Starfall Arrow, Fish-Dragon Dance
The turbulent waters of the Wano Country Sea
"Report, this is Patrol Ship 13. Enemy forces have approached within 10 nautical miles of Onigashima!"
On the Beasts Pirates cruising on the sea, the lookout, Artificial Devil Fruit in Hawk form, reported the situation to headquarters while relaying orders to his crew from Onigashima.
"Fire!!"
"Don't let them get close to Onigashima, snipe them on the high seas!"
Buzzing—
With a low hum, the breech-loading battle guns began to rotate, their long barrels pointing diagonally at the approaching fleet. This caused Roman, who had released numerous white doves to observe the battle, to frown.
It must be said that although the Beasts Pirates give the impression of being all muscular Zoan users, they actually possess a high level of 'technology'! After all, the fat Queen is a great scientist; he can handle viral weapons and human modification, so simple gun technology is naturally no problem for him. Therefore:
Boom!!
With a deafening roar, a pointed cannonball, traveling at a speed several times faster than a normal round cannonball, slammed into a transport ship from Wano Country. The explosives inside the cannonball expanded violently, instantly tearing a huge gash in the deck of the wooden ship.
Most of the ships in Wano Country, let alone retaliating, didn't even have old-fashioned muzzle-loading cannons; they were simply transport ships!
Even if you have cannons, you still can't reach the enemy's heavily fortified ships and cannons.
"Tsk tsk tsk, this military equipment is several eras behind, isn't it?"
On one side were battleships loaded with high explosives and steel behemoths; on the other side were samurai armed with swords and spears, plus wooden boats... In my previous life, this would have been a naked massacre! Even in this world of superior martial prowess, a swordsman who had trained for over a decade would have no good way to deal with such long-range artillery bombardment.
Even a swordsman of that caliber could slice through cannonballs, but trying to outlast technological creations with sheer endurance is utterly foolish. Fortunately:
"Do you need my help?"
This kind of large-scale naval warfare is Nami's domain! Before Inazuma storms and towering waves, even the biggest warships and cannons would submit. And the Straw Hat crew also has Franky's long-range lasers, Roman and Zoro's Flying Slash, Sanji's aerial attacks...
As the saying goes: You have technology, I have superhuman skills!
"Let us have these lackeys, Commander."
"Captain Straw Hat, what do you think?"
Hehehe, okay~~
The Bandaged Vice Commander of the Bad People stepped forward and volunteered, while waving to Melody, who was discussing 'one hundred ways to cook carrots' with Carrot.
"Melody, Snow Dance, it's our turn to perform."
"Yes!" x2
The aloof, swordswoman carrying the bow and arrow girl and wearing eyeshadow immediately walked forward and stood at the bow of the Sunny Merry. Meanwhile, the Bandaged Vice Commander finally began to unleash his Devil Fruit ability.
Brush--
He raised his right hand, and the bandages on it automatically unwrapped, revealing his five fingers and the dense bandages covering his arm:
Word?
"The east wind at night releases a thousand trees of blossoms. And blows down stars like rain!"
As the Bandaged Vice Commander chanted, characters floated from the skin of his right hand, their strokes bold and precise, all in the classic Chinese script. With a flick of Bandaged Vice Commander finger, the phrase, so familiar to Roman, flew towards the archer girl Melody, then coiled around her, instantly boosting her aura and earning Roman's respect.
Enhancement-type Devil Fruit abilities?
Melody had already half-squatted down, taken a deep breath, and slowly drew his bow and arrow towards the direction of the Beasts Pirates' warship, pulling back the magnificent fiery red bow in his hand before releasing it!
"Spark Arrow— "
Amidst the resounding whistle of Melody echoing across the battlefield, a single arrow, blazing with fiery light, transformed into a fiery phoenix and shot towards the sky above the Beasts Pirates. In an instant, the entire sky was dyed crimson, and then:
"Fall!"
