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RUMBLE!!!
Terrifying thunderclaps roared furiously through the skies between the Gates of Justice and Enies Lobby.
Above, colossal pillars of lightning, several meters wide, carried the destructive power of pure thunder—divine retribution for those who angered the God of Lightning.
The instantaneous capsizing of two Water 7-crafted warships—vessels capable of battling giant Sea Kings on the open sea—was the most brutal testament to this cataclysmic ability, the Power of Lightning!
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"BE CAREFUL! It's the Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit!"
"One of the most invincible Devil Fruits!"
"An Emperor of the Sea—is enraged!"
"ABANDON SHIP! Head for the warships with the Vice Admirals!!"
"NO! THE SEAWATER CONDUCTS ELECTRICITY! Anyone below Rear Admiral rank who can't use Haki, stay out of the water!"
Panic erupted on the sinking warships.
At this moment, these Elite Marines truly understood what a top-tier natural disaster ability meant. While the Magma-Magma Fruit might be stronger offensively, lightning's speed was simply too fast.
Even their reinforced warships, capable of traversing the Calm Belt, had no time to react—and once struck, they were utterly at the mercy of that violent, chaotic energy.
Worse—the lightning also coursed through the sea itself. Without at least Rear Admiral level Haki, entering the water near a stricken ship meant certain electrocution.
Against magma, they could at least escape into the sea.
But against lightning? No escape!
Only now did these elite Marines fully understand why the Rumble-Rumble Fruit was called one of the most invincible Logias.
Its speed, its power, its attack range—all stood at the pinnacle among Devil Fruits! On the open sea, they'd rather face magma than this terrifying, inescapable lightning.
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"DAMN IT! BLOCK IT!" Onigumo roared from Akainu's ship.
The other four Vice Admirals—Momonga, Yamakaji, Doberman, and Strawberry—were each on a separate warship.
These four were all battle-hardened veterans, the absolute core of the Navy's strength—among the top tier even within Marine HQ's Vice Admirals.
Facing the descending lightning pillars, the four instantly drew their swords—dense Armament Haki coated their blades. They roared, unleashing Haki-Infused flying slashes towards the terrifying thunderbolts raining down!
Most powerful officers at the Vice Admiral level were Great Swordsman.
These top-tier Vice Admirals were all exceptionally skilled swordsmen—Their full-power flying slashes, enhanced with Armament Haki, could easily cleave a pirate ship in two.
They had faced countless pirates with bounties in the hundreds of millions, even the commanders of Emperor crews!
But facing these terrifying lightning pillars, even their most powerful attacks could barely hold them off, their defenses slowly, inexorably crumbling.
These lightning pillars contained not a shred of Haki, they were pure Rumble-Rumble Fruit Power—and Devil Fruit abilities weren't inherently countered by Haki.
Strong Haki could shatter weaker Devil Fruit powers, and conversely—sufficiently powerful Devil Fruit abilities could likewise shatter Haki!
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit, one of the absolute top-tier Devil Fruits, once mastered and Awakened, could elevate its user to Admiral level based solely on fruit power.
Though these lightning pillars weren't Rowen's full power, unleashed as a wide-area barrage to destroy the warships, the energy they contained was still beyond what these Vice Admirals could fully withstand.
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"DAMN IT! The Rumble-Rumble Fruit disrupts Observation Haki! I can't hold on much longer!" Momonga gritted his teeth, cold sweat pouring down his face, his eyes wide with horror.
As a top-tier Vice Admiral, Momonga's combat strength was very close to the Yonko Commander threshold. Even facing the top officers of an Emperor's crew, Momonga wouldn't flinch.
But facing this violent, terrifying barrage—even the battle-hardened Momonga felt a creeping despair.
Admiral Akainu's Magma-Magma Fruit attacks were horrifying, yes, but at least there was room to dodge!
But—
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was completely different!
His Observation Haki was instantly overwhelmed the moment that terrifying thunder roared—though he had received intel about this from Aokiji, only facing it directly could one truly grasp its horror...
The minimum for a Marine HQ Vice Admiral was mastery of two Haki types: Armament and Observation.
Though their strength wasn't on par with Admiral Candidates, they weren't helpless either. Their combined mastery of Haki and swordsmanship made them incredibly well-rounded fighters.
They were accustomed to fighting using the synergistic combination of Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and swordsmanship.
But now, to suddenly lose their Observation Haki mid-battle—they were completely disoriented!
And their opponent wielded the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, whose attack speed was unmatched among Devil Fruits. Plus, since the attacks directly targeted their warships, dodging was impossible!
They could only block directly.
But even blocking was futile—this fearful energy could completely shatter their Armament Haki defenses.
Their only means of withstanding the lightning onslaught was to continuously unleash flying slashes infused with all their Haki, hoping to wear down the falling thunderbolts.
And this was just a wide-area barrage, not even close to the Rumble-Rumble Fruit's full power.
If he launched a full-power attack specifically at them—no amount of Haki or swordsmanship could prevent them from being instantly reduced to cinders.
One of the most invincible Logia abilities—Momonga and the others now truly, profoundly understood—how terrifyingly powerful and versatile this fruit truly was.
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Just as they were about to be overwhelmed, a terrifying surge of magma erupted from the main warship below!
Massive amounts of molten rock, radiating volcanic heat, coalesced into two giant dog heads that lunged upwards—snapping viciously towards the falling lightning!
