Boom!
Dark clouds suddenly gathered in the sky.
Within the dense clouds, thunder began to rumble, and lightning flashed like dragons through the layers.
Beneath the dark clouds, a fierce wind abruptly arose, its howling and the thunder composing an overture of disaster.
Beyond the frozen sea, waves suddenly surged, towering giants rising from nothing, heading towards the distant Marine warships.
Zephyr's face had grown incredibly grim.
Just as Garp had said, this brat's ability was a true calamity, merely hinted at, it already overshadowed heaven and earth.
And what made Zephyr feel even more ashamed was that this brat was only now going all out!
The previous battle was merely Roa's practical exercise, aimed at achieving a higher level of Armament Haki.
He had become Roa's whetstone!
"Roa!!"
Shame transformed into exasperated rage. Even battle-hardened Zephyr was now driven by fury.
His Moonwalk, honed to instinct, still made him move like lightning in the howling winds.
"Face the calamity, 'Black Arm' Zephyr!" Roa smirked.
Boom, boom, boom!
Lightning instantly illuminated the area engulfed by dark clouds, striking down like a torrential rain.
Red light flashed in Zephyr's eyes. He descended, stepping on air, and the moment he landed on the ice field, his speed finally went full throttle. Like "Fist" Garp before him, he relied on speed and Observation Haki to predict the future and evade the lightning bombardment.
But.
"Calamity Two-Sword Style: Triple Annihilation!"
Roa descended.
His twin swords raised high behind him, a violent whirlwind carried scorching flames, transforming into a surging fire tornado, with thick lightning constantly dancing at its center.
Zephyr gritted his teeth, shot up, and met the attack with a punch.
The twin swords slashed down!
Roa was not wielding blades at this moment, but three destructive elements converged.
The instant his fist collided with the twin swords, Zephyr was engulfed by the fierce wind, raging flames, and lightning.
"Finger Pistol: Siege Cannon!!"
Armament Haki vibrated, violently shaking off the rampant elements. Roa was once again sent soaring skyward by a punch.
But similarly, Zephyr plummeted rapidly. A new, deep wound appeared on his right fist, already scorched, and his arm was covered in fine cuts torn by the violent wind.
The moment Zephyr fell, the sky transformed into a sea of lightning, countless bolts plummeting towards him.
Zephyr's pupils constricted. He couldn't dodge!
In that case.
He twisted his body with all his might, then threw a full-force punch.
Haki transformed into a massive shockwave, colliding with the falling lightning.
The clash between lightning and Haki triggered a massive explosion. The frozen sea on this side was instantly shattered into smithereens. The entire world turned grey and white from the blinding light of the explosion, and only the roar of thunder seemed to remain between heaven and earth.
"Teacher Zephyr?"
In the sky not far away, Borsalino, who was constantly maintaining distance from Abel and shooting lasers at him, naturally noticed the scene.
The usually carefree, even somewhat at odds with Zephyr, man's face changed drastically. "You've got to be kidding? How can a Mythical Zoan be so unreasonable!"
As he exclaimed, he instinctively leaned back. A sharp sword light streaked across the air, carrying splashes of blood.
Transforming into light again to create distance, Borsalino's expression had turned serious. A shallow wound adorned his forehead. "So you can get that fast too?"
"You still dodged it, what a pity." Abel's flames behind his head reignited.
This guy is really cautious.
On the ice field below, two monsters, most proficient in head-on combat, were also clashing fiercely.
"Hellhound!"
The scorching magma fist was as fast as lightning.
"Mercury Heavy Cannon!"
The giant mercury fist crushed everything.
Boom!!
The shockwaves from their collision directly pulverized the surrounding ice field.
So, the two simply continued their fierce clash, stepping on the shattered ice floes.
Bullet's eyes burned with fanaticism.
So strong!
This guy's punches are as fierce as a volcanic eruption. If he didn't use Haki, I would have been at a disadvantage by now!
Sakazuki's face was grim.
He was far stronger than he had anticipated!
Especially since the opponent could use Haki, and he couldn't.
In a situation where both were Logia users, this meant the opponent could completely ignore his attacks, but he had to be wary of the opponent's attacks!
If he were truly hit by that mercury fist, as heavy as a mountain, the trouble would be immense!
This fight is too frustrating!
While the two new recruits and Roa's two subordinates continued their engagement, a slaughter was occurring on the warship.
"Wah!"
A Marine Vice Admiral was directly sent flying by a swooping Pteranodon's wing, his blade split in half, and a massive wound torn across his chest.
And on the other side.
"Johnson! What's wrong with you?!" A Marine Vice Admiral roared hoarsely. "Wake up!!"
But it was useless. The specter Vice Admiral, with pitch-black eyes, simply swung his blade, attacking madly.
If it were just him alone, after becoming a specter, he definitely wouldn't be a match for a Marine Vice Admiral. But there was no help for it; the attackers were a dozen or more specters, with the lowest bounty being fifty million.
Almost instantly, this Marine Vice Admiral was engulfed by the specters.
He wasn't an isolated case. The other two Marine Vice Admirals were also retreating steadily under the specters' encirclement, completely defenseless, becoming covered in wounds within a few breaths.
As for the remaining, more numerous specters, they unleashed a massacre on the deck.
Only those with officer ranks could barely resist, but facing multiple specters, they were equally overwhelmed.
As for the Marines below the rank of officer, they had no choice but to wait for death.
"This isn't good! This really isn't good!"
