"What gave you the courage to even think of coveting this island?" Kizaru floated above the crowd, his voice laced with bored mockery. "Your bravery, I do admire… but your end will be miserable."
Golden light flared from Kizaru's fingertips, brilliant and blinding, like a miniature sun condensed with searing heat and dazzling radiance.
The next instant, Kizaru raised his hand, finger pointed down at the densely packed crowd below.
"With so many of you gathered together, it saves me the trouble of hunting you one by one."
"Whoosh!"
A beam of golden light shot forth, diving downward. In the blink of an eye, it struck the heart of the pirate crowd. For a brief moment, everything within a hundred-meter radius seemed to freeze. Then…
"BOOM!"
An explosion tore through the area. Flames of scorching heat and dazzling gold engulfed a radius of thirty to forty meters. That slender laser beam didn't look powerful, but the energy it unleashed was horrifying.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
Those pirates who managed to escape the blast radius screamed in terror as they fled in all directions. The unlucky ones closest to the impact point didn't even have time to run; the intense heat vaporized them instantly, their twisted figures vanishing in a blink.
All their dreams, all their burning passion for glory, crumbled under that single beam of light. Endless fear spread from the pirates' hearts, making their bodies tremble as they ran for their lives like madmen.
The sheer terror and authority of an Admiral made every pirate quiver uncontrollably.
"Trying to run?" Kizaru arched an eyebrow and flicked his finger.
"Xiū! Xiū! Xiū!"
Laser beams streaked through the air, raining down beside fleeing pirates. Each impact brought a dazzling explosion, followed by new waves of screams and the pungent smell of smoke and burnt flesh. Against the might of a Marine Admiral, the pirates stood no chance at all.
…
At the port on the coast.
"What's that sound?" Blanc's expression changed slightly as faint screams reached his ears. He stopped in his tracks.
"It… it sounds like it's coming from District 25!" one of his crewmates spoke hesitantly.
The moment those words left his mouth, every member of the Blanc Pirates turned pale. District 25, that was where the pirates had gathered earlier.
At once, Trens' urgent warning echoed in their minds: "An Admiral… is coming!"
Blanc's face grew grim as he enunciated each word: "Move. Now!"
None of them dared linger. They broke into a full sprint. Fortunately, they were a fair distance from District 25, far enough that even Kizaru wouldn't waste time chasing their individual crew.
Three minutes later, the Blanc Pirates boarded their ship and finally let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Phew… Set sail! Get us out of this damned place!" "Head straight for Fish-Man Island!"
The ship didn't waste a second. Its hull cut through the seawater and disappeared swiftly from the island. Moments later, the Phoenix Pirates, their faces equally tense, rushed aboard their own vessel and departed right after. Both crews had taken Trens' advice and, by sheer luck, narrowly escaped disaster.
…
Back in District 25, where the pirates had gathered just minutes before, the entire area was now a blazing sea of fire.
Kizaru strolled leisurely through the inferno, his body repeatedly transforming into golden light as he flickered from place to place. Each time his finger fired another laser, blinding beams streaked forth, and every blast sent another group of pirates sprawling and screaming.
After five minutes, once waves of Marine soldiers arrived for backup, Kizaru finally stopped.
"My target isn't this small fry…"
Shaking his head, his body blurred into golden brilliance once more. He refracted through the air several times before vanishing from sight.
Ten seconds later, he reappeared outside the Marine base. Before him stretched a shattered landscape, ground split apart for hundreds of meters, and within the ruins, five Vice Admirals were chained inside seastone cages.
Kizaru's expression darkened slightly. "All this… was that kid's doing?"
Turning into light once more, he flashed forward, landing before the five captured Vice Admirals.
"How did this thing even appear here?" Kizaru frowned in confusion. Seastone was strictly controlled by the World Government, so how had it suddenly appeared here, of all places, trapping five Vice Admirals inside?
"It was Rojen!" one of the Vice Admirals gritted his teeth. "He used some kind of mysterious power to trap us!"
"Zephyr Admiral was taken by him! Kizaru, hurry and find him!" another Vice Admiral urged anxiously.
"But what about you all?" Kizaru hesitated.
"We old warhorses will be fine," said one of the Vice Admirals. "Those seastone cages, there's no way you can break them open in a short time anyway. Go!"
"...I understand." Kizaru nodded, then pulled out his Den Den Mushi and ordered his subordinates to head to the Marine base immediately to secure and protect the five Vice Admirals.
After that, he turned into light and sped away alone. The Sabaody Archipelago was vast. Even with Kizaru's blinding speed, searching the entire island would still take time.
…
Ten minutes later, three Marine battleships arrived at the island's port. A stern-looking man stepped off first, followed by a large contingent of Marines who quickly fanned out toward the interior of the island.
"Suppress this island. Guard the harbor. From this moment on, not a single pirate leaves alive!" Sakazuki's cold voice rang out.
"Yes, sir!" The Marines roared in unison and immediately took control of the main harbor routes.
Sakazuki himself led the bulk of the Marine forces deeper inland. After advancing nearly a kilometer, his sharp eyes caught sight of a group of pirates running in panic.
In a blur, his figure surged forward, half his body transforming into molten magma.
"That's the power of the Magu Magu no Mi, Rear Admiral Sakazuki's ability! Too powerful!" the Marines whispered excitedly.
And indeed, the results were exactly as expected, within a single exchange, the pirates were annihilated. The surging magma swallowed the terrified pirates in an instant, burning them to ash, nothing left, not even bones.
"Keep moving forward!" With a wave of his hand, Sakazuki strode on ahead.
It took less than twenty minutes for the chaos across the entire island to be completely suppressed, thanks to the arrival of two Admiral-level forces in succession. The Sabaody Archipelago quickly regained a brutal form of order.
…
At Marine Headquarters, Fleet Admiral Sengoku finally exhaled in relief. But at the same time, an even heavier sense of unease settled over him.
"That cunning brat… what is he planning?"
"He deliberately scattered our forces and created this chaos. That means he's preparing to take advantage of the distraction!"
As he pondered, a sudden, terrifying realization flashed in Sengoku's mind.
"Could it be… the Celestial Dragons?!"
Not long ago, he had come across a classified report, it mentioned that the boy's former companion was actually one of the Celestial Dragons. And more importantly… the two had fought.
"But… no, that doesn't make sense," Sengoku muttered, frowning deeply. "To attack a Celestial Dragon… that should be impossible."
(End Of This Chapter)
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