An ear-piercing alarm blared.
Weevil, appearing somewhat deranged, wielded his glaive and devastated the side of the warship with a single strike.
He leaped onto the ship, intent on killing.
The warship listed violently, taking on water, and the soldiers aboard panicked.
Aine, with sky-blue hair, froze in place.
"Everyone! Abandon ship immediately!"
Despite a moment of disarray, she quickly regained composure.
She directed the bewildered crew.
Simultaneously, she drew two short blades from her waist and charged towards Weevil.
On the pirate ship, surrounded by warships, it was somewhat tattered, with corpses strewn everywhere.
Clearly, this pirate crew had been annihilated by Weevil before the training ship fleet had tracked and surrounded them, and the fleet just happened to arrive...
Miss Bakkin, counting money, shouted at Weevil,
"Son! Kill them all!"
Weevil, brandishing his glaive, repelled Aine with a single blow.
"Yes, Mother!"
He charged towards Aine, who was clutching her left arm, blade in hand. Although they had only clashed once and separated.
But Aine, wielding dual blades, couldn't withstand the immense force. During her retreat, her shoulder was grazed by the blade, and she bled profusely.
Aine quickly used Geppo to fly into the sky.
Seeing his target ascend, Weevil paused, then crouched slightly.
Boom!
The deck shattered, and he rocketed towards Aine like a missile.
Mid-air, Aine's pupils contracted as she watched the rapidly approaching Weevil... too fast...
Her feet didn't stop, and she retreated rapidly with Geppo.
Weevil, watching Aine still retreating, shouted,
"Don't run, little bug!"
"Ahhhh!"
He raised his blade and slashed in Aine's direction.
A massive crescent-shaped blade energy shot towards Aine.
Just as it was about to reach her, a surge of power erupted from Aine's cape, propelling her a considerable distance.
"Huh!"
A few strands of hair fluttered down as she narrowly dodged the slash.
Below, Weevil looked confused that his attack had missed, but he raised his blade again.
At this moment, a strange shout rang out:
"Flourish~ Flourish~ Flourish~~"
"Flourish~ Flourish~ Flourish!!!!"
From a nearby warship, dense vines erupted, surging towards Weevil.
They entwined around him and swung him towards the sea.
Screech—
The vines were torn apart by Weevil's immense strength as soon as they were swung down.
A furious expression spread across his face. He stomped a few times in the air and charged at the warship with savage ferocity.
On that warship,
Binz, watching the rampaging idiot charge towards them, felt a cold sweat trickle down his forehead.
"This is bad."
He commanded the vines to converge and attempt to crush Weevil.
But they were brutally crushed and torn apart, offering no resistance.
The soldiers on the ship continuously fired, launched cannons, and used Shigan, Rankyaku, and a barrage of dense attacks against Weevil.
-------
On a warship behind them,
Sot floated in the air, detached from the deck.
He slightly raised his right hand, the power of the Paramecia Devil Fruit attached to everyone's capes ready to erupt at any moment.
Zephyr frowned slightly.
"The emergency response is okay, but so many people are gathered together."
"Are they targets? Your Six Powers techniques are rusty."
When soldiers are in battle, people die. This was why the two of them hadn't intervened immediately.
Previously, the eradication of pirate crews had gone smoothly, and no significant issues had been exposed. But this sudden powerful enemy.
Many problems were now revealed.
Sot shook his head with a wry smile.
"Let's not worry about that for now. I'll go save people first."
Warships aren't cheap to build...
Zephyr nodded.
"Go ahead."
At the same time, he looked towards the pirate ship.
After Sot ascended into the sky, Zephyr also leaped up.
--------
On the battling warship,
Vines that had torn through the deck lay shattered everywhere.
They were ripped and torn from their roots.
Weevil swung his glaive wildly, but the damage inflicted was considerable.
The entire ship's hull was split in half, cleaved from the middle.
Boom!
With another diagonal slash, the hull began to slide.
The surrounding soldiers couldn't help but swallow hard upon seeing this.
Just as Weevil was about to charge again, everyone's bodies were involuntarily pulled into the sky by their clothes or capes.
Whoosh—
They were all sent flying back and landed on other warships. The crew members let out a collective sigh of relief.
"It's Senior Sot!"
"That's great!"
"That guy is like a monster. Only Senior Sot can defeat him."
"Indeed."
"All attacks were completely ineffective. It's terrifying."
At this moment, a chilling snort of displeasure was heard.
"I'll deal with you later."
"Everyone reflect on the battle just now."
"So many people gathered together as targets."
"Is your Geppo rusty? Did you forget how to use Soru?"
Zephyr's voice was a fleeting whisper as he charged towards the pirate ship.
Cold sweat beaded on everyone's foreheads... It's over...
On the other side.
Sot descended from the sky, Armament Haki imbued in his feet, and stomped on Weevil's head.
He directly blasted him into the lower decks of the warship.
But he frowned slightly, as in Sot's perception, Weevil's aura showed no fluctuation.
It was as if that kick had just tickled him.
Without hesitation, he slightly raised his hand.
Whoosh—
Violent shaking ensued.
The bottom of the ship's hull shook, and Weevil, still struggling to get up, fell again.
The entire warship was lifted out of the sea!
It soared straight into the sky, a thousand meters above.
--------
On the pirate ship,
Miss Bakkin, who was collecting treasure with a smile, looked up at the commotion and froze.
"Wh... What!!!!"
She saw her son, her greatest trump card, ascending into the sky with the warship, disappearing from sight.
A sense of panic filled her mind, leaving her feeling utterly insecure.
Boom!!!
A loud explosion sounded behind her.
Miss Bakkin jumped in fright.
Sweating profusely, her neck stiffened as she slowly looked back.
She clearly saw the purple-haired figure:
"Ze... Zephyr!"
Despite her panic, she felt a wave of relief. Thankfully, thankfully...
Zephyr doesn't kill people, he doesn't kill people...
As soon as Weevil comes down, I'll...
But she was suddenly lifted into the air, unable to breathe.
"Ugh—"
Zephyr's large hand gripped Miss Bakkin's neck, lifting her to shoulder height.
"You recognize me?"
"What pirate remnants are you?"
After all, Zephyr had lived in seclusion at Marine Headquarters for over twenty years.
The younger generation of pirates at sea wouldn't recognize him, and the older generation had mostly died off.
Zephyr frowned slightly; this person's aura was too weak.
So weak that it didn't match the individuals he had encountered before.
He slightly loosened his grip.
Miss Bakkin gasped for air, saying fearfully,
"N-no... I've only heard of your reputation."
"I had the fortune to see you in the newspaper!!!"
"And! I'm not a pirate! Really!"
"Look at my age! Do I look like a pirate!"
Zephyr looked at the corpses scattered everywhere and then glanced up at the sky.
"Not a pirate?"
"You're the controller of that guy."
He slowly lowered his gaze back to Miss Bakkin.
Under Miss Bakkin's terrified and despairing gaze,
Crack—
Her neck was crushed and snapped with immense force.
Damn it... he doesn't kill...
Then, darkness enveloped her.