"Captain! Are we just leaving like this? What about my abilities? Should we take them with us?"
Upon hearing Blackbeard's order, Jesus Burgess was somewhat reluctant. Was he really going to let the duck that was already in his mouth escape? He had been eyeing the Devil Fruit power for a long time, especially after being brutally beaten by Jozu. He had almost killed Jozu; was this what he was about to see?
Therefore, Jesus Burgess did not want to give up Jozu, even if Blackbeard could not help him obtain the power now, he still wanted to take Jozu with him.
"Damn it! What do we need Devil Fruit abilities for in the face of a life-or-death crisis? Thunder God is probably after Marco and the others. If you take them away, they might keep chasing us, and then we won't have time to acquire other Devil Fruit abilities!"
We don't need to take this risk for a Paramecia ability. There are countless Devil Fruit powers out there. This just proves you're not destined for diamond-type abilities. Put them down, let's go!
Blackbeard scolded Jesus Burgess a few times, then ignored everyone and ran off to the other side of the island. He had already said what he wanted to say, so he had saved face. If anyone fell behind, he wouldn't wait for them; if Vic killed them, he would call them idiots.
Blackbeard fled, with Van Augur and Lafitte close behind. Shiryu and Catarina exchanged a glance and immediately followed. The remaining few were also quick, even the usually sickly Stronger and Doc Q ran incredibly fast, showing no signs of being on the verge of death.
" Vic! There's a strange pirate ship on the other side of the island, it looks like it's leaving. It doesn't look like it belongs to Whitebeard's crew. Should I go check it out?"
"No need, don't go directly to the island, take a detour and catch up with them."
On the sea outside the island, a steel pirate ship was sailing towards the island. Rebecca, who was flying in the air, was the first to notice the unusual pirate ship on the other side of the island. She wanted to go and see what was going on, but Vic stopped her.
Vic already knew the identity of that pirate ship, so he immediately ordered them to circle the island and chase after it. The message was passed to Vic by Ban. With the power of the Mirror-Mirror Fruit, Ban's intelligence-gathering ability increased more than tenfold. He would enter the Mirror World every day to investigate intelligence from all over the world.
So during his investigation last night, Ban discovered traces of Blackbeard's crew. Coincidentally, Whitebeard's remnants had also arrived here some time ago and hadn't left. Through multiple camera angles, he finally realized that something was amiss. Ban always informed Vic of this kind of important information immediately.
So Vic instructed Ban to keep an eye on things and to notify immediately in case of any emergency. He himself then drove the Thor to the scene at full speed. Upon receiving Ban's intelligence, Vic knew that Blackbeard's plan to absorb Whitebeard's forces had begun. Marco and the others were no match for Blackbeard. Vic knew that it was time to repay the favor!
" Vic! It's that strange ship!"
Blackbeard's pirate ship had already sailed quite far. Manual transmission is indeed stronger than wind power, or rather, the will to survive can unleash boundless power.
Meanwhile, the Thor had circled around half of the island, and both pirate ships came into view. Blackbeard's pirate ship was visibly faster!
They thought that leaving from the other side of the island would put them safe and prevent them from being discovered, little did they know that they had already been exposed. Seeing Vic's Haki Thor, their will to survive surged even stronger!
" Wendy! Give them a taste of what's good for them."
If Vic didn't personally take action and insisted on doing everything himself, Rebecca and the others would become spoiled. Besides, Blackbeard was beneath him; even in his prime in the original story, Blackbeard was still primarily calculating and ultimately inferior. Anyway, he was here, so nothing would go wrong.
"Leave it to me, let them taste the baptism of meteorite-like shells!"
Wendy agreed and went to a cannon to operate it. She hadn't used any cannons when she left Titan Island and was besieged half a month ago, but now that Vic mentioned it, she was really itching to use them.
The cannons on the Thor were all modified by Vic himself, and their precision and power are far superior to those of cannons in this world. However, the distance between the two pirate ships is not short, so the cannons will not be able to hit them.
