Mork was speechless.
He had no intention of clashing with the Navy, yet Peach Rabbit simply refused to back down, leaving him exasperated.
"Host, should we open fire?"
"Fire," Mork replied flatly.
If he didn't, he would lose his deterrence.
Retreat once, and others would assume you're easy to bully — and push harder next time.
Outside, the countless missile tubes erupted in flame, launching missile after missile with sharp swish swish swish sounds, blanketing the Marine ship.
The dense barrage looked like a school of fish sweeping across the sea.
Marco sucked in a cold breath.
"In the God Valley War… the firepower wasn't much more than this."
On the Marine ship, panic erupted.
The disciplined Marines still responded instantly, firing all cannons in an attempt to intercept the incoming missiles.
But in the face of such overwhelming firepower —
everything was futile.
Peach Rabbit's eyes sharpened with deadly resolve.
Kinpira flashed in her grip, and she leapt high into the sky once more, rushing straight at the sea of incoming missiles.
In midair, she became a whirlwind of steel.
Blade shadows filled the sky, white arcs of sword light howling through the air.
Each slash detonated a missile before it could reach her.
But there were simply too many.
Even for a general candidate, even with the Marines below offering supporting fire, she struggled to keep up.
She held out for more than ten exhausting minutes.
Then — a single missile slipped through her defense and exploded beside her.
The blast halted her movements.
Though her Armament Haki shielded her from most of the damage, the brief pause was fatal —
and the rest of the missiles swarmed in like wild horses off their reins.
"Vice Admiral Peach Rabbit!!" Marines shouted in horror.
Some weaker soldiers fired handheld cannons desperately.
The stronger ones used Geppo to leap into the air and intercept the barrage.
It didn't matter.
The sheer fire coverage swallowed them all in a storm of explosions.
When the Smoke cleared, several bodies fell from the sky.
One of them steadied herself on the deck — Peach Rabbit.
Her uniform was torn and splattered with blood, her body wounded all over…
but she was still standing.
Still able to fight.
On Doflamingo's ship, he raised a brow — amused and impressed.
"Not bad. Worthy of a general candidate. She's got a bit of that old hag's fire."
The "old hag" he spoke of was, of course, Navy strategist Tsuru — the woman who chased him across the seas in the past.
Marco also nodded with appreciation.
"In a few years, the Navy might produce another female admiral."
Inside the fortress, Mork looked at Marco through the monitor and chuckled.
"In the future, an admiral? Peach Rabbit isn't in the running."
At that moment, the system asked:
"Host, continue attacking?"
"No. We've already demonstrated our strength. The goal's achieved — let's conserve ammo."
"With the shield up, they can't get in anyway."
Outside, Peach Rabbit pushed the battered warship forward again.
She was determined to set foot on the fortress island.
Seeing that they weren't being fired on anymore, she smirked.
"So, they finally understand the power of the Navy. They don't dare continue—"
BANG!!!
A violent crash shook the ship.
It was as if they had slammed into something invisible.
The entire deck trembled. Marines were thrown off their feet.
Even Peach Rabbit staggered and nearly fell.
"What happened?!"
The warship's bow was dented inward.
But in front of them —
nothing.
Empty sea.
This baffled every Marine on deck.
On Marco's ship, the Whitebeard pirates were equally stunned.
"What did we hit?"
"I've got no idea," Marco admitted.
Even after years under Whitebeard, he had never seen anything like this.
From the distance came Doflamingo's cheerful voice:
"Vice Admiral, the waters around the island are protected by an invisible barrier.
You won't be getting through."
Peach Rabbit's brows twitched.
She gritted her teeth, raised Kinpira, and struck down with full force.
"Peach-Colored Soul Severing Slash!!!"
Her blade crashed into the invisible barrier.
A metallic clang resounded.
Ripples shimmered across the air — revealing the barrier's outline — before it restored itself, completely unharmed.
"Not even a scratch?" Marco murmured.
With Peach Rabbit's earlier performance, she was strong enough to qualify as a core officer even within the Whitebeard Pirates.
Yet she couldn't damage the barrier at all.
Its durability was astounding.
Peach Rabbit's eyelids twitched.
Her arms tingled from the recoil.
She was shocked — but forced herself to maintain composure.
Doflamingo laughed loudly.
"Vice Admiral Peach Rabbit, your strength is impressive. You're among the best of the Vice Admirals."
"But breaking that barrier? Come back in a hundred years."
"My advice? Leave — before the man inside truly gets angry."
Marco also spoke up:
"The Navy's business has nothing to do with me… I'd honestly enjoy seeing the Navy suffer."
"But the one inside clearly doesn't want contact with any of us."
"If they don't want us here, don't push them."
Marco wasn't being kind — he was being careful.
If the fortress truly got serious, the entire New World would be thrown into chaos.
And that chaos would affect the Whitebeard Pirates too.
The fortress issued another warning:
Leave immediately.
But Peach Rabbit — stubborn as ever — pushed the ship forward again.
Mork finally snapped.
"A hundred warnings, and you still won't stop.
You're really starting to piss me off."
As his voice echoed out, the fortress cannons began to transform.
The countless small missile launchers split apart.
The massive main cannon dismantled itself.
Dozens of precision components interlocked and rearranged.
And finally…
A new, even more terrifying cannon emerged—
towering, monstrous, and radiating destructive power far beyond anything before.
—------------------------------
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