Meanwhile, aboard the Baratie, Zeff and the others had also been drawn into a bitter fight.
After boarding the White Pearl, Zeff had immediately led his men back to the floating restaurant to face the danger ahead.
Four Marine officers boarded the ship!
They clearly knew this ship was one of the fleet's key supply and command hubs.
Zeff's wooden prosthetic leg clashed with a sword-wielding captain's blade. "Sanji! Patty! Protect the kitchen and storeroom! We can't let anything happen to the food!"
"Got it, you damn geezer!"
Sanji's tongue was as sharp as ever, but he moved like lightning, tangling with a Marine lieutenant commander who used Finger Pistol and deliberately drawing the fight toward the railing.
"Take your fight somewhere else! Don't dirty the tables!"
Patty shouldered the Lobster Cannon and blocked another officer like a crazed tiger. Though danger threatened at every turn, brute strength and his obsession with protecting the kitchen somehow kept him holding on.
But the fourth Marine lieutenant commander had already broken through their defenses and charged toward the door leading to the kitchen.
Just as his fingers were about to touch the handle, a razor-sharp Cat Claws blade silently settled against his neck.
"If you wreck this place and King blames me, you'll put me in a very awkward position." Kuro pushed up his glasses, their lenses reflecting white light. Somehow, he had appeared behind the officer.
Before his words had faded, ten cold flashes crisscrossed through the air! The lieutenant commander's uniform and the soft armor beneath it were instantly shredded, leaving deep, intersecting gashes across his chest. He screamed and collapsed.
Kuro adjusted his glasses. Concerned about the situation here, he had quietly followed them. After all, damage to the restaurant would affect the quality of their meals, and that mattered a great deal to him.
He looked toward the captain fighting Zeff, who was gradually gaining the upper hand, and silently calculated the best angle of attack.
The fighting was just as fierce among the combined ships of the Black Cat Pirates and the Buggy Pirates.
"Chop-Chop Clown Knife!"
Buggy's body split into more than a dozen pieces. His head flew through the air while his hands hurled knives from all sorts of bizarre angles, harassing two Marine officers and driving them to distraction.
"Hahahaha! Can't hit me, can you? I'm immortal!"
"Look at this. One, two..." Jango swung his hypnotic ring, trying to disrupt the enemy.
"Idiot! Who's going to look at that in a fight?!" A lieutenant commander slashed at him in irritation.
Yet a second later, both the lieutenant commander and Jango fell asleep on the deck!
"When are you going to fix that bad habit?!" the Nyaban Brothers complained from the side.
The ones truly holding the line were the Nyaban Brothers, Acrobat Cabaji, Beast Tamer Mohji, and his lion Richie.
The Nyaban Brothers worked seamlessly together, barely managing to hold off the frontal assault.
Mohji directed Richie to pounce and bite, sowing chaos.
Cabaji swept across the deck on his unicycle, his long blade repeatedly slicing through the Marines' skin.
"This can't go on!" Though panicked, Buggy could still tell the situation was turning ugly.
He glanced aside and spotted a small Marine assault boat trying to pull alongside a gunship formerly belonging to the Krieg Pirates. Only ordinary pirates were aboard that gunship, and it was about to be seized.
"Hey! Demon!" Buggy suddenly shouted at a silent figure aboard another pirate ship. "Weren't you Don Krieg's right-hand man? Hurry up and help!"
Aboard the pirate ship, Demon Gin silently gripped his heavy iron tonfas. He glanced at their faltering battle line, then at Pearl, who was struggling just as hard aboard another ship nearby while setting fires everywhere.
Admiral Don Krieg had already fallen. His surviving men had attached themselves to the stronger Admiral Norton, and now was the time to prove their worth.
Gin took a deep breath, resolve flashing in his eyes. He slammed his iron tonfas onto the deck with a deafening crash, drawing the attention of the three Marine officers aboard the assault boat.
"Your opponent," Gin rasped, lowering his body slightly as he unleashed a ferocity far beyond that of an ordinary pirate, "is me!"
As his words fell, Gin shot forward like a phantom, his iron tonfas whipping through the air with a heavy roar. Alone, he boldly charged the three Marines boarding the ship!
At the heart of the naval battle, Norton had not rushed back to the White Pearl.
Instead, he stood atop a pirate ship's flagpole, surveying the chaotic battlefield.
The Marine officers' boarding tactics had indeed worked. Several boarding points were locked in stalemate, noticeably slowing the fleet's breakout.
Worse still, the remaining nine warships were taking advantage of the entangled pirate ships to close in faster, trying to complete their encirclement.
