A blinding flash of white light swept across the battlefield, followed by a thunderous roar that left a constant ringing in the ears.
When Captain Nezumi opened his eyes again, he saw that two Marine warships just ahead had been blown to pieces!
He broke into a cold sweat. Fortunately, he had been clever enough to slow his ship's advance, pulling it out of formation. Otherwise, it might've been his ship that was destroyed just now!
"Captain..." his adjutant stood beside him, face pale with fear. "What should we do? Push forward… or hang back?"
Captain Nezumi and his crew had never fought a battle this intense before. Whether they advanced or retreated would depend entirely on his command.
Nezumi stroked his mustache thoughtfully, just about to speak, when a lookout suddenly shouted:
"Ahead! Ahead! We're under attack!"
Nezumi turned and stared wide-eyed as the waves before them split apart—and from beneath the sea, an enormous shadow surfaced.
The next moment, he saw a pair of huge bull-like horns and a dorsal fin on a broad back.
A sea beast?
Wait a minute—that sea beast looked awfully familiar. It resembled the Sea Cow "MoMoo" that Hatchan used to raise...
In the blink of an eye, Nezumi realized he was right. Because riding atop MoMoo was none other than Hatchan, wielding six swords at once.
What was going on? Why were Hatchan and MoMoo here?!
Hatchan, riding atop the massive sea cow, burst from the water and charged straight toward Nezumi's ship.
"Wait, wait, it's me! Hatchan, it's me!" Nezumi shouted desperately.
Hatchan heard the voice, looked around in confusion, scratched his head—but didn't stop MoMoo.
Nezumi and his men, now panicking, screamed in terror. They didn't even have time to fire a single cannon. One after another, they jumped overboard.
With loud splashes, they flailed toward other Marine ships, swimming for their lives.
MoMoo lowered its head and, using its sheer size and momentum, gored Nezumi's warship with its horns, overturning it effortlessly.
It then turned and slammed its massive fish-like tail down like a hammer, completely smashing the vessel.
This was the third warship MoMoo had sunk.
"Haha, good job, MoMoo," Hatchan said, affectionately patting the sea cow's head. "I think someone was calling my name earlier. Did you hear it?"
"Mooo—" MoMoo slowly shook its head.
"Guess I misheard then." Hatchan pointed to another nearby ship. "Let's go, MoMoo! Flip that one too! We'll have a feast tonight!"
"Moo!" the sea cow replied cheerfully, diving back into the sea and charging toward its next target.
---
At the base of the Reverse Mountain's upward sea current, countless barrels had been densely arranged.
Just as the black ship approached the channel, about to break through the barrel formation, Tashigi, now commanding the chokepoint, gave the order:
"Fire the cannons!"
However, this time, the fortress cannons didn't target the black ship—but instead fired upon the barrels blocking the metal barricade!
Boom—!
Several cannonballs struck the barrels, triggering the explosives stored within. And since the barrels were all chained together in clusters, the chain reaction was immediate.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A massive series of explosions rocked the sea, lifting the black ship into the air, flipping it mid-roll before it crashed back down into the water.
The ship's lower decks were completely shattered. Its keel had split apart—it looked impossible for it to keep sailing.
"We got it," Tashigi muttered under her breath, hearing the cheers erupting from nearby Marines. "Maybe it wasn't as tough as we thought—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Because beneath the black ship, a vortex began to form—spinning faster and faster—until it resembled a black hole, drawing in seawater and shipwreck debris.
It altered the entire current pattern of the Reverse Mountain's entrance!
Then something unbelievable happened: the scattered debris began to fit together like pieces of a puzzle, reforming the ship's keel and lower hull before their very eyes.
"What... what is this?!" Tashigi stared in disbelief.
The ship righted itself, and MoMoo returned, diving back into the vortex. Hatchan climbed aboard once more.
Only then did the vortex lose its suction, allowing the currents to return to normal.
