New World, G-1 Marine Branch.
On the vast inner bay, warships filled with Marine soldiers were rapidly sailing out of the harbor in various directions, led by Marine officers.
At the same time, warships covered in bullet holes could be seen coming from the sea in the distance, heading towards this direction.
In the far-off waters, beyond the reach of the naked eye, pirate ships were pouring out from various islands in the New World, frantically intercepting and firing at the warships that were desperately converging on the G-1 Branch.
A solemn and tense atmosphere permeated the air above G-1 Island.
The G-1 Marine Branch, as the Marines' most fortified stronghold in the New World, was the largest of all the Marine branches, second only to Marine Headquarters, Marineford.
It had a standing force of over ten thousand soldiers.
The highest commanders of the base were two candidates for Admiral, Gion (Momousagi) and Tokikake (Chaton).
At the same time, the three Admirals, the Marines' highest combat power, would also take turns at G-1, stationed in the New World to deter this chaotic sea.
Since the old era decades ago, the Marines had been advancing into the chaotic sea of the New World, trying to nail the power of justice into the major sea areas of the New World like nails.
After the Rocks era, the Roger era, and the later Great Pirate Era, the Marines' layout could be said to have begun to show results.
In the New World, in addition to the strongest G-1 Branch, there were a total of over fifteen other Marine branches, including G-5, which were located in areas where pirate forces were weak.
While protecting the safety of some of the affiliated countries in the New World, they also served to divide the pirates and prevent many pirate forces from forming groups and growing stronger.
But now, the hard work of decades and the fruits of several generations of Marines' painstaking efforts were uprooted by pirates in just a few days.
"Report! Admiral Akainu! G-33 Branch and G-35 Branch have fallen. The surviving Marines are being pursued by pirates. Please give us your orders!"
A communication soldier, covered in various Den Den Mushi, loudly reported the latest battle report to Akainu, who was standing as still as a rock in the inner bay harbor.
Akainu was wearing a blood-red Marine uniform, shiny black military boots, black gloves, and a large cloak of justice on his back. He had his arms crossed, and his eyes, which were always as cold as a blade, were looking at the sea in front of the inner bay.
Listening to the hurried shouts from the communication snail, Akainu did not move. A deep voice came from his mouth.
"Order Gion and Shiryu, who are on standby in the nearby waters, to go and provide support."
"Yes!"
The communication soldier took the order and quickly began to dial Gion and Shiryu's communication numbers.
According to the latest battle reports from the various branches in the New World, the pirates of the Flying Pirates, Beast Pirates, Big Mom Pirates, and Wang Zhi Pirates were scattered and attacking the various branches, closing in on G-1 in a pincer movement.
It was imaginable that once these small and large Marine branches were dismantled and captured one by one by the pirate coalition, the island where G-1 was located would become the last stronghold for the Marines in the New World.
At that time, as long as G-1 was taken down, this war would end with a pirate victory.
And once the Marines lost this war, it would mean that the Marines would completely withdraw from the stage of the New World.
The situation of the Great Pirate Era would only get worse, becoming even more chaotic and insane.
Hundreds of miles away on the sea, three medium-sized warships were riding the wind and waves, frantically driving their steam paddles, and charging towards G-1 Island, where the Log Pose was pointing.
"Faster! Faster! As long as we can reach G-1 waters, we'll be saved! Admiral Akainu is stationed there, and no one can break through!"
On a warship, a Marine Rear Admiral, covered in blood, was shouting loudly at the Marines around him.
At the same time, he held a military sword that was constantly dripping with blood in one hand and a telescope in the other, looking nervously at the sea behind them.
Behind them, more than a dozen pirate ships with horned skulls painted on them were in hot pursuit.
Even from a thousand meters away, they could hear the pirates' wanton laughter coming from the pirate ships.
They were the pirates of the Beast Pirates!
"Where is he? Where is he? Where is that guy?"
Cold sweat trickled down the Rear Admiral's forehead as he kept searching the pirate ships with his telescope, as if looking for something.
Suddenly, the deck of the warship was covered by a shadow.
The shadow followed the warship like its own shadow, closely following the rapidly moving warship and always covering the Rear Admiral's head.
"Gulp."
The Marine Rear Admiral's throat moved, his body trembled, and an ominous premonition rose in his heart. He looked up abruptly.
A hundred meters above the three rapidly moving warships, a black Pteranodon with a wingspan of over ten meters had its wide, fleshy wings spread and was flying steadily at a constant speed, hovering directly above them.
The moment he saw the Pteranodon wearing black leather armor, a cold chill that could not be dispelled rose in the Marine Rear Admiral's heart.
Not long ago, his G-33 Marine Branch was completely crushed by the fleet of the Beast Pirates led by the black Pteranodon above him, which easily broke through the branch's defenses.
Even the branch's highest commander, Vice Admiral Mozambia, couldn't stop its fierce slash and was cut in half on the spot by that blade with flames.
This Pteranodon wearing black leather armor was none other than one of the three All-Stars of the Beast Pirates, who were famous all over the world. He was the most powerful and highest-ranking member of the Beast Pirates, second only to Kaido, the All-Star King!
"Fire! Repel him!"
A shrill scream came from the Marine Rear Admiral's mouth.
The panicked Marines all raised their flintlock pistols, aimed at the black Pteranodon flying in the sky, and pulled the triggers.
The whistling bullets flew towards the sky. Most of them missed, and less than 20% of the bullets successfully hit the flying Pteranodon. But they were all deflected back with a series of clanging sounds and fell back into the sea with a patter.
