Shattered!

When he killed the Celestial Dragon, a faint aura had already stirred in Figo's chest.

His Conqueror's Haki awakened to Level 1: Sprout.

Later, the Conqueror's Haki gains from Jellal's Character Event pushed Figo's Conqueror's Haki to Level 2: Lower Conqueror's Haki.

At that point, if something triggered an extreme emotional reaction, Figo could unconsciously release a burst of Conqueror's Haki—but unfortunately, nothing had triggered it in all these years.

Then, when he insulted the Five Elders and fought Raul, the aura in his chest grew again, but Raul wasn't strong enough, leaving Figo's Conqueror's Haki stuck at 900+ points, not quite reaching Level 3.

Until just now, until the moment Miya was thrown at him, that aura awakened once more in Figo's chest, surging forward in explosive growth!

Conqueror's Haki: 2891

Level 3: Middle Conqueror's Haki!

Now, Figo could freely unleash his Conqueror's Haki, roughly comparable to Luffy's level after two years of training—useless against elites but invincible against fodder, and when combined with his own strength and presence, it could even be somewhat useful against strong opponents!

And his identity added an element of surprise to this Conqueror's Haki.

Throughout history, under the World Government, rare were the awakened Conqueror's Haki users among the Marines!

In seven hundred years, among over a hundred Admirals and Fleet Admirals, those with Conqueror's Haki could be counted on one hand. In the original story, the only Marine with Conqueror's Haki was Sengoku!

The identity and rules of the Marines seemed to limit their ambition; by contrast, it was the pirates at the top who awakened it more often.

Marine Admirals had better foundations, more room to grow, and more resources to find a Devil Fruit that matched them—they led in every aspect over the strong among pirates, except for Conqueror's Haki, where they were always at a disadvantage. This kept the gap narrow, and more often than not, it was the pirates' strong who took the lead, even producing the strongest of an era among them!

And it was precisely this surprise that bought him a precious five seconds. The Hell Pirates' First Mate, Jackson, was knocked into the sea by him, and Miya and the other Marine prisoners were rescued. By the time Figo had swung back a hundred meters toward the Marine fleet, Rebrus finally reacted.

His expression darkened, rage blazing.

Purple-black flames spread around him. The Hell Pirates' other First Mate, the fat giant Tony, lunged at him and, upon contact, transformed into a pair of metal wings that attached to Rebrus's back.

"Move it! The boss is pissed!"

"That bastard actually took down First Mate Jackson..."

"Boss, kill him!"

Amid the pirates' clamor, Rebrus flapped his wings and took flight, his body wreathed in purple flames, truly like a demon crawling out of hell. He dove at Figo's small boat with terrifying speed!

On the Marine battleship, Doug didn't hesitate either. He roared, "Aim at him! Fire!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Cannon fire merged into a single roar—a hundred guns firing at once!

Buster Call-class large-caliber cannons, paired with the elite gunnery skills of the Marine soldiers, instantly enveloped the diving Rebrus in a dense curtain of shells, sealing him inside!

His metal wings folded inward.

The explosion's shockwave echoed through the sky, halting Rebrus's advance. Smoke billowed, the sea churned, and massive waves accelerated Figo's return to the Marine formation.

But suddenly, a gust of wind scattered the cannon smoke, revealing Rebrus—his metal wings and body completely unharmed!

Tony Toa of the Shield of Hell, a Shield-Shield Fruit Ability User, had developed his fruit to the point where he claimed he could defend against any attack, even inventing niche but practical techniques like the Glide Shield.

Doug showed no hesitation. His roar carried killing intent as he shouted again: "Fire! Fire!!"

Round after round of shells continued to block Rebrus's advance, buying Figo over ten seconds, but before he could bring Miya and the others back to the Marine formation, Rebrus caught up.

Purple flames swept toward the small boat!

Figo was still rowing frantically to escape.

But the Seastone handcuffs on Sapphire's wrists had somehow come off. She drew the sword at her waist and slashed upward. A blizzard erupted from her blade, dropping the surrounding temperature by dozens of degrees in an instant, freezing the air, extinguishing the purple flames, and colliding with Rebrus!

"Blind Witch?!" Rebrus let out a surprised and furious shout.

Figo seized the moment, leaping up and driving a powerful rising dragon punch into Rebrus's metal wings, sending him spinning backward through the air.

Then Figo plunged straight into the water, swam under the boat, and with a heave and a toss, hurled the entire small boat—along with the wounded aboard—toward the battleship, which was no longer far away: "Hold him for two seconds!"

