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-and-crossbones 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 sticking out his tongue.

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

Though the first half of the Grand Line seemed as dangerous as a graveyard to pirates from the Four Seas, to pirates of the New World, it was no different from an amusement park.

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

"The combined bounty of the Red Dog Pirates is 380 million berries." Diumil lowered his head. "I believe they are ideal opponents for training these newcomers 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 by the sight.

Annus, however, smiled faintly. "Interesting. They encountered a ship flying Rocks's flag at sea, yet they don't intend to run?"

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

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

A so-called "supernova" referred to a rookie pirate who had risen to prominence in a short time and earned a bounty exceeding 100 million berries.

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

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, were rare. Only a few emerged each year.

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

But because they had charged all this way with scarcely any major defeats or setbacks, they had also developed arrogant personalities.

Unlike local supernovas who set sail from and made their name in the New World, supernovas who fought their way out of the first half all possessed a streak of arrogance.

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

Those who thought too highly of themselves would only fall harder when cold reality knocked them down.

"Charging fearlessly into an enemy they cannot handle—that's what supernovas are like," Diumil agreed.

Meanwhile, aboard the Red Dog Pirates' ship.

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

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

As the brightest leading figure of this era, Rocks possessed unparalleled 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 a single leap, and even replace Rocks as the boss of Hachinosu.

Though he knew virtually nothing about Hachinosu's actual situation, that was how Sakin had 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 by approaching them like this?"

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

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

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

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

Indeed, Captain Sakin's strength was plain for all to see. He had led the entire pirate crew from the Grand Line into the New World, robbed several World Government member nations, and repeatedly escaped Marine encirclements.

That was why he had received the enormous bounty of 100 million berries.

But the enemy was the Rocks Pirates!

Would they really be all right?

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

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

Hearing his subordinate's words, Sakin instinctively turned to look at the enemy ship. The winged enemies on deck were drawing their bows and firing arrows. As the arrows cut through the air, they actually created trails of cloud.

Those cloud trails struck the Red Dog Pirates' bulwarks with astonishing precision, forming cloud pathways between the two ships.

"What is that?"

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

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

"Who the hell are you people?! Where is Rocks?!"

Sakin frowned and demanded of 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 upon hearing that. 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 the words fell, the Angel Legion sprang into action, surrounding the Red Dog Pirates from every direction without a single blind spot.

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

He was just about to attack and knock down these damned winged people when they struck first, firing even more cloud arrows.

Sakin raised an eyebrow. Avoid their edge?

He was preparing to use his usual tactics—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 enemy was not holding any weapons at all!

"H-how did this happen?"

That bizarre scene sent chills down Sakin's spine.

"It's a Slash Dial, a specialty Lord Annus brought from his hometown, the sky island of Birka, to the Blue Sea. Blue Sea people like you wouldn't understand."

The Angel Legion soldier who had attacked Sakin answered.

"A Slash... Dial?"

As an armed organization raised by Annus, the Angel Legion's training had initially been personally overseen by Annus before being handed over to Diumil.

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

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

What the sky islanders relied on were Dials, technologies capable of storing various forms of energy.

From this, they had developed all kinds of combat techniques unique to the sky islands.

Although Annus had abandoned these methods after obtaining the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, before gaining it, he had been an expert in the field. He was skilled at fighting with all kinds of Dial weapons and had taught those skills to his subordinates.

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

The Angel Legion soldier attacking Sakin was using a Slash Dial capable of storing slashing attacks, the kind of Dial used by Enel's Divine Soldiers in the original timeline.

Without exception, every Angel Legion soldier could use this kind of Dial.

When Sakin recovered from the absurdity of being wounded by a shell, he looked around and found that his subordinates had already fallen in pools of blood, their bodies covered in wounds like those left by blades.

"Captain... save us..."

A few pirates still clinging to life cried for help, but Sakin had no mind to spare for them. Every Angel Legion soldier around him was charging at him!

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

Roaring, Sakin lunged toward the Angel Legion soldiers, baring his teeth.

But Sakin achieved nothing.

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

The unfamiliar environment prevented Sakin from catching even one Angel Legion soldier. He could only watch them dart past his eyes like loaches. Worse still, he had to divide his attention between dodging and blocking slashes that could strike at any moment.

As a criminal with a 100-million-berry bounty, Sakin's individual combat strength was naturally above that of the Angel Legion soldiers.

But this was fundamentally an unfair battle.

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

Meanwhile, Sakin's fighting style was simple and brutal, easily seen through at a glance. He was utterly unfamiliar with fighting amid clouds and could only flee in disarray.

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

As a 100-million-berry criminal, Red Dog Sakin was no weakling. His physique was powerful enough to withstand several Slash Dial attacks. A Slash Dial could kill an ordinary person in one strike if it landed.

Yet the Angel Legion could use the terrain and the speed advantage of their Waver Boots to keep him occupied, steadily wearing down Sakin without rushing, all while maintaining a safe distance to attack.

They did not charge in recklessly or place themselves in danger. They were very calm.

At this rate, defeating Sakin was only a matter of time. If Sakin wanted to break the deadlock, he would have to rapidly adapt to the cloud-shrouded environment, figure out how to deal with Slash Dials, and keep up with the Waver Boots' speed.

But Waver Boots were special tools designed to move quickly across clouds. Not to mention that every pair had two Breath Dials installed to accelerate them. It was unlikely Sakin could catch up to such 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 strength, Annus gave the order.

"Leave it to me, Lord Annus."

Diumil's response was always swift. The moment he spoke, he had already landed in front of Sakin. Seeing this, the Angel Legion soldiers halted in tacit understanding.

Sakin finally had a chance to catch his breath. He was already a miserable sight, his eyes bloodshot, his lavish captain's coat in tatters. Blood ran from his slashed wounds and dripped onto the cloud-covered deck.

Soon, the clouds dispersed, and the snake-like cloud paths across the deck vanished as well.

Due to the altitude, these clouds could not remain in the Blue Sea for long. They could only linger briefly, and that was after they had been improved.

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

Looking at Diumil's black wings and body wrapped in black bandages, with only his eyes exposed, Sakin asked between ragged 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, the reactions of the surrounding enemies made it clear that this black-clad figure held no low position.

Now he could finally employ his strategy. All he needed to do was bite down on this man and never let go!

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

Yet before Sakin could get close, an enormous force struck him! It felt as though a high-speed cruise ship had rammed into his chest. Sakin smashed through the bulwark and fell 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. Its power was tremendous, ten times that of an Impact Dial, and a single strike from an Impact Dial was enough to kill an ordinary person.

Though powerful, the Reject Dial could not be used normally because its immense recoil was enough to kill its user.

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

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

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

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

Annus paid it no mind. Such things happened every day.

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

"Wororororo!"

The domineering, hearty laughter came from a giant of a man wearing a black fur coat with his upper body bare. His blue-and-white hair and the lightning-shaped scar that ran through his left eye all revealed his identity.

The most vicious criminal alive, the master of Hachinosu, captain of the Rocks Pirates, the man who had slain a Marine admiral alone...

Rocks D. Zebek.

"Annus! Long time no see!"

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

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

"Finished handling your personal affairs? What did you come to see me for?"

"Don't be so cold, Annus!"

"Cut the nonsense."

"Wororororo! Straight to the point! That's exactly 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 get straight to it, Annus. I came to ask you to join me in defeating Harald!"