As the Melody played, the bow in hand swung downwards, and a dense rain of crimson arrows immediately fell from the scarlet sky. Each arrow, though far less powerful than those used against Roman, was still no less than a normal artillery barrage, and in number:
The real fall was like rain!
Puff puff puff puff puff—!!!!
A dense barrage of rockets exploded continuously, instantly drowning out all other sounds on the battlefield. Intense heat spread, turning the battlefield a crimson red! Within a radius of several hundred meters, the Beasts Pirates' warships quickly transformed into blazing torches.
Immediately afterward, the ignited warship cracked open in all directions, the fissures glowing red with the light of molten lava. Flames seeped in from within and erupted outwards, while the nearby sea boiled under the intense heat, billowing forth vast plumes of steam...
Wow, the Melody is amazing!
With a single arrow, a third of the opposing warship fleet vanished instantly! More than a dozen steel behemoths turned into a red-hot iron plate, causing the Beasts Pirates members on board to scream and flee into the sea like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
"If... if a few more arrows came..."
Sanji silently lit a cigarette, surprised that these 'Bad People' were so powerful.
"Phew~~ I can only shoot three arrows at most right now."
Melody flexed his fingers and shook his head regretfully, as if dissatisfied with his own strength, causing the Heart Pirates next to him to twitch their eyebrows.
Three arrows! One person can destroy a fleet and a naval fortress, and you're still not satisfied?
"Leave the rest to me,"
Another woman, dressed in flowing white and named 'Snow Dance', leaped forward, her legs meeting in mid-air as she swiftly transformed into:
"A mermaid!?"
Just as everyone else was surprised, the Bandaged Vice Commander extended his right hand again, the bandages continuing to fall and extending to his shoulder, while words on his arm floated out:
"The road is filled with the fragrance of fine carriages and carved horses. The sound of phoenix flutes stirs, the jade pot shines brightly, and all night long—"
As these words flew out and wrapped around Snow Dance, the fine scales on her body continued to spread upwards from her tail, as if draping her in a snow-white, form-fitting armor. At the same time, two antlers grew from her forehead, making the cold woman appear even more noble.
"Fish-Dragon Dance!"
Boom--
As the mermaid beauty 'Snow Dance' fell into the sea, a huge torrent shot up into the sky like a rising dragon, with 'Snow Dance's' graceful and agile figure visible in the water.
As she swam forward in the giant column of water, the massive amount of seawater instantly transformed into a ferocious dragon, carrying fish, shrimp, and shells from its 'body,' and with a deafening roar, it tore at the remaining warships of the Beasts Pirates.
"What a magnificent 'Fish-Dragon Dance'!"
Roman had to admit that he had underestimated the 'Bad People'. To have held their own against the Beasts Pirates for 20 years, they must have some trump card! And that trump card was most likely—
"I am a poet who has eaten the 'Word-Word Fruit',"
Now that it had been revealed, the Bandaged Vice Commander openly disclosed his Devil Fruit ability.
"I can enhance other people's combat power with specific words. The more words I use, the greater the enhancement! Of course, it also consumes more stamina. So I usually store the words on my skin and fix them in place with bandages, and only use them all at once during battle."
So that's how it is. It's very similar to the principle of using 'blood vials' to store stamina to activate the pages, and:
Melody was only at the level of an ordinary officer, could unleash attacks comparable to those of a high-ranking Royal Commander under his enhancement. So what if he chose to enhance himself? You must know that Roman felt that this vice commander was no less skilled than the All-Stars or the Sweet Commanders!
Interesting,
"Luffy, let me go help too."
When Jinbe volunteered to fight, Luffy just grinned.
"OK,"
Thump,
As Jinbe jumped into the sea and disappeared, a warship was aiming its cannons at the winding water dragon next to the 'Snow Dance' that was ravaging the battlefield while riding a sea dragon! But before it could fire a shell, a high-pressure water jet suddenly burst out of the sea with the force to pierce through everything!