Nine warships surrounding thirty pirate ships sounded a little ridiculous, but reality was just that astonishing. The coordination those warships displayed in actual combat was beyond anything the pirate ships could match.
Most of the thirty pirate ships had belonged to Don Krieg's fleet. Against the elite Marines from headquarters, most were utterly helpless. Their equipment was inferior, their coordination poor, and their strength lacking.
"Take down the leader first... the Marines understand that principle too."
Norton murmured to himself, his gaze settling on the largest command ship at the rear of the Marine fleet. Though Momousagi Gion had temporarily been driven back, the Marines' command structure had not collapsed.
For now, however, he had other trouble to deal with.
"Silver-Haired... you're not taking another step!" With a furious roar, two headquarters rear admirals charged toward him using Geppo from warships on either side. They were clearly powerful fighters left behind to anchor the fleet!
One wielded a massive two-handed sword, his slashes vicious; the other's fists were coated in thick Armament Haki, his presence heavy and imposing.
They had witnessed what happened to Garp and Gion and knew they had no hope of victory. Yet now they were prepared to die, if only to delay Norton for a moment!
Norton watched them without the slightest change in expression.
"Admirable courage."
The next instant, Norton vanished.
The sword-wielding rear admiral saw only a blur before a fist rapidly filled his vision. Roaring, he swung his sword down with all his strength!
The instant blade met fist, he felt as though he had struck not flesh, but seastone! The master-crafted greatsword gave a groan of unbearable strain before its blade exploded into countless fragments!
The fist drove on unchecked, slamming into his chest. His Armament Haki shattered like paper!
The rear admiral spat blood and flew backward faster than he had come, crashing through two warship decks before finally stopping.
Almost simultaneously, the other rear admiral attacked from behind, aiming for the center of Norton's back.
"Iron Body: Heavy Cannon Fist!"
Without turning, Norton flicked the back of his hand behind him.
Bang!
It sounded like a heavy hammer striking worn leather.
The rear admiral's punch, packed with all his strength and Armament Haki, struck the back of Norton's hand, yet failed to budge it even a fraction! Instead, an indescribable force rebounded into him.
The rear admiral's arm cracked with a teeth-grinding crunch. Screaming, he was flung away and plunged into the surging waves.
With barely an effort, Norton had left two headquarters rear admirals with their lives hanging in the balance.
Many of the fighting Marines and pirates witnessed the scene. The pirates' morale surged as though given a powerful stimulant, and they erupted in frenzied cheers.
The Marines, meanwhile, inevitably faltered.
Yet Norton did not pursue the command ship. His gaze passed over the chaotic battlefield toward Loguetown's harbor.
Amid the ruins there, a familiar, formidable presence was rapidly rising, like a wounded beast about to launch an even more savage counterattack.
Meanwhile, aboard the White Pearl, Zoro had just driven back the third wave of Marines attempting to board and was breathing a little heavily.
As he caught his breath, Zoro suddenly spotted a medium-sized ship in the Marine fleet issuing precise orders and directing the surrounding warships.
"That's the flagship's secondary command ship... Sanosuke! Cover me!"
Sanosuke, aboard another ship nearby, immediately understood Zoro's intent. He instantly finished off the opponent before him, then scraped his Ninja Sword across the deck with a piercing screech, drawing the attention of the remaining Marine officers on two nearby ships.
"If you don't stop me, I'll kill every Marine here!" Sanosuke said coldly.
Seizing the chance, Zoro took a deep breath, gathered all three swords into one hand, and gripped a scabbard with the other, assuming an unusual quick-draw stance.
"One Sword Style: Flying Dragon!"
Toward the secondary command ship several hundred meters away, Zoro unleashed his strongest slash yet!
The Flying Slash tore through the air with a dragon-like roar, passed precisely through the chaotic battlefield, and struck the junction between the secondary command ship's mainmast and command platform!
Boom!
Wood chips and metal fragments scattered everywhere. The secondary command ship's command functions were instantly crippled, its signal flags tilted askew, and its coordination of the surrounding warships fell into disarray.
That strike became the decisive weight that broke the stalemate.
The pirate fleet's slowed breakout suddenly picked up speed!
"Nice work, Moss Head!" Sanji caught sight of it from the Baratie and couldn't help shouting.
Norton saw it too, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
His subordinates were growing rapidly, tempered in blood and fire.
Yet only now did the true crisis arrive, heralded by wild laughter.
"Norton, you brat-!!"
A thunderous roar exploded from the harbor, and a figure came hurtling across the sea using Geppo at terrifying speed!
Garp had discarded his ruined coat, leaving his upper body bare. Beneath his bronze skin, his muscles twisted like the roots of an ancient tree. Though blood stained the corner of his mouth and wounds covered his body, the fighting spirit in his eyes burned even hotter and wilder than before!
