fire erupted across Ace's frame, burning with incandescent brilliance.
"Kyaa!" Otama gasped in surprise, but she quickly registered that the flames carried zero thermal discomfort. Driven by curiosity, she couldn't help but reach out to touch the living fire.
Whir...
In the next microsecond, Ace materialized directly over a warship, holding his spear as he pressed his palm flat against the empty air.
KABOOM!
A colossal wave of living fire flooded the entirety of the vessel. Three seconds later, not a single marine remained on deck.
Suddenly, two figures vaulted out from the surrounding sea, launching a synchronized ambush toward Ace's flank.
"Ace, watch out! Incoming!" Otama shrieked, her reflexes snapping into focus as she spotted the attackers.
"Parry!" Ace flicked his finger, projecting a concentrated laser beam of pure heat.
Fire Finger.
The microsecond the beam deflected Onigumo's incoming blades, the second Vice Admiral swung a massive flail straight toward Ace's head. Ace countered with a precise, high-velocity thrust of his spear.
SHUCK!
The white-hot tip of his spear pierced a massive hole clean through the iron flail, continuing its trajectory to impale the commander through his torso. With a single display of absolute power, a Vice Admiral was liquidated.
"Vice Admiral Zuoqiu!!" Onigumo roared, his eyes nearly tearing from their sockets. Six monstrous spider appendages suddenly erupted from his back, each grasping a razor-sharp blade as he unleashed a manic flurry of slashes toward Ace.
"Eek!" Otama cried out. But Ace's spear cleared the air, systematically intercepting every single incoming blade.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"Fire Finger!" Ace shaped his fingers into a blade, snapping a single horizontal strike.
SHING!
A rain of severed steel scattered across the deck. With a single slash, the six swords Onigumo had deployed were cleanly sundered. Before the commander could recover, Ace drove a heavy punch straight into his chest.
BOOM!
"From this day forward, the Land of Wano is under the absolute protection of the Whitebeard Pirates!" Ace's voice resonated across the waters. "Anyone who harbors designs against it will answer to us."
Onigumo crashed heavily against the structural backing of the ship, fresh blood saturating his garments. The light had completely deserted his eyes.
Strong! He was simply too strong!
This level of oppressive, unbridled power was not something their fleet could ever hope to manage. Even if a Marine Admiral were deployed here, overcoming a monster of this caliber would be an uphill battle. Was this the true definition of a Yonko's strength?...
"Ace! Make way!"
A thunderous roar sundered the air. Luffy tore through the sky in his Boundman form, bringing a colossal, hardened fist down upon the target.
KABOOM!
Another warship fractured into pieces, detonating into a spectacular shower of fire and debris.
"Three Sword Style..." Zoro's voice drifted from the deck of the Sunny, his blades clearing their sheaths as he channeled his full power into a singular, monumental arc.
"One-Thousand... Great-Thousand... World!!"
A massive flying slash cut through the empty space, striking a warship dead center.
SHING...
The vessel was cleanly split in two.
"Eek!!" The remaining marines looked on, tears of pure terror welling in their eyes.
What manner of demonic deities were these? Any random newcomer stepping off a pirate ship could cleave a military capital ship easier than cutting vegetables.
As the ruins of their armada slowly slipped beneath the surface of the ocean, the surviving marines offered zero further resistance. It was too terrifying... Mommy... I want to go home...
In a matter of moments, the remnants of the vanguard fell into the sea.
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