Battle Against El Drago

The entire El Drago Pirates crew landed on the island, rushing deep into its interior in a bid to hunt their targets down to the last man.

However, after only a few minutes of pursuit, they discovered Moya and his group waiting for them not far ahead, standing in battle formation.

"Hahaha, it seems you lot couldn't wait to meet your deaths, could you?"

El Drago laughed arrogantly, while Golass beside him furrowed his brows; a swordsman's intuition told him that the situation before them was extremely dangerous.

"Though your sonic attacks are powerful, that doesn't mean you have the capital to look down on anyone! The moment you stepped onto this island, your fate was already sealed!"

A smile played on Moya's lips, yet his eyes held a lingering, impenetrable gloom.

"Shut your trap, brat! Take this: Sonic Cannon!"

No sooner had El Drago finished speaking than he unleashed his Sound-Sound Fruit ability!

Strike first to gain the advantage; strike late and suffer the consequences.

"I told you, you are my designated crew member. You should know that crew members aren't allowed to attack their captain!"

Moya spoke with ease, but his hands and feet moved with lightning speed!

Maximum Power: Slip-Slip Fruit: Glazed Ground.

The ground from the beach all the way to Moya's position turned slick and frictionless, causing the El Drago Pirates' crew to tumble to the ground one after another.

Golass drew his sword and channeled his full strength into a single point to break the effect, stabbing his blade into the ground to barely keep his footing, his brow furrowed.

"A Devil Fruit user just like the captain!!"

El Drago's Sonic Cannon was also deflected toward the sky due to his fall, piercing a white cloud and leaving a massive hole in its wake.

Moya, however, would not give such a dangerous enemy any chance to catch their breath.

Slip-Slip Fruit: Instant Slide.

Moya appeared right in front of El Drago, raining down punches with seawater-soaked gloves directly onto his mouth.

Yet, El Drago's physical defense was not weak, and he endured Moya's fierce assault.

"You dared to shoot at me! Take that! You don't know the Six Powers, you don't know Haki, how can you fight me on my Glazed Ground! Calling you arrogant, calling you reckless—no crowd control, no aerial mobility, look at you acting all wild!"

Moya cursed incessantly, still seething with rage over being 'shot' and injured by El Drago just moments ago!

El Drago was infuriated by the beating and attempted to launch a sonic attack.

But he was struck by Moya's seawater-infused punches so hard he couldn't even open his mouth, causing his Devil Fruit powers to falter slightly.

Having to listen to Moya's chaotic, mocking tirade was truly humiliating.

With his eyes bloodshot, El Drago pushed himself to the limit, knocking Moya back with a single punch before spewing a Sonic Laser Cannon from his mouth, whipping his head around to unleash an indiscriminate, wide-range bombardment.

"Damn it, I got careless—everyone, get out of the way!"

"I'm going to kill every last one of you!"

Everyone scattered in all directions.

Like the atomic breath of the monster king Godzilla, the blasts raked across the terrain, snapping countless trees in half as smoke billowed and thunderous roars echoed without end.

The destructive power was truly staggering.

This Devil Fruit was truly born for destruction.

Out at sea, firing a shot from thousands of meters away—no ship could withstand that.

El Drago maintained this high-intensity, destructive ultimate move for over ten seconds before stopping to gasp for air.

Moya's Glazed Ground had been completely obliterated.

"What a reckless bastard, throwing around ultimate moves like that."

"If you hurt my subordinates while they're still growing, I'm going to be very annoyed."

As the smoke cleared, a massive, translucent shield vanished. Moya stood with his arms crossed, lifting his head to glare at El Drago with dark, furious eyes.

The faint wisps of energy coiling around his hands slowly dissipated.

If not for the emergency, Moya would never have awakened and triggered that sliver of Armament Haki; he might have been severely injured again protecting everyone from that attack.

My crew hasn't grown up yet, so I'll just have to protect them for now.

