"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
On the other side of the battlefield, the shrill clang of metal rang out without pause.
Jeno's massive frame rampaged through the ruined artillery emplacement like an enraged armored bear. His bulky Mechanical Exoskeleton was now covered in countless white slash marks and deep dents, while several exposed hydraulic pipes hissed and spewed white steam.
"Too slow! A fool like you, who only knows how to swing a hunk of iron, can't even touch the hem of my clothes!"
The Marine Commodore blurred into a streak, using Soru to dart wildly around Jeno. His saber was coated in Armament Haki, and every time he flashed past, it left a bright shower of sparks across Jeno's exoskeleton armor.
"Quit buzzing in my ear like a damn fly!"
Jeno roared and swung the Hydraulic War Hammer, converted from a battleship's main cannon, in a vicious horizontal sweep at the Commodore's afterimage.
The massive hammer smashed through a stone pillar under the force of its terrifying wind pressure, but hit nothing but air. The Commodore had already leaped nimbly into the air, looking down at Jeno's stiff movements.
"Rankyaku: White Storm!"
The Commodore suddenly kicked with his right leg, sending a sharp vacuum Slash Wave straight toward the unarmored blind spot at Jeno's neck.
"Not a chance!"
Jeno reacted in a flash. He dropped his broad shoulder and forced the thickest Black Steel plate on his back to take the slash.
"Boom!"
The Slash Wave crashed into the plate. The immense impact made Jeno stagger, and he nearly dropped to one knee. He grunted, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, but he managed to withstand the blow.
"You still haven't gone down? Just how thick is your hide?"
The Commodore gritted his teeth, disbelief flashing in his eyes. His prized Six Powers combo was like rubbing a steel bar against this mechanical maniac. Jeno's ability to take a beating was even more outrageous than that of Zoan users!
"I live and breathe steel every day!"
Jeno spat out a bloody mouthful of saliva and raised his hammer again without backing down. His mechanical arm rumbled. "As long as your blade can't cut through my bones, I'll eventually get one good swing in and smash you into mincemeat!"
The Commodore's expression darkened. He was about to concentrate Armament Haki on his fingertips and use Shigan to pierce the weak points in Jeno's joints.
The instant his feet touched the ground,
a frenzy of orange-red flames swept in from the side without warning, like a wall of fire, cutting off his path to Jeno.
The Commodore was aghast and hurriedly retreated with Soru.
As the smoke and flames cleared, a deep-blue tailcoat fluttered gently in the wind.
Sabo adjusted his top hat and stood steadily in front of Jeno, holding an Alloy Staff in one hand.
"Thanks for your hard work, mechanic," Sabo said without looking back. "You did an excellent job taking the hits. Leave the rest to me."
"Tch, don't steal my thunder, Vice Captain."
Jeno grumbled, but his tense muscles relaxed. He planted the heavy Hydraulic War Hammer on the ground and gasped for breath. Against such a highly mobile officer, his bulky gear put him at a serious disadvantage.
"Weren't you supposed to be dealing with Vice Admiral Momonga?!"
The Commodore stared at Sabo as he appeared out of nowhere, utter shock flashing through his eyes. If the Vice Captain was here, didn't that mean Vice Admiral Momonga had already...
Sabo ignored his shock.
He curled the index and middle fingers of his right hand into a claw. Deep, pitch-black Haki instantly coated them. After his life-or-death battle with Vice Admiral Momonga, he had nearly reached a new level of control over Haki. This was the perfect moment to build on that progress.
"Dragon Claw."
Sabo burst forward, moving even faster than the Commodore could with Soru.
The Commodore hurriedly raised his saber to block, but Sabo's Dragon Claw, coated in powerful Armament Haki, crushed the blade with ease and slammed into his chest.
"Thud!"
With a muffled crack of breaking bones, the Commodore was sent flying like a rag doll. He crashed into the ruins and lost consciousness on the spot, without even a chance to scream.
With the last officer down, the battle on the fortress heights finally neared its end.
At the very center of the ruins,
Ace stood quietly at the edge of the enormous Meteor Crater.
At his feet lay Zephyr, charred black and completely unconscious. The old man, who had spent his life fighting for justice, breathed faintly, his condition growing perilously weak. Without intervention, the high-level Ryuo and Divine Fire that had seeped into his bones would cause his organs to fail within hours.
Ace lowered his gaze to the legend of a bygone era.
He slowly crouched and extended his right hand. A gentle flame of crimson and gold, the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire, burned quietly in his palm.
Without hesitation, he pressed his hand, wreathed in Divine Fire, against Zephyr's mangled chest.
"Hiss—"
The Divine Fire instantly sank into Zephyr's body. Its immense, ceaseless vitality quickly enveloped his damaged organs and arm, dragging him back from the brink of death and forcibly staunching his fatal internal injuries. It wasn't enough to wake him right away, but it saved his life and his arm.
Ace withdrew his hand and looked at Zephyr's aged, resolute face. His deep eyes remained utterly impassive.
"By my reckoning, you haven't yet become the lunatic who wants to destroy the New World."
Ace's voice sounded low in the cold wind, audible only to him. "Since you haven't completely lost your mind, you can keep your life and continue keeping an eye on the real scum. Consider it a favor to that old man Garp, so he won't be caught in the middle."
Ace straightened, his dark-red coat billowing in the smoke.
He turned and looked toward the main road leading from the fortress to the harbor.
There, thousands of Marine Headquarters soldiers who had just received the distress signal were charging toward the heights like a black tide, rifles in hand.
"Protect Instructor Zephyr!"
"Don't let those pirates get away!"
Their deafening battle cries shook the sky.
Sabo, Leona, and Jeno tightened their grips on their weapons, ready for the final fight to break through.
"Leave them alone."
Ace's steady voice rang out across the battlefield.
He strode to the edge of the heights and looked down at the massive Marine force surging toward them like a swarm of ants.
Ace didn't draw his sword or use Divine Fire.
He simply stood there. A terrifying will, the mark of a born king, burst from his dark, deep-set eyes like a breached dam unleashing a tsunami!
An invisible yet crushingly heavy wave of Conqueror's Haki erupted from him, sweeping without restraint across the heights and down the passageway.
The air froze in an instant.
Tempered by bloodshed and fierce battle, this kingly aura was even more powerful than it had been in Loguetown—more overwhelming and impossible to resist!
"Thump... thump..."
The thousands of Marines charging with their rifles felt as if they had been struck on the head. Their eyes rolled back. No matter how rigorously they had trained, they crumpled to the ground in waves like stalks of wheat cut down beneath the crushing force of his presence.
In less than ten seconds,
not a single Marine remained standing across the mountainside. The once-rowdy battlefield fell into absolute, deathly silence.
Conqueror's Haki cleared the field.
Ace let his Haki fade and turned, looking over his bloodied but battle-ready crew.
"That's enough for this trial. Well done! Now take the spoils and get on board."
Ace strode forward, passing the ruins and unconscious Marines as he headed out.
"Next stop, a quiet deserted island. We'll refit and upgrade our ship."
Before you continue