"I—I must be seeing things!"
"Can someone tell me I'm not dreaming?!"
"Is he... is he even human?"
"No way... Is that guy a monster?!"
The pirates from the other crews nearly had their eyeballs pop out of their sockets as they watched Chris T. Aeridar slowly retract his fist, wearing a savage grin.
Some were so frightened they collapsed onto their butts. As third-rate pirates of the East Blue, they'd never witnessed anything remotely this terrifying.
To them, someone who could fight off a hundred men alone or dodge bullets was already terrifying enough. But a man who could unleash a shockwave with a single punch that ripped through the air and tore across half a street? That wasn't just something they hadn't seen before—they'd never even heard of it.
The Marines who had formed the blockade were nearly annihilated. Even a few pirates waiting at the outskirts for an opening got caught in the blast. Those with thinner frames were swept up like leaves in a storm, flung into the air by the violent wind. Even the bulkier ones were knocked off their feet, tumbling several times across the ground.
As the smoke cleared, pirates both on the main road and the periphery saw the devastation laid bare. A semi-circular trench, nearly five meters wide, gouged through the street, stretching so far it vanished into the distance.
At the entrance to the main road, it was pure chaos. Shattered flagstones, broken goods from market stalls, even the front-loading cannons the Marines had deployed for defense—everything lay in ruin, scattered across the ground.
And the most chilling sight of all—over a hundred Marine corpses, flung forward by the blast, many of them in pieces. Severed limbs. Bloodied torsos. The scene was nothing short of carnage.
"What... what the hell happened here?"
"What just went down?!"
The pirates at the edge of the battlefield stared blankly, unable to comprehend what they were seeing.
Just moments ago, they had been rallying hundreds of pirates, preparing to break through the Navy's blockade before reinforcements from the port arrived. But before they could even charge forward, the entire street had turned into a war zone.
Suddenly, strange bursts rang out from the sky. The pirates instinctively looked up.
Before they could see what was coming, the world seemed to darken. A heavy, muffled impact echoed out, followed by a wave of pressure and dust, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. It felt like something massive had just crashed down from the sky.
"H-Hey, seriously?! That guy's on a whole different level!"
As the smoke cleared again, the pirates lowered their hands and saw a man standing there, his back to them. He wore a pristine white suit and a Marine-issued Justice coat draped over his shoulders.
"How did he even get here?!"
The pirates were stunned. The main road was completely blocked off—how had no one noticed his approach?
"I—I know him! That's a Rear Admiral from Marine Headquarters—the White Devil, Evans!" a pirate suddenly cried, falling on his rear, eyes full of fear.
At once, many of the pirates swallowed hard, instinctively stepping back.
They weren't idiots. Many of them had been in Loguetown long enough to know: the strongest person in this town wasn't some infamous pirate with a bounty over ten million—it was Captain Paras from Marine HQ. His swordsmanship was vicious and precise—none of the pirates had stood a chance against him.
The only reason they had managed to take over the town was due to overwhelming numbers and firepower. Had they faced him one-on-one, they would've been dead or captured already.
And now a Rear Admiral had shown up? Anyone with half a brain could see—this guy made Captain Paras look like a warm-up.
"Whoa... that speed!" Evans suddenly looked up sharply. A black figure plummeted from the sky. With a single stomp of his foot, he vanished from sight.
A shockwave blasted out from where he had stood, flinging debris and dust in every direction. The force tore up the pavement across a radius of several meters.
"Something just hit!"
"Looks like something came crashing down again..."
The pirates were on the verge of losing it. It was one shock after another—they couldn't even catch their breath.
As the smoke faded again, they saw a large, uneven crater where Evans had stood. At the center of the pit stood a young man in his twenties. He looked plain but cheerful, wore a black coat patterned with white waves, no shirt underneath, and a golden ring on his ear.
Something about him looked very familiar.
A burly pirate captain in a blood-red cloak suddenly recognized him, eyes wide: "T-That's the most notorious pirate in the East Blue! The captain of the Chris Pirates! Bounty: forty million Berries—Golden Ring Chris T. Aeridar!"
"East Blue's number one pirate..."
"Dead on with his bounty poster!"
One pirate quickly pulled out a wanted poster for comparison, and the rest lit up with glee. With a bounty that high, surely the Rear Admiral wouldn't waste his time on small fry like them.
"Man, that was close~" Evans stood atop a toppled cannon, patting his chest in mock relief. "Almost had me there."
"Observation Haki, huh...? No wonder they call you a Rear Admiral." Aeridar climbed out of the crater, smirking. Though phrased like a question, his tone was certain—and teasing. "You're under Admiral Kizaru, aren't you? You've got that same sleazy movement style... but you're way better looking."
"Oh? You've met Admiral Kizaru?" Evans narrowed his eyes, voice cooling.
"Well... who's to say?"
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Aeridar vanished, leaving behind only cracked flagstones where he'd stood.
"A mere rookie pirate... Don't underestimate me." Evans, clearly irritated now, also disappeared in a blur.
The air rippled with a thunderous burst. Pirates nearby clutched their ears in pain—the shockwave alone was overwhelming.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!...
On the battlefield, a black and white blur danced across the streets. They clashed in the sky, then slammed into the ground, each impact triggering sonic booms or gouging fresh craters into the pavement.
Suddenly, a massive crescent-shaped slash of bluish-white energy arced through the air, slicing through the barrel of a 12-pound cannon like butter. A shockwave followed immediately, carving a deep trench several meters long in the ground and shattering the initial attack.
Then, Evans appeared in midair, his legs rapidly kicking as he unleashed a flurry of bluish-white crescent slashes raining down in all directions.
Rankyaku — Multi-Slash!
On the ground, Aeridar stared up at the wave of slashes descending upon him. With a mocking scoff, he thrust his right fist skyward.
The air above him suddenly caved inward, like a vortex sucking in the world. Then, in a flash, a translucent, ring-shaped shockwave blasted upward, visible to the naked eye—like a hurricane unleashed in an instant.
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