Chapter 415
"What an exaggerated battlefield..."
On the other side, three CPOs standing at sea observed the battle from afar. The attacks rained down in all directions, the abilities were bizarre and varied; even renowned figures on the high seas had to fight tooth and nail to survive on this battlefield. It was simply...
"It was even more intense than the Marineford War."
Two years ago, the Marineford War was merely a battle between one of the Four Emperors' crews and the Navy. But now, on Onigashima...—the fully-strength Beasts Pirates, the BIG MOM Pirates with a large portion of their strength, the Whitebeard Pirates without their captain, the rising Straw Hat crew, Wano Country, hailed as the second strongest nation...
"If these guys team up, even the Holy Land will have a headache."
"How is that possible?"
Seeing that Roman, transformed into Great Knight, was locked in a fierce battle with Big Mom, showing no signs of weakness in the short term, the three CP0 elites relaxed and even had the leisure to comment on the battlefield.
"Wano Country is unruly, the Straw Hat crew are causing trouble, the Whitebeard Pirates have lost their reputation, Big Mom is a greedy fat woman, Beasts Pirates... I don't even know what Kaido wants... How could such a group of people possibly unite? And:"
Even so, for the adults in the Holy Land, it was nothing more than a 'headache' of trouble.
If this were to alarm the 'gods', it would be a grave dereliction of duty!
"However, I did not expect Lord Roman to be so powerful."
"With someone like you around, it seems we'll be able to relax a bit more from now on."
CP0 members are human too. As the Shield of the Celestial Dragons, they have no shortage of power, beautiful women, and money, but if they could, who wouldn't want to take a few more days off?
"If things continue like this, even if we can't destroy the Beasts Pirates and bring Wano Country under our control, we can at least greatly weaken these rebellious traitors at sea..."
While CP0 was observing the battle, the senior officers of both sides had already clashed violently.
In the sky, a black pterosaur covered in crimson flames soared and danced, its massive wings unleashing wind blades that shot out like the slashes of a great swordsman, sharp as waves and dense as rain! A group of artificial Devil Fruit user with the ability to fly also joined the fray, and their opponents were:
"Ouch, that hurts!"
Even the taciturn 'Wildfire' felt a sense of helplessness when faced with Marco, who was engulfed in blue flames, Flying Slash, yet still had time to spout nonsense.
Marco, the Whitebeard Pirates First Division Captain.
Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Phoenix Form
A user of Logia Mythical Zoan Fruit, which is even rarer than Mythical Zoan Fruits.
Marco has a physical form, but his wounds are enveloped by 'resurrected blue flames' and regenerated, rendering attacks nullifiable. However, this regeneration has its limits; he is not absolutely immune to injury. But:
To bring him to his full recovery potential, it's hard to say whether Jhin alone... no, it's more accurate to say who will defeat whom first.
"Azure Flame Goose!!"
A majestic pillar of azure fire shot out from Marco's fingers, which he used as a spear, instantly blasting away Ember, who was chasing after him! It then split into countless azure fireballs, spreading in all directions and illuminating the entire sky like a grand celebration of fireworks.
It looks beautiful, but it's just as deadly!
Once the Beasts Pirates' flight ability users were touched by the flames, they first felt a jolt of energy, as if they had taken some kind of powerful tonic! Then, before they could even react, their fur, feathers, scales, and other growths would immediately start growing violently!
"Ahhhh~~~"
"Damn it, what the hell is this thing?"
"It's... too heavy... I can't fly anymore..."
A group of artificial Devil Fruit user, covered in tangled, feathery hair, were dragged along by their wildly growing fur and tumbled towards the ground!
This is also why Jin's entire body is covered in domineering Haki and he is fully defensive. Others only need to be touched by a little flame to turn into hairy monsters. As the main target, if he were to let these flames penetrate his body, he would not only grow a little hair or feathers, but would grow several uncontrollable limbs and become an alien.
Since that's the case—
Boom!
A huge ball of raging flames rose into the air and enveloped Jin Tuan. The flames were scorching hot, and with its wings spread, it was as if the dragon-eating monster bird Gara Lou had descended to earth. The indestructible golden flames made his body defense as solid as a rock.
The flames are not his ability; Jin possesses the 'Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Zoan, Pteranodon Form'. Flames are his racial talent, but his race is now on the verge of extinction, one of only two races in Big Mom's Whole Cake Island that do not exist.
However, whether it's a racial ability or Devil Fruit ability, King's flames can block Marco's blue flames. —Although they also appear to be flames, Marco's blue flames are essentially life force and cannot penetrate King's flames.
"Cut!!"
As the flames on his body flowed into the serrated longsword in his hand, King swung it through the air, Flying Slash carrying eerie flames towards Marco! And that direction was none other than the place where Luffy, Ace, Yamato Kaido!
"Immortal Feathers!"
With a wave of his arms, his enormous cyan wings transformed into rings, forming a shield that forcefully withstood the attack from a great swordsman.
"Ace..."
Marco glanced back at his captain, who was locked in Kaido. In the past two years, no one knew better than him Ace, for the sake of the Whitebeard Pirates, had worn the suits he hated most, donned a mask, defended against external attacks, learned internal management, and stayed up late reading newspapers and documents he used to disdain...
