Angel Legion

Not long after setting sail, Annus found suitable "prey" for the Angel Legion in the waters near Hachinosu.

It was a pirate crew flying a skull flag.

"Lord Annus, the intelligence is in..."

Standing at Annus's side, Diumil unfolded a wanted poster. It bore the portrait of a fierce-looking man with his tongue sticking out.

"They are the Red Dog Pirates. Their captain is 'Red Dog' Sakin, with a bounty of 100 million Berry. He is a supernova who recently entered the New World from 'Paradise.'"

Although the first half of the Grand Line seemed as perilous as a graveyard to pirates from the Four Seas, to pirates of the New World, it was little different from an amusement park.

Thus, the first half had always been known as "Paradise."

"The combined bounties of the Red Dog Pirates total 380 million Berry." Diumil lowered his head. "I believe they are the perfect opponents to train these recruits in actual combat."

"Fine. They'll do." Annus nodded slightly.

Having received Annus's approval, Diumil was just about to order the ship closer when he saw the other vessel turn toward them as well.

Diumil was slightly taken aback.

Annus, however, smiled. "Interesting. Encountering a ship flying Rocks's flag at sea, and they don't even think of running?"

It had been a long time since he had encountered such reckless newcomers.

But considering their status as supernovas, it was not particularly surprising.

A so-called "supernova" referred to a rookie pirate who had risen rapidly in a short time and surpassed a bounty of 100 million Berry.

No rookie pirate worthy of being called a supernova was an ordinary person.

There were not many pirates like "Red Dog" Sakin, who set out from the Four Seas, conquered the first half of the Grand Line, and reached the New World. Only a few appeared each year.

There was no denying that such people possessed a certain degree of talent.

Yet it was precisely because they had fought their way here without suffering any major failures or setbacks that they developed such arrogant personalities.

Unlike native supernovas who set sail from and made their names in the New World, supernovas who had carved their way out of the first half all possessed an air of arrogance.

Kid, Hawkins, and the others from the original timeline were typical examples.

Those who thought too highly of themselves often fell even harder when cold reality knocked them down.

"Charging fearlessly into an enemy they cannot handle—that is the kind of creature a supernova is." Diumil echoed.

Meanwhile, aboard the Red Dog Pirates' ship.

"Red Dog" Sakin habitually stuck out his tongue, a cruel smile hanging on his savage face.

"There's no mistake! That must be the Rocks Pirates' ship! I remember that flag—it's exactly the one from the newspapers!"

As the brightest leading figure of this era, Rocks possessed unrivaled fame across the seas, his name spreading throughout the Four Seas.

Many people recognized the Rocks Pirates' flag.

Most pirates who entered the Grand Line from the Four Seas advanced with the Rocks Pirates as their goal.

Sakin was one such pirate. His dream was to defeat Rocks, make a name for himself, rise to the top in one leap, and even replace Rocks as the boss of Hachinosu.

Though he knew virtually nothing about Hachinosu's actual situation, that was how Sakin planned it.

Relying on his own formidable strength, Sakin believed he was fully capable of accomplishing all this. Rocks was nothing special—he was merely more famous because he opposed the World Government.

"Captain, aren't we being a little too rash, sailing straight toward them like this?"

Though Sakin was brimming with confidence, his subordinates clearly did not share it. The Red Dog Pirates looked somewhat timid.

"What the hell are you scared of? Are you questioning my strength?"

Sakin rebuked the subordinate who had spoken. His title of Red Dog had been earned through real battles. He was as vicious as a dog in combat—once he locked onto an enemy, he would bite down and never let go.

The subordinate opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately fell silent.

Indeed, Captain Sakin's strength was clear for all to see. He had led the entire pirate crew through the Grand Line and into the New World, robbed multiple World Government member states, and escaped Marine encirclements time and again.

That was why he had earned the lofty bounty of 100 million Berry.

But those were the Rocks Pirates on the other side!

Would this really be all right?

That doubt did not last long. Soon, the pirate realized something was wrong.

"Captain! They... they fired clouds?!"

Hearing this, Sakin instinctively turned to look at the enemy ship. On its deck, those winged enemies had drawn their bows and loosed their arrows. As the arrows cut through the air, they actually created streaks of cloud.

