Palace Entertainment City, Central Tower.
Knock, knock, knock!
Aeridar had just returned to his room when a series of urgent knocks sounded at the door.
"Come in!" Aeridar called out from the couch, rubbing his temples.
Creak…
The door opened, and Andy, with the signature golden ring in his right ear, rushed inside.
"What is it, Andy?" Aeridar asked, leaning back on the couch.
"Captain, something happened to Oliver-san!" Andy said, out of breath.
"What?!" Aeridar was startled, an unconscious aura of power erupting from him as he shot up from the couch. "What happened to Oliver?!"
"O-Oliver-san is injured! It seems to be a serious wound," Andy said, taken aback by Aeridar's overwhelming presence.
"What exactly happened? Not many people in the New World can hurt him!" Aeridar frowned, his voice cold.
"Well, Captain, I don't know the specifics. He got on one of our merchant ships, and the message came from them. They're on their way to Kingdom 27 now," Andy's voice was weak.
Hearing this, Aeridar relaxed. If Oliver was still able to get on one of their merchant ships, it couldn't be too bad.
"Alright, Andy, you and a crew go and bring Oliver back," Aeridar ordered.
"Understood! I'll go now," Andy said, nodding and turning to leave.
Sitting alone in the spacious room, Aeridar leaned back on the couch, his mind racing. Given Oliver's current strength, very few people in the New World could injure him. Plus, with Aeridar backing him, the only Yonko crew that would dare lay a hand on him was the Red Hair Pirates, making the scope even smaller.
"It feels like there are a lot of problems lately," Aeridar muttered, scratching his scalp.
When he returned, Arlan and Mina had also told him about the stolen Vigor-Vigor Fruit. It was taken by a mysterious organization connected to the Celestial Dragons, and it also included many people who were already his enemies.
Dasco Benson was a member of that organization, and they were the ones who had stolen the Vigor-Vigor Fruit at the Gran Tesoro.
Furthermore, it was clear that this mysterious organization had a powerful and deeply hidden intelligence network. If Morgans from the World Economy News Paper hadn't provided them with key information, Mina's External Affairs Department would never have found them.
To this end, Arlan had even dispatched the Elite Strike Team to work with the External Affairs Department to uncover the details of this organization.
"It involves the Celestial Dragons, the World Nobles. Could it be those five old geezers making a move?" Aeridar stroked his chin, muttering to himself. "Secretly recruiting Dasco Benson and Black Ghost Mando, then sending people to bid at the auction while also having them ready to steal the fruit if they failed to get it… It's not impossible."
After thinking for a long time, Aeridar narrowed his eyes and took out a small Den Den Mushi.
"I guess I need to test those five old geezers."
....
Aznat Island, the New Border of Barrid Kingdom.
Boom, boom, boom…
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
Bang, bang, bang…
Clang, clang, clang…
On a plain, two forces were clashing. One side, with three to four thousand people, flew the flag of the Barrid Kingdom. However, only about a thousand were armed soldiers in armor, while the rest were an unarmed support group.
The battlefield was littered with hundreds of large wooden carts filled with rice sacks, wooden crates, and barrels, indicating that they were a supply convoy.
The other side also had over three thousand people, all fully armed with various weapons and armor. They had no flag and wore different clothes, so they weren't a regular army. But their sharp and coordinated attacks suggested they were mercenaries.
Based on the three-to-one ratio, and the fact that they were fighting ordinary supply soldiers, the elite mercenaries should have had the advantage. However, they were being pushed back relentlessly.
A ghostly figure moved through their ranks, so fast it seemed to teleport. The average person's dynamic vision couldn't keep up.
Slash!
A flash of a sword, and in the middle of the battlefield, seven or eight mercenaries were instantly decapitated, blood spraying three feet high.
Slash!
Just a few seconds later, on the other end of the battlefield, another five or six mercenaries had their heads cleanly severed.
"Ah! My arm!"
"Damn it, what's going on?!"
"Is it a person or a ghost?"
"It's too fast! My eyes can't even see it!"
"Where are the Haki users? Find that guy!"
"The Haki users were killed at the start!"
"My God! Am I really going to die here?!"
"Dammit! We're fighting on the front lines, so why is there a monster like this here?!"
In less than ten minutes, nearly a thousand people had their heads sliced off. The remaining mercenaries were terrified and on the verge of collapsing.
"Damn it! This speed and swordsmanship… it's… it's the Speedster, Elroy!" someone exclaimed, identifying the ghostly figure.
"That's… that's impossible! A big shot like him is supposed to be holding down the main battlefield!" a middle-aged man with a broadsword said, his face filled with terror and disbelief.
Slash!
A second later, a flash of a sword crossed the man's neck. His terrified expression froze on his face as a line of blood appeared across his throat.
"Heeheehee… You figured it out. How boring!" A bone-chilling laugh seemed to come from the very air itself.
"They say he can kill an entire town in ten minutes!"
"My God! He's toying with us!"
"Run! Run! We're all gonna die!"
The mercenaries completely lost it when they heard the confirmation. They broke ranks and scattered, many of them throwing down their weapons and armor to run faster.
"Heeheehee… You're all too weak. Not a single one of you is interesting!"
A figure appeared on the battlefield. He was tall and thin, about thirty years old, wearing a gray shirt with a dark green 'Speed' kanji on the chest and a black fur coat. He wore black jeans and black high-top leather boots. In his hand was an ancient-looking cross-shaped sword with a gleaming blade.
Garfield Pirates First Mate, the Speedster, Elroy!
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a sound of air being torn apart came from the distance. A bolt of lightning-like energy moved across the ground and quickly approached.
"Elroy! What's the point of bullying a bunch of weaklings! Face me without running!"
With a deep roar, the bolt of lightning dissipated, revealing a humanoid beast with dark blue scales on the battlefield.