The Battle Erupted

"If you may, I hope you will call me the Dark Emperor." The Dark Gate disappeared, revealing Teach's figure. Teach looked at Brom and smiled faintly.

Teach's move completely neutralized Brom's confident punch.

Seeing that his punch had no effect, Brom frowned. As a Marine Vice Admiral, he naturally possessed a strong combat awareness and did not act rashly.

"Is this the move? It actually devoured and absorbed my Shattering Fist directly." Brom didn't expect Teach to have such a move. However, this move uses the same principle as the Darkness Devour move he saw in the video before.

"You've developed such a technique in such a short time; I can't let you live any longer." Brom gritted his teeth, his clenched fists cracking.

Through this move, Brom could see the threat Teach, as he could even absorb his Shattering Fist.

Upon hearing Teach's words, Brom erupted, "I will never acknowledge such a title! From today onwards, you will hide in this sea!" Brom roared, his body disappearing from his spot as he charged towards Teach at an incredible speed.

"Has the melee begun?" Teach thought to himself, looking at Brom. This was exactly what he had expected.

Brom was a master of physical combat, having previously dominated the seas using the Marine Six Styles and Haki.

After realizing that ranged attacks were ineffective against Teach, he naturally changed his fighting style. Teach's move was only effective against ranged attacks and was useless in close combat.

Because at this moment, Teach's body cannot move, making it easy for him to expose a weakness.

"Smash Fist!" Brom charged at Teach, unleashing a powerful punch that carried terrifying crushing force.

Teach, naturally, wouldn't back down. Facing the punch, he floated in the air and moved quickly toward Brom, raising his right arm. His right hand was shaped like a claw, wreathed in Haki, and wisps of black mist covered Teach's entire hand.

Although Brom's crushing power is immense, Teach is also capable of compressing and crushing absorbed objects with limitless power.

Although it cannot be achieved externally, this also represents the power of the dark aura generated by Teach's abilities, much like Rediat's Shadow Power, which can also enhance one's attack and defense.

The two were evenly matched in a massive collision, with Brom's astonishing destructive power forcing Teach to Teach caution.

Teach uses gravity to move his body through the air at great speed. This is the first time he has fought anyone after developing this technique, so he is a little rusty because he needs to control it himself.

However, this also has advantages over Geppo, as it can easily evade some attacks that are otherwise unavoidable.

The two fought in the sky. When Brom threw a punch, Teach's body plummeted downwards, Teach gravity pulled him away, allowing him to avoid the blow.

Immediately afterward, Teach charged straight at Brom. Brom threw a punch, but it was too late. Teach circled behind Brom and with a powerful claw strike, tore several scratches across Brom's back.

"Damn it, this guy is using me as a whetstone." Brom gritted his teeth in anger. As the battle progressed, he could feel that Teach's flight was becoming smoother and smoother. The fight between them had gone from stiff at the beginning to silky smooth now. Teach was completely using the fight with him to familiarize himself with his abilities.

"No, no, no, I should be thanking you, Vice Admiral Brom. It was you who gave me guidance." Teach shook his head and mocked Brom with a smile, which made Brom even angrier. There was no doubt that Teach was underestimating him.

Below, Baccarat said to the opposing naval fleet, "Full speed ahead, no firing, engage in direct combat. We've taken control of all five warships, so don't damage them during the battle."

"I'll take care of the Navy's control room first." A long sword appeared in Nelson's hand, and then his figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

"All hands on deck! Target: Night Pirates! Fire!" A rear Rear Admiral shouted from the Navy side, somewhat surprised that the Night Pirates weren't firing and were still rapidly approaching them.

Boom! Boom!

Cannonballs hurtled toward the Night Pirates, but they all veered off course, veering to one side before falling into the sea and missing the Night Pirates' ship.

This is naturally due to the influence of Baccarat's abilities. However, Baccarat's ability are not invincible. These Marine warship are also completely different from the Marine warship they have faced before. These war behemoths have much greater accuracy and power in their shells than the cannons on ordinary Marine warship.

Even with luck, the rules cannot be ignored. Some very accurate cannonballs, even if they deviate slightly, will still land on the Night Pirates' ship.

Several cannonballs were flying rapidly toward the Night Pirates, and at that moment, the Night Pirates' officers made their move.

Wallace used Geppo to charge directly at a cannonball, his entire body hardening into steel, his crimson Molten Steel Fist gleaming.

Boom!

The cannonball was shattered by Wallace's punch, but the exploding cannonball did not cause Wallace any harm at all. Wallace's figure fell from the sky and landed steadily on the deck.

"It was the officials who took action!"

Then there was Xiouyapufu and Lafitte, who flew into the air, flashes of sword light streaking across the sky, and cannonballs exploding directly in mid-air.

A faint whooshing sound rang out, and a single shell exploded. At this moment, it was Kos who made his move. After obtaining the Pierce-Pierce Fruit, Kos's marksmanship became increasingly adept.

The battle in the sky continued. Just as Brom said, Teach was using him as a whetstone. Although Brom was very strong and the power of the Smash Fruit was terrifying, it posed no threat to him at all.

Brom, while possessing powerful crushing abilities, like Teach, hadn't been consuming his Devil Fruit for very long. Even with his efforts to develop it, his mastery of the Smash Fruit was still insufficient, rendering him unable to pose a threat to Teach.

In ranged combat, Teach possesses the power of Black Hole to devour enemies. In close combat, Teach also has Dark Water, though Teach doesn't use it. Additionally, Teach has Dark Binding, which binds enemies so tightly that once they are caught by Teach and unable to use the power of the Smash Fruit, they are completely unable to resist Teach Dark Binding.

