When Giant Wings Descend from the Heavens into the Forest!

"The G-51 branch located in Master Port was attacked three days ago. Branch Colonel Astor Campbell sacrificed his life, and Kingdom of Nysmal Royal Steward Mantar Das was also killed."

"Detention Unit Captain Roy Amos, stationed in nearby waters, urgently returned to Master Port and led the branch's Marine soldiers in searching for the attackers' traces overnight, but no leads have been found yet."

"Furthermore, according to the World Government's assessment, Steward Mantar Das may have exposed the location of the Celestial Gold. Therefore, ships will be dispatched to transfer the Celestial Gold's location from Arashit Island."

In the center of Arashit Island, within the Arashi Great Forest.

A Marine soldier with a cigar in his mouth was lying on a lounge chair, basking in the sunlight filtering through the ancient, giant trees.

Leaning against the lounge chair was a silver Great Katana.

At this moment, it was his subordinate who was reading the intelligence report.

"Leave."

The cigar-chewing Marine said in a deep voice.

"Yes, Commodore Lan Li."

The subordinate, a Lieutenant Colonel, nodded. "You mean for us to leave, but before that, you need to contact the warship coming to transport the Celestial Gold and confirm the evacuation time."

But before he could finish speaking, he saw the Commodore glare at him impatiently. "Idiot, I mean for you to leave."

"You're completely blocking my sunlight, can't you see?"

Hearing this, the Lieutenant Colonel was stunned.

Only then did he notice that he, holding the intelligence report, was indeed blocking the sunlight—especially within the Arashi Great Forest, where the towering trees often exceeded fifty meters in height, sunlight was already a precious commodity.

So the Lieutenant Colonel hastily moved away from that spot, repeatedly chuckling apologetically. "Sorry, Commodore, I wasn't paying attention."

"Pay attention next time—in my hometown, blocking someone's sun is a serious crime."

Commodore Lan Li snorted coldly.

"."

Hearing this, the Lieutenant Colonel thought to himself, 'What kind of place has such a rule?', while obediently nodding in agreement.

However, then, Commodore Lan Li snorted again.

"As for transferring the Celestial Gold, what a bunch of cowards!"

The Commodore scoffed, clearly displeased with the World Government's judgment.

He turned his head and saw the massive building hidden within the forest behind him.

"This Golden House is located in the center of Arashit Island, a perfect stronghold concealed by the great forest."

"The four coasts near the island have four guarding bases. Ordinary ships are strictly prohibited from passing through the nearby waters. It's also extremely close to the Calm Belt, so there are whirlpools in the sea near the island capable of swallowing even large ships."

"Who could possibly attack a place like this? Moreover, there's less than a month until the Celestial Gold transfer. Transferring at a time like this? Are the people upstairs out of their minds?"

He complained.

"But it's an order, Commodore."

"And the message came directly from Vice Admiral Huoshan."

The Lieutenant Colonel could only try to reason with him.

He knew very well that the Commodore Lan Li before him was a Supernova of the Marines. At only thirty-five years old, he was already a Commodore.

He had mastered Two-Color Haki and was proficient in swordsmanship, possessing formidable strength. He was considered almost certain to be promoted to Vice Admiral at Marine Headquarters within a few years.

The only one who could persuade him, or even order him, was his master, the veteran Vice Admiral 'Huoshan' of Marine Headquarters.

It was strange, really—Vice Admiral 'Huoshan', known for being gentle yet powerful, had a disciple who was unexpectedly a bit of a troublemaker.

And as expected.

Upon hearing that the order came directly from Vice Admiral 'Huoshan', Lan Li's brow furrowed.

Then...

"You need to contact the warships? Bring the Den Den Mushi."

He reluctantly raised his hand.

The Lieutenant Colonel, thinking 'as expected, it worked', quickly picked up the Den Den Mushi.

"Commodore, there are five warships coming to transfer the Celestial Gold. You can contact them separately with this Den Den Mushi—this is a special Den Den Mushi from the World Government, capable of multi-channel communication and even leaving messages? There's already a message."

He said this, then noticed the Den Den Mushi had begun to speak.

"Commodore Lan Li, this is the 'Transfer Ship' coming to transfer the Celestial Gold—but we encountered a rather strong gale on our journey, so our arrival might be delayed by about half a day. We will enter the island from the base port on the south side."

"Beep, the message above has been stored for: three hours."

The Den Den Mushi simply announced the message and its storage duration.

Commodore Lan Li's brow furrowed.

"Commodore, please don't be angry. When sailing at sea—delays due to storms are unavoidable."

