The villagers on the island, who had already been extremely worried, were now completely stunned. "That's amazing!" one of them whispered, his voice trembling. Eric's attack had been so powerful it had scarred the very sea, yet Moonlight, a member of the Straw Hat crew, had blocked it with his bare hands. Were these people even human?
"He's worth every bit of his 50 million Berry bounty," the Marine admiral muttered, his eyes flickering with a mixture of shock and disbelief. "His bounty is even higher than his captain's. What is going on?"
But the most shocked of all was Eric. He had put all his strength into that attack, a sure-kill blow, yet it had been stopped so effortlessly. And with his physical body alone, without even using a sword. What a joke! How could this be happening? He was a user of the Sickle-Sickle Fruit!
"Is that all you've got?" Moonlight's eyes turned cold. With a flick of his wrist, he unleashed his Armament Haki.
BOOM!
Eric was sent flying like a cannonball, soaring for tens of meters before crashing into the main Marine ship, blasting a huge hole in its side. He collapsed to the deck, vomiting a mouthful of blood, his insides ravaged by the force of Moonlight's Haki. He was seriously injured.
"Fire!" the Marine admiral roared, his face a mask of fury. He had never expected Eric to be defeated so easily. The cannons on all twenty ships roared to life, and at least fifty cannonballs shot through the air. A massive, dark muzzle on the main ship also took aim at Moonlight.
"Great Iron Cannon!" the admiral commanded without hesitation. A cannonball three times the size of the others shot out, a monstrous projectile of iron and death.
"Sword Draw!" Moonlight shouted, and a fan-shaped wave of energy shot out from his blade, slicing through the air. Every single one of the fifty cannonballs, including the massive one from the main ship, was cut cleanly in two, falling harmlessly into the sea.
The power of his strike was truly terrifying.
"He cut them all! He cut through the Navy's cannon fire!"
"Is he really human?"
"Oh my God!"
The villagers, who had already been shocked, were now completely dumbfounded. This was too much. To block a master's attack with his bare hands and then cut through a naval bombardment with a single sword slash... this was not something a normal human could do.
"He's that powerful?" the Marine admiral said, his own shock evident. "I don't believe you can cut through my cannon fire indefinitely! Everyone, continue firing! Fire until he's exhausted!" He had been sure the wanted poster was a mistake, but now he knew he had been wrong. But so what? They had more than twenty cannons and an endless supply of ammunition. No matter how strong he was, could he really withstand a continuous bombardment?
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sea roared as the endless barrage of cannonballs slammed into the water, creating a turbulent, chaotic maelstrom. The Navy was showing its true, overwhelming power. All their muzzles were now focused on Moonlight, a relentless, powerful bombardment that turned the sea into a raging typhoon. But even in the face of this incredible onslaught, Moonlight stood his ground, his sword a blur of motion as he cut down every single cannonball, protecting the Going Merry from harm. He knew that if he retreated, the ship and his friends would be blown to bits.
"No, the Navy's bombardment is too fierce! Mr. Moonlight can't handle it alone!"
"That's the Navy for you. With those ships and cannons, no pirate can stand against them. But I don't want Mr. Moonlight to die for saving Apis!"
"Damn it, why are they so terrifying!" the villagers cried, their faces filled with a desperate worry. But there was nothing they could do.
"The artillery fire is too intense. Are they trying to kill me with sheer numbers?" Moonlight muttered to himself, his arms beginning to ache from the strain. He could hold them off, but he couldn't break through. He was trapped.
"Moonlight!" a loud shout suddenly echoed from the island's slope. His heart leaped as he saw Luffy and the others sliding down the mountain, Apis among them. And behind them... was a massive, ancient dragon.
"So they found it," Moonlight's pupils shrank. The Millennium Dragon. The legendary creature.
"What is that?!"
"My God, a dragon!"
"There really are dragons in this world?" the Marines cried out in unison, their attention immediately drawn to the incredible sight. Even the admiral was stunned into silence. This was a creature of legend.
"So, the legend is true," Eric whispered, his eyes blazing with a feverish greed as he stared at the Millennium Dragon. "There really are dragons in this world. As long as I can get its bones, I can live forever!" At that moment, he would become the strongest person in this sea.
"A good chance," Moonlight thought, a cold smile touching his lips as he saw the shelling stop. He raised his sword. "Sky-Shattering... Sword Draw!"
A massive, crescent-shaped ball of energy condensed on the Pheasant Sword. After three seconds of charging, he unleashed it. A fifty-meter-wide, hundred-meter-long wave of pure energy shot out, and in the stunned, shocked eyes of everyone present, it sliced through all twenty of the Marine warships, including the main command ship, cutting them cleanly in two. The cabins and masts shattered, and the sea rushed in, pulling the helpless Marines, including the admiral, into the churning water.
With a single slash, the entire Marine fleet was destroyed.
A dead silence fell over the sky and the earth.
"This... this is a lie!" a villager cried after a long moment, covering his face, his voice trembling with shock.
"No, it's true," another villager replied, taking a deep breath. "Mr. Moonlight, all by himself, defeated more than twenty Navy ships, including a command ship." Though he found it hard to believe, he couldn't deny the facts before his eyes.
Hiss!
Hearing this, the other villagers finally recovered from their shock, a collective gasp echoing through the crowd. He was too strong. This was the true meaning of a powerhouse on the sea. With the power of one man, he had destroyed a fleet of twenty large ships. And this incredible man, a member of the Straw Hat Pirates, was standing right before them.
