Holding Them Off (Part One)

After entering Blackbeard's territory, everyone proceeded with extreme caution, sending people to patrol at all times to prevent any accidents.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and everything was calm and peaceful.

However, none of them relaxed. They all understood that coming here, it would be impossible to avoid a bloody battle.

Blackbeard wasn't in a good mood and let others swagger through his territory.

Everyone was on edge, constantly on guard against danger.

Another day passed, and things remained peaceful.

However, just as dawn broke on the fifth day, a sudden downpour began at sea, and countless ships approached from afar, forming a fan shape to surround them.

"The Blackbeard Pirates? They've finally arrived."

"Immediately inform the captain that the Blackbeard Pirates have arrived."

"Clear."

Everyone started shouting, and soon the situation outside was relayed to the control room.

At this moment, Fanxin, Bingfeng, Wang Yan, and the others were all present. They were discussing what to do next.

Hearing the shouts outside, Fanxin yelled, "Everyone, prepare yourselves! A great battle is about to begin, and this time, we may not get through so easily!"

Although the Big Mom had tried to stop him, Big Mom hadn't fought him to the death, though he didn't know why. However, he understood that Big Mom hadn't tried her best.

If the Big Mom goes berserk and insists on keeping him, she will definitely deal with him herself.

After all, while her men were powerful, they couldn't possibly eliminate him. Only she had that ability.

The fact that she didn't come out means that the other party doesn't want to fight him to the death.

However, Blackbeard is another story; that guy is a complete madman who doesn't play by the rules.

Therefore, they must proceed with caution if they want to pass through here, otherwise, they may encounter serious trouble.

"Okay, we understand," everyone shouted.

"Since that's the case, then so be it." Fanxin pondered for a moment and said, "In this battle, Bingfeng will make his move. Remember, show no mercy. I don't want any unexpected incidents."

"Understood," Bingfeng replied.

She immediately got up and slowly walked outside.

She wore a cheongsam, her long, beautiful legs exposed, leaving much to the imagination.

She went to the bow of the ship, glanced around, and found that there were no fewer than dozens of ships around, all flying the Blackbeard Pirates' flag.

"Hmph, so they've really come? In that case, I'll show you the power of the Heavenly Soul Pirates." Bingfeng scoffed, leaping into the air.

"Ice Sword!" Bingfeng, his hands moving rapidly, and countless Ice Sword shot out from his hands, plunging into the sea.

Soon after, the sea began to freeze. Under her control, the ice floes flew rapidly into the distance, and soon arrived next to the Blackbeard Pirates.

Without hesitation, Bingfeng manipulated the ice blocks and rushed forward. In no time, many ships were frozen solid, and many of the people on board were also frozen.

However, some were incredibly strong and managed to evade the Bingfeng's attack.

"Hmph, come out now, I'd like to see how you manage to stop us from advancing." The Bingfeng leaped down and landed on the ice.

She looked calmly at the frozen ships ahead.

Soon, many people emerged from the boats and jumped onto the ice.

As soon as they came out, they surrounded Bingfeng.

The leader was a bald man dressed in blue. He approached Bingfeng and said with a grim expression, "Hey, you woman, you're really ruthless. You've frozen all our ships."

"I can't help it. You're besieging us, so naturally we have to fight back," Bingfeng said. "Are you the leader this time?"

"That's right, my Qin Lie," the bald man said.

"Alright, since that's the case, let's get started. No need for further words," Bingfeng said.

"As expected of a battle maniac. In that case, I won't hold back either." Qin Lie sneered, took out two guns, and began his attack.

His marksmanship was accurate and fast; the bullet hit Bingfeng in the shoulder as soon as he fired.

However, just as the bullet was about to hit Bingfeng immediately shifted its body and went under the ice.

Her original body turned into an ice sculpture, and the bullet hit the ice sculpture.

With a crack, a fissure appeared on the ice sculpture, and the fissure spread downwards, instantly covering the entire surface. Finally, with a bang, the ice sculpture shattered.

"Hmm, gone?" Qin Lie glanced at it, his expression hardening, sensing something was wrong.

