"Yes, sir," the colonel replied, a look of shock on his face. A full-scale mobilization of the entire army... it was a large-scale operation that hadn't been seen in years. The last time had been when the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, was still alive. And now, it was happening again.
The so-called overlords of the East Blue, Don Krieg and Arlong, were nothing but paper tigers in the face of Admiral Nelson. For him to mobilize the entire army against the Straw Hats meant that the entire East Blue was about to be thrown into an uproar. This was the strongest military force in this sea.
After the other admiral had left, only Eric and Nelson remained in the room. Nelson's eyes shone with a cold light as he looked at Eric. "You failed to complete the task."
"Although I failed, I saw the Millennium Dragon," Eric replied calmly, his gaze unwavering.
"What?!" Nelson's breath caught in his throat, a look of ecstasy flashing in his eyes. "Is this true? A living Millennium Dragon?"
"Of course," Eric confirmed. "But it seems to be dying. It doesn't matter. As long as we can get the keel from its body, that will be enough to grant eternal life." As he spoke of immortality, a trace of greed flickered in his own eyes. Who wouldn't want to live forever?
"Alright, let's go," Nelson said, nodding. He didn't want to wait another moment. The Straw Hat crew, Eric... anyone who dared to stand in the way of his longevity would die.
"Is this really the home of the Millennium Dragon? It doesn't look like it," Nami said, a hint of doubt in her voice. They had followed the dragon to an island and, after exploring a dilapidated ruin, had stumbled into an underground palace. But the murals on the walls depicted nothing that looked like a Millennium Dragon.
"This... the dragon is probably getting old, so he can't remember it clearly," Apis said, glancing awkwardly at the ancient creature.
"He can't remember?"
"Because he's old?"
"So, in other words, we're just wandering around aimlessly?" the crew asked, all of them now looking at Apis.
"I..." Apis stammered, feeling as if she were on pins and needles.
"Not necessarily," Moonlight said, pointing to a faded mural on the wall. "Although this is definitely not Dragon Island, it must be a place related to it. Doesn't this painting look like Warship Island?" The image was vague, worn down by time, but upon closer inspection, it was an exact replica of the island they had just left.
"It really is Warship Island," the others exclaimed, crowding around for a better look.
"Why would a portrait of Warship Island be here?" Zoro asked, puzzled.
"Is it really related to Dragon Island?" Sanji's eyes lit up. If it was, and if he could get his hands on a piece of legendary dragon meat, he could become a legendary dragon chef.
"Perhaps this island is a clue to finding Dragon Island!" Usopp said, his voice filled with the excitement of a grand adventure.
"Why does it look like a piece of meat to me?" Luffy said, touching his stomach as he stared at the mural.
The others were speechless. Could he really see a piece of meat in that? Was there anything in his eyes besides food?
"Moonlight, what do you think?" Nami asked. Among all of them, Moonlight was the most reliable.
"I don't have any real clues. A vague portrait doesn't prove much," Moonlight replied, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. "But there is a possibility. The starting point is also the ending point. Dragon Island... maybe it is Warship Island." The home of the dragons, he knew, was Warship Island. It was a place that rose from and sank to the bottom of the sea with the changing currents. "But how long it stays submerged, who knows. And I'm not sure it will even reappear."
"The starting point is the end?" the others asked, looking at him blankly.
"I'm just speculating," Moonlight explained. "A creature like a Millennium Dragon... why would it just happen to appear on Warship Island? There are plenty of other islands nearby. He said he was separated from his companions because he was tired, but wouldn't they have noticed? Wouldn't they have come back to look for him? The dragon's story has contradictions. So I guessed that Dragon Island and Warship Island are the same place, and that his comrades did look for him, but for some reason, they had to leave."
"That's completely possible!" Usopp said, clapping his hands in agreement.
"Indeed, if you put it that way, it makes sense," Sanji nodded, his eyes gleaming with a sharp intelligence. "But it's just a guess. We have no way of proving it unless we find the real Dragon Island. And the dragon is half-confused and half-awake, so he's no help."
"I predict..." Nami began to say.
BOOM!
Suddenly, an earth-shattering explosion rocked the island. The ground trembled as countless shells began to bombard the small island.
"What's happening?" everyone cried out in shock.
"It's the Navy!" Moonlight moved with incredible speed, leaping up to the entrance of the palace. He saw that the entire island was surrounded by a massive Marine fleet.
"Damn it! The Navy found us? How did they get here so fast?" the others exclaimed, rushing out of the palace. They were met with the sight of a densely packed, overwhelming naval force, their ships forming an impenetrable blockade around the island.
"My God, did they send the entire Navy?" even Zoro, with his usual calm demeanor, couldn't help but be surprised.
"One, two... fifty! There are fifty large naval ships!" Usopp counted, his voice trembling with a mixture of shock and terror. "And they're all combat vessels! How many men is that? Eight thousand? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Aaaah! We're completely finished!"
"And there's more," Sanji said, taking a deep breath of smoke as he pointed to the center of the fleet. "They have a warship." A massive, behemoth of a vessel, like a sea monster, sat at the heart of the naval formation. It was the ultimate weapon of the Navy, a symbol of their absolute power on the seas.
"Even a warship... this lineup is too much," Nami said, her own voice filled with a sense of dread.
"It's Admiral Nelson," Apis said, her voice a horrified whisper. "To find the dragon and achieve his ambition of immortality, he's mobilized the entire Navy. What we're facing now is the strongest force in the entire East Blue."
