Silver serpents scattered in all directions, and Udon was filled with the lingering power of the lightning. The very center of the lightning strike was covered in blackened remnants. If anyone were in the market for lightning-struck wood, there would be quite a stockpile here.
“That really hurts… Does Kaido’s daughter have this kind of ability too?”
Beneath a stretch of scorched earth, dead wood came back to life. Tender young shoots burst from the ruins with renewed vitality, while Ryokugyu’s body also began to re-form—or rather, “regrow” would be more accurate.
As the user of Logia-type Woods-Woods Fruit, Ryokugyu himself possessed remarkably tenacious vitality. Through plants’ absorption and photosynthesis, he could go three years without eating. If one wanted to kill him, mere lightning was not enough.
However, upon closer inspection, it was apparent that Ryokugyu’s self-healing speed was somewhat slower than usual. The explosive lightning had already surged into his body, continuously damaging him even during his Logia-type regeneration.
The hideous expression on his face was enough to show what Ryokugyu was enduring.
Saturn and Mars were in much better condition than Ryokugyu. Although lightning was also coursing across their bodies, neither of their expressions changed much.
“Oni Princess Yamato, daughter of Kaido… The title of strongest female pirate should be handed over to her.”
Saturn calmly gave his assessment, as though evaluating an object. Mars, however, did not agree with Saturn.
“Saint Saturn, has it been so long since you’ve taken action that you’ve forgotten something? We’ve already appeared here. How could those who stand in our way possibly survive?
“The dead have no right to compete for the title of strongest. Saying something like that is rather amusing.”
“Haha, I wasn’t joking. It’s time to get to work. In the end, we still have to handle things ourselves.”
Saturn and Mars seemed as relaxed as if they were on a spring outing. Even after entering deep into enemy territory, they showed no sense of urgency, and were still casually discussing their next moves.
“Apart from Garp, there seem to be quite a few interesting things here. The user of the Op-Op Fruit, and even that fruit is here. If we clean all of this up, Boss Imu should be very pleased.”
“Mm, I agree. After all, that is a fruit that actively avoids capture. Let’s begin. I want everything dealt with before dawn.”
Mars walked toward the direction where Garp was being held, apparently intending to release this fighting force on their side first. They themselves could enter Wano Country through teleportation, but the others did not possess such an ability.
Moreover, the seas surrounding Wano Country were essentially sealed off. Only the sky had a few openings. Aside from Ryokugyu, who could arrive here in time, the remaining small detachments were still some distance away.
According to the original plan, those people were to wait for the signal from the battle in Wano Country before entering. Until then, the only forces they could make use of were the Marines imprisoned here.
“Boss Queen, are we really just going to stand here and watch? Shouldn’t we be doing something too?”
As the elders slowly moved forward, Queen merely stood where he was striking a pose, with no intention of launching another attack.
“What’s the rush? These guys barged into our territory and caused such a huge commotion. You really think they’ll be able to leave this place in one piece? Young Miss has already made her move just now. We only need to wait a little, and reinforcements should be here soon.”
If Ryokugyu had been alone, Queen would have attacked by now. The problem was that there were three enemies here. Even King and Shayna, the strongest among them, would have some trouble taking on all three at once, much less Queen.
He was waiting. He believed that it would not be long before Shayna and Yamato appeared here. But just because he wanted to wait did not mean Ryokugyu did. Queen standing before him seemed to have become a means for Ryokugyu to show off.
“Do you pirates know what happens when you oppose the World Government? Once you cross the World Government’s bottom line, whether you’re an Emperor of the Sea or whatever else, your only fate is to disappear from this world!”
Boom!
The moment Ryokugyu finished speaking, Queen’s laser cannon had already blasted him in the face. Before the smoke from the explosion had even cleared, Queen had arrived at Ryokugyu’s side.
“What I hate most is that arrogant look of yours, like some petty b*stard drunk on power. Who the hell do you think you are?! Exploding Queen!”
Countless Seed Bombs shot out from Queen’s mouth. Combined with technology derived from Germa’s Sparking Red, a fresh wave of blazing flames once again engulfed Ryokugyu. At that same moment, Queen’s fist tore through the smoke and slammed into Ryokugyu’s face.
Boom!
The gigantic tree-man was sent flying. Ryokugyu had actually been blasted away directly by that punch.
“You b*stard… How can your fist be this strong…?”
When Ryokugyu got back to his feet, blood was already flowing from the corner of his mouth. His Logia-type body had failed to protect him completely.
“Heh. How could a guy like you ever understand how much blood, sweat, and suffering went into the strength behind this punch…?”
A dense aura of resentment suddenly emerged around Queen’s body. The almost tangible resentment even condensed into an illusory ghost, twisting ferociously behind Queen.
At that moment, the figures of Kaido, Yamato, Shayna, King, Setsuna, and a whole string of people who had beaten him flashed through Queen’s mind. It could be said that Queen’s Haki had become so powerful precisely because, through his endless courting of death, he had honed it simply to avoid actually being beaten to death.
“The World Government is the World Government. What makes you think you can represent anything? With your strength, you’re not even qualified to talk to me like that! Burn to ashes!”
The mechanisms inside his body rapidly shifted, and Queen’s weapon switched into flamethrower mode. A stream of fire even hotter than Ace’s Flame-Flame Fruit erupted outward.
“Firebreak Forest!”
Trees feared fire. Everyone knew that, which was exactly why Ryokugyu had developed the Firebreak Forest technique to counter the flames that practically everyone seemed capable of using these days.
