Waters surrounding the Kingdom of Duramos.
After repeated persuasion from Kong, Sengoku, and the others, Kuzan and his companions finally agreed, though clearly with pent-up frustration.
A soldier's duty is to obey orders!
After several days and nights at sea, a warship finally arrived at the Kingdom of Duramos.
On the deck stood three Vice Admirals, each draped in a Marine cape, their expressions varied.
Borsalino didn't seem to mind. After all, his only grudge with Orin was from a previous fight.
He was already thinking about slacking off later, since Kuzan and Sakazuki were present to keep watch.
Sakazuki wore an icy expression. His disdain for Orin came purely from the fact that Orin was a pirate—one who had repeatedly provoked the Marines and disrupted the seas at will.
Under direct orders, Sakazuki barely managed to restrain himself, treating Orin the same way he would treat the Seven Warlords of the Sea in the future—turning a blind eye.
As for Kuzan...
His emotions were nothing but hatred, coupled with a stubborn pride that refused to concede. All he felt toward Orin was hostility.
"Report, sirs! The Kingdom of Duramos is just ahead!"
As the coastline became visible in the distance, a messenger carrying a rifle was nervously pushed forward to make the report.
Faced with their cold and intimidating commanders, the low-ranking soldiers were visibly on edge.
"Alright, alright... We got it~"
Kuzan and Sakazuki remained silent. It was Borsalino who, with a slight smirk, responded and waved the soldier away before strolling to the right side of the ship.
He shaded his eyes with his hand and looked off into the distance.
"That direction... Looks like some scary guy's fighting again~"
It was obvious. With sword auras exaggerated to kilometer scale and a sky-filling sandstorm, even an idiot could tell who it was.
"Black Gun Orin!!!"
"Crack... crack..."
Frost began to spread from Kuzan's body, icing over the deck. Within the swirling cold mist, his gaze grew even colder.
If it weren't for military orders restraining him, he would've already unleashed a wide-range ultimate attack.
Whether he could take Orin down or not—
At the very least, he needed to show his stance.
Whoosh—
Before he could act, a black-and-red sword slash suddenly flew from the island toward the warship, special effects lighting up the sky.
Plenty of sword auras flew from the island into the sea or other directions, but this one was headed straight for the ship.
This single slash split the ocean in two, the waters unable to mend for a long while.
Countless Marines noticed the towering slash in the distance, stretching toward the heavens, enveloped in black-red lightning, and unstoppable in momentum.
"Hey!! What the hell is that!?"
"Are you kidding me?! Slashes like that actually exist in this world?!"
"Am I dreaming?! It came flying from dozens of kilometers away!?"
A kilometer may not sound like much on paper, but to describe it more vividly—
A slash so massive it practically pierced the heavens, as tall as a 300-story building, enough to outsize twenty Ultramen.
At such a scale, even the giants looked like ants.
The lower-ranking Marines were in a panic. Some even dropped their weapons without realizing it.
Are we going to die here!?
"Pheasant Beak!!!"
"Great Eruption!!!"
Two towering figures stepped forward. A giant magma fist radiating intense heat and a chilling ice bird surged ahead.
They clashed with the massive black-red slash, locked in a standoff for a moment before all three forces dissipated into nothingness.
Sakazuki and Kuzan looked grimly toward the distant island. There was no mistaking that black-red slash...
Behind the two of them, footsteps rang out. The Marines on board gasped in shock and stumbled back.
A tall man with long hair appeared, holding a black blade, slowly returning it to its sheath.
His tall, proportioned figure—not slender, but well-built—reached out and lightly placed a hand on Borsalino's shoulder.
"Salutations, Marines."
"Oh~ You just boarded the ship like that? How bold of you, Orin~"
Borsalino glanced at Orin, who stood slightly taller than him, with his hand resting on his shoulder. He didn't react much—only a drop of sweat ran down his cheek.
Such terrifying speed… He hadn't even had time to react.
The surrounding Marines formed a circle around Orin and Borsalino, their knees trembling as they raised their weapons.
They weren't even mentally prepared. Why was this confrontation happening so soon!?
The legendary pirate…
"Hah? What's this? I just came to say hello, and you're already ready to fight? Aren't you guys here to escort the Dotor royal family to the Reverie?"
With a snap of his fingers, Orin's face remained gentle, as if he weren't the one being surrounded at gunpoint.
At the sound of his snap, bullets appeared beneath every Marine's feet, clinking as they rolled across the deck.
Nani?!
When were the bullets removed?!!!
But… wait, that's right. They were here to escort him—
Which meant they didn't have to fight this monster. So what the hell were they so afraid of!?
"Orin!!!"
Kuzan turned, his body almost entirely frozen over, expression unreadable beneath the ice. His clenched fist trembled with restraint, struggling not to punch Orin in the face.
Not attacking already took everything he had.
That bastard had better not provoke him...
"Yo, isn't this Kuzan? Long time no see~"
Orin, seemingly oblivious, walked forward, ignoring the cold as he casually slung an arm around Kuzan's shoulder.
Crack... crack...
Kuzan remained silent with his head bowed, but frost rapidly spread from his body, racing along the arm Orin had slung around him and crawling toward Orin's body.
"Hey, Kuzan!"
Even Sakazuki, though furious, retained some reason. Seeing this, he couldn't help but shout.
Within seconds, Orin had become a stylish ice sculpture.
"That should cool you down. I didn't come here to fight."
At some point, Orin's body vanished from the ice, reappearing on Kuzan's other side with his hands in his pockets, that same smile still on his face.
"You don't actually think that'll erase the hatred I feel toward you, do you, Orin..."
"Don't let me find the chance—because if I do, I will kill you."
"Sure, sure~"
Orin replied with a smile.
"Tch..."
Kuzan coldly snorted in frustration.
He didn't say anything else. He knew a man like Orin wouldn't be frozen that easily. He turned and silently walked to another part of the deck.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Sakazuki, on the other hand, was even more decisive. He didn't acknowledge Orin at all and headed straight for the ship's control room.
He feared that if he stayed, he'd lose control and launch a Hellhound attack out of sheer provocation.
That was exactly why Orin didn't want to mess with Sakazuki.
Because that guy really would go all in on you.
His hatred for pirates ran deep into his bones. He couldn't even be bothered to speak.
Playing with him just wasn't fun.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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