Blackbeard thinks so, so he's not in a particular hurry yet. But Wendy's More-More Fruit ability can shoot that far, so all he needs to do is speed up the projectiles. It's a very simple principle.
"What are they doing? Van Augur! Look!"
"They're preparing to shell us; a woman is adjusting the cannon."
Blackbeard had been observing the situation on the Thor, only seeing people moving around on board, but he couldn't make out the specifics.
However, Van Oka was a sniper, specializing in long-range observation and sniping. Through the binoculars on his sniper rifle, he could see clearly, but he didn't care. This distance was beyond the range of artillery fire. Everyone else was rowing hard, their tongues were hanging out from exhaustion, and they didn't want to say a word.
"Have they lost their minds? Starting to shell at this distance?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?! Thunder God isn't an ordinary person. Everyone, don't let your guard down. There might be something we don't know about!"
Blackbeard's fear of Vic didn't stem from physical strength. No matter how strong someone was, Blackbeard could still find a way to kill them, just like his Pops, Whitebeard. The most important reason for Blackbeard's fear of Vic was that he couldn't see through him. He couldn't understand the true purpose behind Vic's actions. The unknown is what makes people most wary, so after the Paramount War, he became even more wary of Vic.
Meanwhile, Wendy had already adjusted the cannon muzzle, calculated the wind speed and lead, and with a loud bang, she decisively fired the shell.
As soon as the shell left the barrel, its speed immediately began to soar: two times, five times, ten times, twenty times, fifty times. The shell cut through the air with a loud whistling sound, deafening and extraordinary!
"That shell is strange, its speed is abnormal, everyone be careful!"
Van Augur, who hadn't taken the shelling seriously until he saw the projectile's trajectory through his binoculars, immediately became serious!
This cannonball instilled a great sense of crisis in him; if they didn't take it seriously, their pirate crew might be wiped out right here!
The others also sensed Van Augur's emotional change. Those with Observation Haki unleashed it, while those without focused intently on what was behind them, ready to strike at any moment.
The shell pierced the air, leaving behind rings of Mach rings. Although the people of this world did not know the name Mach rings and few had ever seen them, it did not hinder their understanding. Just by looking at them, they knew that they were powerful things and should not be underestimated.
Once the cannonball was within range, Van Augur immediately fired several shots, intending to detonate it mid-flight. This cannonball was too abnormal; the sense of danger it evoked was too intense. They absolutely could not let this cannonball get close to their pirate ship!
In terms of sniping ability, Wendy is not as good as Van Auger. Even Wendy can calculate wind speed and lead time, while Van Auger is the best at it. Therefore, the trajectory of the shell has already been visualized in his mind. He just needs to wait for the shell to fly into range before he fires and detonates it.
However, Van Augur miscalculated. This cannonball was not an ordinary cannonball, but a cannonball with variable speed. Although Wendy only accelerated the cannonball to fifty times, it did not mean that she could only accelerate it to fifty times!
Van Augur also saw the acceleration after the cannonball left the barrel, but he thought it was due to the modified special cannon and that the speed would not change much after it stabilized until the kinetic energy was exhausted and it slowed down. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Van Oka was worried that his sniper rifle might malfunction, so he deliberately fired several shots in quick succession. Even if some bullets malfunctioned, as long as one bullet was normal and hit the shell, it would detonate prematurely.
However, Wendy controlled the speed of the shells. She had obviously seen Van Augur fire, so the shells accelerated, speeding up until all of Van Augur's bullets missed. He paused for a moment, then put away his sniper rifle. He knew that his marksmanship was useless; the speed of the shells was controlled by the enemy. He had to think of another strategy.
"The shells can accelerate; I can't intercept them. Be prepared to detonate them at close range!"
Van Augur put away his sniper rifle and said seriously, "Blackbeard was annoyed when he saw the incoming shells. He had already let Marco and the others go and was preparing to escape, but Vic was pressing forward step by step. He even had such powerful long-range ability users under his command. He wanted to sink them to the bottom of the sea here. Unforgivable!"