A look of pure despair filled Apis's eyes. With Admiral Nelson's entire army mobilized—fifty large ships and a warship—the lineup was truly terrifying. No pirate, no matter how powerful, could stand against such a force.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At that moment, the fifty large ships began their bombardment, their cannons locking onto the island and firing in unison. The power was incredible. In an instant, a hundred cannonballs shot through the sky, slamming into the island with a destructive force that could have sunk it entirely. The ground trembled as if in an earthquake, and the constant wailing of explosions filled the air. Boulders, small peaks, and entire sections of forest were blown to bits. Fortunately, the island was uninhabited; otherwise, the casualties would have been immense.
The Going Merry was tossed about on the turbulent waves like a small toy boat, but miraculously, the Navy's fire was so precise that not a single shell hit it.
"This is too much," Zoro said, his voice grim. "This is Admiral Nelson, the supreme power of this sea. We have no room to fight back." The scene before him was truly overwhelming.
"We must have really angered the admiral," Sanji said, taking a deep breath. "After all, he is the highest authority in the East Blue. It's not surprising that he has this kind of power."
"It's not that we angered him," Nami corrected, her face as grim as the churning water around them. She scanned the sea, desperately searching for a current that could carry them to safety. "We stood in the way of his ambition for eternal life. Who wouldn't be enraged by that, especially a man like an admiral of the Navy?"
"Stop guessing and start thinking of a way out of here!" Usopp yelped, his face pale with fear, his body trembling. This kind of power was enough to kill gods and buddhas. Even a fearless man like Zoro was shaken; what hope did he have?
"It's useless. Give up," Apis said, her voice filled with a hollow despair. "Whatever Nelson wants, he gets. No one can stop him. He is the admiral of the Navy, the strongest man in the East Blue." With a man like that in command, who in this sea could possibly resist?
"Luffy, I'm leaving everyone to you," Moonlight said, stepping forward.
"Moonlight, what are you going to do?" Nami asked, a sense of dread in her heart.
"Yeah, Moonlight, don't do anything stupid!" Usopp cried out. "That's a fleet of fifty ships, and they're all under the command of one person! This is different from Loguetown!" He had a sinking feeling he knew what Moonlight was planning, but it was impossible.
"Moonlight!" Zoro said, his hand tightening on the hilt of his sword as he took a step forward. Sanji dropped the cigarette from his mouth, his face set in a grim expression. Though they didn't speak, their meaning was clear: they would fight together.
Luffy said nothing, but his eyes were fixed on Moonlight, a solemn expression on his face that the others had never seen before.
"No," Moonlight said with a faint smile. "You all protect the dragon. I may not be a match for that kind of firepower, but I can hold them off. While I do, you have to move quickly. Once you're out, I'll catch up. Don't worry."
"Armament Haki!" he shouted, and a dark, shimmering energy enveloped his body and the Pheasant Sword. "Three-Stage Cut!" A crescent-shaped wave of sword energy shot down from the mountain, and Moonlight charged down with it.
"Moonlight!" the others cried out in unison. Was he really going to face fifty warships all by himself?
"Everyone, hurry up! Let's go!" Luffy's voice cut through their shock, his face as grim as stone.
"Alright!" they all replied. It was the first time they had ever seen such an expression on their captain's face. They didn't dare to hesitate. As Moonlight's attack drew the Navy's fire, they grabbed the ancient dragon and rushed down the mountain. They knew Moonlight couldn't hold them off for long; they couldn't afford to waste the precious time he had bought them with his life. Every second counted.
"That fat man really has this kind of power," Eric muttered to himself, watching the scene unfold from a safe distance. He was shocked by the sheer scale of the Navy's attack. There were so many pirates on the sea, especially in this Great Pirate Era, but none of them could stand head-on against the Navy. Even the legendary Four Emperors were no exception. He had always wondered why, but now he understood. No matter how strong a pirate was, how could they withstand a bombardment like this? And this was just the East Blue. He could only imagine the power of the Navy at their headquarters. Though there were many pirates, the Navy was the true ruler of the seas.
"Well, those pirates should be coming out now," the other admiral said with a confident smile, looking at Nelson with admiration. "Otherwise, they'll sink into the sea with the rest of the island."
"Yes," Nelson replied, a look of absolute control on his face. "They will come out."
As if on cue, a crescent-shaped wave of sword energy shot down from the mountain, a fierce, unstoppable force that cut through everything in its path.
"They're really coming out," the admiral said, shocked. He immediately gave the order. "Fire!"
A hundred cannons roared to life, and a barrage of cannonballs shot out, meeting Moonlight's attack head-on. Though the sword energy was incredibly strong, a triple-layered slash amplified by his Armament Haki, it was no match for the overwhelming power of the naval cannons. The artillery fire was simply too fierce, too invincible.
"It's the vice-captain of the Straw Hat crew, the swordsman Moonlight," the admiral sneered. "He's the one who destroyed more than twenty of our ships. But unfortunately for him, Admiral Nelson is here now. It's not like before. No matter how good his swordsmanship is, under this kind of shelling, he'll sink to the bottom of the sea." He had seen Moonlight's power, and he knew he was a threat. Just as he was about to give another order to focus all their fire on him, the Pheasant Sword in Moonlight's hand was raised again.
"Sky-Shattering Sword Draw!" he roared.
A massive, fifty-meter-wide, hundred-meter-long wave of pure energy shot out, the sea churning and rolling before it as it slammed into the naval fleet.
"It's useless!" the admiral sneered, and another hundred cannons fired.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The cannonballs flew, the sky howled, and the whole sea wailed in protest. The massive wave of sword energy that Moonlight had unleashed was blown away once more.