"Whoosh!"
The flying Pteranodon flapped its wings, and its speed suddenly increased several times. In the eyes of the Marines, it became a blurry black shadow and swooped down.
"Counterattack! Counterattack!"
The Marine Rear Admiral gritted his teeth and was the first to rush out using Geppo, waving his military sword and slashing at the swooping Pteranodon.
As he was about to hit the warship's deck, the swooping Pteranodon retracted its right fleshy wing, reached out, and grabbed a three-meter-long katana from under its armpit. Its body rapidly changed. In an instant, it turned into a tall man wrapped in black leather armor with a pair of wide black wings on his back, and he slashed with his katana.
A look of fear and despair appeared in the Marine Rear Admiral's eyes. He watched helplessly as a huge, scorching flame spread out from the man's katana, carrying a sharp blade light that could easily tear the entire warship apart. It easily shattered the military sword he was holding and slashed down towards him.
It was this very slash that had cut Vice Admiral Mozambia of the G-33 Marine Branch in half.
"I'm dead."
This was the last thought that rose in the Marine Rear Admiral's mind.
The moment his upper body left the warship deck and flew into the sky, a long crack was torn open in the sea surface in the distance by an invisible force.
Above that long, straight crack, a blood-red katana shot out, passing through the Marine Rear Admiral's back and bringing out a spray of bright red blood. It flew towards King's face.
Facing the sudden blood-colored katana, King's eyes remained as calm as an ancient well. He flicked his wrist, and his katana blocked in front of him. The black blade perfectly blocked the tip of the incoming katana.
"Clang!"
Amidst the ear-piercing bang, the blood that was constantly flying out of the dead Marine Rear Admiral's body condensed in front of King into a blood-red hand. It grabbed the katana that he had blocked and slashed diagonally.
The black Busoshoku Haki quickly spread over the blade of the blood-red katana, instantly erupting with a sharp aura that could tear everything apart, and slashed towards King's neck.
At the same time, streaks of black Oni aura continuously seeped out from the blade, as if a ghost was trapped within the katana, emitting a soul-stirring aura.
"Oni Giri One-Sword Style! Asura Slash!"
"Shiryu of the Rain, haven't you had enough of the last lesson?"
King's tall body, which was over six meters high, shot back dozens of meters with a speed that was completely inconsistent with his massive physique. He dodged the blood-red katana that was slashing at him head-on. He grabbed his greatsword with both hands and slashed vertically in the air.
The surging flame flew out from the greatsword, turning into an arc-shaped blade of fire that slashed down at the incoming blood-colored blade light.
The two hundred-meter-long blade lights collided in the air with a deafening bang.
The impact caused by the collision of the blade lights made the moving warships suddenly stop and be pushed back dozens of meters.
It was only then that a large amount of blood spread out over the sea surface, falling onto the deck of the warship like a blood-red dragon and quickly condensing into the figure of a muscular Marine.
It was Shiryu.
Looking at King, who was hovering steadily in the air with his black wings spread behind him, Shiryu's mouth curled into a sneer. He bit a thick cigar and held his cursed sword, Raiu, pointing it out diagonally.
"Hehehe, I've gained an interesting ability this time. Maybe you're the one who's going to die, King."
Before he finished speaking, the pursuing pirate ships were already within a hundred meters.
The pirates standing on those ships all shouted and fired their cannons at the warships here.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The continuous sound of cannon fire made Shiryu frown. He turned his head unhappily and glanced at the nearest pirate ship.
"You're so noisy. Can't you be quiet when someone is fighting?"
From a distance of a hundred meters, he didn't draw his sword. He just stretched out his right hand and grabbed at the air.
"Garbage should know its place as garbage, you scumbags."
As Shiryu's five spread fingers closed, the hundreds of pirates crowded on the pirate ship a hundred meters away didn't even have time to scream. Their bodies were like tomatoes being crushed, and a large amount of blood spurted out from their pores.
The bodies of the pirates instantly became shriveled and thin, like mummies.
And the blood that spurted out from their bodies was like a living thing, moving on the deck of the pirate ship like a blood-red snake. It split into several blood-red snakes and shot towards the surrounding pirate ships, causing a series of terrified screams.
"That's enough. Am I not here, Shiryu of the Rain?"
Behind him, a terrifying killing intent surged over. It made Shiryu, who was controlling a thousand blood-red snakes, feel a chill in his heart. He didn't care about slaughtering the weak pirates and suddenly turned around, slashing at the charging King with his sword.
King, whose flames at the back of his head were flaring up, disappeared in Shiryu's eyes with a flicker.
In the next instant, his katana, which was wrapped in a high-level Busoshoku Haki, heavily slammed into the Raiu that Shiryu had swung out.
"Clang!"
Amidst the loud bang, Shiryu's body uncontrollably flew backward, shattering the warship's mast and smashing half of the ship's cabin to pieces.
"So fast!"
"It's not just speed."
King's cold voice came from under his mask. The flames at the back of his head disappeared, and the strength of his katana suddenly increased several times. Flames spread over the blade, gathering into a fiery dragon that roared and charged towards Shiryu.
"Karyuu'o!" (Flame Dragon King)
In the shattered cabin, Shiryu's mouth curled into a cruel smile. He held his sword and thrust.
"One-Sword Style! Hell's Thrust!"
Boom!
The massive warship, under the clash of two violent forces, was completely shattered, turning into a spray of wood chips that fell into the sea.
(End of Chapter)
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