"Inugami Guren (Hound Blaze)——!" Akainu roared, his expression icy cold.
His two arms had transformed into massive, blazing dog heads formed from magma. In this attack, the magma took the form of hounds that savagely bit at their enemies.
The mouths of these magma hounds continuously erupted with smaller blasts of molten rock, like miniature volcanoes, possessing terrifying destructive power.
These magma hounds accurately intercepted the descending lightning pillars, tearing them apart, dissipating them into nothingness.
A fierce, red light burned in Akainu's eyes—Observation Haki: Future Sight!
Akainu had also trained his Observation Haki to its absolute limit!
"ADMIRAL AKAINU!" Momonga and the other Vice Admirals sighed in relief, then immediately felt a wave of shame.
As Marine HQ Vice Admirals, the main force of the Buster Call—they were being saved by their Admiral.
Though their target this time wasn't Sky Sovereign Rowen, but the Straw Hat crew—as battle-hardened Vice Admirals, they weren't fools—they knew they were no match for Rowen.
That was a True Monster of the seas only an Admiral could engage.
But—being pushed to their limits like this before even making contact, suffering such terrifying losses—half the Buster Call fleet instantly decimated—they hadn't anticipated such an outcome.
Among them, Yamakaji felt it most keenly.
He was one of the two Vice Admirals (along with Onigumo) who had finalized Rowen's initial bounty, a mere 100 million Beri, for his exploits in the East Blue, considered an unprecedented figure at the time.
Though Sky Sovereign Rowen was already known for his Conqueror's Haki, he had been viewed merely as a promising rookie back then.
Who could have imagined—that in just a few months, he would rise with such terrifying speed!
His bounty skyrocketing from 100 million, to 1.1 billion, to the current 3 billion Beri—and his strength now capable of making even them, Marine HQ Vice Admirals, feel despair!
Forget his Haōshoku Coating... they couldn't even withstand his Rumble-Rumble Fruit ability alone. Even Admiral Akainu's first attack was thwarted by the opponent's abilities.
Half the Buster Call fleet's ten warships, destroyed in an instant.
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"LAND IMMEDIATELY! I WILL COVER YOUR LANDING!" Akainu bellowed, his face incredibly grim as he watched five Buster Call warships sink before even reaching the target.
Akainu had, of course, planned countermeasures for the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Though he appeared ruthless and brutal, his fighting style fueled by the Magma-Magma Fruit's relentless offensive power, Akainu also possessed considerable strategic acumen.
He could execute even Sengoku's most complex plans flawlessly—and using trash-talk to unsettle his opponents on the battlefield was also one of his specialties...
But now... His original plan of overwhelming the landing zone with Magma-Magma power and the ten warships' massive firepower advantage—had turned into a nightmare where they were being blasted helplessly at sea by Rowen's Lightning.
Even Akainu, at this moment, felt intensely frustrated.
Countering the Door-Door Fruit was relatively straightforward—overwhelm it with even stronger Haki Infusion.
Haki could bypass Logia intangibility; naturally, it could also shatter the power of an Awakened Devil Fruit. If their Haki was strong enough, even opened Air Doors could be forcefully closed.
But that method only worked in close quarters!
Rowen has fully mastered Haōshoku Coating—even if Akainu infused every single magma fist of Meteor Volcano with massive amounts of Armament Haki—Rowen could still use Haōshoku Coating to shatter the Armament Haki on the magma fists, then use the Door-Door Fruit to redirect the magma attacks above them.
Once a long-range elemental attack left its user, its trajectory couldn't be altered.
With sufficient time and space, Rowen simply needed to shatter the Haki coating the elemental attack.
Human-Human Fruit.
Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Door-Door Fruit.
And fully mastered Haōshoku Coating—
—To attack someone with that combination, you had to engage in CLOSE COMBAT.
Long-range attacks were utterly, completely useless.
Until they made landfall—they were stuck taking hits helplessly! Akainu's eyes, like a volcano about to erupt, glared at the lightning-wreathed figure above.
He would melt that thunder brat with magma!!
He had never felt so humiliated!!!
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"As expected of a Marine Admiral... Even an attack like that, he blocked it—" Zoro commented, tying his bandana around his head, the demonic Asura Aura flickering in his eyes.
'Next—comes close-quarters combat!'
"Simple long-range attacks are indeed no longer a threat to them, but—" Rowen, too, hadn't expected to completely sink the Buster Call fleet with just the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. It was far from over.
Rowen's arm, previously pointed skyward, now shifted slightly.
"300 Million Volt—Thunder Serpent——! Black Mamba——!"
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Terrifying lightning instantly coalesced into two massive black mambas, their jaws open wide in a silent, deadly snarl, coiling through the sky.
Click!
Two Air Doors abruptly opened. The two lightning serpents slithered through them, vanishing.
Click!
Above the two warships furthest from Akainu—Doberman's and Strawberry's—two Air Doors abruptly opened.
Doberman and Strawberry's faces paled drastically.
CRACKLE! BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit's fastest attack, Black Mamba—with no warning, no chance to react—instantly engulfed them.
Thump! Thump!
Two charred corpses slowly crumpled to the deck.
The battle had lasted less than ten minutes.
Five Buster Call warships—capsized.
Marine HQ Vice Admirals Doberman and Strawberry—DEAD!
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