Seeing this, the Lieutenant Colonel thought the Commodore was angry again and quickly comforted him, "Moreover, it's only been three days since the attack on Master Port—the fastest ship from Master Port to here takes at least a week. There's no need to rush the Celestial Gold transfer."

But he was interrupted halfway by Commodore Lan Li's sharp shout.

"Idiot! Something's wrong!"

Commodore Lan Li said this, sitting up from his lounge chair.

He was a sharp person and had already realized something was amiss.

"This is Arashit Island, an island near the Calm Belt. The surrounding waters don't even get strong winds once a year."

He looked at the lieutenant colonel. "Contact South Base and confirm the climate conditions in the southern sea!"

"Yes, yes!"

The lieutenant colonel immediately saluted and hastily took out a Den Den Mushi to make a call.

"Buru buru!" "Buru buru!" "Buru buru!"

The ringing of the Den Den Mushi echoed through the quiet forest.

But until the very end, no one answered.

The quiet forest seemed to grow even more somber.

"Call the Den Den Mushi of the other three bases."

It wasn't until Commodore Lan Li's voice pierced the silence that the lieutenant colonel quickly took the order and picked up the remaining three Den Den Mushi to make calls.

And similarly.

The ringing of those three Den Den Mushi was still 'buru buru', but there was no reply.

"Commodore, this is..."

At this point, even the lieutenant colonel realized something was wrong.

"Contact the Watchtower."

Commodore Lan Li had already picked up the Great Katana, standing up with both hands resting on it.

The lieutenant colonel's expression changed drastically again.

The Watchtower—that was the second-to-last line of defense of this 'Golden House', located outside the great forest.

Although he couldn't believe in his heart that the situation had deteriorated to this extent, he still followed orders and dialed the Den Den Mushi.

"Buru buru!" "Buru buru!" "Buru buru!"

The Den Den Mushi rang as usual.

With each ring, the lieutenant colonel felt as if his own heartbeat was roaring.

And until the very end.

"Haha. Ha."

The Den Den Mushi finally connected.

But from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, only weak gasps could be heard.

"Who is it? What happened?"

The Lieutenant Colonel immediately asked loudly.

And from the other end of the Den Den Mushi, fragmented words came: "It's the Watchtower. Guard. Ha. Ha."

The other party was clearly extremely weak, their voice now hoarse and unclear.

"Attack. Wind monsters from the sky."

His words stopped there, and the Den Den Mushi suddenly went silent.

Just like the tranquil Golden House.

Then...

"Commodore, I'll go confirm the situation immediately. Oh, and the defense wall, I'll raise the defense wall for this forest immediately!"

The Lieutenant Colonel said immediately.

Yes—as the storage location for Celestial Gold, the Golden House was also specially equipped with defenses.

These were colossal walls that, once activated, would be difficult for even a thousand troops to breach.

"Commodore?"

But soon, the Lieutenant Colonel found that Commodore Lan Li did not answer him directly.

On the contrary, the Commodore merely carried his Nodachi, letting the blade hang slightly by his side.

He strode forward a few steps.

The Lieutenant Colonel recognized it—that was the Commodore's combat stance.

And this stance was only used when facing a truly powerful enemy.

Then...

"No need."

The Lieutenant Colonel heard Commodore Lan Li's reply, and at the same time, he saw the Commodore raise his head in a certain direction.

"They've arrived."

"And that aura, hey!"

Already here?

Upon hearing Commodore Lan Li's words, the Lieutenant Colonel subconsciously raised his head to look in the direction the Commodore was looking.

But it was precisely in that instant he looked up that he discovered something was wrong.

The wind had arrived.

Not the gentle breeze common in forests, nor a violent but understandable hurricane.

It was a destructive current of air accompanied by a tremendous sound!

"Boom!"

It was the sonic boom of something massive rapidly flapping through the air.

The immense gale made the Lieutenant Colonel feel as if he couldn't stand steadily, and the sand and stones in the wind stung his face.

And along with the wind came darkness.

Yes—at this moment, the precious sunlight that had been filtering through the gaps in the leaves of the forest had completely vanished.

Of course, the sunlight hadn't truly disappeared, but it had been obscured.

By something colossal.

"What is that?"

Yes, the Lieutenant Colonel could see it now.

Above the vast forest, above countless trees, a massive silhouette had appeared.

It was a creature that should have vanished from this era.

Its spread wings seemed to blot out the sky, its wing membranes a rocky blue-gray.

"What is that? Do you even need to ask?"

Compared to the Lieutenant Colonel, Commodore Lan Li, however, smiled.

He gripped his Great Katana tightly, a burning fighting spirit flashing in his eyes.

"That's the monster!"

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