At this moment, Lin Muxue spoke up.
"Knowing Ye Yu as I do, he might not surrender outright. Doesn't he always strive to create miracles? Perhaps he wants to test himself in this battle as well. If that's the case, then from the very start, we should go all out without holding back."
"That's possible."
Soon after, a notification sound rang out.
"Random matchups will now begin. Two opponents will face off in each battle. The battlefield is a designated sea area, with a scope equivalent to a small city."
This caused Jin Mo and the others to pale. With a restricted range—no larger than a small city—Ye Yu's Conqueror's Haki…
Their expressions darkened immediately.
Ye Ming, the user of the String-String Fruit, looked grim. "Ye Yu's Conqueror's Haki was already capable of covering an entire city when he fought us before. Forget now—he can definitely blanket this entire sea area."
Jin Mo's voice was heavy. "In that case, low-tier fighters, and even some elites, won't be able to participate. They'll collapse the moment they enter."
Song Ling frowned. "But since we're already here, everyone has to face this."
Naturally, the most panicked were the low-tier crew members, who were well aware of the terror of Ye Yu's Conqueror's Haki. Passing out would be one thing, but they might even be killed by the sheer force of it.
A wave of fear spread among the low-tier crew members of the thirteen top Pirate Crews, who made up the majority—numbering around a million.
After all, each of these was a top-tier Pirate Crew with massive numbers, unlike the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew, which followed an elite path where even the low-tier members had decent strength.
But for these other crews, most of their low-tier members were mere cannon fodder, so they were terrified. Whispers broke out among them.
"What do we do? We'll definitely be affected by Ye Yu's Conqueror's Haki."
"This is another terrifying aspect of Ye Yu. In large-scale naval battles, his Conqueror's Haki has an overwhelming impact."
"Outside, it's fine—Ye Yu's Conqueror's Haki can't cover the entire world, so we could stay far away. But here, we'll be caught in it."
"If we could actually help, that'd be one thing. But we're just walking into a slaughter. Passing out for a nap would be fine, but Ye Yu's bounty is 1.8 billion. His strength is monstrous. Even though Conqueror's Haki can't be strengthened through training, his sheer willpower now is undoubtedly greater, making his Haki even stronger. I'll definitely be killed by the shockwave."
"I want out. I don't want to fight."
"I regret this so much. Why did I even join?"
"Captain, let's just surrender the moment we enter. If Ye Yu unleashes his Conqueror's Haki first, killing a bunch of us before we surrender, the losses would be too great. Winning first place would give us minimal shared experience, and we wouldn't even be able to wipe out the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew this time. Losing so many low-tier crew members for nothing would be a terrible trade."
"Yeah, Captain. Surrender immediately upon entering. That way, we'll be teleported out before Ye Yu can even release his Haki on us."
...
Nearly all the low-tier crew members turned to their captains in desperation, pleading.
Before the battle had even begun, their morale had already crumbled, replaced by sheer terror.
Jin Mo and the others noticed this and grew even more solemn. Their concerns were justified.
The other captains wavered. After all, this alliance had been formed primarily to eliminate Ye Yu, so they were willing to make some sacrifices. But if the losses were too great and Ye Yu still wasn't taken down, it would be a complete waste.
Bai Shaohan frowned. "Ye Yu's Conqueror's Haki is too powerful. In that case, I think we should surrender after entering."
"I think so too."
Immediately, many lower-ranked crew members sighed in relief, and even some regular crew members relaxed. After all, Ye Yu's Conqueror's Haki could affect even some regular crew members.
Yang Luo reminded them, "Don't panic. It's not certain yet."
Bai Shaohan frowned. "What do you mean? You don't want to surrender? Even if you're the commander, we can't just follow your orders."
"Right, impossible."
Yang Luo said, "Perhaps this is an opportunity. If so, the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew might not necessarily surrender. Or rather, they'll likely try to fight, giving us a chance to deal them a heavy blow. Then, after we get out, we can directly take them on."
Bai Shaohan was furious. "Impossible! That would put our lower-ranked crew members, and even some regular ones, in too much danger."
Yang Luo said confidently, "They won't necessarily die. They might faint, but since we've inherited the strength of Ability Users, we can also use Conqueror's Haki. When Ye Yu unleashes his, we can counter it with our own. The reason his Conqueror's Haki is so strong is due to multiple stacked Contracts. If we all unleash ours together, we can offset some of it, ensuring the lower-ranked crew members aren't killed—just knocked unconscious at worst. Once inside, have all the lower-ranked crew stay at the very back."
After he finished speaking, many captains began to waver, thinking it might not be such a bad idea.
Bai Shaohan hesitated, seeing the logic in it.
The lower-ranked crew members were less panicked now, though some still felt uneasy.
Jin Mo said gravely, "Surrendering is out of the question. We originally thought that even if our experience was limited, at least we had one advantage—being first, suppressing Ye Yu and forcing them into second place. But if we surrender, we'll be second. With so many of us, the average experience gained would be pitifully low—a complete waste of time."
Song Ling nodded. "Right, we can't surrender. Otherwise, we'll lose badly. Yang Luo's plan makes sense. We can arrange it this way. Most of us captains can use Conqueror's Haki—except Lin Muxue."
At this, Song Ling shot a disdainful glance at Lin Muxue.
This angered Lin Muxue deeply. Not having Conqueror's Haki was indeed her regret, and she was furious now.
They began discussing and eventually decided to enter the battle. The plan was set: lower-ranked crew members would stay far back, while the stronger ones would focus on taking down Ye Yu first. Once he was defeated, the lower-ranked crew could join the fight.
Meanwhile, aboard the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew's ship.
The crew members were also in high spirits.
"This works out well."
"Yeah, the area isn't too large, so they won't be able to scatter."
"There's hope. We can create another miracle."
"If they can't take first place, they'll be furious. Just thinking about it feels great—so we have to come in first."
At that moment, the random assignments began.
Simultaneously, hundreds of thousands of Pirate Crews entered the battlefield, matched one-on-one.
Some surrendered immediately, lamenting their bad luck for being paired against top-tier Pirate Crews. Others chose to fight, believing they were evenly matched.
But those who faced the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew surrendered in terror—the gap was simply too vast.
As a result, the initial rounds progressed quickly. Advancement wasn't delayed until all first-round matches concluded; instead, new matches continued immediately, making the process highly efficient.
Jin Mo and the other Pirate Crews also advanced with unstoppable momentum.
Their opponents all surrendered—even the more formidable Pirate Crews chose to concede.
Soon, two days passed, and the number of remaining pirate crews had dwindled significantly.
At this point, the Dominant Feather Pirate Crew encountered familiar faces—the Empress Pirates.
Upon entering, the members of the Empress Pirates secretly lamented their bad luck. They could no longer become one of the Four Emperors. They had initially hoped to try, given that so many top-tier pirate crews had formed alliances, and Liu Huangyi's strength was formidable. But now, they could only aim for the top ten.
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