"Bombard! Bombard! Sink those ships! Let these newbies who've just entered the Grand Line know who the real masters of this sea are!" The One-Eyed Dragon Captain's face was sinister. As the overlord of this sea, encountering challenges from newcomers was nothing new to him.
However, recently, these battles have been far too frequent, with small skirmishes every three days and major battles every five days. Not to mention his crew, even he himself is feeling exhausted and war-weary.
Moreover, even if they won the battle, they could not be completely unscathed. Every battle came at a great cost. In less than a month, his fleet had lost nearly 30% of its crew, and the ships were badly damaged, leaving him with nowhere to vent his anger.
"It's all that damn Roy's fault. Humph, don't let me catch him." Cyclops naturally knew that these rookies' high-energy behavior was due to Roy's provocation, but he was long past the age of passion and enthusiasm, and he looked down on these fantasies of pirates.
Even Roy, whom they idolized, was nothing more than a grasshopper in autumn, unable to hop around for long. Pirates like him who directly challenged the Navy never had a good ending.
"Ship, Captain, something terrible has happened! The navy is coming!" A crew member tremblingly interrupted his wild thoughts.
"Idiot, it's just the navy, isn't it? Haven't we seen enough navies over the years?" Cyclops cursed as he turned around. Seeing the five huge warships approaching, his legs went weak and he almost knelt on the deck.
He wasn't one of those ignorant pirates. He was a seasoned veteran who had roamed the Grand Line for years without being wiped out, and had even become a hidden overlord of this sea. He immediately recognized that this was the highest-level warship in the Navy, the most robust and offensive warship built by Water 7, which would only be deployed in extremely large-scale events.
Each warship carries 1,000 elite soldiers, a formidable force capable of easily defeating Sea Kings. And now, five warships have been deployed at once. More importantly, there may also be Headquarters Vice Admiral headquarters on board.
It's important to know that in the first half of the Grand Line, a Headquarters Rear Admiral could suppress the vast majority of pirates, and Headquarters Vice Admiral was someone they could only look up to.
"Ship, Captain, let's run away!" Although those little pirates were inexperienced, they could tell from this situation that the enemy was definitely not someone they could handle.
"Run for hell! Tell everyone else to stop firing immediately and not to make any moves." Cyclops knew perfectly well that the Navy's powerful formation was definitely not aimed at him. If the Navy really wanted to wipe them out, running away would be futile. It was better to behave well.
The crew looked at him as if he were an idiot, but remembering the Cyclops's ruthless methods, they gritted their teeth and went to report the order.
As the warship drew closer, the Cyclops realized how insignificant he was. Compared to it, his sailboat was like a tiny leaf, and even the waves stirred up by the warship could capsize his fleet.
To their surprise, five warships actually rushed past them right in front of them, as if they hadn't seen the pirates at all. This finally put Cyclops's mind at ease. He touched his back and found that it was already soaked.
"This is possible? Could the captain be a spy infiltrated by the Navy among the pirates?" The others, having narrowly escaped death, couldn't help but think, and their gazes towards the Cyclops became increasingly suspicious.
"What are you looking at? Run!" Cyclops had no idea how his subordinates viewed him, but he couldn't help but wonder, "Aren't they even willing to waste time fighting? Who exactly are these marines after?"
"Captain, should we still chase those rookies?"
"Chase after him... wait, I know, the only one who can make the Marine Headquarters go to such lengths is him, the King of the North Blue, Roy." The Cyclops's remaining eye was full of schadenfreude. "Serves you right for being so cocky. Don't you know that those who keep a low profile live longer?"
"However, this is some exciting news! Maybe we can sell it and make some extra money, hehe."
On the warship.
"Vice Admiral Doberman, is it really alright to let this gang of pirates go like this?"
"They're just a bunch of useless pirates. There's no need to waste time on them. The sooner we get to Drum Island, the greater the chance of capturing them." Doberman was in a pretty good mood today; otherwise, given his personality, he wouldn't have bothered to explain.
In his view, the only possible failure of their operation was that Roy and his gang had already escaped Drum Island before they arrived. After all, given their combat strength, there was virtually no possibility of failure.
Although he personally disapproved of Garp's approach—having immense fighting power but rarely capturing pirates, which he felt was unworthy of his title as Marine Hero — Garp's strength was undeniable. He himself had challenged Garp once in his youthful arrogance, but after being taught a lesson, he never had that thought again.
The Drum Kingdom, atop the snow-capped mountains.
Boom!
A sudden earthquake shook the ground, as if the castle was about to collapse, and a beam of light shot straight up from the castle to the center of the sky.
"That damn brat! He promised to leave the castle to me, and he's already made such a huge hole in it." Kureha stared speechlessly at the hole in the castle's roof, wishing she could grab Roy by the ear. Why did he have to show off like that? Couldn't he just go out the front door?
"This feeling, this feeling of being free from all shackles and constraints, is simply wonderful." Feeling his body become lighter, as if a mountain had been lifted off his back, Roy felt an indescribable sense of exhilaration.
"My physique has finally entered the third stage. Also, the surging power that's bursting forth must be Armament Haki." Roy's mind stirred, and the invisible aura within his body coiled around his arm, instantly transforming it into a dark, gleaming iron arm.
The feeling was quite peculiar, like wearing a layer of armor attached to the body. Roy's expression shifted slightly, and the Armament Haki above his wrists completely disappeared, while the Armament Haki on his fists shone even brighter, and a casual wave of his hand could produce a sound of air being torn apart.
Roy took out the Kikuichimonji and activated his Armament Haki. Black armor instantly enveloped the sword. Roy swung it lightly and found that the weight had not changed, but the strength had increased by more than one level.
"It's already able to harden and entangle right after it was activated? It seems that the foundation I laid before was too solid. After all, if it weren't for the hidden injuries, I should have been able to master Armament Haki long ago."
"With my physique reaching the third level and having mastered Armament Haki, my overall strength has increased by more than one level. Facing the challenges ahead, I finally have a better chance of success." Roy exhaled a breath of stale air, somewhat looking forward to the upcoming battle.