Teach's combat system is complete and capable of handling all sorts of problems. With such a comprehensive combat system, Brom is nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter. Even though Brom is very strong, Teach can easily defeat him.

However, this only applies to Devil Fruit User skilled in physical combat, Teach's abilities alone are insufficient. He needs even stronger defensive measures. This double pain, even if Teach is confident in his willpower, is something he'd rather avoid if possible.

Currently, Teach has an idea, but with his current level of development of the Dark-Dark Fruit, he is not yet able to put it into practice.

Because he wanted to fight Brom a little longer—fighting Pande felt like fighting a boss, not enjoyable at all— Teach a rare surge of fighting passion.

"Is the battle about to begin?" Teach looked down at the battle below, where the Night Pirates and the Navy were already locked in combat.

"In that case, I'll give you a small gift." As if remembering something, a smile inexplicably appeared on Teach's face.

This gave Brom, who was on the other side, a bad feeling. "Teach, what are you going to do?" He stared intently at Teach. If Teach was going to attack their navy soldiers, he would definitely stop Teach immediately.

"Nothing much? Just to make the battle a little more difficult." Teach smiled mysteriously, secretly controlling the direction of gravity.

Brom sensed some changes, feeling a bit more pressure on his body, but it didn't affect his combat. He was somewhat puzzled, but after noticing the situation of the navy below, his expression changed.

"Teach, what have you done?"

"Haha, I just put a little pressure on them, twice the gravity. Don't worry, I treat everyone equally. Everyone is within the gravitational field I created." Teach laughed heartily, raising his head involuntarily.

"Damn it, you bastard!" Brom roared angrily. Although twice the gravity didn't affect someone like him much, it had a significant impact on the naval soldiers, some of whom couldn't even stand up.

On the other hand, the Night Pirates seemed to have made little change. Their movements were slightly sluggish, but compared to the Navy, they were much better off. Undoubtedly, the members of the Night Pirates were more adapted.

He needed to deal with Teach quickly, otherwise, he could foresee that his men would suffer heavy losses.

"Ha ha, watch your men die!" Teach laughed evilly, charging at the enraged Brom in the same manner.

Brom's power is rising—is it anger? Or is it the Life Return?

Life Return is a pretty overpowered move; ordinary people can use Life Return to control their physical body and body parts, and make adjustments accordingly.

Most of its applications involve quickly digesting food and restoring physical strength and injuries; this is a method that most powerful individuals can master.

Many people in the Navy have mastered this technique because the Navy has special training methods. Even the future King Luffy can use Life Return. His physique with strong regenerative abilities and the operation of his Life Return instinct were developed through the hellish training that Garp gave him from a young age.

Teach was even more excited by Brom's increased strength, swinging his fists wildly, attempting to defeat Brom with absolute power.

The battle between the two continued, while below, the naval battle was extremely difficult.

"W-what happened?"

"Such immense power, I feel like I can't control myself."

"It's so heavy, it feels like something is pressing down on me."

How can I fight like this?

Under twice the gravity, the Navy's combat power was greatly reduced, resulting in huge casualties in a short period of time. Many people were caught off guard by the sudden increase in gravity, which gave the members of the Night Pirates an opportunity.

Meanwhile, the Night Pirates weren't greatly affected. Feeling the familiar gravity on their bodies, they couldn't help but smile excitedly. They knew all too well how embarrassing and pathetic it had been for them to face such gravity back then. And now, the Navy was experiencing the same thing. So how could they possibly fight them now?

Armed with weapons, they swiftly charged towards the pirates.

Rediat did not make a move, sitting quietly at the bow of the Lucky Goddess. These weaklings were not worth his time.

However, he was also constantly observing the battle situation on the field. The shadows beneath his feet secretly connected the shadows of everyone, and he would secretly intervene if any of the crew members were in mortal danger.

Through his shadow, he can create shadow armor, controlling the shadows of others and attaching them to their bodies. This armor is very thin, hidden on the surface of the body, inside the clothing, so it is extremely difficult to see from the outside.

This shadow armor was like paper to Teach, but it was more than enough to withstand ordinary attacks.

No one knew about this except him and Teach, but perhaps some other executive had noticed.

Rediat glanced to the side, where another person was hiding and watching the fight.

In a corner that cannot be seen, there is a device that looks like an eye.

Through this eye, the scene shifts to the laboratory of the Lucky Goddess, where Otto, the scientist who has been hiding within the Night Pirates and remains unknown to the world, is observing the war.

Even Rediat had to admit Otto's talent and the biomechanical technology he created.

Otto's biomechanical technology has now been applied to the members of the Night Pirates.

In previous battles, several members suffered serious injuries to their hands or feet that affected their future combat capabilities. Now, they have replaced their hands or feet with mechanical hands or feet.

However, it was not visible on the surface. Both hands and feet were covered by a thick, hard, skin-like outer shell, making them completely invisible and not affecting combat. They were used just like one's own hands, no, even more so because they were stronger.

Otto is now observing his results, collecting experimental data, and checking whether there are any flaws in the life-machine he has created.

However, Otto is quite satisfied at this stage; even as a shield, it is very adequate because the material is extremely hard.

During this time, Otto had no shortage of precious materials and began a frenzied research and modification project. Look at the results he created for himself: a high-tech, multi-functional mechanical armor that covered his entire body from head to toe, with no blind spots, and also concealed all kinds of weapons.

Behind him, eight enormous, long mechanical arms are connected to his spinal cord and can be controlled at will, with the longest extension reaching up to thirty meters.

He already knew that Teach was searching for a suitable Devil Fruit for him, but until then, he still needed the ability to protect himself.

This battle is also a good opportunity for him to collect data, including combat data and strength data, which will allow him to know the current level of his combat power.