"You've become a reliable man; your father's judgment was indeed accurate. So:"
"Heh, I can't let you interfere with the 'Admiral' battle."
Facing King, one of the All-Stars, and a large group of artificial Devil Fruit user of the Flying type, Marco spread his wings and revealed a confident smile.
"Sorry, this is a one-way street! You'd better tuck your tail between your legs and go back!"
Call out!
A flash of light, and a laser beam crashed down, instantly creating a huge circular crater in the ground! However, Zoro, the target, had already easily dodged it. Even with the continuous stream of lasers fired by the opponent, for Zoro, who had just fought and even defeated the 'Kizaru' transformed from the Red Earl:
"It's still lacking something,"
Brush,
In a flash, Zoro had already rushed to Queen's half-orc form and smiled sinisterly at the laser arm on his left hand.
"A weapon capable of firing lasers continuously? Franky should be very interested—"
Clang!
The Sandai Kitetsu in his hand, covered in dark Haki, slashed at Queen's arm in an instant, producing a huge, long, piercing clang, like the sound of two enormous, rapidly spinning steel chainsaws crushing, rubbing, and chopping together.
"It's quite hard,"
Upon hearing Zoro's words, Queen glanced at the knife marks on the mechanical arm, which was infused with Seastone, and immediately perked up.
Clang!
He drew his katana from his waist and swung it fiercely. The long sword brought with it a continuous and violent flow of silver light, like Inazuma and thunder, and also stirred up a rapidly surging strange wind. Wherever it passed, rocks collapsed and the ground cracked. He was indeed a great swordsman!
"Don't get cocky, you brats—"
As the officers from both sides began their head-to-head combat, the scales of victory clearly tipped in favor of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. Because:
In Roman's plan, the nine members of the Straw Hat crew, the more than ten Whitebeard Pirates, plus the Red Scabbards of Wano Country, could be said to have an absolute advantage in terms of high-ranking officers! Even if the samurai of Wano Country did not participate in the battle, they could still exert a suppressive force.
On the other hand, the Beasts Pirates only have the Six Sons and the All-Stars as their high-level fighters. As for the rest of the True Striker... it's not that Roman looks down on them, but only Hawkins and Apoo are somewhat capable. The rest of the True Striker, apart from being tough and resilient, are frankly not very interesting.
The samurai and ninja of Wano Country... just had Kurozumi Orochi killed by Kaido, and then were announced to be enslaved as weapons factories in the Capital of Flowers, one of the last two relatively prosperous areas of Wano Country. So, putting aside their fighting strength, their fighting spirit alone...
In reality, many samurai who originally belonged to Kurozumi Orochi turned against him during the battle, after all, their own families were in the Capital of Flowers! Who would want their hometown to become a place filled with poison gas and toxic water?
On the contrary, the ninjas, led by their leader 'Fukurokuju', were still fighting seriously, but:
Ninjas excel at espionage, assassination, and poisoning... In direct combat, they were being overwhelmed by a group of samurai, and it seemed like their collapse was only a matter of time.
As for the BIG MOM Pirates, this is Onigashima, not Whole Cake Chateau. They have no intention of fighting desperately to protect Kaido's territory. Apart from Cracker, who prefers to act alone and is currently Sanji, the others have formed a collective defensive line under Perospero's leadership, clearly intending to stand by and watch.
In this way, the Straw Hat crew, who were constantly being chased in the original story, not only fought the Beasts Pirates to a standstill in head-on battles, but even had surplus strength in high-level combat. It seems that:
"Could Saint Roman's plan really succeed?"
On the distant sea, the three CP0 observers, though masked, wore expressions of utter shock. After all, a force like the Four Emperors could only be taken down by a massive Navy mobilization! —And even then, there was the risk of being ambushed by the other Four Emperors. But:
In just a few days, Saint Roman had assembled a multi-party alliance and was putting up a good fight against the Beasts Pirates and the BIG MOM Pirates. It seemed that:
"No, it's not that simple."
After the initial shock, the man in the Byakugan mask, suit, and top hat who was leading the group shook his head.
"The key is still Kaido. His title of 'World's Strongest Creature' is not just talk; it's earned through battle! Although he is insignificant in front of 'gods,' he is one of the strongest on the sea."
"If we can't defeat Kaido, at most we'll only severely damage the Beasts Pirates, although our mission will still be accomplished then. —At that point, it'll be a buyer's market, and we'll have the upper hand in negotiations. But:"
Based on his understanding of Saint Roman, the other party was clearly a perfectionist, and this kind of compromised victory was definitely not what he wanted. Therefore:
Those three young men:
The CP0 leader's gaze fell upon Luffy, Ace, Yamato. Aside from Luffy, the grandson of Vice Admiral Garp Luffy, the man with the black markings spreading across half his body near his heart looked strangely familiar. As for the last remaining tall girl, his identity remained a mystery...
However, they are all very strong!
Is this the person Saint Roman found to deal with Kaido? But:
Why did this CP0 leader have a feeling that these three young people would be in greater danger in the future?
P. S.: I forgot to write a title and just clicked publish... Oh well, it doesn't affect readability though.