In an instant, the bombardment pierced a huge hole in the warship, making it as soft as a biscuit. A massive amount of seawater surged in through the hole, and it seemed the steel warship was about to be fed to the seabed. Naturally, the bombardment came to nothing.
!
"The commander-in-chief said you are the strongest Fish-Man in the world?"
Within the dragon formed by the ocean currents, a pure white and elegant mermaid gazes at Jinbe, who emerges from the sea.
"It's just empty fame; I don't care about it."
"But I care!"
The mermaid named 'Snow Dance' gave Jinbe a serious look. "Normally I'm no match for you, but now—let's see who is the king of the water!"
"·······"
Jinbe wisely kept quiet; after all, arguing about this was pointless. Winning would just be bullying a 'little girl,' and losing wouldn't bother Jinbe, but it wouldn't be good if people looked down on the Straw Hat crew because of it.
"Amazing!"
Watching the enormous water dragon raging through the ocean like a true dragon, constantly destroying the Beasts Pirates' warships under its claws, Nami couldn't help but feel envious. This was partly due to its water control abilities, and partly because...
"It's beautiful····"
"It was indeed a beautiful attack. An ordinary ability user would lose three points before the fight even started."
?
"Roman, I'm pretty sure we're not talking about the same thing. Never mind."
Nami rubbed her forehead. With Jinbe and the Snow Dance having decimated the Beasts Pirates' warships, leaving them routed, the Straw Hat Grand Fleet could already see Onigashima in the distance. The real battle was imminent, but:
"Oh, right."
Nami suddenly remembered something, "Before 'Snow Dance' turned into a mermaid, she also walked on two legs, right? Why didn't Keimi just transform into legs back in Sabaody?"
Roman chuckled in response to Nami's question.
"I told you to read more books, but you only focus on things related to navigation. Mermaids develop a 'leg-spreading' phenomenon after the age of 30, meaning that before 30, mermaids can only walk using their tails, and only after 30 will they be able to switch between their tails and legs—"
Killing intent! Waves of chilling killing intent emanated from the battlefield ahead!
The 'Water Dragon' that was ravaging the Beasts Pirates suddenly seemed to be on drugs, churning the seas Vice Admiral the Beasts Pirates until they cried out in pain. Even Jinbe, who had just surfaced, secretly touched the seawater.
Roman... still doesn't know how to take care of a girl's feelings.
"We've arrived at Onigashima!"
Fortunately, as the Straw Hat Grand Fleet advanced, Onigashima appeared larger and larger to everyone, and they could even see the tall Myo-ō plaque, as well as the cannon emplacement located below it.
"Charge!"
"For the Kozuki Family!"
"The time for revenge has come!!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
One by one, samurai leaped from the ships, traversing the sea on foot and leaping across the water! They launched an assault on Onigashima. Partly, they were eager to finally see land; partly, they wanted to clear the shore's fortifications to prepare for the subsequent landing of ships.
"Okay, we'll do it too—"
"Wait, Luffy."
Roman stopped Luffy, who was also about to make a move, and pointed to the buildings in the direction of Onigashima, while Luffy looked unhappy.
"Kaido is your true opponent; leave these grunts to the samurai."
Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals, kings against kings!
This is a tradition in this world. If the leaders of both sides were to go all out and just kill each other's subordinates, they would soon become two commanders without any troops.
"Okay, but that one is mine!"
After swinging his arms a few times, Luffy threw a punch! His arm extended rapidly, and the target was:
Boom!
With a single punch, Luffy shattered the "Myo-o" plaque on the towering main gate, his voice echoing throughout Onigashima.
"Kaido!!!"
"I'm coming to beat you to a pulp!!"
P. S.: Um, we're still 30 monthly votes short of 1000. During this double monthly vote period, everyone with votes, please give us a few!