Those cloud trails struck the Red Dog Pirates' bulwarks with remarkable accuracy, building cloud pathways between the two ships.

"What is that?"

Before Sakin could react, he saw the winged enemies leap onto the cloud paths and glide toward them at tremendous speed.

There was no time to stop them. The winged enemies were already before them.

"Who the hell are you people?! Where's Rocks?!"

Sakin frowned and questioned the winged figures.

"We are the Angel Legion under Lord Annus! As for the Rocks you mentioned, he is not here!"

The winged figures—the members of the Angel Legion—answered in unison.

"What?!"

Sakin's expression changed drastically. Did that not mean his dream had gone up in smoke?

"Damn it! If Rocks isn't here, why are you flying Rocks's flag?!"

"We merely follow Lord Annus's orders. We know nothing else."

"Orders? What orders?"

"The order is to defeat you!"

As soon as those words fell, the Angel Legion sprang into action, surrounding the Red Dog Pirates from every direction without a single blind spot.

Watching the winged people standing atop the bulwarks, the deck, and even barrels, Sakin felt an inexplicable rage rise within him.

Just as he was about to strike down these damned winged people, they attacked first, firing even more Cloud Arrows.

Sakin raised an eyebrow. Avoid their edge?

He was about to use his usual tactic: seize the enemy leader and bite down without letting go until their morale collapsed.

The next second, pain flared in his chest. Looking down, he found a wound had somehow appeared there, as though he had been slashed by a blade.

But the enemies were not holding any weapons at all!

"H-how did this happen?"

The bizarre sight sent a chill through Sakin's heart.

"It's a Slash Dial, a specialty Lord Annus brought from his homeland, Birka on Sky Island, to the Blue Sea. Blue Sea people like you would never understand."

The Angel Legion soldier who had attacked Sakin answered.

"A Slash... Dial?"

As an armed organization cultivated by Annus, the Angel Legion's training had initially been personally handled by Annus before later being entrusted to Diumil.

Thus, the Angel Legion's combat style was highly "Sky Island-like."

As everyone knew, heavy material goods were nearly nonexistent on Sky Island unless they came from the Blue Sea.

What Skypieans relied upon for survival was Dial technology capable of storing all kinds of energy.

From that, they developed all manner of combat techniques unique to Sky Island.

Although Annus had abandoned these methods after obtaining the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, he had been an expert in them before gaining its powers. He was skilled at fighting with all sorts of Dial weapons and had passed that knowledge on to his subordinates.

Diumil inherited all of Annus's techniques and taught them to the Angel Legion.

What the Angel Legion soldier attacking Sakin used was a Slash Dial capable of storing slashing attacks, the same type of Dial used by Enel's divine guards in the original timeline.

Without exception, every Angel Legion soldier knew how to use this kind of Dial.

When Sakin recovered from the absurdity of being wounded by a shell, he looked around and saw that his subordinates had already fallen into pools of blood, their bodies covered in wounds as though they had been cut by blades.

"Captain... save us..."

Some pirates still clung to life and cried for help, but Sakin had no mind to heed them. Every Angel Legion soldier around him was charging at him!

"Damn it... I admit you're somewhat strong, but I'm Red Dog!"

With a roar, Sakin lunged at the Angel Legion soldiers, snapping his jaws toward them.

But Sakin achieved nothing.

The Angel Legion soldiers had already set up a Cloud Formation across the ship. Long clouds coiled around the area like snakes, creating complex terrain.

The unfamiliar environment made it impossible for Sakin to catch a single Angel Legion soldier. He could only watch them dart past him like loaches. Worse still, he had to divide his attention to avoid and block the slashes constantly coming at him.

As a pirate with a 100 million Berry bounty, Sakin's individual combat ability was naturally above that of the Angel Legion soldiers.

But this was fundamentally an unfair battle.

The Angel Legion soldiers coordinated seamlessly and wielded weapons completely unfamiliar to Sakin.

Meanwhile, Sakin's combat techniques were simple and savage, transparent at a glance. Completely unaccustomed to fighting amidst clouds, he could only flee in disarray.

Annus watched the Angel Legion's performance with great interest.