Slip-Slip Fruit: Glazed Ground.

The Devil Fruit ability covered the ground once more as Moya caught his breath.

Slip-Slip Fruit: Silent Instant Slide.

With a flicker, Moya appeared before El Drago, who stared in shock as a seawater-soaked fist materialized before his eyes.

With no ground to leverage, El Drago was like a sitting duck, unable to dodge.

A faint, lingering aura made Moya's fist feel as hard as steel.

With a single blow, he hammered El Drago into the ground, sending endless plumes of smoke rising into the air.

Moya panted heavily as the smoke drifted away. Looking at El Drago, who lay sprawled in a star shape with his eyes rolled back, Moya suddenly let his guard down and sat on the ground.

"That was truly exhausting, but awakening Armament Haki by accident—that is a massive harvest."

El Drago never had another chance to show his power, being stifled and beaten unconscious by Moya just like that.

Moya looked toward Golass and asked, "Swordsman? Do you surrender?"

"..." Golass did not answer, merely closing his eyes.

Watching the underlings of the El Drago Pirates fall to the ground, struggling to stand only to collapse repeatedly, Moya shouted to the crew of the Moya Adventure Group.

"Lads, it's time for you to stretch your limbs. Buggy, you go test the strength of this swordsman!"

"You got it, Captain!" Buggy wore a cunning grin; as the user of the Bara Bara no Mi, the 'Swordsman's Bane,' he feared no swordsman!

Moya deactivated the Glazed Ground.

Squad leader Cabaji, Mohji with his new rare beast, the Liger, and the spotted cat George and Siamese cat Sham all swarmed forward to deal with the enemy grunts.

Buggy also engaged the swordsman Golass.

Moya shouted to Golass, "If you defeat Buggy, I will let you go. Otherwise, submit and become my swordsman squad leader!"

After hearing Moya's words, Golass looked seriously at the red-nosed man before him, feeling as if there was no danger at all!

However, he did not believe Moya would send a mediocre fighter to deal with him.

Without hesitation, Golass drew his sword and launched a flying slash.

!!!

He had hit him; it was surprisingly easy to land the strike, yet something felt wrong. He had the sensation of cutting into flesh, but something was missing!

Right, no blood had sprayed out.

Golass looked back to see Buggy's upper body floating in the air, holding a short blade with a cunning grin, before he could even react.

Buggy's short blade had already been fully plunged into Golass's shoulder.

Clang. With his right shoulder injured, Golass's sword dropped to the ground. Looking at the blade on the floor, Golass said with a dejected, dispirited air, "Kill me! Having lost the dignity of a swordsman and losing the blade in my hand during battle, there is no meaning left for me to live."

"Then join my adventure group! Find the dignity you lost," Moya said.

"..." Golass was speechless and bewildered.

"If you keep dawdling, what kind of swordsman are you? You aren't even worthy of having a dream. If that's the case, I'll give you a chance: commit suicide."

Moya goaded him with dissatisfaction; some people were just overly dramatic.

"Captain, from this day forward, please look after me!" Golass finally regained a bit of a swordsman's resolve!

"Buggy, take him to Kaya for treatment," Moya said to Buggy.

"Yes, Captain!"

Buggy seemed to recall something and looked a bit terrified, thinking of the scenes where Kaya had started studying medicine and used them as 'human volunteer models.'

Under the Captain's threats, quite a few crew members had fallen victim to this, and Buggy looked at the injured Golass with a playful, mocking expression.

Golass seemed to sense Buggy's mocking gaze, and a chill rose from his tailbone, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead involuntarily.

He didn't know if it was because of his injuries or not.

The underlings had also been dealt with by the squad leaders of the Moya Adventure Group, save for those unlucky souls accidentally killed by El Drago's ultimate move.

The Moya Adventure Group was absolutely thorough, either killing and burying them or forcing them to surrender and be incorporated.