The two sides stood in confrontation.
On one side, the leader was a burly, middle-aged man with a gap-toothed, almost manic grin.
His appearance was rough, with thick black body hair and a towering, powerful physique.
He had brown skin, and black, frizzy hair was tied under a bandana.
He wore a white shirt under an unbuttoned black coat, leaving his massive chest exposed—giving off a rather slovenly, chaotic impression.
Around his neck hung two necklaces, his wrists were adorned with bracelets, and each of his ten fingers bore different styles of gaudy, jeweled rings.
He exuded the air of a nouveau riche pirate.
Yet, no one dared to underestimate him, for his dark eyes were filled with a bottomless ambition and a terrifying, arrogant confidence, even carrying a hint of a kingly demeanor.
To his left stood a tall, unnaturally thin man wearing a strange hat, an eyepatch over his right eye, a long face, a black cloak, and holding an incredibly long rifle.
This was Van Augur, "The Supersonic."
To his right were a man and a horse, both looking so gravely ill they seemed on the verge of death.
This was Doc Q, "The Grim Reaper," and his horse, Stronger.
On the other side was a single man with a prominent "X" mark on his chin and chest.
He had a hooked nose and wielded a massive, four-bladed axe in his right hand and a serrated sword in his left.
His face was concealed by a black mask.
Indeed, these two groups were instantly recognizable to Lancelot.
The former were Blackbeard, Van Augur, and Doc Q.
The latter was the Supernova, X Drake.
But Lancelot found it strange—where was Jesus Burgess? After all, that guy, along with Van Augur and Doc Q, were Blackbeard's "three musketeers" when he first appeared.
"Zehahahaha..." Blackbeard burst into his signature, booming laugh, looking at X Drake as if he were already a dead man.
"Tch..." X Drake spat to the side, but upon closer inspection, the spit was tinged with blood.
Clearly, he was already injured from a previous clash.
"Cough, cough..." Doc Q coughed violently a few times, slumping over his horse, before turning to X Drake.
"Our captain... cough... is not someone you can handle. You'd better join us!"
"Holy shit..." Lancelot, hovering in the air, was utterly stunned.
He never expected the plot to take such a bizarre turn.
Blackbeard trying to recruit X Drake? This was downright bizarre.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, Blackbeard's Observation Haki detected something unusual, causing him some surprise.
He immediately looked up and spotted Lancelot, a tiny figure in the sky.
Shortly after, Van Augur also sensed something and followed his gaze upward.
"A Marine?" Van Augur's eyebrows raised slightly with a hint of astonishment.
Then Doc Q and X Drake, following their line of sight, also looked up at Lancelot.
However, their expressions were vastly different.
Lancelot glanced down at X Drake from above.
He knew perfectly well that X Drake was a secret agent planted by the Marines.
Not only had he infiltrated the Beasts Pirates, but he was also destined to become a cornerstone of the Marines' future as the captain of the confidential special forces unit "SWORD."
Having him owe a favor could prove immensely useful down the line.
'But come to think of it', Lancelot mused, 'that pirate ship in the harbor... it didn't seem to belong to either X Drake or the Blackbeard Pirates! So, were there other pirate crews present?'
Lancelot instinctively began scanning the area from his high vantage point...
BANG!
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out without warning.
Lancelot's Observation Haki had already predicted it.
Instinctively, he jerked his head to the side.
In the split second that followed, a whistling bullet shot past his cheek like lightning, its passage ruffling his hair.
Although it caused him no harm, it left Lancelot extremely irritated.
Almost simultaneously, Lancelot's sharp gaze locked onto Van Augur on the ground below.
The sniper still held the long rifle that had just fired the shot, its dark muzzle steadily aimed at Lancelot.
Wisps of smoke could even be seen curling from the barrel.
Needless to say, he was the one who had fired.
Lancelot's eyes narrowed slightly.
With thunderous, dragon-like force, he swung his right leg.
In an instant, his full power gathered at his foot, and with his motion, a terrifying Rankyaku slash erupted forth.
This Rankyaku slash surged downward, carrying an earth-shattering momentum.
Wherever it passed, the very air seemed to be torn apart, emitting sharp, piercing sonic booms as if trying to rend the world asunder.
Just witnessing this Rankyaku slash was enough to sense the terrifying power contained within, sending chills down one's spine.
Blackbeard, standing nearby, paled drastically upon seeing Lancelot unleash such a fearsome, high-level technique.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the seemingly ordinary Marine in mid-air, his mind reeling with shock.
'That's not a normal Marine!'
With no time to ponder this sudden, deadly development, Blackbeard's feet moved.
His figure vanished like a ghost, reappearing instantly in front of Van Augur.
He clenched his fist tightly, veins bulging on his massive arm.
In that moment, a formidable, dark power surged from within his body, rapidly Entangling around his thick forearm.
Armament Haki.
At that moment, Lancelot's Rankyaku slash howled through the air, carrying an overwhelmingly sharp momentum as it cleaved straight toward Blackbeard.
In the blink of an eye, Blackbeard let out a thunderous roar and threw a sudden, Haki-infused punch upward.
The strike appeared ordinary, yet it contained boundless, destructive power.
With an earth-shattering "BOOM!" that seemed to shake the very skies, the two equally formidable forces collided mid-air.
The explosive clash released a terrifying shockwave that swept outward in all directions with overwhelming force.
Wherever it passed, violent winds howled, whipping up sand and stones.
People's clothes flapped wildly with a "swishing" sound, as if about to be torn to shreds.
Even stationary debris on the ground was swept up like kites with severed strings, soaring into the distant sky.
X Drake, renowned for his own physical prowess, had to slightly crouch his sturdy frame, seemingly only able to maintain his footing against the gale this way.
In contrast, Van Augur and Doc Q fared much worse.
Van Augur was relatively better off; though forced backward by the shockwave, he at least remained standing.
However, the already critically ill Doc Q wasn't so fortunate—he was swept away along with the scattered debris by the powerful winds.
"Rankyaku!"
Lancelot wouldn't miss such an opportunity.
He launched another fierce kick, instantly releasing a Rankyaku slash just as terrifying as before, aimed directly at the hapless Doc Q, who had just been sent flying into the air.