Borsalino's forehead seeped cold sweat. He instinctively raised his hand and fired a laser at the deck below.
But the laser beam was directly obliterated by a flying slash from the side.
The Pteranodon flapped its wings and flew closer. "Abel, let's go together."
"No problem." Abel wasn't a battle maniac; as long as they won, anything was fine.
"..." Borsalino was even more drenched in sweat now. "Teacher Zephyr, please help!"
But his Teacher Zephyr was now preoccupied himself. He maneuvered across the shattered ice floes, constantly dodging the relentless lightning, flames, and strong winds.
Although he had just shattered the lightning with a punch, his foothold was taken away, plunging him into an even greater crisis.
Moreover, if only these calamities were attacking, it would be fine. But what was even more terrifying than the calamities was Roa, who continuously attacked, flapping his wings.
"If you don't defeat me soon, everyone will die."
Accompanied by roaring thunder, raging winds, and surging flames, Roa attacked again, wielding his twin swords.
Zephyr, whose body was covered in burns from lightning and fire, and minor sword cuts, had an anxious look in his eyes.
While fending off Roa's attacks, he used Observation Haki to monitor the nearby battlefield.
Familiar presences were rapidly diminishing, and Zephyr's urgency and pain in his heart were rapidly increasing.
He brought them here, but he couldn't take them back!
"You damned bastard!!"
As Roa said, win! He absolutely had to win!
As long as he defeated Roa, everything would be alright!
Zephyr had almost gone mad, charging directly at Roa.
But.
"Oh, oh! I can't let you have your way!"
Roa chuckled eerily, rapidly pulling away to the side, not giving Zephyr a chance to get close. No matter how fast Zephyr was, under the continuous assault of lightning, fire, and strong winds, he couldn't maintain his speed.
"Do you only know how to run away?" Zephyr gritted his teeth and cursed.
"I have no reason to fulfill the enemy's wishes, do I?"
Roa took deep breaths, constantly inhaling dark aura to replenish his rapidly depleting stamina, while simultaneously manipulating the pervasive lightning, flames, and strong winds to continuously attack Zephyr.
He saw clearly that the fear in Zephyr's heart was growing heavier.
After experiencing loss once, has he become afraid?
"You piece of shit pirate! Why don't you just die?!"
Driven by multiple emotions, Zephyr was practically a mad dog now, relentlessly chasing Roa, relying entirely on Haki to clash with the incoming calamities.
"Piece of shit? First, I'm no longer a pirate. As for 'piece of shit,' it's clearly you Marines who are more of a piece of shit, aren't you?"
Roa said with interest, "Six years ago at God Valley, weren't you and the World Nobles trying to commit genocide on that island? And it was our Rocks Pirates who came to save the day, you know."
Of course, Captain Rocks didn't have such high ideals.
But judge by actions, not intentions.
At least during the God Valley incident, what Marines, what Roger Pirates—they were all aiding the villains.
"The World Nobles must have pulled off these kinds of schemes quite often over the years, haven't they? I hear it's once every three years."
Roa laughed. "Every time, you Marines escort them and suppress all resistance, don't you, 'Black Arm' Zephyr? Your Marine justice is truly remarkable."
"The lives of non-affiliated nations don't count as lives, do they?"
"..." Zephyr was speechless.
When he heard about what happened at God Valley from Garp, he too was deeply shaken.
But Fleet Admiral Kong had comforted him by saying that affiliated nations were not their concern and the World Government would not act against them.
He seemingly forgot about it, but a knot always remained in his heart.
How could a truly just person turn a blind eye to such a massacre?
"However, as a former pirate, I still have to thank you, Mr. Zephyr," Roa's voice was filled with respect. "The 'non-killing' Admiral, no matter how heinous the pirates, you were willing to spare their lives, giving them the chance to be sent to Impel Down and live a wretched existence!"
"Not only do the pirates thank you, but the citizens whose families were killed by pirates must also be eternally grateful to you, right?"
"..." Zephyr's eyes darkened.
It was true that many captured pirates were not executed, even if they were extremely heinous.
They would be sent to Impel Down and imprisoned for various reasons.
"But unfortunately, Mr. Zephyr, perhaps it was precisely this mercy that harmed your family, wasn't it?"
Roa said, "Pirates knew you wouldn't do anything to them. If they didn't even fear you, how could they be afraid of harming your family?"
"And you even kept them in plain sight, never bothering to hide them. Strictly speaking, they were probably killed because of you, weren't they?"
Victim blaming was, of course, ridiculous, but Roa wasn't entirely wrong on one point: making a name for yourself on the Grand Line, unless everyone in your family was a top-tier fighter like the Charlotte Family, not properly hiding your family was truly a suicidal act.
Harming families was standard practice in this world.
Zephyr instantly fell into a daze.
Was it, because of me that they were killed?
Zephyr's face quickly contorted, filled with fear and pain.
If I had been merciless towards pirates, if I had sufficiently deterred them, would they then not have dared to go after my wife and child?
If I had properly hidden them, would they have been safe?
His mind was in chaos, and he became incredibly vulnerable.
"Then, it's over!"
Roa arrived like the wind, scarlet lightning bursting from his twin swords like a thunderstorm.
Zephyr abruptly snapped out of it, subconsciously swinging his fist to counter.
But.
"A lost soul is vulnerable."
Roa borrowed a famous quote.
That's why he said he was truly underestimated by sending Zephyr.
Swoosh!
Scarlet lightning shot across the sky.
A figure flew out like a cannonball.
In the sky, a right arm spun through the air.