"They're out! It's Straw Hat Luffy Monkey D. Luffy, Captain Kid, Surgeon of Death Law, and Champion Fighter Phil... Wait, what's he doing here...?"
After confirming the identities of the four men upon their formal appearance, the officer was about to order an attack when he suddenly saw someone who shouldn't have been there appear— Phil, who had been identified as a member of Luo Chen's crew. He was suddenly stunned and incredulous.
"Champion Fighter Phil, aren't you a member of Shichibukai Luo Chen's crew? Do you also intend to interfere in this matter? You should know that if you really intervene, the consequences will be beyond what your captain, Luo Chen, can bear..."
Seeing that Phil seemed prepared to join forces with them against the Navy, the officer immediately reprimanded and reminded him.
"Heh, what? Do I need a navy officer like you to remind me whether I can handle it or not? You can pretend I didn't get involved at all. I just took care of a few navy scum blocking my way. Your superiors might even thank me for teaching them attack techniques and honing their fighting spirit..."
Alright, I'm tired of talking to you all. Hurry up and order your men to make their move, or we'll finish them off before they even get a chance to act.
Phil picked at his ear with his little finger and replied casually.
"Hmph, pirates are pirates, there's no reasoning with them. Let's die here with them then! Fire!"
Enraged by Phil's dismissive attitude, he snorted coldly and stopped trying to dissuade him, directly ordering his subordinates to bombard the other party, disregarding his status as a member of the Shichibukai.
"Yes!! Launch..."
The soldier received the order, lit the fuse, and with a loud bang, a shell the size of a brain was blasted out of the mortar barrel and bombarded Phil and his men.
Bang... Bang... Bang...
"ROOM... Shambles!!"
Luo activated his power, and an energy circle spread from his palm, enveloping several approaching marines. Then, he swung his sword forward, severing the head and body of a marine. The head was moved to Luo's hand, while the approaching cannonball exploded with a bang at the marine's body, causing him to burst into flames and billowing black smoke.
"Reflection..."
Compared to Law's attack, Kid's was much simpler and more elegant. He raised his hand, aimed at the incoming cannonball, and released his ability. The magnetic repulsion deflected the cannonball back, causing it to explode on the Navy's side.
Luffy then used his fingers to stretch out like a fishing net, catching and scattering most of the cannonballs back.
Phil then retaliated with his fists, each punch carrying a cannonball, his accelerated ability creating afterimages as he silently returned all the incoming cannonballs.
Bang bang bang...
"Ugh..."
The marines suffered greatly from their own artillery fire and had no will to continue fighting.
"Run!"
"Retreat! They're all ability users; we can't handle them at all..."
Gradually, some soldiers began to consider retreating, but they did not forget to call on their comrades to evacuate together.
Bang bang!!
"Hmm... Stop right there! They're just mere ability users, are you already scared out of your wits? You're the guardians of the Sabaody Archipelago, if we all run away, who will protect this place..."
So don't even think about escaping, or you'll only face the harshest punishment from your superiors..."
Seeing that his subordinates had no intention of resisting, the sergeant raised his gun and fired two shots into the air as a warning.
"Yes..."
The soldiers had no choice but to stop, grip their weapons, and charge at the group of men.
"Kill them..."
"Superior!!"
A large group of marines charged forward, but the four men remained indifferent, completely unconcerned about their imposing presence. In their eyes, they were nothing more than ants that could be crushed at will.
"Heh, how ignorant! They're just a bunch of soldiers, barely stronger than ordinary people. Do you think they can capture us?"
Phil was speechless as he watched these people rush forward mindlessly again, and shook his head.
"Hehe, Gum-Gum... Gigant Pistol!!"
"..."
At this moment Luffy and Kid unleashed their power, each using their signature techniques. A giant rubber arm, inflated with air, and a steel giant hand composed of scattered blades and guns appeared before everyone's eyes. Then, with a thunderous roar, all the marines were shoved aside by the two of them like grains of rice being threshed.
Meanwhile, after dealing with the approaching navy, Law and Phil, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire, quickly leaped away to avoid the two men's attacks.
"Damn it..."
The sergeant clenched his fist and glared at the marines lying on the ground, groaning in pain, and roared through gritted teeth.
Tap... Tap... Tap...
"Hahaha... you're so energetic..."
At this moment, Rayleigh and the others rushed out of the venue. Seeing that the marines in front of them had been dealt with in just a few moves, he couldn't help but laugh and praise them.
"Heh, we don't deserve your praise. The navy has taken care of it. Let's part ways here, bye..."
Kid did not accept Rayleigh's praise. He and Law knew the true strength of the man in front of them. If he really went all out, he could probably defeat them in less than a second. So he waved for his men to follow him and said goodbye to them.
"Haha, let's go, George... Meeting a powerful figure like Uncle Rayleigh today made the trip worthwhile..."
After Kid, Rowe, and the others said their goodbyes, Phil turned back and called out to George.
"Oh, oh, this is Brother Phil..."
Seeing that Phil had called out to him and then walked straight ahead without stopping to wait for him, George quickly snapped out of his daze, responded, and followed.
"Um... who are these two? They seem to know the old man. And who is the captain those sailors mentioned earlier? Even the navy seems a bit wary of them?"
Luffy watched the two figures gradually disappear before finally asking a question.
"Huh?! What, Luffy, don't you know? Those two are crew members of the person we encountered before, the one known as the Blasphemer, the one granted the title of Shichibukai, Luo Chen..."
Nami walked up to him and suddenly heard Luffy's question. She was a little surprised and then spoke up to explain.
" Luo Chen?! Oh, I remember now, he's the guy we met on Sky Island. Wait, Nami, what did you say about him? Shichibukai? Did that guy become Shichibukai after we parted ways?"
Upon hearing Nami's reminder, Luffy remembered Luo Chen, with whom he had a brief encounter on Sky Island. However, he was quite surprised after hearing the latter part of what she said.
"What? Don't you read the newspapers? A few days ago, Luo Chen caused a huge stir, shaking the entire world. Afterwards, the World Government personally sent him an invitation to become Shichibukai. I think I mentioned that on the ship before..."
Nami her eyes at Luffy. She had clearly told them about it before, but now he had completely forgotten, which left her speechless.
"Yes, Nami did mention this before, and it seems she also talked about it at Shakky's bar. The new Shichibukai, Luo Chen, he should be Phil, the champion fighter with a bounty of 250 million, one of the three criminals with bounties over 100 million!!"
Upon hearing Nami's words, Usopp recalled what she had told them about the three people they needed to be most wary of at Shakky's bar.
"Two hundred million... fifty million, that's a lot! Only one rank below Luffy..."
Chopper's mouth dropped open in astonishment when he heard the bounty amount.
"Hahaha, what energetic young people... The Shichibukai seem to be a bit behind you guys right now, but you'll catch up with the information soon enough..."
Rayleigh Hachi his back, laughed heartily after hearing their conversation. At the same time, he developed a strong interest in Luo Chen, because the immense Observation Haki he had sensed earlier might have originated from him.