This was just an ice sculpture, not Bingfeng himself. He shattered an ice sculpture; it wasn't his actual body anymore.

In this way, the opponent's body is still hidden all around, and could attack them at any time.

"Everyone be careful, that woman is troublesome," Qin Lie shouted immediately.

"Ah..." As soon as he finished speaking, a scream came from afar.

Many of their companions were pierced by the Ice Spike beneath their feet, screaming in agony.

Qin Lie's expression changed, and he immediately told everyone to watch their step so they wouldn't get stabbed.

However, even after she warned everyone, many people had already been attacked.

Qin Lie's expression turned extremely grim. If things continued like this, his team would inevitably suffer heavy losses, and it was hard to say how many would even make it back.

"Damn it, destroy the ice right now!" Qin Lie shouted.

"I'll go." A man who was two meters tall rushed out, carrying a huge vessel on his back and holding a tube as thick as an arm in his hand.

He pressed a button on the vessel behind him, and countless flames erupted from it, instantly engulfing a large area.

Wherever the flames passed, the ice melted rapidly into water, creating a huge hole.

Without hesitation, the man continued his sweeping through other areas.

Soon after, almost all the ice had melted. The rest of the people returned to the ship; there was nowhere left to stand on the sea.

"Woman, come out here, stop hiding." Qin Lie shouted impatiently.

He suffered heavy losses as soon as he arrived, which made him very unhappy. He made up his mind to kill Bingfeng.

"Heh, you can't even find me, how can you kill me?" Bingfeng chuckled and said.

"All you ever do is hide, you coward!" Qin Lie cursed without any politeness.

"Say what you will, but one thing is certain: I can take care of you all, that's the truth, understand?" With that, Bingfeng no longer hesitated and launched another attack.

She manipulated her powers, took control of an area, and then changed its climate.

Soon after, countless hailstones fell from the sky, directly hitting the ships.

Most hailstones were small, but many of them were quite large and killed several people when they fell.

Qin Lie furious. He couldn't find Bingfeng, but Bingfeng could launch attack after attack, leaving him with no choice but to passively accept it, which made him very unhappy.

He glanced around and saw that many people were injured; if they stayed any longer, probably none of them would be able to leave.

"Leave, leave immediately." Qin Lie made a decisive decision and issued the order to retreat.

He didn't want to, but he had no choice; the Bingfeng's attacks were too unpredictable. He simply couldn't react in time.

Soon, several ships sped away and disappeared from the scene.

Bingfeng appeared out of nowhere and landed on a block of ice. She watched Qin Lie and the others walk away, but did not give chase.

Then, she turned around and went back into the control room.

"How is it?" Fanxin asked.

"We've driven them all away," Bingfeng said with a smile. She then walked to her seat, sat down, and slowly sipped her tea.

Seeing how relaxed Bingfeng, everyone knew that what she said was true.

"This is the first wave. More powerful guys will come next, so be prepared," Fanxin nodded and said.

"Who will come next in the Reverse Fire?" Bingfeng asked curiously.

"Hehe, after suffering this loss, they'll at least have to bring over a few of their main generals. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to stop our advance," Fanxin said with a smile.

He had fought Blackbeard before, and Blackbeard hadn't fared well. Therefore, he believed that Blackbeard, to be on the safe side, would definitely send one of his most trusted lieutenants.

If he didn't do this, he certainly wouldn't be able to retain Fanxin.

Of course, even if those people came, they might not be able to retain their Fanxin.

"Hehe, I'll be waiting," Bingfeng said with a laugh.

"Alright, everyone go and rest. I'll let you know if those guys come," Fanxin said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, everyone stopped hesitating and quickly went back inside.

Fanxin lay back on a recliner, resting peacefully.

The ship was moving forward slowly, without encountering any obstacles.

"Sir, we have failed." On an unnamed island, Qin Lie lowered his head and reported to a man in uniform.

This man was none other than Shiryu of the Rain, who had visited Peng Bird Island.

He's back and is patrolling the area.

