"When you first became one of the Seven Warlords, I once doubted Michael's judgment—how could he recruit someone as useless as you?" Hawkeye raised his head, locking eyes with Gecko Moria.
"But now, it seems Michael truly has a keener eye. I apologize for underestimating you before, so..."
"Kishishishi! So what? Are you going to kneel and beg for forgiveness?" Moria gripped his greatsword with both hands, shadows flickering around him—clearly entering a state where he absorbed shadows to enhance himself.
"But the blade in your hand... doesn't seem like an apology to me!"
"So, I'll ask you to die by my blade." Hawkeye rarely showed a smile—cold yet fervent, "You are already a ghost worthy of being remembered under my sword."
"A ghost... you don't even see me as alive?"
"In my eyes, as long as they are my enemies, they are already dead... It's just that I need to personally send them on their way."
As he spoke, Hawkeye gripped Yoru with both hands and forcefully deflected Moria's greatsword to the side.
Then, with a reverse upward slash, a Flying Slash as massive as the one that had cleaved the pirate ship earlier was unleashed in an instant.
Taking such a slash at close range, Gecko Moria was sent flying backward.
But the next moment...
Moria's body suddenly swelled, his already eerie skin turning an even darker shade of bluish-black.
His head, which had been thrown back, snapped forward, with thick shadows gathering beneath his eyes.
"Thanks a lot for wiping out all my shadow-enhanced subordinates..."
"That just makes it easier for me to... avenge them."
"Shadow's... Asgard!"
"2000%!"
...
Blackbeard stood on Kaido's flagship, his expression grim.
Kaido hadn't told him that the Marines had so many troublesome opponents!
"Hey, aren't you two going to support them?"
Blackbeard turned to the Beast Pirates, who had remained indifferent from the start.
Since the skirmish began, not a single member of the Beast Pirates had lifted a finger.
And the ones who had given this order were naturally the two highest-ranking figures in the Beast Pirates after Kaido himself—
"Wildfire" King and "Plague" Queen.
The two of them leisurely directed their subordinates, completely unfazed.
Even though Blackbeard had temporarily been given command by Kaido, the Beast Pirates themselves were not under his authority.
When King and Queen heard Blackbeard's challenge, they turned to him, their expressions filled with mockery.
"Why should we support them?" King, his face hidden behind a mask, chuckled darkly. "Don't forget, they're just temporary allies... Did you really think the Beast Pirates would share Wano with these guys?"
"I don't care about whatever schemes you have," Blackbeard growled through clenched teeth.
"All I know is that if these bastards' defenses break... we're all finished!"
"So, while they're busy fighting to the death, we'll bypass the battlefield... and launch a direct assault on Wano's main island."
"You make it sound easy! How are we supposed to break through four Logia users?!"
"I may not look the part, but I was once a research partner of Vegapunk..." Queen patted his belly, downing an entire bowl of sickeningly sweet red bean soup before grinning.
"I'm someone who can at least be called a 'genius scientist'... Modifying a few pirate ships might not be my specialty, but it's good enough!"
With that, he waved his hand toward the Beast Pirates' fleet.
A familiar coating to all New World pirates silently expanded.
The next moment, all ships flying the Beast Pirates' flag extended a layer of metal from their hulls, completely encasing them.
Transforming into submarines, one after another.
"On my command—dive!"
Queen barked into a Den Den Mushi loudspeaker.
The rest of the Beast Pirates' ships had already begun their descent.
But Kaido's flagship, due to its massive size, hadn't fully sealed yet.
Just then, a figure leaped from mast to mast, landing on the flagship at the last possible moment.
With a thunderous boom, the flagship completed its transformation into a submarine.
As the interior lights flickered on...
A woman in a white military uniform stood on the deck.Her hair, white fading into blue, cascaded down to her waist.
In her hand was a massive spiked club.
"It's been a long time, everyone."
The woman's voice carried a nostalgic tone.
Blackbeard looked utterly confused.
But the eyes of King and Queen gradually widened!
After a long pause, the two finally spoke in disbelief:
"You... Yamato?"
"So you still recognize me." Yamato hoisted A-Ken onto her shoulder, flashing a bright grin.
"Well, since we're old acquaintances... how about this? Surrender now, and I might go easy on you."
Her gaze swept across the deck.
Finally, she pointed at the bewildered Blackbeard and declared:
"But not him. I despise ungrateful traitors who betray their fathers the most!"
With that, Yamato casually swung her spiked club, A-Ken.
"Yamato, I don't know what kind of spell that man Michael has cast on you..." King's voice was laced with sorrow.
"But Kaido is still your father..."
"Father? You mean the father who locked a bomb collar around my neck—one powerful enough to kill me?" Yamato sneered, raising her club to point at King.
"Want him for yourself? Oh wait, you never even met your own father, did you? How... fortunate."
Her merciless taunt finally ignited the anger of even King, who had once held some warmth for her.
"Since you've delivered yourself to us, I'll take you back to your father's side." King stepped forward, the flames of the Lunarian Race blazing behind him.
"To charge into enemy alone... how naive."
"Naive? I don't think so..."
Yamato shook her head, gathering her hair into a long ponytail.
When she looked up again, the aura in her eyes had shifted.
A torrent of Conqueror's Haki surged across the deck, instantly knocking out the weaker crew members, their eyes rolling back as they collapsed.
Surveying those who remained standing after the Haki's onslaught, Yamato's expression turned predatory, her excitement palpable.
"Now, it's me—surrounding all of you!"
"My dear 'uncles.'"