Illuminated by the flames, Ryokugyu’s face twisted viciously. Failing to even take down a single officer in front of two of the Five Elders seemed to have made him extremely furious.
Ryokugyu knew very well that the Five Elders would not choose to help him. That was simply their nature. Even an Admiral was nothing more than a tool in their eyes. If he lost, the Five Elders would only despise him for being useless.
“You’re nothing but pirates from a non-affiliated nation. You think people like you have so-called human rights?”
There was no shortage of Marines who approved of the World Government and believed protecting the Celestial Dragons was their duty. Under the World Government’s political environment, that kind of logic was hardly uncommon.
Non-affiliated nations were outside their protection to begin with, but Ryokugyu was one of the rare examples who took that logic to another extreme.
“Humans have survived until now by stepping on species ‘inferior’ to themselves, and non-affiliated nations are equivalent to ‘inferior.’ Only by trampling non-affiliated nations underfoot can people live with peace of mind. ‘Discrimination’ is the same thing as feeling secure!
“If we don’t do that, how are the lives of the affiliated nations supposed to be guaranteed?!”
Boom!
Without moving a muscle, Ryokugyu was sent flying once again. Within the sea of flames Queen had just released, a much smaller figure had appeared.
“What kind of bullshit are you spouting, b*stard? Can a Marine really talk about discrimination with such a clear conscience?”
Cold air extinguished the flames around her feet. Yamato had already arrived at Udon. From the moment she unleashed the thunderbolt to the moment she reached Udon, hardly any time had passed.
The unconscious guards around her and the Pokémon lying collapsed on the ground had already enraged Yamato. Ryokugyu’s words completely ignited her fury.
“Queen, I don’t want to see this guy again. Take him down, and I’ll cross off one entry in the notebook for you.”
Yamato could tell at a glance who the least troublesome person here was. No one knew what the upper limit of an Admiral was, but Ryokugyu was very likely what could be called the lower limit.
Judging by the average combat strength here, Ryokugyu was not even worth Yamato taking action personally. Having Queen deal with him was more than enough.
“Muhahaha! Leave it to me, young miss. You won’t see this guy again.”
Although Yamato’s form of address was missing the word “uncle,” Queen seemed to see Kaido’s shadow in the furious Yamato. Though she was also one of the people who had beaten him up, Queen was still one of those who had watched Yamato grow up.
From being completely unwilling to lay a hand on him to beating him senseless, he had witnessed Yamato’s growth in a rather special way.
This was the second-generation successor recognized by those two. There was nothing wrong with following her orders. Besides, Ryokugyu seemed to be the easiest one to deal with. On top of that, Queen had been offered a temptation he found impossible to resist.
As everyone knew, somewhere beyond Queen’s sight was a mysterious little notebook about him. Whenever enough entries accumulated in it, Queen would suffer misfortune, and he had only finished courting death again a few hours earlier.
Yamato was willing to erase one entry for him. That alone was an enormous temptation. Combined with the fact that Ryokugyu seriously rubbed him the wrong way, Queen naturally accepted the task with complete confidence.
At the same time, Ryokugyu got back to his feet while clutching his forehead. The blood pouring from the wound had dyed half his face red. Yamato’s Thunder Bagua had directly smashed his head open and left him bleeding.
At this moment, Mars had already reached the place where Garp was frozen.
“Kuzan’s ice? What a fine master-and-disciple pair. Garp, you still have value. Continue fighting for the World Government.”
Mars’s voice seemed somewhat strange. After Queen moved Garp’s location, there were also some pirate prisoners nearby. When Mars’s voice entered their ears, an inexplicable fear welled up in their hearts, as if they had encountered a ghost.
Then a black flame surged out from Mars’s body. Under the burning of this eerie black fire, the ice surrounding Garp rapidly melted away, but before Mars could finish what he was doing, Yamato had already appeared in front of him.
Black outer armor covered her blue-white dragon scales, while lightning and icicles in her Dark Form coiled around Takeru.
“This isn’t a place you should have come to. All of you… get the hell out! Thunder Bellow Bagua!”
Yamato’s attack interrupted Mars’s actions. The black flames were still melting the ice, but his arm had been bent at an extremely exaggerated angle.
“Monstrous strength, Conqueror’s Haki Infusion, Kaido’s technique… It seems you received his personal guidance. The ability to control both ice and lightning, is this what you call divine blessing?
Mere pirates, daring to call yourselves gods—that is a grave act of blasphemy.”
Mars took Yamato’s attack head-on, then swung his arm and restored it to normal.
“You should feel honored. It has been a long time since anyone worthy of our personal intervention has appeared.”
Mars’s body began to change. His long hair and beard curled and shifted, transforming from ordinary hair into feathers. His arms became broad wings, and his mouth took on the shape of a bird’s beak.
His original suit began tearing apart as his body expanded. His legs grew thicker, while an additional pair of sharp blades grew from his talons. Yet beneath that avian body was also a snake-like tail.
The moment Mars completed his transformation, strange black clouds had already blotted out the moonlight. Along with the cries coming from Mars, an atmosphere of panic gradually enveloped the area.
Whoosh!
As Mars flapped his wings, a strange gust blew over. His feet kicked toward Yamato, the two peculiar talons resembling swords. As Mars moved his legs, they carved numerous marks into the quarry.
Even the tip of the tail behind him had a blade-like structure. The “three swords” attacked Yamato one after another, and to a certain person in Udon, the sight looked extremely familiar.
Warrior God of the Environment—Marcus Mars, Mars of the Five Elders. Ability: Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Itsumade.
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