But if Black Heart Merchant Dukemon wanted to bombard the Black Pearl, he first had to ask whether Magnus would allow it.
"Rocks, Ripley, I'll leave the Black Pearl to you!"
Magnus's Observation Haki had already sensed quite a few strong swimmers heading toward the Black Pearl. Although he had knocked many of them unconscious with Conqueror's Haki, plenty of powerful pirates had withstood Magnus's pressure.
"Okay!"
"Leave it to me!"
Excitement filled both Rocks and Ripley's faces. This was their first time taking part in a naval battle of this scale. Whenever they had encountered the Marines before, Magnus had ended the battle alone, leaving them no chance to act.
"Newgate, can I count on you too?"
Magnus's voice startled Edward Newgate in the corner, but faced with Magnus's expectant gaze, Edward Newgate simply could not refuse.
"I-I'll help too!"
The moment the words left his mouth, a trace of excitement rose in Edward Newgate's heart.
Did this mean he was fighting side by side with the White Wolf Pirates?
Magnus took the lead, leaping into the air.
The Black Gold Pirate Alliance's three gigantic pirate ships and several medium-sized pirate ships all opened fire on the Black Pearl.
The dense barrage of cannonballs nearly covered the sky above the Black Pearl.
But Magnus needed only a single slash.
"Sky Net!"
A turbulent current formed from countless streaks of sword light swept over the cannonballs in the sky. A chain of explosions erupted like a dazzling fireworks display.
"White Wolf Magnus!!!"
On the Gargantua Pirates' ship, Gargantua Moz roared and kicked off the deck with all his strength, charging toward Magnus in midair with his massive cleaver in hand.
Although Magnus had crushed his Conqueror's Haki, without a real fight, Gargantua Moz's mind simply could not accept that he had lost.
Now, charging upward from below, he launched a fierce attack at Magnus in the air.
"This idiot!"
Seeing Gargantua Moz rush in alone, Undead Jason and Black Heart Merchant Dukemon immediately panicked. Hadn't they agreed from the beginning to fight three against one? They needed to be careful of Magnus picking them off one by one.
But what the hell was he doing charging in alone?
The giant pirate surged forward like a beast. The difference in size was like that between an adult and an infant, and the hearts of many people qualified to watch this battle rose to their throats.
"So scary~"
But Magnus merely chuckled and raised his blade in midair.
"Fall, Winter Country!"
Haki, Devil Fruit power, and supreme swordsmanship!
Before Gargantua Moz could even reach Magnus, he felt bone-piercing cold spreading through his body. Even his ability to react seemed to have been frozen by that power.
By the time he realized something was wrong and used Haki to dispel the chill within him—
A flash of sword light appeared before him.
In his haste, Gargantua Moz could only raise his cleaver before him. But the instant the sword light collided with his blade—
His weapon broke!
Not only had his blade shattered, but the remaining sword light carved a long, bloody wound across his chest. At the same time, the biting cold froze him completely.
Then everyone saw it.
Gargantua Moz, who had charged toward Magnus, fell back onto his own pirate ship at an even faster speed. The terrifying impact pierced straight through the entire vessel.
Bone-chilling cold spread across the pirate ship. In an instant, the whole crew and the pirates aboard became ice sculptures. The sea for over a thousand meters was completely frozen, even affecting several nearby pirate ships.
The freezing property was merely a secondary effect of Magnus's Devil Fruit, so he could not freeze an entire harbor as effortlessly as the Fleet Admiral who would later eat the Ice-Ice Fruit.
But a range of several hundred meters was still within his capabilities.
This was something Magnus could only accomplish after recovering to his peak state. A year ago, he would never have indulged in such "wastefulness."
All of this was for intimidation.
"N-No way!?"
At such close range, the pirates aboard Undead Jason and Black Heart Merchant Dukemon's ships stared blankly. Gargantua Moz was a Great Pirate, one whose bounty was even higher than their captains'!
"One strike... Gargantua Moz was taken out in one strike..."
The pirates' voices trembled. This was something they simply could not imagine.
Why?
Weren't White Wolf Magnus and their captains both Great Pirates?
Why was the gap between them so enormous?
Even the pirates attacking the Black Pearl could not help slowing their assault.
Quite a few among them were pirates from the Gargantua Pirates.
After witnessing that scene, they lost all will to fight.
"C-Captain's been taken out!"
So strong!
Truly so strong!
Every time he saw Magnus make a move, Rocks felt an intense shock.
This time was no exception.
He struggled immensely even against the crews of those Great Pirates, yet Magnus? With a casual slash, he had defeated a Great Pirate with a bounty exceeding one hundred million.
Newgate and his little companions wore the same stunned expressions.
In their eyes, Gargantua Moz had already been the strongest pirate they had ever seen—a legendary Great Pirate. Some of them had even seen Gargantua Moz smash a boulder dozens of meters high with a single punch.
Yet such a powerful pirate had not even lasted one move against White Wolf Magnus.
"Hehe, now you get it, right? The old man is really strong!"
Hearing Ripley's words, Newgate nodded numbly.
But what he was thinking was—
Could I really be worthy of joining such a powerful pirate crew?
Undead Jason and Black Heart Merchant Dukemon were completely numb.
They had agreed to attack together, yet he had insisted on rushing up alone to throw his life away.
Fine, he had thrown himself away.
But he could at least have lasted two exchanges!
What kind of nonsense was getting instantly defeated by one slash?
Now, not only were their crew members beginning to waver, even the two captains themselves were wavering.
Could they really win?
But events did not change according to their will. After taking down Gargantua Moz with one strike, Magnus looked toward the two remaining Great Pirates.
"Let's go all out!"
He was still a Great Pirate, after all. Undead Jason had not lost even the courage to attack.
"I can't die!"
Undead Jason roared. Just as he was about to join forces with Black Heart Merchant Dukemon against Magnus, he saw the vacant look in Black Heart Merchant Dukemon's eyes in the distance.
Huh?
Magnus had already appeared before him. At his peak, Magnus was so fast that someone like Undead Jason, one of the weakest among Great Pirates, could not even react.
"Immortal? Heh."
Magnus grabbed Undead Jason. Penetrating Armament Haki surged into Undead Jason's body, combined with the freezing property.
In the blink of an eye.
Undead Jason became an ice sculpture resembling a lump of rotten flesh.
Now—
Even his immortality could no longer function.
"You're the only one left."
Magnus looked at Black Heart Merchant Dukemon, a friendly smile appearing on his face.
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