As a 100 million Berry bounty target, Red Dog Sakin was no weakling. His physique was powerful enough to withstand several strikes from Slash Dials. A Slash Dial could kill an ordinary person with a single hit if it landed.

Yet the Angel Legion could rely on the favorable terrain and the speed advantage of their Waver Boots to keep him occupied, steadily wearing down Sakin without rushing, always attacking from a safe distance.

They did not recklessly attack and put themselves in danger. That was very calm.

At this rate, defeating Sakin was merely a matter of time. If he wanted to break the deadlock, he would need to quickly adapt to the cloud-shrouded environment, figure out how to counter the Slash Dials, and match the speed of the Waver Boots.

But Waver Boots were special tools designed for rapid movement over clouds. Not to mention that every boot was fitted with two Breath Dials for acceleration. It was unlikely Sakin could catch up to that speed in a short time.

Even if he did catch up, he would soon be left behind again.

"That's enough, Diumil. End this farce."

After gauging the Angel Legion's combat ability, Annus gave the order.

"Leave it to me, Lord Annus."

Diumil's response was as prompt as ever. The moment he said it, he had already landed before Sakin. Seeing this, the Angel Legion soldiers stopped attacking in perfect coordination.

Sakin finally had a chance to catch his breath. He was already in a miserable state, his eyes bloodshot, his ornate captain's coat torn to shreds. Blood ran down from his slashed wounds, dripping onto the cloud-shrouded deck.

Soon, the clouds dispersed, and the serpentine cloud paths on the deck vanished as well.

Due to the altitude, these clouds could not remain in the Blue Sea for long and could only linger briefly. Even that was possible only after improvements had been made.

"You're the leader of these people? That Annus?"

Staring at Diumil's black wings and body wrapped in black bandages, with only his eyes exposed, Sakin asked between breaths.

"You are not qualified to meet Lord Annus."

Diumil spoke coldly as he raised his right hand, which was wrapped in black bandages.

"Bastard..."

Sakin gritted his teeth. Though unwilling, he could tell from the reactions of the surrounding enemies that this black-clad man held no low status.

At last, he could use his tactic. All he had to do was bite down on this guy and refuse to let go!

That simple tactic filled his mind, and Sakin charged at Diumil without another thought.

However, before Sakin could get close, an immense impact struck him! As though a high-speed cruise ship had rammed into his chest, Sakin smashed through the bulwark and plunged into the sea.

"So strong!"

"As expected of Lord Diumil! He can use a Reject Dial without any burden at all!"

The Angel Legion members exclaimed one after another.

The Reject Dial was an ancient type of Dial with immense power, ten times that of an Impact Dial. A single blow from an Impact Dial was enough to kill an ordinary person.

Though powerful, the Reject Dial could not normally be used due to its massive recoil, which was deadly enough to its user.

Yet Diumil easily overcame this weakness with the physique of a Lunarian.

If not for the smoke rising from beneath the black bandages on his palm, no one would have known that Diumil had just endured recoil powerful enough to send an elephant flying.

After testing the Angel Legion's practical combat ability, Annus led the legion back to Hachinosu.

As they passed the harbor, he noticed an additional gaze of reverence among the crowd. It came from a young boy.

Annus paid it no mind. This sort of thing happened every day.

But when Annus returned to the Heaven-Piercing Tower, something unexpected still occurred.

"Wororororo!"

That domineering, hearty laughter came from a towering man wearing a black fur coat with his upper body bare. His blue-and-white hair and the lightning-shaped mark running through his left eye all revealed his identity.

The most vicious criminal of the present age, lord of Hachinosu, captain of the Rocks Pirates, the man who had solo-killed a Marine admiral...

Rocks D. Zebek.

"Annus! Long time no see!"

"What an unexpected guest... Though didn't we meet just a few days ago?" Annus said.

Shiki had only come to discuss establishing his own crew with Annus yesterday. Now the man himself had come knocking, making Annus unable to help but question Rocks's intentions.

"Have you settled your personal affairs? What did you come to see me for?"

"Don't be so cold, Annus!"

"Cut the nonsense."

"Wororororo! So direct! That's what I liked about you from the start!"

Rocks did not get angry at Annus's words. Instead, he cheerfully sat down.

"Then I'll be direct, Annus. I came to ask you to join me in defeating Harald!"