Navy Major

Just as Locke and the others launched their attack, a warship appeared on the sea. A man smoking a cigar stood on its deck.

This was Smoker, who had been ordered to investigate the 16th Branch. Back at Baratie, they had nearly caught up with Locke and the others.

However, Smoker had never expected Locke and the others to be bold enough to directly attack the Navy's 16th Branch. On the way here, they had encountered a pirate ship and captured it, which was why they only arrived after Locke and the others.

"Colonel Smoker, the 16th Branch has come under Navy attack." At that moment, a marine hurried up to Smoker and reported anxiously.

"What?" Smoker looked toward the island where the Navy's 16th Branch stood. Smoke was slowly rising from it.

"I'll go take a look first. You follow as quickly as possible." Without waiting for anyone else to speak, Smoker turned directly into smoke and flew toward the island ahead.

"Colonel Smoker..." Tashigi, who had been standing behind Smoker, had barely called out before he had already flown far away. "He always acts so recklessly."

"Petty Officer Tashigi, what should we do now?"

"Pick up speed and approach the island." Tashigi could only give the order helplessly.

Before they had sailed much farther, as they were about to reach the island, another marine appeared before Tashigi.

"Report! A pirate ship has been spotted ahead. Based on its characteristics, it should be our target this time—the Phantom Pirates, with a bounty of fifty million Beli."

"The Phantom Pirates!" Tashigi was slightly startled by the news. Could they be the ones attacking the Navy branch?

"Open fire and sink them." Tashigi quickly gave the order. Whether the people on the island were the Phantom Pirates or not, since they had appeared here, they definitely had not come just to watch. Sinking them was the right call.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A barrage of cannon fire rang out as several cannonballs flew straight toward the Phantom in the distance.

At the Navy's 16th Branch, the three Bear brothers were being blocked by four Navy majors.

"Brats, who gave you the nerve to attack a Navy branch?" one of the majors demanded.

"What? You Navy dare to attack civilians whenever you please, but you never expected civilians to fight back?" Big Bear mocked.

"Brat, you're courting death!" As if Big Bear had struck a nerve, one Navy major charged forward. Seeing that one of their side had moved, the other three did not hesitate and rushed in as well.

"Perfect. Let's show you the results of our training these past few days!" Seeing the four men charge over, the three Bear brothers did not hesitate either and met them head-on.

Over the past few days, under Yun Zhinnan's training, the three had not only improved their fighting skills significantly, but had also gained some understanding of and development in their Devil Fruit powers. At the very least, they had basically mastered the three Zoan forms. They no longer simply turned into bears and charged in recklessly like they had at the start.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

After three bear roars, Big Bear and Second Bear transformed into forms with bear heads and human bodies, while Panda remained in his full panda form.

The reason was not that Panda could not use that transformation. Rather, he had discovered that his panda form possessed far greater agility and attack power than his other forms.

After discovering this, Panda had asked Locke about it. Locke's answer had been that the dish best suited to you was the strongest one. So Panda stopped developing his other forms and prepared to keep fighting in this one.

Big Bear and Second Bear, on the other hand, were different. After completely transforming into bears, their reactions slowed noticeably. Thus, the two could only honestly develop their bear-man forms. In this form, not only did their defense rise, but their attack power also became stronger.

The two sides quickly clashed. After the three Bear brothers transformed, the four Navy majors were clearly thrown into some confusion. However, with marines constantly rushing over from nearby to support them, they could still barely hold on.

But the three Bear brothers were different. As the battle continued, they gradually integrated the combat techniques Yun Zhinnan had taught them over the past few days.

The most outstanding was the youngest, Panda. In his transformed state, his round, chubby body moved through the battlefield as he fought two majors alone and even held a faint advantage. If the surrounding marines had not kept attacking him from time to time, he might already have defeated his opponents.

Big Bear and Second Bear, by comparison, held slight advantages in their own battles, but they were unable to finish off their opponents.

However, the tide soon turned. A meteor conjured by Locke landed nearby. The huge commotion caused the Navy major facing Big Bear to pause briefly, and Big Bear seized the opportunity to swat him straight to the ground with one paw.

Without giving the major a chance to react, he raised his bear paw and viciously slapped down at the marine's head again, muttering, "Let you have a taste of bear paw."

The marines standing nearby saw this and wanted to provide support, but Second Bear, who had also seen it, stopped them.

Very quickly, the Navy major whom Big Bear had knocked to the ground had his head smashed apart like a watermelon beneath Big Bear's paw. Red and white matter splattered everywhere.

After finishing his opponent, Big Bear immediately charged toward Second Bear, intending to help him quickly deal with his opponent so they could go help Panda.

However, the major who had been fighting Second Bear noticed Big Bear rushing toward them. Seizing an opening when Second Bear attacked, he immediately pulled away from Second Bear. He then directed the surrounding marines to stop Big Bear and Second Bear while he rushed toward Panda, intending to join the two majors there in taking Panda down first before dealing with the other two.

But he had clearly underestimated Panda's fighting strength. Even under the siege of three majors, Panda alone was still able to remain undefeated. Moreover, this chubby panda was simply too troublesome. Despite being so fat, he possessed agility completely mismatched with his build.

They found it difficult to hit him, and even when they did, the fat all over his body absorbed much of the impact, greatly reducing the damage he suffered.

Panda did not have to hold out alone for long before Big Bear and Second Bear, who had just been surrounded by marine soldiers, broke free and rushed over.

Seeing this, the three Navy majors became even more anxious. They unleashed the strongest attacks of their lives against Panda, but Panda acted as if nothing had happened and continued attacking them.

Soon after Big Bear and Second Bear arrived, the three Navy majors were taken care of by the three brothers.

Looking at the three Navy majors lying on the ground, Panda suddenly released his transformation and fell stiffly backward. It seemed the desperate counterattacks from the three majors had also inflicted considerable injuries on him.

Second Bear hurriedly caught the falling Panda and began checking his injuries, while Big Bear consciously stood guard nearby to prevent the surrounding marine soldiers from launching a sneak attack.