On the other side of the battlefield…
Borsalino, still in the form of a giant four-pointed flash, was unleashing wave after wave of blinding light barrages.
Suddenly, a deep voice echoed from behind him.
"General Kizaru, Marshal Zephyr has ordered that I take over the defense here. You are free to counterattack."
Borsalino was startled for a moment but ceased firing his Yasakani no Magatama technique. The constellation of light particles converged and reformed into his humanoid body.
"You're... a Giant God Warrior?"
He turned around to look at the massive golden figure who had just emerged from a swirl of green spatial energy.
"Yes. I am one of Lord Imu's Royal Giants," the being known as Kashii replied, stepping in front of Kizaru and facing down the barrage of incoming green lasers rushing toward them.
"Defensive barrier!"
In the next instant, under the multicolored flashes of battlefield light, a transparent shield rapidly expanded in all directions in front of Kashii. It intercepted every laser without even the slightest ripple.
"Yo, not bad at all!" Borsalino whistled and chuckled.
"General Kizaru, you may pass through my barrier directly using the Door-Door Space."
Kashii spoke in a deep, steady voice.
Meanwhile—
Kaido encountered a similar situation.
Only, the one taking over his defensive zone was Oimo.
He opened a massive Void Gate in the middle of space, capturing the majority of the incoming green laser fire and transferring it all into the matching green Door-Door Space.
"Go on, General Azure Dragon! Take those cosmic pirates down as fast as you can!"
Oimo shouted loudly toward Kaido.
"Worororo! No problem! I'll make them regret ever messing with Starfish!!!"
With a thunderous laugh, the majestic Azure Dragon soared skyward, whipping his thick tail as he launched toward the cosmic pirates' fleet, claws and fangs bared.
In the distance—
Borsalino had already transformed into a golden beam of light, streaking forward beyond the shield.
The true counterattack had begun!
...
Across the pitch-black canvas of space, Borsalino—transformed into a radiant beam of light—streaked forward like a long, golden meteor.
Not only was the space unimaginably vast, but there were virtually no obstacles in his way.
The best part was, as a Logia-type Devil Fruit user, he didn't need to worry about breathing or radiation in outer space. Combined with his incredible speed, the entire experience was simply… absurdly comfortable.
At that moment—
Naturally, the Odette Cosmic Pirates had also noticed the high-energy light source rushing straight toward them.
And since they already knew Borsalino could turn into light and fire lasers as a superhuman ability—
They immediately activated their shipboard fire-control systems to lock onto him.
The very next second—
From both sides of each space warship emerged phalanx-type laser close-in weapon systems, designed for mid-to-short-range interception.
Instantly, a barrage of green laser fire burst forth like a blooming cosmic flower, forming a dense web of overlapping firepower—aimed directly at the golden streak of light shooting toward them.
At the same time, Borsalino expanded the range of his Observation Haki to its maximum.
Like a straight golden thread weaving through the crisscrossing green lasers, he moved at high speed, leaving behind countless golden afterimages. His movements were so precise and astonishing that he avoided every single attack with supernatural agility.
As for the few green lasers that were truly unavoidable, he simply crashed through them without hesitation.
This quickly led Borsalino to realize that the two sides were on completely different levels of energy output.
He could practically ignore the low-powered close-in defense lasers.
Borsalino's movements grew increasingly bold and aggressive. He no longer bothered dodging every attack.
As he approached the first pirate warship attempting to evade him, he directly compressed himself into a golden lightsaber roughly four meters in length.
In the next instant, a golden lightning bolt in the shape of a sword pierced through the outer armor of the space warship.
Once inside the ship's interior, the light blade suddenly became soft, ricocheting between the walls and forming a dense crisscrossing web of radiant light.
It sliced through the hundreds of grotesque space pirates onboard, reducing them into chunks of flesh drenched in fluids of all colors, which were then sucked out through the breached hull and floated silently in the cold vacuum of space.
Some space pirates tried to resist with their unique abilities—spitting venom, hardening their skin into metal, or unleashing psychic powers—but not one of them managed to gain even a second more of life.
In the blink of an eye, nearly all pirates inside the ship had been slaughtered. Then, he tore through the opposite side's bulkhead and outer armor—rushing toward the next cosmic warship.
Soon, the second vessel met the exact same fate. The entire process took no more than three or four seconds before he moved on again—toward a third ship already glinting ominously in the distance.
At this moment, the pirates aboard that ship were gripped by sheer terror and despair.
"Why… why is there a superhuman this powerful?!"
"What kind of nightmare civilization is this?!"
"God, I must be dreaming—if this is a dream, please wake me up now! There's no way a single superpowered being could destroy a warship! This has to be a dream!!"
[BOOM————]
However, all the madness, struggle, and fear were quickly silenced into a deathlike stillness the moment that streak of golden light pierced through.
