Sengoku frowned deeply. "Fruit?"
Just because of a single Devil Fruit, he massacred people across the entire Sabaody Archipelago? Bloodshed like that suited Sakazuki's nature, but what kind of fruit could cause something this extreme...
"Call Borsalino here."
The soldier saluted. "Yes, sir!" He turned and ran out in a hurry.
Sengoku immediately grabbed the Den Den Mushi and dialed out, but no one picked up from the other end.
"Damn it…" he muttered, slamming his fist down on the table in frustration.
* * *
Grand Line, Sabaody Archipelago.
The island had lost its once peaceful and beautiful charm.
The seventy-nine giant mangrove trees that made up the archipelago were now surrounded by a towering ring of molten rock with no visible exit. The wall of magma rose higher than the trees themselves, hiding whatever horrors were happening inside.
Ships from around the world that had recently arrived drifted helplessly outside the barrier. Some smart ones turned and left, realizing the danger, but others who lacked supplies could only wait anxiously.
As more ships gathered, pirates among them grew restless, preparing to plunder.
But just then, countless spears of magma burst outward from the molten wall, raining destruction upon every pirate vessel nearby.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rolled across the sea in a deafening chain, sending the pirates one by one to their graves.
Inside the archipelago, the mangrove trees were divided by the rising walls of magma, turning the island into what looked like a massive hive from above.
In the sky, magma spears crisscrossed like a spider's web, blocking out the light. Dozens of pirate corpses hung impaled upon them, their blood dripping endlessly like rain.
They were the ones who had tried to leave by air, relying on their strength. Every one of them had been pierced through and left dangling, their blood staining the island in a downpour of red.
From Grove 30 to Grove 1, not a single intact body remained where Sakazuki and Bullet had passed.
A suffocating despair gripped the hearts of the remaining pirates.
There was no escape. Those who could leap through the air were already dead, skewered and hung above.
On the ground, Sakazuki stood with his arms crossed, watching the fleeing pirates with cold indifference.
Bullet, his skin now a deep blue and his eyes crimson, had entered his Demon Mode. And what he did next could only be described as something a demon would do.
Gunfire, cannon blasts, slashes of sword aura, and bursts of Devil Fruit abilities filled the air, though none of it made a difference.
The attacks hitting Bullet were nothing but scratches.
Following a blur of motion, he appeared before two pirates, seizing them by the head and slamming them together.
Crack!
Their skulls shattered like melons dropped from a height, blood spraying outward in a red mist.
Around them, pirates shoved and tripped over one another in panic, trying desperately to use their comrades as shields to buy time to flee. But it was all useless.
Bullet appeared again, catching one pirate who had been shoved backward. He grinned viciously.
The man froze in terror, unable to speak, as Bullet's giant hand pressed against his head.
His other hand clutched the pirate's waist.
Crunching sounds echoed as bones were pulverized. The upper half of the man's body was crushed into pulp and shards of bone. Bullet gripped the other half of the corpse and hurled it like a pitcher throwing a fastball.
Boom!
The thrown corpse exploded against another pirate, scattering blood and flesh.
Bullet's arm blurred as he caught a storm of incoming bullets with ease. In his palm, he held a handful of round shells. He rolled one onto his thumb and flicked it toward a pirate.
A thin film of light coated the bullet, which shot through the air at incredible speed. Mid-flight, it expanded three times, turning into a cannonball.
It skimmed past the pirate's head. The man barely had time to feel relief when Bullet appeared in front of him, grabbed the huge shell, and smashed it down onto his skull.
Boom!
A mushroom cloud ten meters high rose into the air, thick black smoke pouring upward. The pirate's body was completely gone.
Inside the smoke, Bullet swung his arm.
Sizzle!
The dark fumes split apart like torn cloth. He rolled another bullet between his fingers.
The next series of explosions thundered across the grove, filling the air with the heavy stench of gunpowder.
Sakazuki watched the whole scene quietly. The Den Den Mushi in his pocket had not stopped ringing: calls from the government, from the Marines. But the endless noise only deepened his irritation.
He frowned, pressed his hand against the snail, and crushed it.
Crack!
Silence fell over the world.
Within his Observation Haki's perception range, people were already waiting outside. Waving his hand, he used his power to open a molten passage in the barrier.
"Bullet, take care of them all."
Bullet stopped moving and glanced toward the opening in the magma wall.
"Understood."
A blue afterimage flashed through Grove 1.
At the magma opening were all the marines stationed at Sabaody Archipelago, along with Demora, who had already attained the rank of vice admiral.
In their horrified eyes, the pirates who had just come into view paused for a split second, then instantly all exploded into a blood mist that filled the sky.
Then, cutting through the crimson mist, a surviving pirate was hurled forward, crashing right in front of Demora.
The man's terrified face stopped inches from Demora's own. The vice admiral's heart skipped a beat.
Rip!
The pirate was torn in half before his eyes, falling to the ground in pieces.
His body drenched in gore, Bullet let out a savage grin and said, "Admiral Sakazuki is waiting for you inside."
Demora froze, his heart pounding rapidly.
Bullet stepped closer, towering over him. "Didn't you hear me?"
Demora flinched and stammered, "Y-Yes! Yes, sir!"
He hurried around Bullet and rushed into the bloody fog. But just after a few steps, a low, chilling voice came from within.
"Three."
"Two."
The pressure of Conqueror's Haki hit him like a wall of death, and Demora finally reacted. Drawing on his strength as a vice admiral, he vanished with a single Soru.
Whoosh!
He appeared before Sakazuki.
Swallowing hard, he lowered his head and greeted nervously, "Admiral Akainu."
The admiral looked down at him without expression.
Smack!
Boom!
Half of Demora's face caved in, and he crashed into the ground, leaving a deep crater beneath him.
Sakazuki's cold voice followed after the strike. "Did you forget what your job is? Hm?"
**
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