As soon as Jerry finished speaking, he clenched his raised hand into a fist with his middle finger pointing skyward.
Judge was stunned and about to respond when a thunderous crash echoed from the sea to his left.
When everyone looked over, they saw a massive water dragon—larger than several snail ships combined—baring its fangs in a silent roar that seemed to shake the very air.
Jerry maintained his gesture and raised his index finger, prompting another deafening noise from Judge's right side.
Then Jerry raised one finger per second, and within moments, five towering water dragons rose into the air, forming a hexagonal formation with the Black Nova at the center, completely surrounding Germa's entire fleet.
"Gulp!" Countless Germa soldiers unconsciously swallowed hard as they stared at the massive dragons that seemed to be displaying their overwhelming power.
But that wasn't all. Jerry opened his five fingers wide, then suddenly curved them into claws.
"Dragon King's Domain!"
"BOOM!" Amid deafening sounds, waves dozens of meters high suddenly rose on all sides using the hexagon as their foundation, surging through the air while somehow remaining perfectly stationary.
At this moment, not only was Judge sweating profusely, but even Deuce and the others aboard their ship felt an indescribable sense of oppression.
The massive tidal walls had completely trapped both the Black Nova and Germa's entire national fleet within the ocean's embrace. Except for the sky above, all anyone could see was seawater stretching endlessly upward.
On the now-silent battlefield, Jerry's calm voice cut through the oppressive atmosphere.
"I believe we can have a civilized conversation now, can't we, Vinsmoke Judge?"
"Haha, absolutely! Let's talk this through!" Judge secretly wiped cold sweat from his palms while forcing an uncomfortable smile. "In fact, we made such a grand display purely to welcome you distinguished guests!"
Of course Judge knew the intelligence reports about the Black Star Pirates, and he was aware of how high Captain Jerry's bounty had climbed, but he hadn't realized Jerry possessed such overwhelming power.
Looking anxiously at the towering waves and mighty water dragons, he genuinely didn't know if he could survive if they all attacked simultaneously.
However, the one thing he was absolutely certain of was that nothing would remain of the Germa Kingdom—the nation he'd spent his entire life trying to revive and use to dominate North Blue once again.
Judge's only information about the Black Star Pirates came from limited news reports following the battle on Baterilla Island in South Blue. Since then, Jerry and his crew had rarely appeared in newspapers.
This had led many uninformed people to mistakenly believe the Black Star Pirates had indeed been intimidated by the Marines and World Government, going into hiding because of their injuries.
Because of this misconception, when Judge first heard that his deployed sons Niji and Yonji had been captured by the Black Star Pirates, he'd wondered if he'd heard the crew's name incorrectly.
Later, he'd assumed that even if it really was the Black Star Pirates, after their captain had been "Critically injured and teetering on the edge of death," by the Marine account, they would have needed to fight with everything they had, exhaust all their resources, and possibly attack together while setting elaborate traps just to have a chance of capturing his two enhanced sons.
Judge and his forces, accustomed to crushing and despising their enemies, had planned to bombard both the pirates and their ship first, then rescue Niji and Yonji when the opportunity presented itself.
He'd firmly believed his two sons—whose genes had been modified through lineage factor manipulation and possessed incredibly durable bodies—wouldn't easily encounter serious danger.
"Damn Morgans! Damn journalists! Damn Marine! Damn Damn Damn!!!" Judge cursed the unscrupulous media silently while his expression instantly transformed as he laughed heartily: "Strike up the music! Welcome our distinguished guests!"
Reiju secretly glanced at her father's rapidly changing expressions and rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Listening to the cheerful music that suddenly filled the air, and watching the seawater under Jerry's control slowly return to its normal position as the ocean surface became calm again, Judge shouted enthusiastically:
"Keep playing! Keep dancing!"
At the port, people who had been secretly observing the situation's development were stunned when they witnessed the sudden appearance of water dragons and massive tidal walls on the ocean.
"I have no idea what just happened. I only know the battle seems to be over."
"We just witnessed... something absolutely incredible."
As the shocking display gradually faded and the sea returned to tranquility, Germa's forces regrouped toward the main castle. The pirate crew they'd just learned to respect also sailed toward the castle accompanied by celebratory music.
The island's residents embraced each other excitedly, cheering loudly.
"We're safe! We're actually safe!"
"Yeah, we survived. That pirate crew... I never thought there'd come a day when we'd want to thank pirates."
Germa Kingdom, Main Banquet Hall
Welcomed by Judge's ingratiating smile, the Black Star Pirates and the Vinsmoke family sat together around an enormous round table.
Judge had no choice in the matter. Three of his sons had been captured, and his entire kingdom had been threatened with complete destruction.
Even though Jerry and his crew hadn't said much beyond their demonstration, Judge was painfully aware of his position as the defeated party.
Otherwise, who knew whether these lawless pirates—who'd dared to oppose even the Celestial Dragons—might attack if they disagreed with something he said...
After being released from their various restraints, Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji received basic medical treatment before taking their seats. However, they continued stealing glances at their former opponents, occasionally looking at Jerry with expressions mixing wariness and curiosity.
After both sides exchanged polite pleasantries, Jerry cut straight to the heart of the matter:
"Judge, since we're sitting here together as civilized people, I won't waste time with unnecessary diplomacy. I'm well aware of your advanced technology, and that led me to a project I'd like to share."
"I believe you'll find this particular project... fascinating. The question is: can you actually build it?"
As he spoke, Jerry retrieved the document bound from dozens of pages that he'd produced earlier, placing it on the table while sliding it toward Judge.
Hearing this, Judge's mouth twitched as he thought to himself that this was incredibly convenient timing.
Technology was precisely the area where he excelled most! This pirate certainly knew how to identify opportunities.
"Oh? A project? That's nothing extraordinary for someone of my caliber..."
He immediately reached out to take the document while preparing to boast about his capabilities.
However, when his eyes fell on the words printed on the cover, his pupils contracted sharply, the smile freezing on his face before he screamed in shock: "Wha... what?! Pluton?!"
Upon hearing this revelation, Reiju who had been sitting quietly, had her eyes flicker with recognition. Unlike her younger brothers who maintained expressionless faces, it seemed she had heard that legendary name before.
On the Black Star Pirates' side, only Deuce, Skull, and Brook listened with genuine interest while the others attended to their own activities.
Satisfied with Judge's failed attempt at maintaining composure, Jerry allowed himself a slight smirk. "That's correct, but this isn't the Pluton blueprint—these are blueprints inspire by it."
"What exactly do you mean?" Judge asked, his confusion evident despite his attempt to maintain dignity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Writing takes time, coffee, and a lot of love.If you'd like to support my work, join me at [email protected]/GoldenGaruda
You'll get early access to over 50 chapters, selection on new series, and the satisfaction of knowing your support directly fuels more stories.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~