"Cosmic pirates, huh... Guess they're not all that scary~"
Gathered in a cloud of shimmering golden motes, Borsalino reappeared in front of a space pirate with blue skin and a long snake-like tail.
The terrified pirate was desperately pressing his thumbs against his temples, releasing waves of invisible psychic energy aimed directly at Borsalino.
"Wh-Why isn't it working?! Y-You—can't you feel anything?!"
Pausing for a breath, Borsalino raised an eyebrow and tilted his mouth into a half-smile as he replied, "So this is your ability, huh? Kind of reminds me of Isshō's gravity... But isn't it a bit weak? Barely double the normal force? What am I supposed to feel?"
"Th-That's impossible…"
The space pirate was stunned. His psychic power could normally tear apart the flesh of most lifeforms under 5 meters in an instant!
"I was supposed to take you back alive, but... unfortunately, I don't have the time. Sorry~"
Borsalino said casually.
The next instant, he lifted his right hand. A golden beam of light shot out from his fingertip, instantly piercing through both the surrounding psychic field and the pirate's forehead.
"Whew—back to work!"
Borsalino exhaled with a sigh, then transformed once again into a straight beam of light—blasting through the nearby hull and outer armor, speeding toward his next marked target.
Meanwhile, Kaido—still in his Azure Dragon form—had just managed to arrive at the outer perimeter of the fleet.
But just as he opened his massive jaws, preparing to announce his arrival with a blast of Heat Breath, a streak of blue lightning suddenly zipped past him.
"That's... Enel!"
Kaido stared gloomily at the flash of lightning disappearing into the distance.
"Should I not have bothered coming at all...?"
...
Borsalino launched a powerful assault against Odette's space pirate fleet.
Naturally, the high-ranking officials of the World Government on Starfish witnessed the entire confrontation.
Even the reinforcements—Enel and Kaido—delivered remarkably inspiring performances.
At the same time—
The massive offensive and defensive operations on the Moon's front had also essentially concluded in victory.
While these space pirates had greater numbers, more advanced weaponry, and stronger ships than their seafaring counterparts of old, they were clearly no match for the World Government.
If not for the extreme range of their space battleships, a single General would have been more than enough to suppress them.
"Zephyr, Saint Ethanbaron V. Nusjuro of the Five Elders has issued an order—Borsalino and Enel are to proceed to Saturn and eliminate the remaining space pirates. Relay the command."
Inside the command room at the lunar surface base, Zephyr received a direct message from Commander-in-Chief Kong.
"Understood."
Zephyr raised an eyebrow in surprise.
While the order was bold—and Borsalino and Enel would be taking on considerable risk—he still accepted it without hesitation.
After all, no one could say for certain whether the space pirates still had some hidden trump cards.
But this was war—how could one expect victory without risk?
...
Holy Land, Mary Geoise
Inside the Room of Authority in Pangaea Castle—
Seated on the central sofa, Saint Topman Warcury smiled as he remarked, "Seems these space pirates aren't as troublesome as we initially thought."
"It is, after all, our first time facing an extraterrestrial invasion. No amount of caution would have been too much."
"Besides, we've gained access to a wealth of alien technology, especially those space battleships," said Saint Marcus Mars.
"Personally, I think the intelligence we've gathered is even more valuable. It has expanded our field of vision by orders of magnitude compared to before. We now have a foundational understanding of the greater universe."
Saint Shepherd Ju Peter spoke next in a slightly excited tone.
Information about interstellar powers was enormously attractive to him.
In fact, he believed that instead of focusing on the otherworld beyond the 'Dimensional Gate',
the World Government ought to prioritize investigating the Galactic Empire and United Space Federation—and begin constructing an interstellar fleet of their own.
Because the native universe lacks a 'Dimensional Gate' that can be shut down at will to block passage, there's always the looming risk of foreign forces attacking directly.
Regarding this concern, Saint Shepherd Ju Peter had already reported the matter to Lord Imu through a golden Den-Den Mushi.
However, Lord Imu's reply was clear:
Exploring and defending the native universe must continue. Building an interstellar fleet for the World Government must also proceed.
But the conquest and development of the otherworld beyond the Dimensional Gate must not be neglected either.
This left Shepherd Ju Peter inwardly puzzled.
Even if they counted the current 'Ninja World',
the benefits brought by these otherworlds seemed far less valuable than what they had gained from this wave of space pirates.
At least, that was his opinion.
Indeed, those alternate worlds possessed a fair share of interesting talents, creatures, artifacts, and an abundance of natural resources beyond measure.
But when compared to an entire universe of their own?
They still fell short—by a long shot.
Only Imu understood the true value behind the term 'Japanese anime'.
Within it lay far too many incomprehensible people, objects, technologies, and powers.
So how could the World Government be allowed to halt its conquest of new otherworlds?
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