Upon hearing that someone had broken in, he immediately ordered Qin Lie, who was closest, to lead his men over and take care of those guys.

He didn't expect that Qin Lie would arrive with his remaining troops so soon.

"Forget it, you're no match for him. Even the captain didn't fare well against him last time," Shiryu of the Rain said casually, taking a puff of his cigar.

They were all there that time, and they suffered quite a bit.

From that moment on, they understood that Fanxin were not easy to deal with, and their strength surpassed that of Admiral.

"I'll go," Shiryu of the Rain said. "At the same time, you must inform the captain of the situation here, understand? I want them to send someone to help me as soon as possible."

The captain possesses two Devil Fruits and is extremely powerful, yet he couldn't severely injure Fanxin. If he were to go, he probably wouldn't be able to make Fanxin suffer a significant loss either.

For safety's sake, he had no choice but to request backup.

"Yes, I'll contact them immediately and explain the situation here," Qin Lie said.

"Yes, hurry up, I'll go with you over there," Shiryu of the Rain said.

Qin Lie nodded, then immediately took out Den Den Mushi and explained what had happened.

After settling things off, he boarded the ship with Shiryu of the Rain.

Once on board, they set sail, heading straight for where their Fanxin lay.

After the last battle, Blackbeard's side suffered a loss, and for several days they didn't come back to cause trouble.

However, Fanxin and the others understood that this was only a temporary calm, and that further action would inevitably follow.

Blackbeard won't tolerate this; he's already plundering their territory. They'll definitely launch a full-scale attack.

Their arrival was only a matter of time.

"If we really can't get through, then we'll have no choice but to use that move," Fanxin said after a moment's thought.

His method was to have Sun Zhijian take the ships and travel through space. In this way, they could avoid Blackbeard's fleet.

This is a last resort; he wouldn't normally use it unless there's absolutely no other way.

After all, they were taking a risk coming here; if they could just travel through space, there would be no need to come all the way here.

"I know. If things get bad, I'll take the boats and leave quickly," Sun Zhijian nodded and said.

"Yes, we mainly need to take away the weaker crew members. We don't need to worry about the stronger ones," Fanxin said.

Bingfeng, Wang Yan, Little Fox, Little Black Cat, and others—their methods of survival are all quite good.

It's impossible for Blackbeard's forces to hunt them down.

He has absolutely nothing to worry about.

However, he needs to be careful with those crew members; if they don't handle things properly, things could get very bad.

"Yes, don't worry about that," Sun Zhijian said.

"They've arrived," Fanxin said calmly, gazing into the distance.

In the distance, a ship was slowly approaching, its flag now bearing Blackbeard's banner. Clearly, Blackbeard's men had returned to attack.

"Who will go?" Sun Zhijian asked.

"I'll handle this. That guy's strong." Fanxin noticed Sun Zhijian's unusual expression and said, "You guard the ship. If things look bad, immediately lead everyone away."

"Understood." Sun Zhijian nodded, then returned to the control room.

Fanxin, on the other hand, was waiting at the bow of the boat.

Soon after, Blackbeard's ship drew closer and closer, eventually coming to within twenty meters of Fanxin's ship.

On the bow of the ship, Fanxin and Shiryu of the Rain Yaoyao looked at each other, their eyes both extremely cold.

"It seems you're my opponent this time," Fanxin said calmly.

"Heh, are you ready to take on the challenge?" Shiryu of the Rain replied coldly.

"Not bad, since you've come, then be prepared to stay." Fanxin drew her diamond knife and said coldly.

"That's not necessarily true. My strength isn't necessarily weaker than yours. You think you can kill me? That's impossible." Shiryu of the Rain very confident. Perhaps Fanxin was very strong, but Shiryu's strength was not weak either.

"Alright, since that's the case, let's give it a try." Fanxin Xin chuckled, swung his sword, and a sword aura shot straight towards Shiryu of the Rain.

Shiryu of the Rain snorted coldly and immediately launched a counterattack, unleashing a powerful sword aura that headed straight for Fanxin's sword aura.

Finally, the two sword energies collided, creating a beautiful, dazzling light that blinded everyone.