“There’s a tsunami in the sea… how the hell is there a tsunami on the mountain too?!”
“Boss, you’re wrong, this should be called a mudslide.”
“How can it be a mudslide without water?”
“You idiots… who cares what it is?! Run!!”
The surging wave of earth swept toward the pirates. Seeing some of them still in the mood to argue over what this thing should be called, the pirate leader felt utterly broken inside.
Faced with an attack like a natural disaster, he had no interest in debating something like that.
Or rather, that reaction was the normal one.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, avalanches, wildfires, thunderstorms…
To nature, they might just be the equivalent of a sneeze, but to humanity, they were natural disasters filled with destruction.
This was also one of the reasons Logia-type users could rapidly soar in strength within a short period of time. Aside from using elemental transformation to evade attacks, large-scale elemental attacks were basically unavoidable natural disasters to people lacking sufficient strength.
And when the being creating that disaster wasn’t human, but a genuine monster, the intimidation factor became even greater.
At this moment, because the Neptune Army had chosen to flank from both sides, they still hadn’t caught up to the pirates, and the massive Genbu had already drawn all of the pirates’ attention.
There was no doubt about it. If they didn’t take down this monster, they had no way to continue forward.
“Kill that monster!”
Before the words had even finished, a nearby pirate grabbed the rocket launcher on his back, aimed at the Genbu ahead, and pulled the trigger.
“Boom!”
Before the smoke had even cleared, chaotic shouting erupted.
“Fire! Everyone, open fire!”
The pirate leader roared at the top of his lungs as dozens of flintlocks simultaneously spewed flames, lead bullets pouring down like a rainstorm onto the unknown giant beast ahead.
But the only response they received was a crisp and futile series of clanking sounds.
Those lethal bullets, capable of tearing apart human flesh, struck Genbu’s blue-gray body and bounced away like pebbles thrown by children. Aside from scattering a few sparks, they couldn’t even leave a scratch.
“Move aside, let me do it!”
A five-meter-tall burly man swung a massive battle axe at Genbu. Veins bulged across the muscular man’s arms, and the axe blade was wrapped in pitch-black Haki.
The blade tore through the air with a low wail as it viciously hacked toward Genbu’s neck.
“Clang——!!”
The metallic collision made some people’s eardrums ache, yet the result changed nothing.
That giant axe, which had endured countless battles and stained itself with untold amounts of blood, shattered into several pieces on the spot. The fragments flew backward, grazing the burly man’s own cheek and leaving behind a bloody cut.
As for the target he had desperately attacked, it merely yawned lazily, not even bothering to move, and instead looked helplessly at the crimson snake on its body.
【Why are these people only attacking me and not you?】
The rock turtle couldn’t understand it. Its shell was obviously so thick, its defense clearly superior. No matter how one thought about it, attacking the crimson snake should have had a higher chance of success.
Coincidentally, some of the pirates thought the same thing.
“Forget the giant turtle, attack that snake! They should be one body!”
But changing targets meant nothing.
If a human had eaten this Devil Fruit, then the snake scales’ defense would indeed be slightly weaker than the turtle shell.
But for the Genbu formed from Poneglyphs, whether turtle or snake, both possessed the greatest defensive power on this sea.
All the attacks launched against Genbu ultimately amounted to nothing but wasted effort.
Meanwhile, Genbu could cause tremendous damage whether it was manipulating earth elements for large-scale attacks or rampaging through the crowd with its enormous body.
There were indeed a few fairly capable fighters among these pirates, but not a single one could deal with Genbu.
As the Neptune Army led by Sebastian joined the battle, the pirates, already exhausted and heavily drained, instantly suffered massive casualties. The attacking Neptune Army never revealed themselves, remaining invisible the entire time.
Their clothing was made from a special fabric unique to Fishman Island. Like their camouflage skin, it could change color together with them, so they didn’t have to worry about running around naked.
However, this Fish-Type ability ultimately wasn’t a Devil Fruit power like the Clear-Clear Fruit. While it could conceal their bodies, it couldn’t hide the weapons in their hands, so they instead used Fish-Man Karate’s Water Shot for long-range attacks.
The vast majority of the pirates advancing toward Fishman Island never even saw the faces of their enemies before being sent to the underworld.
Nereus himself did not intervene, but compared to the almost casualty-free naval battles, land battle was obviously far more dangerous for the Fish-Men. Still, there was no helping it.
An elite army could not be raised in a greenhouse. To become a true strong military, they would eventually have to experience iron and blood.
Aside from their lack of real combat experience, the Neptune Army’s performance was actually fairly decent, and Genbu also displayed impressive effectiveness on the battlefield.
Although it moved slowly, it simply couldn’t be destroyed.
If you ignored it, whether through bodily collisions or altering the terrain, it would have an enormous impact on the battlefield and deal devastating blows to ordinary soldiers.
Trying to deal with it was impossible. The characteristics of the Poneglyphs had been perfectly inherited. No matter how many attacks struck Genbu, they only wasted stamina. It was a problem among problems.
This war…
Or rather, it could hardly even be called a war.
In the eyes of pirates with some reputation in the New World, this was just a bunch of idiots seeking their own destruction.
None of them doubted the final outcome. No matter how events unfolded, the victor would definitely be Nereus.
This was a gap in military strength that simply could not be erased. Bounties in nine digits sounded terrifying, but pirates whose bounties had only just crossed the hundred-million mark were, at best, speed bumps to Nereus.
If it were underwater, they wouldn’t even qualify to be speed bumps.
Compared to such a predetermined outcome, what everyone else was more curious about was how Wang Zhi, who had been dragged into this, would resolve the situation.
That’s right—most people believed Wang Zhi had been dragged into it.
Some ignorant underling tried to collect the joining fee, only to bring an enormous disaster down upon his boss. Such incidents were not uncommon in the New World.
In fact, quite a few people had experienced similar situations themselves.
That was why pirates valued their flags so highly. It wasn’t just pirate tradition; it was the foundation for survival in the New World.
Using another crew’s flag without permission was treated the same as trampling on it. In pirate circles, it usually led to a fight to the death.
Logically speaking, even if Nereus didn’t take action, Wang Zhi himself had every reason to directly eliminate this group.
The problem was that these people really had set sail from Fullalead Island. Wang Zhi had no way to make everyone believe that they had nothing to do with him.
Whether he intervened or not, he was trapped in a dilemma.
However, while the Neptune Army was still outside cleaning up the battlefield, Wang Zhi himself had already arrived at Fishman Island.
The treasure piled high in his ship’s hold clearly showed Wang Zhi’s attitude. He hadn’t come to Fishman Island for any other reason than to admit defeat!
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