Sapphire conjured snow-white wings, flapped into the air, and clashed head-on with the diving Rebrus. White and purple streaks danced through the sky, locked in a stalemate for a moment, before Rebrus roared.

"You're helping the Marines?!"

Boom!

The purple flames swelled, swallowing the snow!

Sapphire's body disintegrated into flakes of snow that scattered backward, reforming only when she reached the battleship. The hand gripping her sword trembled slightly, singed by the flames.

She didn't answer. She simply stood alongside Doug and the other four Vice Admirals, facing off against Rebrus in the air. Earlier, Miya and the others, thrown back by Figo, had been caught and secured.

The hostages were rescued.

Rebrus glared at Sapphire with extreme fury, then let out a soft grunt. Where had that bastard gone?

His Observation Haki caught him. He spun around.

Figo had quietly swum a distance in the opposite direction underwater. When discovered, he burst out of the surface and started running across the sea again—this time, heading straight for the pirate ship following behind Rebrus!

"What the hell is he doing?!" Rebrus didn't dwell on it. He folded his wings and gave chase at full speed.

But Figo's legs on the sea surface moved faster and faster, his pace accelerating! Water splashed aside in two arcs as his figure blurred. Rebrus, flying at full tilt, found himself unable to catch up!

And ahead, the Hell Pirates' crew members, who had just been cursing the Blind Witch, now noticed this scene and tensed up in alert.

"What the hell is he trying to do?!"

"His sword hasn't even been drawn yet, and he's already taken down First Mate Jackson with just his fists—everyone be careful!"

"Do you even need to say that?!"

"Fire!"

The tables had turned, but while the Hell Pirates' ship was decent, its cannon fire was far inferior to the Buster Call warships. Not to mention they only had one vessel, and their target, Figo, was even smaller than Rebrus, making him harder to hit.

The cannonballs didn't slow Figo in the slightest. The slashes and bullets from the pirates' swordsmen and gunners only caused him a slight delay.

He was getting closer and closer to the pirate ship.

And he showed no sign of slowing down!

The pirates on board gradually realized his intent, their faces twisting in shock and fury. One of them roared, "Are you insane? Hell, smash him to pieces!"

Only Rebrus, who had briefly clashed with Figo moments ago, knew the terrifying power hidden within this two-meter-eighty shorty's body.

He bellowed, "You bastard, stop!"

Stop? As if he would stop!

The pirate ship was right in front of him. Figo's arms instantly swelled and thickened, his fists clenched tight!

"Life Return—War God Thrust!"

His arms, now twice as thick, were shrouded in flowing Armament Haki as they collided head-on with the approaching Hell!

A thunderous boom erupted!

Compared to the hundreds-of-tons-heavy giant ship, Figo's figure was utterly insignificant, yet at the moment of impact, the moving vessel came to an abrupt halt!

Then, a penetrating force spread from Figo's fists through the ship. The keel snapped with a crack, and that force traveled all the way to the stern, a hundred meters away from the bow where he struck, blasting a massive hole open with a bang!

Cracking and splintering sounds followed without pause.

Under the horrified gazes of the Hell Pirates' crew, the deck planks exploded upward, sending countless pirates flailing and screaming into the air!

The stronger officers managed to steady themselves and find footing, only to realize their ship's interior had collapsed and was steadily sinking into the sea, beyond saving!

"This bastard!"

"What the hell did he do?!"

Rebrus, even more enraged, slammed his fist wreathed in purple flames into Figo's shoulder—Figo had stiffened for a split second and couldn't dodge. With a bang, Figo shot away like a cannonball, skipping across the sea surface for hundreds of meters before sinking into the water.

But Rebrus couldn't pursue. Gnashing his teeth in frustration, he swept his wings and lifted several sinking officers into the air, flying over the warship from high above and landing on Witch Island.

The rest of the pirates plunged into the water.

Glub glub—

Figo spat out a few bubbles from afar, poking his head above the surface to watch the scene.

Mission accomplished on the sneak attack.

The Hell Pirates had many Ability Users, and the eternal weakness of Devil Fruit users was the sea and Seastone. By destroying the ship, most of the Ability Users who fell into the water would lose all ability to fight!

Rebrus only had time to save the pirate crew's main officers, bringing them ashore onto solid ground. Half of the pirate group's remaining strength had been crippled by that single blow.

But now came the trickiest part.

At the edge of Witch Island, the demonic Rebrus had purple flames burning even more fiercely around him, his spreading Conqueror's Haki darkening the sky slightly!

The numb, aching pain in his shoulder also served as a warning to Figo—that guy's strength and Physique were likely a notch above his own right now.