Fire God Form!

Judging by the scene, the warship had come under heavy cannon fire, and dried blood covered the deck.

There wasn't a single body aboard, though.

The entire warship was deserted, drifting on the sea.

Before long, the Wave-Breaking Warrior drew up alongside the warship. Dimon stood by the railing, studying its hull. The hull number at the stern looked very familiar.

"That's..." Mammon recognized the ship too. "It's that Marine Colonel's ship."

Dimon nodded.

Unless the Marines assigned hull numbers at random, there shouldn't have been two identical ones.

There wasn't a single body aboard the warship, though. It looked as if someone had attacked it and either captured everyone or simply thrown them into the sea to feed the fish.

With that thought, Dimon jumped lightly into the air, using Geppo to cross the water between the two vessels and land on the warship with ease.

He looked down at the bloodstains on the deck. Judging by how the blood had crusted and its color, it was at least a day old.

"Mammon, see if you can find any gold or silver. This guy's pretty rich."

Mammon kicked open the cabin door and emerged a short while later. "Someone already searched the place. There's nothing much left. They even took some of the cannonballs."

The cannons, cannonballs, food, fresh water and everything else aboard the warship-anything remotely useful had been carried off.

"If there's nothing, forget it."

Dimon shook his head, wondering whether to tow the warship away. It was worth quite a bit; if he could tow it away and sell it, he could make at least fifty million.

But on second thought, who would buy it?

No wonder the attackers hadn't taken the warship. It probably wasn't easy to sell.

"No, I can't leave empty-handed. I have to find something."

Unwilling to give up, Dimon entered the cabin and searched everywhere.

In the ransacked captain's quarters, he actually did find something.

It was a Den Den Mushi contact book, filled with numbers for all sorts of Marines.

Various detention units, various Marine Bases, the Marine Headquarters communications office, various Colonels, various Commodores...

As he flipped through it, Dimon suddenly spotted a familiar name.

Marine Headquarters Colonel, "Black Cage" Hina.

"Hina? That's the woman Colonel who likes smoking, the Paramecia Cage-Cage Fruit user."

Dimon didn't remember much about her. She hadn't appeared much in the story and was a minor character among the Marines.

He kept turning the pages and spotted a few more familiar names.

Shu, a Marine Headquarters Colonel and user of the Paramecia Rust-Rust Fruit. Dimon didn't remember the name, but he recognized the ability. Shu had rusted Zoro's sword during the battle at Enies Lobby.

Brannew, a Marine Headquarters Major, the "Meeting King," who often organized and presided over Marine meetings.

Smoker, a Marine Headquarters Colonel nicknamed "White Hunter," a Marine Supernova and user of the Logia Smoke-Smoke Fruit.

"This guy knows a lot of people. Plenty of familiar names in here."

After looking through the last page, Dimon closed the contact book.

He didn't know what use it would be, but he took it anyway. At least the trip hadn't been for nothing.

"Let's go."

They left the warship, returned to the Wave-Breaking Warrior and continued along their original course.

That evening, Mammon came to report that a pirate ship had appeared to the southwest.

Dimon sent Ain out to scout. It was a large three-masted sailing ship, with more than a dozen cannons mounted along its sides, a display of fighting power no weaker than a warship's.

A Jolly Roger was painted on its enormous sail: a white skull on a black background, with a long saber slanted above the skull.

A sailor was keeping watch on deck, and soon after Dimon spotted them, they spotted the Wave-Breaking Warrior as well.

"Ship to the northeast! No flag, affiliation unknown!"

"Quick, tell the captain!"

Someone rushed toward the cabin.

Dimon noticed a man in shackles lying on the deck, scrubbing it. He looked completely out of place among the pirates around him.

Notably, the man was wearing a Marine uniform. It was Pierce Ed!

"You're still alive?"

A sudden chuckle rang out of thin air, making Colonel Ed shudder from head to toe.

"Stop looking. It's me, Zoro."

"Mr. Zoro!?"

Ed's eyes widened. He looked around, but saw only the busy pirates.

"You can't see me. I'm still some distance away from you. Did the pirates capture you?"

Ed instinctively wanted to call for help, but when he realized he was surrounded by pirates, he immediately lowered his voice and lamented:

"I led my warship out to hunt down the Isaac Pirates, but they ambushed us first!"

"The pirates didn't kill you?"

"My uncle's a Vice Admiral. They want a ransom... But my uncle absolutely can't find out about this, or his evaluation of me will go down."

Ed gritted his teeth and hurriedly said, "Mr. Zoro, please save me."

"I can save you, but your opponents don't look weak."