"I'm not beaten yet!"
Black-and-red Conqueror's Haki lightning burst and coiled around his knuckles, while the air groaned beneath the strain.
"Fist Bone: Shock!"
He unleashed a simple, direct punch, yet it seemed poised to tear the entire sea in two!
"That's more like it!" Norton laughed aloud, his silver hair dancing wildly in the violent currents.
Facing this Conqueror's Haki-infused punch, he neither retreated nor dodged. He clenched his own fist, his muscles tightening like dragons!
BOOM-!!!
Their fists collided without touching!
Black-and-red lightning and the shock wave of pure force exploded outward in a ring!
The sea for hundreds of meters around was instantly pressed into a massive bowl-shaped depression. The water was violently forced aside, exposing the reefs beneath.
More than a dozen nearby warships and pirate ships were tossed about like toys by the enormous waves. Neither Marines nor pirates could keep their footing on deck, and the weaker fighters were shaken so hard that blood streamed from their noses and mouths!
"Is... is this really something humans can do?!"
Buggy's head tumbled through the air, his jaw nearly dropping all the way to the deck.
Zoro drove all three swords into the deck just to steady himself. He stared fixedly at the center of the battlefield, unprecedented fire burning in his eyes. "Someday... I'll reach that level too!"
Sanji kicked away the opponent before him, his hand trembling slightly as he lit a cigarette. "If the old man's restaurant gets capsized by their shock waves, I'll never forgive them!"
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Garp gave Norton no chance to catch his breath!
When the first strike failed, his second and third punches followed in rapid succession!
"Fist Bone: Star Barrage!"
"Fist Bone: Falling Star!"
Every punch carried enough terrifying power to sink a warship. Black-and-red lightning lit the darkened sky like the end of the world!
Fighting spirit blazed in Norton's eyes. His fists became afterimages as he met the blows head-on in the same brutally straightforward fashion.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The explosive clashes of their fists rang across the battlefield. Every exchange raised fiercer hurricanes and raging waves, while the dark clouds churned endlessly overhead, seeming close enough to touch!
The chaotic naval battle had now ground to a complete halt. Everyone was forced to stop fighting and cling to anything secured to their ships, watching this battle beyond all reason in dumbfounded awe.
"This isn't a battle between humans anymore..."
Kuro adjusted his glasses, his eyes behind the lenses utterly grave.
"This is... a collision between natural disasters!"
Zeff's wooden prosthetic leg was embedded deep in the deck as he fiercely guarded the kitchen door behind him. Those two figures were reflected in his clouded eyes.
BOOM-!!!
Garp suddenly drew his fist back, every muscle in his body tightening to its limit like a bowstring!
Veins bulged beneath his bronze skin. Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki coiled around his right fist, the black-and-red lightning growing so dense it became visibly solid!
"Fist Bone: Impact!"
He hurled his fist forward!
The pressure of the punch forced the sea below down dozens of meters, creating an enormous hollow a hundred meters across! Water rose high on either side like walls!
A fierce gleam flared in Norton's eyes. Laughing wildly, he threw a punch of his own!
A metallic roar rang out like two mountains of steel colliding. The shock wave spread outward in a ring, blasting apart the thick clouds overhead. A shaft of sunlight poured through the gap, illuminating the two figures at the center of the battlefield.
At the center of the battlefield, Garp's expression gradually grew heavy as mercury.
The searing pain in his knuckles was unmistakable. His finger bones had fractured!
Yet more alarming to Garp than the pain of broken bones was what he could feel: Norton's strength... had actually increased again during that series of clashes!
He kept growing in battle... getting stronger the longer they fought.
This brat's strength seemed to have no upper limit!
Compared with the somewhat battered Garp, Norton was now steaming with heat. His silver hair stirred without wind, and every inch of his muscles hummed with exhilaration.
Since breaking through his body's limiter, he had never given it this much of a "workout"!
It was utterly exhilarating!
Seeing this, Garp knew he could not drag things out any longer!
If they kept trading blows like this, he would be the one defeated!
"Let's end this with our strongest punch!!!"
Garp's roar shook sea and sky. He drew both fists to his waist, his Haki gathering in a frenzy!
Norton's smile faded as well. He could feel that the next strike would be completely different!
"Just what I wanted!"
Norton took a deep breath, his muscles giving a low, dragon-like rumble. "We can't keep fighting like this. We need to finish this quickly... or all these ships will sink!"
He glanced at the pirate fleet around him.
If the warships sank, so be it. But these ships... were the assets he had worked so hard to collect!