TN: I uploaded the wrong Chapter 87 yesterday. Check it out again.
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The upper deck of the Spiral was a scene of utter chaos.
Dark red blood stained the oak planks and white sails, amidst scattered limbs and dozens, even hundreds, of shattered corpses strewn across the ground.
A salty sea breeze swept through, carrying with it a thick scent of blood and a faint hint of gunpowder.
"So you're Regedor, huh… You destroyed one of my dragons; I just cut down a few of your men. You really got the better deal!" Cross tilted his head, feigning thought, then looked at his Kagehide blade, which was blocked by the silver vambraces on Regedor's hands. A hint of provocation flashed across his face.
"Cut the act!" Regedor sneered, a grin on his face. "It's just a revived metal sculpture. Don't tell me you think I don't know who you are, Navy brat! All those countless stone statues and sculptures running rampant in Skoggy, the City of Sculptures, weren't those all your handiwork?!"
"Oh? You actually knew!" Cross looked surprised, not expecting his identity to be exposed so quickly.
"Hmph! Trading a metal sculpture for the lives of my subordinates, I'm the one who lost big!" Regedor scoffed, forcefully thrusting his hands outward, shaking Cross's Kagehide blade away.
Then, Regedor swiftly stepped forward, the silver vambraces on his hands spinning rapidly, creating a buzzing, silver, conical whirlwind of air around his hands. Like a power drill, he aimed it directly at Cross's body.
Seeing this, Cross leaped into the air, stepping several times on nothing to get behind Regedor, then slashed at his neck.
CLANG—
At the critical moment, Regedor quickly spun around, raising his left arm to block the sharp Kagehide blade with his vambrace. He then swung his right arm, now a 'power drill,' towards Cross's head.
Cross hastily retreated, swinging his Kagehide blade outward, directly colliding with the rapidly spinning conical whirlwind on Regedor's right arm.
To his surprise, the high-speed rotation of the whirlwind actually deflected the Kagehide blade, almost making Cross lose his balance.
BANG—
Regedor seized the opportunity, decisively kicking Cross, sending him flying backward.
Before Cross could react, a sharp pain shot through his abdomen. He became a blur, hurtling dozens of meters in an instant with a whoosh, before crashing onto the bow deck with a BOOM!
The immense force caused the thick oak planks to shatter, nearly piercing through the deck.
"Navy brat, prepare to die!" Regedor roared, sprinting from the stern. He then leaped several meters into the air, the rotation of his right arm's vambrace even faster, making the silver conical whirlwind even more solid, truly like an oversized power drill, as he slammed it downwards.
In a flash, Cross braced himself with his hands, quickly flipped up, then performed a backflip to move from his spot, landing directly on the ship's massive bow turret.
BOOM!
The next second, Regedor landed, savagely blasting a huge hole in the deck. Driven by the rapidly rotating air currents, countless wood splinters exploded outwards like shotgun pellets.
"Damn it, I nearly died… What a strange ability!" Cross muttered to himself, standing atop the semi-circular steel turret, still shaken.
Regedor, seeing his attack missed, immediately stomped his foot and charged out again, ready to continue his assault on Cross.
"Enliven: Triton's Dance!"
Seeing Regedor charge, Cross sneered and beckoned with his left hand.
Suddenly, a cable, as thick as an adult's forearm, came to life out of nowhere. Then, like a venomous snake, it shot out and swiftly coiled around Regedor from an oblique angle.
"What's going on?!" Regedor was caught off guard, bound tightly by the cable. He immediately lost his balance, falling heavily to the ground.
"Drown in the sea!" Cross grinned, raising his hand and waving it outward. The cable binding Regedor seemed to be pulled by an unseen force, directly flinging Regedor outward.
"AAAAHHH—!"
Regedor, utterly bewildered, couldn't help but scream.
Bound, his body flew horizontally until he was clear of the Spiral. Only then did the cable automatically loosen.
But it was too late. Regedor couldn't fly, and his body was off-balance in mid-air, with nowhere to gain leverage.
He flailed wildly, flying over a hundred meters before plunging into the sea with a splash, raising a multi-meter high wave.
"G-General Regedor fell into the sea!"
"We're doomed! General Regedor is a Paramecia-type Spiral-Spiral Fruit user, he can't swim at all!"
"Quick! Go save him!"
"..."
The pirates on deck, witnessing this scene, were utterly aghast. Many, without thinking, immediately splashed into the sea, one after another, trying to rescue Regedor.
"Hahahaha—!"
Cross burst out laughing, incredibly arrogantly shouting at the pirates on the Spiral: "Now, I declare, this ship is mine!"
"Damn you!"
"Kill him!"
"Everyone, get him! Drive this Navy brat off the ship!"
"..."
Hearing Cross's arrogant declaration, Regedor's subordinates were furious. They roared in anger, charging furiously to surround and kill Cross. More and more people poured out from the lower decks and cabins.
"You're looking for death!" Cross scoffed, his voice cold. "This ship, it's under my control now!"
No sooner had he spoken than all the thick, long cables on the deck came to life, writhing like the tentacles of a giant octopus, brandishing their 'fangs and claws' wantonly.
Some cables, like forest pythons, swiftly coiled around pirates with lightning speed, then tightened relentlessly, strangling them to death.
Other cables acted like whips, lashing out at the nearest pirates, instantly breaking the bones of a large group and even sending them flying into the sea.
Many other cables directly bound pirates' bodies, lifting them into the air, and forcefully slamming them onto the deck, crushing them to death on the spot.
That's right.
After being sent flying by Regedor, Cross had seized the opportunity to use his Live-Live Fruit ability to Enliven the steamship, forcefully turning the enemy's home ground into his own.
Now, Cross controlled everything on the Spiral, and he didn't even need to lift a finger to clear out all the pirates on the ship.
The battle continued.
The Roberts Legion pirates advanced relentlessly, still attacking Cross, only to be stopped one by one by the now Enlivened Spiral ship itself, which mercilessly killed them.
In a short time, Regedor's subordinates had suffered heavy casualties. Horribly mangled corpses and wailing injured lay everywhere, hundreds of pirates were practically wiped out.
Suddenly, Cross's expression shifted slightly. He sharply lowered his head, looking downwards as if through the thick oak deck, seeing a few injured pirates in the Spiral's boiler room laboriously dragging several barrels of gunpowder and then igniting them with torches.
"Oh, my ship…"
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Before he could finish speaking, continuous muffled thunder-like roars erupted from inside the ship. The massive steamship suddenly shuddered violently.
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