"I'll pay you twice the bounty!"

"Do I look like someone who only cares about money? I thought there was a pure friendship between us. You've really disappointed me!"

"Three times!"

"Deal."

Chapter 18: Fire God Form!

"Master, there's no need for you to deal with these minor pirates yourself!"

Aboard the Wave-Breaking Warrior, on deck.

Dimon temporarily cut off contact with Ed and heard Mammon volunteering to fight beside him.

It's precisely because they're minor pirates that I'm willing to take them on myself, even though they're above my level. You really can't read the situation!

"Heh... Zuizui, take the ship over there!"

The helm spun wildly, the sails adjusted their angle, and the Wave-Breaking Warrior headed straight for the pirate ship to the southwest.

On the other ship, a captain wearing a blue bandanna ordered his crew to prepare for battle.

When the two ships were less than a kilometer apart, a fierce barrage of cannon fire erupted.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Without a signal-flag warning, thick gunsmoke billowed up as the cannons roared one after another. Their reports were deafening, and iron shot screamed through the air.

In one broadside, more than a dozen cannonballs flew across the sea in a line.

Naval cannons in this era were extremely inaccurate. Anyone who could hit once in ten shots was an extraordinary gunner.

"Mammon, protect the ship."

With those words, Dimon moved, launching himself from the deck like a shot from a slingshot.

He stepped on empty air, producing a series of sonic booms. In the blink of an eye, he had flown hundreds of meters and was rapidly closing in on the pirate ship.

"What? Someone's flying toward us! Captain Isaac!"

Isaac's expression changed. He immediately drew the pistol at his waist, squinted one eye to aim and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

With a bang, the bullet shot straight at Dimon.

Compared with the cannons' area bombardment, his bullet was more like a precise sniper shot.

But Dimon made a right-angle turn in midair, shooting straight upward and abruptly gaining altitude.

By now, he was just over a hundred meters from the pirate ship.

Looking down at the pirates aboard, Dimon stepped lightly on the air, his body bobbing slightly up and down as he "stood" in the sky.

At the sight, the pirates all wore expressions of utter astonishment.

"What the hell! How can a man fly in the sky?!"

Colonel Ed, who had seen it all as well, remained on his knees scrubbing the deck, but his jaw nearly hit the floor.

The Six Powers!

How could a bounty hunter know their Marines' physical techniques?!

Those were the Six Powers! Even among officers of his rank, few could master them!

At that moment, Captain Isaac's face turned livid, and he shouted up at the sky, "Who are you? What grudge do we have? Why are you attacking me?"

He was certain it was a face he had never seen before, and judging by the man's clothes, he wasn't a Marine either.

"Don't go making things up. You're the one who fired on my ship first."

Without wasting words, Dimon raised his leg and kicked out a slash.

Rankyaku!

The vacuum whipped up an invisible blade that sliced through the air.

In an instant, the massive pirate ship was cleaved in two right down the middle, its deck torn apart and its keel severed.

The pirates clutched at whatever they could reach, terrified of falling into the sea.

"The ship's sinking!"

"Damn it, that's a monster!"

"Captain, do something, quick!"

Isaac's face was livid. He aimed his pistol at Dimon and fired three more shots in rapid succession.

Dimon flashed through the air in a Z-shaped maneuver, dodging the bullets as he suddenly dived.

In the space of a breath, he closed in and lashed out with a raised leg like an iron whip.

"So fast!"

Isaac could barely make out the start of the attack. Without even time to think, he quickly raised both hands in front of his chest.

The impact Dimon expected never came. His kick felt as though it had struck a soft lump of dough.

Isaac's chest caved inward under the force, his whole body bending into a C shape.

A Devil Fruit user?

Dimon was surprised. This was his first fight with a Devil Fruit user since he had transmigrated.

His opponent's ability was unknown, but it appeared to be a Paramecia type with a peculiar bodily structure.

After Dimon's kick struck him, he absorbed the impact by deforming his body.

At that moment, Colonel Ed, who had fallen from the sloping deck into the sea, hurriedly shouted:

"Careful, Zoro! He's a Paramecia Sponge-Sponge Fruit user. He can bounce back all the impact he absorbs!"

Before he had finished speaking, Dimon had already felt the recoil against his leg.

"Get lost, you little brat!!" Isaac sneered.

The full force of the kick bounced back, but Dimon wasn't sent flying by his own kick as Isaac had expected.

Isaac's expression froze. He saw the person before him suddenly turn into a mass of flames that scattered outward.

The flames blazed fiercely, swelling to an enormous size.

A light voice rang out: