Chapter 570: Helix, Germa Make Their Move!
At the same time, at Marine Headquarters.
"No… I can't hold out much longer."
Gion's voice was tight with anxiety as she stared at the chaos ahead.
"There are just too many of these Aragami."
They had already retreated to one of the defensive islands near Marine Headquarters, trying to anchor the battlefield and avoid being swallowed by the sea.
But the Aragami kept rising from the water in waves.
Worse still, even the weakest Aragami carried strength on the level of a Marine Rear Admiral.
With numbers like this, even Gion could not keep fighting forever.
Around her, the Marines were showing the same exhaustion.
The ones still standing and still swinging their weapons were all elites, people who had survived countless battles.
Even so, the strain of nonstop combat was beginning to crack their rhythm.
"Vice Admiral Gion, watch out!"
A shout came from the side.
In the next instant, a Aragami charged in, wrapped in a violent sphere of crackling lightning.
At that distance, Gion had no room to dodge.
"So this is it… we just grit our teeth and endure?"
Gion's eyes hardened.
She snapped her golden Konpira up, her body twisting with an unnatural precision.
For a heartbeat, three Gions appeared in everyone's vision.
And all three were real.
Ding ding ding…
A storm of strikes erupted, slamming into the Aragami in rapid succession.
The sheer efficiency of the assault forced the creature back several steps, tearing wounds across its body.
"Efficient…"
The Dyaus Pita's voice carried intelligence, and something uglier beneath it.
"I'll deal with you first…"
Sizzle. Bang.
The lightning around its body surged, expanding outward like a sudden cage.
In an instant, the current swallowed Gion whole.
The Dyaus Pita lifted a claw and swung down at her.
If that strike landed, Gion would be crippled on the spot.
And in front of a creature like this, being crippled meant being devoured in the next breath.
"So… this is where my road ends?"
Gion's expression turned helpless.
Her fingers could not even keep a proper grip on the golden Konpira anymore.
There was no strength left to resist.
The electric current had already paralyzed her body.
And in that frozen moment, Gion realized something even worse.
Aragami at the Dyaus Pita level and above were intelligent.
This monster had let her land her first wave of attacks on purpose.
It had wanted her to lower her guard.
It had wanted this opening.
"Chrollo…"
A bitter thought flickered through her mind.
"At a moment like this, I actually thought of you, you bastard…"
"Vice Admiral Gion!"
"Run!"
Marines shouted from behind.
On the side, a group of sailors charged forward with everything they had, throwing themselves toward Gion without hesitation.
Gion's reputation among them was immense.
She was strong, yes, but more importantly, she had always treated them with patience and kindness.
They could not accept watching her die.
Even if charging forward meant dying themselves, they still ran.
Boom…
Just then, the ground of the island shattered.
Vines exploded upward, shooting straight into the sky.
The Dyaus Pita, mid pounce toward Gion, was swept into the air by those vines instead.
In the same instant, countless sharp thorns erupted along their lengths and pierced clean through the creature's body.
As the Dyaus Pita's flesh was impaled, the vines began to drink.
They absorbed its energy directly.
Soon, arcs of electricity crawled over the vines themselves.
After devouring the Dyaus Pita power, the vines gained the ability to generate lightning too.
Roar!
The Dyaus Pita bellowed with rage and pain.
But the harder it struggled, the tighter the vines wrapped.
The creature's resistance weakened.
Its roar turned hoarse.
Then it went silent.
In moments, it was drained dry.
The vines looked stronger than before.
"Vice Admiral Gion, please rest."
A calm, steady voice came from behind.
"Leave these Aragami to me and my plants."
"Mr. Heracles!"
Everyone turned at once.
Heracles stepped forward, one slow step after another.
Behind him, plants followed as if they were soldiers.
It was hard to describe the sight as anything but eerie.
"These Aragami actually dared to attack my research base."
Heracles's eyes sharpened.
"Then let these beasts see the power of plants."
As he spoke, more vines pushed up from the ground all around them.
And then, a humanoid figure rose with them.
The Marines instantly remembered the massive plant they had encountered at Mary Geoise.
Back then, that single existence had been enough to stop a large naval force by itself.
And now, it looked even stronger than it had been then.
Clap clap clap…
Duke's branches and vines twitched.
The Aragami surging onto the island were whipped away like debris.
Some were shattered in midair.
As each Aragami was destroyed, its energy was extracted and swallowed by the vines.
And with every absorbed pulse of power, the vines grew even more violent.
That ruthless, snowballing method of combat allowed them to wipe out the Aragami in the area at an absurd speed.
"You support Duke."
Heracles voice did not rise, but it carried absolute certainty.
"I'll go check the other areas."
He leapt into the air and landed on the sea.
A plant sprouted directly out of the seawater, caught Heracles like a moving platform, and dragged him forward, sending him flying into the distance.
"Vice Admiral Gion…?"
The Marines around her looked at Gion with disbelief.
In this situation, they did not need to fight at all.
And that line about supporting Duke felt less like an order and more like polite courtesy.
With that overwhelming fighting style, they would not even get the chance to lift a finger.
"Everyone, rest."
Gion forced her breath steady.
"Recover properly…"
"If…"
"Leave it to us."
A new voice cut in.
"Heracles is too fast."
"We, Germa 66, won't fall behind anyone."
Vinsmoke Judge stepped forward.
Behind him stood the Germa Legion, their ranks disciplined and cold.
With this wave of reinforcements, the remaining Aragami were crushed even faster.
"This is… Germa 66?"
A Marine gaped.
"Why does it feel different from the Germa 66 I remember?"
"When did they become this strong?"
Their knowledge of Germa's power was stuck in the past.
And ever since Judge and his people joined the Dragon Hunter Pirates, they had rarely fought publicly.
Now that their strength had surged, it felt like a sudden, dramatic leap.
…
With Heracles and Germa 66 joining the battlefield, the Marines who had been fighting just to survive finally had room to breathe.
Marine Headquarters still had enough top tier combat power to hold the line.
But the sheer number of Aragami, attacking from every direction, had stretched even Garp's group thin.
Heracles and Germa filled the gaps instantly.
Hours later, the battle finally ended.
Was it really over?
"These Aragami… they're finally gone!"
"I… survived?"
For a moment, even ordinary sailors felt as if they had crawled out of a catastrophe.
Mr. Heracles, thank you for your help."
Sakazuki stepped forward, voice hard but sincere.
"It seems Captain Ryuunosuke was joking when he told us to protect you."
It had to be said.
The strength Heracles had just displayed was beyond anything they could properly measure.
With combat power like that, Heracles had no need for Marine protection at all.
Heracles shook his head.
"This wasn't a joke."
"If it were only Judge and me working together, we still wouldn't have been able to get rid of these Aragami so cleanly."
"The Marines' combat power was also very strong."
He paused, then asked directly.
"By the way… is the captain coming?"
"Um?"
Sakazuki froze for a moment, then glanced to the side at Garp.
He had not had the time to contact Ryuunosuke during the battle.
If anyone had done it, it would only be Garp.
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