And just like that, the black ship, upright and whole again, surged forward with the upward current—charging up the steep channel of Reverse Mountain!
As it climbed, the black ship opened fire on the fortresses on either side.
This time, they weren't firing Buggy Bombs, so the damage wasn't nearly as devastating. But the cannonballs still blasted open large gaps in the stone walls.
More cannonballs flew like meteors—until "Black Cage Tashigi" calmly removed her gloves. She crossed her arms, forming a steel net with her Devil Fruit power.
This was the ability of the Cage-Cage Fruit!
She jumped into the air, using Geppo (Moonwalk), stepping rapidly as if there were invisible stairs in the sky.
She hurled her steel net mid-air, capturing all the cannonballs. Then she spun once and flung them back at the black ship!
Suddenly, four tentacles shot out from the ship—grabbing one cannonball each—and redirected them at the fortresses with greater speed and force.
BOOM!
A large breach was blasted open in one of the structures.
Tashigi's eyes scanned the wreckage—then locked eyes with Davy Jones standing at the bow.
In that instant, a chill ran down her spine, as if she were staring into the abyss itself. Her body froze midair.
But she gritted her teeth, pushing down the fear. Her steel net dissolved into several iron spears, which she hurled straight toward the black ship's stern.
Davy Jones was at the bow—which meant the stern was likely unguarded!
But before the iron spears could strike, they were knocked away by Kuro's claws, Alvida's iron mace, and Hatchan's Six-Sword Style—deflecting them into the ocean, where they embedded in the Red Line's rock wall.
Kuro glanced upward at Tashigi. Her speed in the air was impressive—almost on par with his "Shakushi", the deadliest move in his Silent Step technique.
But unlike him, she could control exactly where she appeared midair.
What kind of technique was that?
Tashigi, using both Geppo and Soru—two techniques from Rokushiki, the Marine Six Styles—hovered in the air for a short time.
But she couldn't stay airborne forever. Slowly, she began to descend toward the black ship.
She hesitated. Should she leap aboard alone, or retreat to the fortress?
At that moment, she looked up—and saw Smoker.
His legs had transformed into white smoke, his entire body hovering mid-air. In one hand, he held his weapon, Jitte, and in the other, a Den Den Mushi.
Unlike Tashigi, he wasn't using air steps—he was literally flying, thanks to his Smoke-Smoke Fruit ability!
As he flew toward the black ship, matching Tashigi's path, he continued speaking into the Den Den Mushi.
"Hahaha—"
Despite the situation, Vice Admiral Garp was laughing heartily on the other end. "I heard you guys are getting your butts handed to you!"
"Vice Admiral Garp, I need temporary command authorization!" Smoker said bluntly. "And where are you? Davy Jones' crew has already reached Reverse Mountain!"
"Yeah, I see it. I'm already here."
Already here?
Smoker looked up—and sure enough, a Marine warship was sailing swiftly through the wreckage-strewn waters, heading up the current toward the mountain's summit.
At its bow was the unmistakable dog-headed figurehead.
It was Garp's ship.
And Garp himself stood atop the figurehead, Den Den Mushi in hand, grinning.
"We're already engaging," Smoker said, ending the call. He returned the Den Den Mushi to his coat and shot forward in a jet of smoke, flying toward the black ship.
In mid-air, he met eyes with Tashigi. They nodded to each other—and landed on the deck of the black ship.
At that moment, the Terror Ghost was still exchanging heavy cannon fire with the fortresses on both banks.
Although the black ship's cannons could fire automatically, their aim was poor.
So Buggy had taken over one of the cannons himself, sweating as he manually aimed and fired back at the fortress—too distracted to notice the two new arrivals.
Smoker and Tashigi stood back-to-back on the deck. At the same moment, they activated their Devil Fruit powers:
A giant white snake of condensed smoke twisted across the deck.
A black iron barrier of caged steel burst forth.
Together, the two swept the deck, aiming to take down the entire crew in one powerful strike!