Dark clouds rolled in, covering the entire sea, looming overhead and creating an oppressive atmosphere.
Just as Sakazuki ended his call with Orion, the sky, shrouded in dark clouds suddenly roared with deafening thunder.
Immediately after, dazzling lightning accompanied by thunder tore across the sky like sharp swords, illuminating the sea in flashes, as if the apocalypse could descend at any moment.
This was the New World, the most dangerous sea in the world.
After a series of lightning and thunder, torrential rain poured down without mercy, instantly connecting the sky and the sea, forming an endless curtain of rain that enveloped everything in the area.
Under the lightning that tore through the sky, the Akainu Army Fleet led by Sakazuki did not stop or change course.
Instead, they surged forward at full speed through the towering waves, charging toward the sea ahead.
Sakazuki, standing in the command cabin, gazed intently at the horizon.
When he first joined the Marine, he had thought that becoming an Admiral would allow him to do what he truly wanted. But he soon realized it wasn't that simple.
As an Admiral, he not only had to be ready to protect the Celestial Dragons at any moment but also needed permission from higher-ups to engage with the Emperors of the Sea in the New World.
These layers of restrictions and constraints made it impossible for him to act freely.
However, all of that was now in the past.
The Marine was no longer bound by the dictates of the World Goverment and the young Fleet Admiral had given him the freedom to act as he saw fit.
Most importantly, this young Fleet Admiral wasn't just leaving him to fight alone.
It gave him the inexplicable feeling that he finally had someone to rely on and it wasn't entirely an illusion, because Orion wasn't just his backer—he was the backer of the entire Marine.
With this young Fleet Admiral who dared to challenge the World Goverment, firmly in command, Sakazuki believed that not only he but also Kuzan, who was heading toward the territory controlled by the Big Mom Pirates, would have nothing to worry about.
The Big Mom Pirates would not be able to interfere in his war with the Beasts Pirates!
"Buru buru~"
Suddenly, the Den Den Mushi beside him rang.
"Report, Admiral Sakazuki! We've lost sight of the Beasts Pirates' fleet. The rain is too heavy, and our visibility is extremely limited!"
"Don't worry!" Sakazuki regained his composure and said firmly.
"If our vision is limited, so is theirs. Maintain our current course and continue forward!"
At the same time, the massive fleet of the Beasts Pirates, engulfed in the torrential rain, rose and fell on the turbulent sea.
On the deck of the lead warship, over a hundred members of the Beasts Pirates stood in formation—Waiters, Gifters, Headliners and Pleasures—a force of more than three hundred people, all staring ahead at the two towering figures standing before them.
The two figures were none other than two of the Three Calamities of the Beasts Pirates.
The one wearing a mask, dressed in a black double-breasted coat, with a tall and muscular build and a pair of black wings, was King, the leader of the Three Calamities.
King, the earliest member of the Three Calamities, was not only a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user with the Ancient Zoan: Pteranodon model but also had a bounty of 1.39 billion Berries.
He was regarded by Kaido as his right hand, a man of extraordinary strength.
Standing beside King was Queen, the Plague of the Three Calamities, a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user with the Ancient Zoan: Brachiosaurus model, whose bounty was only 70 million Berries lower than King.
Queen, with his bald head and rotund body, looked like a giant balloon at first glance.
Neither of them spoke, allowing the pouring rain to drench them as they stared at the turbulent sea ahead.
Their eyes reflected both sorrow and unspoken fury, because they had received devastating news: Jack, who had gone to rescue members of the Donquixote Family, had been ambushed by Sakazuki due to wrong intelligence.
Along with Jack, all the crew members had fallen into the sea as their warship was sunk. Given their understanding of Sakazuki, the chances of Jack survival were almost zero.
"Boom—"
"Crack, crack—"
Accompanied by the continuous roar of thunder, bolts of lightning once again tore through the sky, illuminating the sea as bright as day.
At the very moment the sea was lit up by the lightning, the silhouette of a warship cutting through the waves appeared in the distance.
Before Queen and King could react, the lightning vanished, and rolling black clouds once again enveloped the land, plunging the sea into near-total darkness.
With his extraordinary vision, even though the lightning had flashed by in an instant, King clearly caught sight of the warship breaking through the waves ahead.
Without hesitation, King decisively turned and commanded.
"Order all warships to prepare for combat!"
Boom—
Before King voice could fade, thunder roared again, instantly drowning out his words.
Immediately after, several more bolts of lightning split the sky, illuminating the naval fleet several nautical miles away with crystal clarity.
Boom, boom, boom, boom—
Taking advantage of the lingering light from the lightning, the warships decisively opened fire.
With the simultaneous roar of dozens of cannons, a dense barrage of shells soared into the sky, tearing through the air at an astonishing speed and raining down upon the Beast Pirates' fleet.
"Damn it!"
Hearing the whistling of the incoming shells, King expression beneath his mask changed drastically.
For just as the shells tore through the air, the lingering light from the lightning also vanished, and darkness once again enveloped the sea.
The piercing sound of the shells grew louder and closer.
In the next second, deafening explosions erupted in the darkness, followed by the shockwaves from the exploding shells sweeping across the area.
Towering waves, mixed with torrential rain, crashed onto the deck.
Standing on the deck, King dared not let his guard down for even a moment.
With his formidable strength and the combined use of Observation Haki, he swiftly raised his sword and cleanly sliced through several incoming shells.
The moment the shells were cut, they exploded mid-air, and the rising flames instantly bathed the deck of his warship in a crimson glow.
The Tobiroppo, the Numbers, and the Gifters standing behind him and Queen scrambled to intercept the incoming barrage of shells.
In just one round of cannon fire, all the Beast Pirates' warships that had entered the area, including the one carrying King and Queen, were thrown into chaos.
The decks of the ships hit by the shells echoed with cries of agony. One ship was particularly unlucky, struck by over a dozen shells in the darkness, resulting in heavy casualties.
The ship was soon engulfed in rising flames.
"Damn it, damn it!"
Watching the flames rising from the sea not far away, King roared into the Den Den Mushi.
"Get away from that burning ship, now!"
As the leader of the Three Calamities of the Beast Pirates, King not only possessed immense strength but also had extensive combat experience, especially in large-scale battles shrouded in darkness.
While the rising flames allowed them to see their surroundings, they also made them a prime target for the enemy.
Sure enough… As King voice faded, the sound of synchronized gunfire echoed once more from the sea ahead.
Accompanied by the piercing whistle of projectiles cutting through the air, a dense barrage of shells rained down, exploding continuously around the warship engulfed in flames.
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