An Army of One

"Since you're all so eager to die, I'll grant your wish."

Rain's voice, cold enough to contain not a trace of human emotion, thundered through the deafening barrage of cannon fire and piercing clamor.

"Earth Core Hell Grand Funeral!"

"Rumble—!"

At that moment, the entire pirate island of Hachinosu let out the most terrifying wail it had ever known since its creation.

With Rain's combat boots as the center, the heavy crust within a radius of ten miles was utterly overturned and reassembled in an instant by the immense power of Logia Awakening. The ground, forged from countless hard rocks and ancient steel, transformed without warning before the terrified eyes of innumerable pirates into a bottomless gray gravitational vortex.

Yet this was, after all, the stronghold of the scoundrels of the New World. None of the tens of thousands of pirates gathered here were comparable to those outside with mere tens-of-millions bounties. These affiliated captains and elite pirates, who had managed to survive under officers from Infinite Hell, were all formidable. Ruthless figures with bounties exceeding a hundred million were everywhere.

Faced with the sudden collapse of the ground beneath their feet, these desperadoes erupted with terrifying resilience after their initial shock.

"Don't panic! Use Geppo! Everyone, jump!"

"Use Haki to protect your feet! Slash these damned rocks apart!"

Hundreds of agile affiliated captains roared in unison. Their bodies were coated in dense Armament Haki as their legs stamped frantically through magma and mud. Relying on their mastery of physical techniques and Geppo, they forcibly launched themselves into the air, attempting to evade the earth's devouring maw. Dozens of pirates at the level of Great Swordsman drew their blades at the same time, and thousands of multicolored slashes converged into a destructive torrent of sword energy, madly cutting through the