As Norton's words fell, the war officially began. Marines and pirates unleashed cannon fire on each other.
During the lull between barrages, smoke still hung over the sea, and shattered wood and scraps of sailcloth drifted slowly down.
More than a hundred warships faced over fifty pirate ships across the burning sea. Gunners on both sides loaded frantically, their faces smeared with sweat and soot.
"Prepare the second volley-"
Aboard the Marine flagship, the chief gunner's voice trembled.
But in that brief lull, the Norton Pirates' fleet moved.
They weren't retreating. They were charging.
"All ships-attack!"
Kuro's voice rang through the entire fleet over the Amplifying Den Den Mushi.
The White Pearl accelerated first. The figurehead of a girl cradling a bird cleaved through the churning waves as the ship drove straight toward the dark mass of warships. Behind it, the pirate ships followed like sharks scenting blood.
"Fire! Fire!"
The second barrage erupted at a much closer range.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
This time, the cannons on both sides roared almost simultaneously.
Cannonballs wove a burning net across the sea. Some struck hulls, blasting planks apart and scattering splinters; others punched through decks and exploded inside cabins; still others landed between ships, throwing up columns of water several meters high.
A pirate ship's mainmast took a hit from chain shot. With a splintering crack, the massive mast slowly toppled, its burning sails crashing into the sea. Another cannonball struck a warship's magazine. The entire vessel exploded from the middle, flames soaring skyward and debris flying hundreds of meters.
Broken wood, sailcloth, and bodies began floating on the sea.
The distance between the two sides shrank rapidly amid the cannon fire.
On the Marine flagship, Akainu watched the approaching pirate fleet and slowly raised his right hand.
"Since cannonballs are useless..."