The rapid development of technology had also raised the status of ordinary people.
In the past, an ordinary person's combat power was 1, while a Four Emperor's combat power was 100 million. No matter how many ordinary people came, they probably would not be enough for a Four Emperor to kill.
But now an ordinary person's combat power was at least 10, and the better the weapons and equipment they used, the higher their combat power. If someone could control a weather-control device and a nuclear missile silo, their combat power would be terrifying enough to rival a Four Emperor.
Most weapons could be operated by ordinary people after training.
Therefore, the Cartel's army of six hundred thousand was not comparable to the six hundred thousand soldiers of the original One Piece world. In fact, most pirates were practically playing house in the face of this terrifying military power.
Crocodile had already struggled somewhat when facing the attack of three hundred thousand soldiers. He had not merely been pretending; it had genuinely been difficult for him to hold out.
Now the number had doubled. The densely packed mass of people was enough to make an enemy's legs go weak simply by standing together. Six hundred thousand people formed a vast expanse like a surging sea, and their fighting spirit seemed to merge together into a terrifying aura capable of shaking heaven and earth.
"Waaah! This is way too frightening!"
After hearing the commotion of the Cartel's mobilization, Luffy and the others climbed onto the city wall. Looking at the army below, which seemed to stretch beyond the horizon, Usopp could not help taking a step back. "Why does it look like there are more people than before? There are so many more!"
Even Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji were shocked. They had never seen such a spectacular sight. Luffy, who had always feared neither heaven nor earth, hesitated when faced with so many people.
These people were not vicious thugs. They were people who could barely afford to eat. They had picked up guns and fought for their own survival under the threat of hunger and death.
If there had not been too many people, it might have been all right. But now there were six hundred thousand—far more than the three of them had seen in their entire lives combined!
More than six hundred thousand people could barely feed themselves, yet they were fighting for survival. Could they really attack people like that?
If there had been only ten thousand, they could still have said the problem belonged to those people. But now there were six hundred thousand!
Six hundred thousand people had been driven into a desperate situation. This was clearly not their fault.
Luffy, who had been planning to launch an attack, could not help hesitating now. Although he was a pirate, he was not the vicious kind. He liked adventuring through an unknown world, not fighting people who were battling for survival!
"I have a feeling we're the villains here," Sanji said bluntly as he took a drag from his cigarette on the city wall.
Sanji had been born in the North Blue and had often read storybooks about the North Blue as a child.
The North Blue really was ahead of the world culturally. The best-selling fantasy work in the entire world, The Sea Warrior: Sky, came from the North Blue. Looking at the scene before him now, Sanji felt as though he were a villain in a story, defending an evil kingdom's rule.
Sanji hated this feeling. It made him feel like one of the people from Germa 66.
"It's truly hard to distinguish right from wrong in this world," Zoro said as well. He now understood somewhat why his master sometimes looked so dejected.
The world was not simply black and white. The victory of the side that believed itself to be just could still harm even more people who were just.
"Master... if you were here now, what would you do?"
Zoro wondered what his master in the past would have chosen, and what his master now would choose.
"Sigh..." Igaram had also woken up. He looked at the Cartel soldiers gathering below with shame on his face. They were thugs trying to invade the royal capital, but there was no denying that they had reached this point because they could no longer afford to eat.
"Twice as many..." Cobra stood to the side, looking at the Cartel soldiers with beads of sweat on his forehead.
Crocodile had come as well. Looking at the endless line of soldiers below, he could not help frowning.
What was Koza doing? Who had told him to mobilize so many people?
After the three nearby armies arrived, there were six hundred thousand soldiers. If all six hundred thousand launched a general offensive, Alubarna could not possibly withstand it!
Crocodile was somewhat angry, but after thinking about it carefully, this might not be a bad thing.
If Luffy and the others had not suddenly appeared earlier, Cobra would already have decided to take Crocodile to the Shinigami Mausoleum. The Straw Hat Crew had given Cobra a little hope, while Koza had directly mobilized three hundred thousand soldiers and shattered that hope.
Looking at the shock and despair Cobra could not hide, Crocodile said in a low voice, "Your Majesty..."
He indicated with his eyes that Cobra could carry out the plan they had failed to complete earlier. After hearing him, Cobra drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
He had originally thought they could delay things longer and wait for the situation to change, but now it seemed that this was the final battle. What should he do? Should he go to the Shinigami Mausoleum as he had decided before?
It had to be said that once a boundary was crossed, it became easy to cross it a second time, a third time, or countless times.
Cobra clenched his fist and said softly to Crocodile, "Mr. Crocodile, I've decided. Please escort me to Yuba later. This is the only way to save Alubarna."
Crocodile was overjoyed inside, but his expression did not change. "All right. However, there are more enemies now, and I cannot guarantee that we'll be able to break through successfully."
"I know." Cobra relaxed his fist and nodded. Then he called Igaram and Bell over. "I'm going to Yuba. This is our final opportunity. You must hold out until I return!"
"Your Majesty!" Igaram was shocked. "We haven't reached the final step yet!"
Bell did not know much about the Shinigami Mausoleum, but when he saw Igaram's expression, he understood that Cobra must be preparing to use some special method.
That method could not be good for Cobra, or Igaram would not look like that.
However...
After hesitating for a moment, Bell did not try to stop him. There was no choice. Anyone could see that the Cartel had grown impatient. It was preparing to launch its final general offensive, and if they did nothing but defend as usual, they would not last long.
When Bell said nothing, Cobra became even more determined. "That's enough, Igaram. We've reached the final step. I have to do this! This is the only way to save Alubarna!"
Igaram still wanted to say something, but Cobra merely waved his hand. "I'll activate the Soul-Shield Membrane for a while. I also need you to keep news of my departure secret, or find a way to impersonate me. Don't let the soldiers' morale collapse."
