The piercing air raid siren shattered the tranquility above the North Star Base. The Taotie fleet, like a flock of crows, filled the sky, with more than fifty cross-shaped warships deploying in battle formation. The main gun muzzle of the flagship " Predator " flashed with a destructive purplish-red light as it entered the final stage of charging.
"All units, enter Level 1 combat readiness!" Du Kao's voice echoed throughout the base via the communication channel. " Super Soldier Company, prepare to engage the enemy! Ground-based air defense forces, unleash full firepower!"
"Yes!"
" Qiangwei, calculate the space jump point and prepare to intercept any potential god-slaying combat team!"
" Xiaolun, Liu Chuang, move to the front! Qilin, locate the enemy command node! Mengmeng, protect the flanks!"
" Rena... you're in charge of suppressing fire!"
The Super Soldier Company entered combat mode. The black-armored warriors transformed into streaks of light and rushed into the sky, their movements swift and coordinated, demonstrating extremely high tactical skills and teamwork.
On the ground, missile silos are activated, and surface-to-air missiles rise into the air trailing white smoke; electromagnetic gun turrets turn and aim, their charging coils emitting a buzzing electrical sound; laser defense arrays begin to preheat, and the air is filled with the smell of ozone and burning metal.
However, everyone noticed that the giant silver ship and its "passengers" on the tarmac had not yet made a move.
"Visitors from another world, immediately take cover in the base's underground bunker!" an officer shouted over a megaphone at the Straw Hat Pirates. "This is not a battle you can participate in!"
Luffy picked at his ear, completely ignoring the officer's words. He looked up at the menacing warships in the sky, his eyes gleaming. "Hey, Allen, those ships look so tough! Can we break them?"
"Theoretically, yes," Allen said calmly, "But our primary objective is to protect the ship and its crew, Franky."
"SUPER~ Understood!" Franky struck his signature pose, " Ark Maxim, full shield activation! General System ready!"
As Franky manipulated the ship, the patterns on the Ark Maxim's hull suddenly lit up with a deep blue light, and a semi-transparent spherical energy shield quickly unfolded, enveloping the entire helipad. The shield's surface shimmered with star-like points of light, beautiful yet incredibly sturdy.
"Energy shield?! Reading... unreadable! Intensity... exceeds the measurement limit!" Lian Feng reported in shock as she looked at the monitoring data in the command center.
Du Kao frowned. "Ignore them for now! Concentrate your firepower on the Taotie!"
In the air, the battle has begun.
The warriors of the Super Soldier Company displayed astonishing combat prowess. Ge Xiaolun swung his greatsword, forcefully cleaving through the energy shield of a Taotie escort ship; Liu Chuang's God-Slaying Axe struck the hull, unleashing blinding sparks; Du Qiangwei used her Wormhole abilities to appear and disappear unpredictably, precisely damaging the warship's propulsion system; Qilin's sniper bullets pierced the cockpit's observation window with every shot; Rui Mengmeng swung her giant sword, cutting down several small flying vehicles.
Rena transformed into a human artillery platform, conjuring dazzling orbs of light in her hands— Micro Flare Bombardment! The orbs struck a frigate, instantly turning it into a fireball.
However, there were too many Taotie. Moreover, the main guns of the flagship " Predator " were already fully charged.
"High-energy reaction detected! It's the flagship's main gun! Target... is the central area of the base!" Lian Feng shouted urgently. "Intercept! We must intercept it!"
"I'll go!" Rena flew towards the front of the flagship, arms outstretched. "Activate stellar energy drive, construct a light energy barrier—"
But at that moment, a thick, purplish-red beam of light shot out from the Predator's main gun, heading straight for the command center of the North Star Base! Wherever the beam passed, the air was ionized, producing crackling sounds.
The power of this shot was enough to destroy half the base.
"There's no time for a complete defense!" Rena gritted her teeth and could only try her best to stack multiple layers of light energy barriers along the beam's path.
On the ground, the soldiers of the Super Soldier Company paled. The command center contained not only General Du Kao, but also a large number of staff officers and a valuable database.
At this critical moment—
On the tarmac, a silver figure moved.
That's Allen.
He didn't even use the power of the Torch Dragon Fruit; he simply raised his right hand and clenched his fist in the direction from which the beam of destruction had come.
"Space · Folding."
Four words, described in a simple, understated way.
The next second, a shocking scene unfolded: the purplish-red beam of destruction, more than ten meters in diameter, suddenly seemed to hit an invisible wall three kilometers away from the base. The tip of the beam began to "turn," bending diagonally upwards before shooting into the open sky, exploding into a huge energy ripple in the clouds.
The whole process was quiet and eerie, without any explosions or energy clashes, as if... the beam of light had chosen to change direction on its own.
"What?!" In the command center, Lian Feng stared at the monitoring screen, dumbfounded. "The spatial curvature has been altered?! No Dark Energy drive detected... How did this happen?!"
Rena in the sky was also stunned as the light energy barrier she had built, which was only halfway through, slowly dissipated.
