Oboro methodically plundered every valuable item and currency within the palace's treasure vaults, his enhanced senses guiding him to hidden compartments that ordinary thieves would never discover. The system's storage capabilities proved their extraordinary worth during this systematic looting, daily necessities and portable wealth could be stored virtually without limit, as long as they weren't complex energy-based objects.
Devil Fruits and similar power sources faced restrictions based on the system's current strength, which remained proportional to Oboro's soul power. But for conventional treasure, the dimensional storage proved invaluable for their operations.
After securing the palace's wealth, the three pirates expanded their acquisition to include materials from the capital's various arms manufacturing facilities. The weapons and ammunition produced here would fetch premium prices throughout the North Blue's war-torn territories, providing crucial funding for their future expansion.
Hours of methodical work yielded a fortune sufficient to sustain a rookie pirate crew for years without financial concerns. Arms dealing, banned substances, and other illegal commodities commanded enormous profit margins, especially in a region like the North Blue where constant warfare created insatiable demand.
Their systematic approach to conquest had focused primarily on the island's ruling class and military forces. While ordinary civilians inevitably suffered collateral damage from the upheaval, Oboro had deliberately avoided wholesale slaughter, leaving substantial numbers of survivors to rebuild whatever remained of their shattered community.
However, an unexpected complication arose the moment their vessel departed Fishhead Island's territorial waters.
Oboro had underestimated the scope of Doflamingo's influence throughout the North Blue, or rather, the degree to which regional powers depended on the Donquixote Family's continued approval for their own prosperity.
The Hell Pirates' modest ship had barely cleared the harbor when the horizon erupted with maritime traffic. Ocean-going vessels of every description appeared as if summoned by some invisible signal, an astonishing variety that included not only pirate crews but legitimate merchant convoys pressed into military service.
Without exception, these ships opened fire immediately upon detecting the Hell Pirates' distinctive flag. Countless artillery shells began exploding around their position, creating towering geysers of seawater that crashed across their deck in relentless waves.
Oboro and Dom moved with supernatural speed to intercept the most dangerous projectiles, their enhanced reflexes allowing them to deflect or destroy shells that would have otherwise obliterated their vessel. But the sheer volume of incoming fire made comprehensive defense impossible.
"These people..." Dom landed on the deck after destroying another incoming barrage, his tone carrying grim understanding of their tactical situation.
The assembled fleet continued expanding as additional ships converged on their position from every direction, creating a maritime scene unlike anything the North Blue had witnessed in recent memory. Vessels representing different pirate organizations, merchant syndicates, and independent operators had united in temporary alliance, all focused on the systematic destruction of a single three-man crew.
Under such concentrated bombardment, even Dom and Oboro's supernatural capabilities couldn't maintain defensive coverage indefinitely. Their pirate ship lacked the armament necessary for meaningful counterattack, possessing only modest advantages in size and maneuverability that allowed them to avoid direct hits through desperate evasion.
Several enemy vessels had begun closing distance with obvious intent to board and finish them in personal combat, a prospect that might have favored the Hell Pirates under normal circumstances, but remained academic if their ship sank before such encounters could occur.
"Doflamingo represents one of the primary decision-makers controlling the North Blue's profit distribution," Oboro analyzed with clinical detachment, his mind working through the political implications even as shells exploded around them. "Any organization seeking access to these lucrative markets requires his explicit approval. For ambitious crews and merchant syndicates, cooperation with the Donquixote Family represents opportunities that most could never achieve through independent action."
The tactical situation crystallized with brutal clarity. Doflamingo might not be physically present, but the North Blue served as his established power base. His influence here transcended simple territorial control, it encompassed economic networks, information systems, and the kind of institutional authority that could mobilize entire fleets through a single communication.
The Heavenly Demon had clearly issued a bounty for the Hell Pirates' elimination, transforming their capture into a pathway for advancement within his organization. Such incentives would drive every opportunistic faction in these waters to participate in the hunt, regardless of personal risk or moral considerations.
"Captain, we can't escape!" Dolan frantically worked the ship's wheel, his weathered hands fighting to find gaps in the enemy formation while incoming artillery made stable navigation impossible. Seawater crashed over the deck with each near miss, soaking his clothes and making every surface treacherously slippery.
This was marine warfare in its most brutal form, completely different from land-based conflicts where individual skill could overcome numerical disadvantages. Unless someone possessed truly overwhelming personal power, the ocean's environment naturally favored coordinated fleet action over lone wolves.
"King, let me handle this," Dom volunteered, studying a pirate vessel that had closed to within a hundred meters. The enemy crew lined their railings with drawn weapons, their faces twisted into bloodthirsty grins as they prepared for boarding action.
His spatial manipulation abilities could transport him directly to the approaching ship, allowing him to eliminate their entire crew before they could react. But such tactics represented temporary solutions at best, the sheer number of enemy vessels made individual elimination efforts futile.
"Hey, newcomer!"
A voice boomed across the water from the nearest pirate ship, its captain standing prominently at the bow where his words could carry clearly despite the ongoing artillery barrage. The man's confident posture suggested he viewed their confrontation as already decided.
"You've got serious balls, touching Joker's business!" he continued with theatrical bravado. "I'll offer you one chance, stop your ship and surrender peacefully. Joker wants to see you alive, so you might actually survive this if you cooperate. Keep resisting, and I'll personally send you to the bottom!"
BOOM!
A cannonball struck their hull's port side with devastating impact, the explosion sending wooden splinters flying while flames began spreading across the damaged sections. The ship listed dangerously as structural damage compromised their stability.