If he suddenly left at a time like this, the defenders' morale would certainly waver. No matter what he was going to do, the soldiers would only think that he was fleeing.
Crocodile could leave because he was not originally from Alabasta. Even if the Cartel captured the city, he had the ability to escape. But Cobra absolutely could not leave. If he did, Alubarna would fall without a fight!
After saying this, he walked toward Crocodile.
The two men spoke privately. Crocodile then nodded, and the two of them disappeared into a secluded place.
For some reason, watching the king and Crocodile leave made Igaram feel uneasy.
But Cobra had made up his mind and issued his order, so Igaram could only obey.
"Bell, prepare the king's clothes for me," Igaram said softly.
He was going to impersonate the king!
Bell nodded and was about to leave when he suddenly felt a tremor. A roar that shook the earth and mountains followed!
"Charge!"
In an instant, the Cartel soldiers gathered outside the city shouted and charged directly toward Alubarna.
The planes in the sky formed a dense black mass that even blocked the sun. It was as though an endless layer of clouds had moved over them.
A rough estimate put their number at several hundred fighter planes, a force far larger than any previous bombing raid—much, much larger!
"This is bad. They're flying too high. My Haki might not reach them!" Luffy hurriedly said while watching the planes fly ahead of the ground troops.
His Observation Haki detected the fighter planes launching missiles one after another. The missiles were extremely dense. The Cartel no longer cared what happened to the city or to the people inside it. It was going to wage a scorched-earth war!
Many of the bombs dropped by the bombers and missiles fired by the fighter planes were even more powerful than the missiles that had bombed the Going Merry earlier. Many were specially modified bombs as well. If this many were fired at once, a single wave could turn Alubarna into ruins!
Luffy and the others knew how powerful these bombs were. One or two would not have been a problem, but there were far too many now. Even they could not guarantee that they would survive.
"This is bad! Miss Nami is still sleeping inside the palace!"
Sanji immediately thought of Nami. She had gone to sleep to recover her strength, so they had not disturbed her rest, and Chopper was there taking care of her.
Since the palace stood in the heart of Alubarna, they had thought it would not be in much danger. But these missiles did not care where anyone was!
Just as they were overcome with alarm, a layer of something that looked illusory yet truly existed suddenly appeared above the entire city. The membrane spread in a hemispherical shape and soon covered all of Alubarna.
The missiles and bombs descending from above disintegrated under the Soul-Shield Membrane's power. Many missiles exploded in midair. Their powerful blasts struck the membrane, making the Soul-Shield Membrane that had protected Alubarna for so long grow much thinner!
There had never been hundreds of planes bombing the city before. In the face of such overwhelming firepower, the Soul-Shield Membrane was clearly no longer as sturdy as it had been.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Cartel soldiers on the ground also launched their attack. In an instant, millions of bullets, mortar shells, and artillery shells struck the Soul-Shield Membrane.
"Return fire!"
Bell hurriedly directed the defenders to retaliate. Their weapons, equipment, and ammunition were inferior to the enemy's, and they had only one hundred thousand soldiers. Even with the Soul-Shield Membrane protecting them, they could not inflict any major shock on the Cartel.
"Looks like there's nothing for us to do."
Zoro and Sanji did not have many long-range attacks, so they did not act. They were conserving their strength. Anyone could see that the Cartel would charge up sooner or later, and that was when they would have room to display their abilities.
"Is this... a shield made of spirit particles?" Usopp also did not shoot. He stared at the protective dome in the sky in shock. This was the first time he had seen someone besides himself use a method of controlling spirit particles.
Yet it both resembled spirit particles and seemed unlike them. His shallow knowledge could not describe it, but he was certain that the protective shield involved spirit particles.
He felt pleased for a moment. He urgently wanted to know what the Quincies and Hollows were, and now that he had finally seen someone who might be a companion, he immediately wanted to find Igaram.
Unfortunately, he looked left and right but could not find Igaram anywhere. He had wanted Luffy and the others to use Observation Haki to help him search, since he could sense souls through spirit particles, but could only sense that a soul was present. To identify whose soul it was, he needed to detect the other person's spiritual pressure.
But...
Spiritual pressure was not something everyone possessed. At least, a "weakling" like Igaram did not have any—or rather, his was so faint that it could not pass through his body and reach Usopp's senses.
However, when Usopp saw the dense mass of Cartel soldiers below the city, he gave up.
Forget it. What difference would it make if he found Igaram in this situation? The enemy was already at the gates. It would be absurd to discuss Quincies with him now.
Besides, if they could not repel this wave of attacks, what good would it do to learn about the Quincies?
They would surely be killed by the Cartel!
With this strange protective membrane in place, now was the best time for him to display his abilities. Usopp, don't let the team down now!
Usopp took a deep breath. In the next moment, a spirit-particle bow appeared in his hand, and he fired dozens of blue spirit-particle arrows at once.
"Rain of Light!"
Although he used a bow and arrows, they were no weaker than firearms in either power or range. Still, compared with the ordinary soldiers below, he wanted more to find the enemy commander—the young man called Koza.
The Cartel had as many ordinary soldiers as it needed. Even if the army of more than six hundred thousand stood still and let him kill them, it would take him an unknown amount of time. It would be better to capture the commander first and take down the man with the pistol!
There he was!
Standing high above the battlefield, Usopp found the familiar figure among the enormous army—the man who had shot Nami several times and put a bullet through the air at Luffy's head.
"Holy Bow!"
Usopp shouted. In the next moment, an enormous amount of spirit particles gathered around the bow and formed a gigantic arrow!
----
You can read 30 chapters ahead on patre on
patr eon.com/JYouyi