"Whoa, Moonlight, so awesome!" Luffy cheered from the mountainside. Seeing the scene from a distance, he was overjoyed and leaped down from the mountain with a wide grin.
"What do you call that sword technique?" Zoro asked, his hand tightening on the hilt of his own sword. Hawkeye had destroyed Don Krieg's fleet of fifty ships, and Moonlight had just destroyed a Navy fleet of twenty. But Krieg's pirates were no match for a well-trained Marine force, especially one that included a Devil Fruit user like Eric. In that context, Moonlight's strength could already be considered on par with Hawkeye's. In other words, Moonlight was now one of the greatest swordsmen in the world.
"I thought he was strong enough already, but it seems I underestimated him," Sanji murmured, the cigarette he was holding dropping from his mouth. "His potential is like a bottomless pit; it never ends."
"I always thought you and Luffy were the monsters," Usopp said, his eyes wide with a look of pure disbelief. "But now it seems Moonlight is the monster among monsters. That was the Navy! More than twenty big ships, and he defeated them with a single sword?"
"The world is calling Moonlight our vice-captain," Nami said with a laugh, though she was just as surprised as the others. "Judging by his current strength, I have no objection." The stronger Moonlight was, the stronger they all were.
"That human swordsman is so amazing!" Apis whispered, a flash of shock in her eyes. "And those were Admiral Nelson's men!"
"Admiral, our ships have been cut down! We only have a few emergency boats left!"
"That swordsman is incredible! It's a good thing he only cut the ships; otherwise, we would have suffered heavy casualties!"
"I've never seen such swordsmanship! Admiral, what should we do? Should we retreat?"
The Navy was in a state of chaos. At least half of them had been thrown into the sea, and the other half were scrambling to save their comrades from the wreckage of their ships.
"Retreat! Retreat immediately!" the admiral commanded without a moment's hesitation. Facing such a terrifying enemy, what else could they do? Wait around to die? If he unleashed another slash like that, none of them would survive.
But at that moment, someone was already moving faster than them. Eric grabbed a boat and shot away like an arrow.
"That bastard," the admiral sneered, watching him flee. "He talks a big game, but when things get tough, he's the first to run."
"Luffy, Zoro, everyone..." Moonlight said with a smile, seeing his friends sliding down the mountain. He was relieved to see that they had found the Millennium Dragon and uncovered Apis's secret. But just as he was about to greet them, he saw Luffy leap from the mountain, heading straight for him.
He was about to dodge, but it was too late. Luffy's speed, amplified by the elasticity of his rubber body, was no slower than a cannonball.
CRACK!
A human-shaped hole appeared in the deck of the Going Merry.
"Huh? Where did he go?" Luffy asked, climbing out of the hole and looking around, completely bewildered.
The rest of the crew was speechless, staring at Moonlight, who was now lying in the newly formed crater. Was this really their captain?
"Hey, Luffy!" Usopp shouted, helping Moonlight out of the hole and pointing at the damage. "Moonlight single-handedly held off more than twenty Navy ships and protected the Merry from a single scratch, and the first thing you do when you get back is put a hole in it!"
"Well, everyone's here now, so let's go!" Luffy declared, jumping onto the bow, full of energy.
"Did... did you hear a word I said?!" Usopp cried, bursting into tears.
"You get used to it," Zoro said, patting him on the shoulder.
"What can you do? He's our captain," Sanji added with a sigh.
Apis was speechless.
"Alright, the Merry is safe and sound. Let's set off," Nami said with a smile. She commanded the others to tie the Millennium Dragon to the back of the ship, and with Apis giving directions, they said their goodbyes to the villagers and sailed away. Apis, being a user of the Whisper-Whisper Fruit, could communicate with animals, and though the ancient dragon's memory was spotty, he could still recall key details at critical moments.
After a while, they arrived at a small island.
"Is this Dragon Island?" they all asked, their eyes filled with excitement.
Back at the naval base, when Eric, the admiral, and the other survivors returned in their tattered state, the entire base erupted in an uproar.
"What?! The admiral was defeated by the Straw Hats?"
"That was a fleet of twenty ships, with more than forty cannons! Are the Straw Hats really that powerful?"
"They're worth their high bounties, that's for sure. They have some real strength."
"The Straw Hats... they're no joke."
In the center of the hall, Admiral Nelson listened to the reports from the admiral and Eric, and he rose from his seat in a rage. When his hill-like body stood, the entire hall seemed to tremble.
He looked at Eric. "Even you are no match for them?" He found it hard to believe. He knew Eric's strength; was there really someone in this sea who could contend with him?
"One-on-one, I would have been fine," Eric lied. "But the Straw Hats are more terrifying than the rumors say. I was tricked by them." Of course, he wasn't going to admit that he had been defeated by one man without even landing a single blow. That would be too shameful.
"Yes, Lord Admiral," the other admiral added. "We completely underestimated the Straw Hats." He, too, couldn't bring himself to admit that his fleet of more than twenty ships had been destroyed by a single swordsman. That kind of failure would have been enough to get him executed a hundred times over.
"Well," Nelson growled, "the Straw Hats dare to interfere with my plans. I want to kill them. Send my order: the entire army will attack. I will annihilate them at sea!"
29.8s