"Captain, the hull is breached! The cabin's flooding fast!" Dolan abandoned the wheel and rushed to assess the damage, his panicked voice carrying all the authority of someone who understood exactly how dire their situation had become.
"Dom." Oboro's quiet command halted his subordinate's preparations for counterattack. Intercepting additional shells would accomplish nothing meaningful, their vessel was already doomed.
Instead, Oboro walked calmly to the bow and closed his eyes in deep concentration.
Invisible ripples began emanating from his position, soul-based fluctuations that swept across the surrounding ocean with supernatural precision. While his capabilities in this reality remained significantly weaker than what he'd achieved in the Hunter x Hunter or Demon Slayer worlds, the technique proved adequate for their current crisis.
Within moments, every combatant on the assembled fleet noticed something profoundly wrong with their environment.
The sea itself began churning with unnatural violence as countless creatures erupted from the depths in coordinated assault. Marine life of every size and species suddenly turned hostile, attacking human vessels with apparent mindless rage that defied all natural behavior.
"Sea beasts!" someone screamed from the nearest pirate ship.
"They're everywhere!" another voice added with rising panic. "What the hell is happening?"
"Did we hit a migration route?"
"Defensive positions! Move!"
Frantic shouts echoed across the water as every ship in the formation found itself under simultaneous attack by creatures that had previously shown no interest in human activity. Aquatic monsters crashed into hulls with bone-jarring impact while smaller specimens leaped directly onto crowded decks, their thrashing forms creating chaos that made coordinated combat impossible.
The Hell Pirates' vessel continued its slow descent toward the ocean floor, but Oboro showed no concern as he slowly opened his eyes. The mental strain of manipulating so many simple minds simultaneously had triggered a fierce headache, but the results justified his discomfort.
Soul manipulation worked most effectively against creatures lacking complex thought processes, fish, marine reptiles, and basic sea life responded to his commands with perfect obedience. Intelligent opponents, particularly powerful pirates with strong wills, required far more focused application of power to influence. But area-effect techniques like this could certainly disrupt organized fleet actions.
At minimum, the coordinated bombardment had ceased entirely as enemy crews struggled to deal with more immediate threats.
Raising his hand in a casual pistol gesture, Oboro aimed directly at the pirate ship whose captain had demanded their surrender. He activated his Qi Refining techniques, focusing internal energy into the precise acupuncture point located at his index finger's tip.
Qi refining encompassed both internal cultivation and external manipulation, the fundamental principle that had convinced him these methods could eventually reach legendary "terrestrial immortal" levels of achievement. Human blood and vital energy could be disturbed just as easily as the essence flowing through heaven and earth itself.
As power gathered at his fingertip, tremendous winds suddenly erupted across their sinking deck. The pressure differential nearly launched Dolan overboard, forcing him to grab desperately at nearby railings to avoid being swept into the churning sea.
Beneath his black bandages, Dom's eyes widened with genuine shock as he observed the phenomenon manifesting around Oboro's extended finger. Qi was normally invisible to conventional sight, but the extreme compression being achieved was drawing so much atmospheric energy that the surrounding air became noticeably thin and difficult to breathe.
This qualitative transformation rendered the colorless, invisible force into something resembling a grain of concentrated light, a glowing mote that pulsed with barely contained power.
When the fluorescent manifestation achieved full stability, the wind curtain dissipated into perfect calm. Then, with a motion as casual as firing an actual pistol, Oboro gently released his technique.
A slender rainbow beam shot across the water with impossible speed and precision.
Where the concentrated energy passed, it carved a temporary channel through the ocean itself, splitting the sea between the two vessels and raising towering walls of displaced water that stood like monuments to supernatural force. The effect culminated when the beam struck the target ship with catastrophic results.
The massive pirate vessel, larger than most Marine cruisers and constructed from reinforced materials designed to withstand conventional artillery, simply ceased to exist. No dramatic explosion or gradual disintegration marked its destruction; the concentrated air simply passed through its structure and reduced everything to fundamental particles.
The crew members who had been confidently dealing with aquatic attackers never realized death was approaching until their consciousness dissolved along with their physical forms. More terrifying than the instantaneous annihilation was what followed, the concentrated qi that had penetrated the ship's hull exploded outward in a controlled pattern, generating countless air blades that sliced through debris, sea life, and water itself with surgical precision.
The ocean beneath the former vessel transformed into a massive whirlpool that drew in the scattered remains of everything caught in the technique's area of effect. The seawater turned crimson as fragmented sea beasts contributed their essence to the growing vortex.
"Acceptable results, though still somewhat lacking," Oboro observed with critical analysis, slowly rotating his finger to target another vessel within range.
The destruction had been comprehensive, but eliminating a single medium-sized pirate ship hardly compared to the casual devastation that true monsters could achieve. When the Four Emperors grew angry, dozens of enemy vessels might disappear without requiring particular effort or attention.
Dom remained frozen in place, his enhanced mind struggling to process what his eyes had just witnessed. The sheer scope of power displayed defied every assumption about their captain's capabilities, this transcended enhanced physical conditioning or superior martial arts technique.
Behind them, Dolan stood slack-jawed, his pupils dilated with shock as he tried to comprehend the implications of what had just occurred. The casual destruction of an entire crew, accomplished with a simple gesture, spoke to abilities that operated beyond conventional understanding of human limitations.
What exactly had they just witnessed?
The answer to that question would reshape their understanding of who they served and what they had committed themselves to achieve. The Hell Pirates had just announced their presence to the North Blue's criminal underworld in terms that no one could possibly misunderstand.
The game had evolved beyond simple territorial disputes into something approaching divine intervention, and Oboro was just getting started.