A shadow streaked across the sky above the sea, moving at breakneck speed.
The black figure slammed directly into the superstructure on the warship's deck. Wood exploded outward in all directions, clouds of dust and smoke billowed up, and the entire vessel shuddered violently. The deck caved inward from the impact, and the ship tilted sharply to starboard—at least forty or fifty degrees.
"Was that... the Navy?" Oliver was the first to spot the shadow. It had moved fast, but not too fast for his eyes.
"What the hell just happened?" Gorbo looked dazed. All he'd heard was the massive crash, followed by the sudden, jarring tremble of the warship collapsing inward.
"Was that thing... a person?!"
"Baka, no way—no human could fly in like that!"
"Seriously, what the hell just hit us?!"
"The ship—don't tell me it's... it's sinking?!"
On deck, both pirates and Marines had seen it happen. If not for the tremor and the sharp dip of the warship, some might've thought they were hallucinating. As confusion reigned, many began to panic, convinced the ship was going under.
"Captain, did you just punch that guy all the way over there?" Arlan asked, scanning the wreckage of their own damaged ship, still unable to spot who he was looking for.
"Huh? I aimed that way... wait—don't tell me I accidentally sent him flying to the other warship?" Chris T. Aeridar gestured toward the distant vessel. He didn't look entirely sure himself.
"..." Arlan stared speechlessly at the other ship, more than a hundred meters away. Then he said flatly, "Captain, our crew is currently attacking that ship. Wanna go take a look?"
"Of course, bro." Aeridar didn't seem the least bit bothered.
"As for this ship? Let's just finish it off!"
Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom...
One after the other, Aeridar and Arlan leapt high into the air, white vapor spiraling beneath their feet as they kicked off the sky itself.
"D-Dammit... that bastard can use it too..." Torod, critically wounded and buried in rubble, watched in shock as both Aeridar and Arlan ran through the sky using Geppo. He lay frozen, unable to believe it.
Arlan had learned Geppo directly from Aeridar, who taught him both Soru and Rankyaku as well. Being a close-combat specialist, Arlan had no interest in sword techniques, so he focused only on mastering Soru and Geppo, finally getting the hang of the latter just three months before setting sail.
Aeridar had wanted to teach Gorbo Tekkai, but... well, he didn't know it himself, so that plan kind of fell apart.
Midair, when the two reached about 50 meters above sea level, Arlan continued racing toward Warship No. 1.
But Aeridar—without any warning—twisted around midair and drove his fist down with brutal force.
"Maximum Ring—Impact Wave!!"
The air ruptured. A translucent, pale-white shockwave, over three meters wide, exploded from Aeridar's fist.
The shockwave crashed into the center of the warship's deck, shattering it on impact and punching a gaping hole straight through the wood. The blast tore down into the heart of the vessel.
The entire ship quaked violently. In an instant, it was nearly split in half. Seawater surged into the breached hull, and the pirates from the Great Axe Pirates—as well as the Marines aboard—could all feel the vessel starting to sink beneath them.
"It's—It's breached!"
"We're taking on water!"
"No—No! We're going under!"
"That devil... he's trying to kill us all!"
"Jump—jump off the ship!"
"Where are the lifeboats?!"
"I'm... I'm going to die, huh?" Torod lay limply on the shattered deck as seawater rushed over the wood. "So justice... couldn't defeat evil after all. What a shame..." He let go of his last shred of strength and tilted his head sideways.
He died with his eyes wide open, as if trying to say something with them even in death.
Panic erupted on deck. Pirates and Marines alike scrambled to find lifeboats. But there were far too many people—each boat could only hold about twenty at most. With just two on board, dozens more were left behind.
Some didn't even wait. They grabbed floating planks, barrels, or anything that could help them stay afloat, and leapt straight into the sea.
"F-Feels like... every bone in my body is broken..."
Captain Mori slowly came to as his mind cleared. He found himself lying inside a room that was both familiar and foreign—it was his own quarters aboard Warship No. 1.
Now reduced to wreckage, nearly crushed by his own body.
His injuries were beyond severe. Countless bones were broken, and he was bleeding from multiple places. But he still had feeling. That meant he was alive.
Above deck, Oliver was on a rampage. Nearly a hundred Marine corpses lay scattered around him. He glanced at the shattered structure where the impact had landed and barked to his First Division crew:
"Two of you—go check it out."
"Captain, I'm in too."
Two rather punk-looking pirates stepped up, each holding a steel hand axe over half a meter long.
"Be careful," Oliver warned. He didn't know if the Marine was still alive, but those were his men going in, after all.
Suddenly, two figures dropped from the sky like meteors, shaking the entire deck upon impact and kicking up clouds of dust and debris.
"Oi, don't go near him," one of the new arrivals said. "That guy's a monster. Even injured, he's not someone you two can handle."
"Huh...?" The two pirates had just reached the stairs to the first floor of the structure when they turned around at the familiar voice.
Oliver frowned. "Captain, you didn't just knock that Marine onto our ship, did you?"
"Yep. Got the urge to break into song, honestly," Aeridar said with a toothy grin, scratching his head through a metal glove.
"Not only that—he wrecked the entire warship," Arlan muttered from the side. "Also, Captain, you're tone-deaf, remember?"
"Tch..." Oliver clicked his tongue and waved the two pirates back. "Get back here."
Then, turning toward the sea, he spotted it: only the bow of the enemy warship was still above water. The rest had already vanished beneath the waves. A whirlpool had started forming.
Seeing that the Captain, First Mate, and Head of Combat were all present, the two pirates quickly realized how serious things had gotten. They turned around without a word and ran back.
Aeridar activated his Observation Haki, scanning the area. After a moment, he stepped forward, smirking.
"Captain Mori, I know you're still alive," he called out loudly. "What's the matter? Too sore to show your face? Or did you wear yourself out last night?"
Both Oliver and Arlan twitched at the corners of their mouths. Their captain's shamelessness was something they were all too familiar with.
Inside the wrecked room, Captain Mori nearly spat blood. Wore himself out last night? The hell kind of filthy accusation was that?!
"Night of ten ladies, my ass!" Mori fumed. I didn't do jack last night!
The slander was unforgivable.
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