"Spatial... ability?" Ge Xiaolun stood in mid-air, looking at Allen's calm figure, a profound shock welling up inside him. He also possessed Anti-Void abilities and could Definition "silence," but that required driving Dark Energy, and the effect was completely different. What Allen had just done was more like directly "modifying" the physical rules of space.
The Taotie fleet had clearly noticed this change as well. The commander of the flagship " Predator "—a Taotie commander clad in heavy armor—stared at the monitoring screen. "Abnormal spatial interference detected... It's an individual next to that silver ship. Prioritize eliminating this threat!"
Immediately, more than twenty frigates turned their guns and aimed them at the tarmac.
"They're going to focus their fire on the visitor from another world!" Du Qiangwei shouted through the communicator.
"Help!" Ge Xiaolun rushed towards the helipad without hesitation.
But the Straw Hat Pirates reacted even faster.
" Usopp!" Nami called out.
"Understood!" Usopp set up his giant slingshot, "Heap," and inserted a specially made plant Seed —a " Nebula Dandelion " Seed he had cultivated during his space voyage. "Special Move: Nebula Dandelion Burst!"
The Seed shot into the sky, bursting open mid-air and transforming into countless dandelion fluff particles that emitted a faint glow. These fluffy particles, though seemingly soft, possessed a peculiar property—they attached themselves to the energy shield of the Taotie warship and began to absorb the shield's energy, causing the shield to dim rapidly!
"The shield energy is decreasing! What... what is this?!" the Taotie pilot exclaimed.
"Now!" Zoro grinned wildly, drawing all three swords simultaneously. " Three-Sword Style: Black Rope: Great Tornado!"
It wasn't a slash, but a colossal tornado blade! The tornado blade, a fusion of Haki and demonic energy, swept across the sky and precisely struck the warships whose shields were weakening. The armor of the three escort ships was torn apart, and a series of explosions occurred inside, turning them into three fireballs that fell to the ground.
Sanji lit a cigarette, his legs bursting into flames. " Diable Jambe... Galaxy BBQ Set Meal!" His figure transformed into a streak of fire, instantly appearing on the side of a destroyer, his continuous high-speed kicks each precisely striking the ship's weakest points. The destroyer disintegrated in mid-air like disassembled building blocks.
Chopper swallowed a Rumble Ball: " Monster Point!" His body swelled up, transforming into a giant reindeer, and he slammed Taotie flying machine that was attempting a low-altitude attack into the ground with a single punch.
Franky has entered the " General Franky " armor. "SUPER~ Franky Laser Beam Barrage!" Dozens of blazing lasers shot out from the shoulder cannons, weaving into a fire net in the air to intercept the artillery fire aimed at the Ark Maxim.
Brook drew his Soul Solid: "Nightfall Melody - Straight Pierce!" A chilling sword aura shot out, piercing through the observation window of a frigate, instantly freezing the Taotie pilot inside.
Robin did not directly participate in the attack, but her "Hana Hana no Mi" (Flower-Flower Fruit ) ability was quietly activated. Inside several Taotie warships, countless arms suddenly grew from the bulkheads. These arms either pressed emergency shutdown buttons, tore off important energy lines, or directly covered the pilots' mouths and faces... Although they could not cause fatal damage, they created enormous chaos.
And Luffy...
" Gum-Gum..." Luffy's arms stretched hundreds of meters backward, his muscles bulging, covered in Armament Haki, " Gigant Bazooka!"
Two enormous black fists shot into the sky like cannonballs, accurately striking two escort ships flying side by side. With a piercing sound of metal twisting, the armor of the two warships caved inward, were forced off course, collided, and exploded with a deafening roar.
In less than a minute, more than ten Taotie escort ships were destroyed or severely damaged. The Straw Hat Pirates displayed a variety of fighting styles, yet their teamwork was impeccable, leaving the Super Soldier Company soldiers dumbfounded by each of their abilities.
"Then... the Seed shot out by that long nose can absorb energy shields?!"
"That green-haired swordsman's attack... was that a tornado? A tornado in the physical sense?!"
"The cook's leg is on fire! Not a propulsion device, but a real living organism burning?!"
"That reindeer... it's gotten bigger?!"
"That skeleton... did it just use 'ice' power? A sudden drop in temperature has been detected!"
"That woman's ability... is it spatial teleportation of limbs? No, it's 'grown'?"
Lian Feng's voice trembled slightly. "General... their fighting style... completely violates known laws of physics and biological principles..."
Du Kao stared intently at the monitor screen, his mind racing with analysis. The power of these otherworldly visitors was indeed unrelated to Dark Energy or Gene Engine. It was a more "primitive," yet more "free" power system. Each of them seemed to have their own "rules," and could impose these "rules" on reality.
And that black-haired young man Allen... so far, he's only made one move, and he deflected a fatal blow from the flagship's main cannon. Just how much more power is he hiding?
The battle in the sky continued. The Straw Hat Pirates's sudden outburst disrupted the Taotie's formation, and the Super Soldier Company seized the opportunity to launch a fierce counterattack.
Inside the flagship " Predator," the Taotie Commander roared in fury, "These inferior creatures... how dare they! Activate the Void Engine to suppress them! Dispatch all God-Slaying Squads! Target: that silver spaceship and those anomalous individuals!"
The flagship's bottom hatch opened, and dozens of Taotie warriors, clad in specially designed armor and wielding god-slaying weapons, sprang out. Unlike ordinary Taotie soldiers, they were more agile, and their armor shimmered with a ghostly purple light—a sign that they had been equipped with Basic Void Engine.
" Void energy detected!" Rena warned. "Be careful! They may possess conceptual strike capabilities!"
However, the Straw Hat Pirates had no concept of " Void energy." All they saw was a group of seemingly more powerful "tin men" charging towards them.
"Oh? Some of them look tough!" Zoro licked his lips.
"I smell something unpleasant..." Sanji frowned.
Allen's eyes turned slightly cold. He sensed an "incongruous" energy fluctuation emanating from the newly appeared enemies, somewhat like... corrupted, distorted fragments of rules.
" Luffy, Zoro, Sanji," Allen began, "Leave the newcomers to me. You guys clean up the rest of the warships."
"Huh? Why?" Luffy, displeased.
"There's something wrong with their 'smell'," Allen explained simply, "It might be a little dangerous."
Before he finished speaking, Allen had already disappeared from the spot.
When he reappeared, he was already hovering in mid-air, blocking the way for the dozens of Godslayers.
The captain of the Taotie Godslayer Squad—a warrior over three meters tall covered in ferocious armor—said in a synthesized electronic voice, "High-energy entity detected... Activate Void Engine, Definition target: Energy Nullification."
A dark purple ripple spread from the captain's body, a sign that the Void Engine was activated—a form of suppression based on a conceptual level.
However, the ripples swept across Allen's body, but they were like mud sinking into the sea, failing to elicit any reaction.
" Definition failed... Target energy system cannot be resolved... Definition... Definition failed..."
The captain's voice carried a hint of panic.
Allen calmly looked at them and slowly raised his left hand. A pure white light shone in his palm—the " Light of Purification," capable of purifying everything.
"The 'pollution' on you... makes me very uncomfortable."
A burst of light erupted, like a miniature sun rising in the night sky.
So, disappear.
A pure white light engulfed the entire Godslayer Squad. There were no explosions, no screams. Those elite Taotie, equipped with Basic Void Engine and theoretically capable of suppressing third-generation super soldiers, vanished silently in the light, like pencil marks erased by an eraser.
Not a single crumb was left.
silence.
The entire battlefield, from the Super Soldier Company and Taotie in the sky to the soldiers on the ground and the personnel in the command center, fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone stared at the black-haired young man hovering in the air, at the white light slowly fading from his palm, and at his calm expression, as if he were merely dusting himself off.
What kind of power is that?!
That wasn't destruction, that wasn't killing... that was "erasure"!
Inside the flagship " Predator," the Taotie Commander slumped in his command chair, the monitoring screen displaying a red warning. "Target Energy Reading:??? Threat Level: Unassessable."
"Retreat... retreat! Initiate a space jump immediately! Get out of here!" the commander roared.
The surviving Taotie warships hurriedly began to turn, attempting to open Wormhole to escape.
But Allen's gaze had already turned to the flagship.
His right eye quietly transformed into a dark gold vertical pupil, with stars seemingly swirling within its depths.
" The Eye of the Torch Dragon - Time Lag"
An invisible domain expanded outwards from Allen, covering an area with a radius of five kilometers. Within this domain, the passage of time was forcibly slowed down tenfold.
The warship, which was turning, seemed to be stuck in sticky glue, its movements becoming incredibly sluggish. The Wormhole engine, which was charging, was also moving at a snail's pace.
" Rena!" Ge Xiaolun was the first to react and shouted.
"Understood!" Rena instantly understood, raising her hands high and unleashing the full power of her stellar energy, " Solar Flare Bombardment - Maximum Output!"
A massive sphere of light, over a hundred meters in diameter, condensed above her head and then crashed into the Predator flagship, which was trapped in the time-lag field, like a meteorite.
This time, no energy shield could stop it, and there was no possibility of maneuvering to evade it.
The light sphere hit its target precisely.
A light more dazzling than any previous explosion erupted, engulfing the flagship and the surrounding escort ships that couldn't escape in time. When the light faded, only scattered metal fragments and slowly dissipating energy ripples remained in the sky.
The Taotie invaded the fleet of the North Star... and were completely annihilated.
The battlefield fell completely silent. Only the sound of the wind whistling through the ruins and the occasional sporadic explosions in the distance could be heard.
The soldiers of the Super Soldier Company slowly landed near the helipad. Each of them looked at Allen, who was slowly descending from the sky, with complicated expressions, as well as his comrades behind him who, despite having just experienced the battle, were unharmed and even seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Du Kao walked out of the command center with steady steps, but the shock in his eyes was hard to hide.
He walked up to Allen, paused for a few seconds, and then slowly spoke:
"I think... we need to talk again. About your world, your power, and... how we might cooperate."
This time, his tone was less scrutinizing and wary, and more solemn, and... a hint of barely perceptible expectation.
These "pirates" from another world may not be a threat.
They may be Earth's most unexpected... ally and variable in this interstellar war.