"Um?"
On the Steel Battleship, Akame suddenly sensed danger with her Observation Haki. Instinctively, she looked up at the sky and immediately spotted the plant seeds falling from Aramaki.
"Slash!"
Although she didn't know what those things were, Akame still drew her sword and slashed, instantly unleashing a storm of sword energy that obliterated all the plant seeds.
"The little princess of the Infinite Pirates, Akame? What a hassle! Just like Esdeath, she's also a princess of the Infinite Pirates. Could her strength be formidable as well?"
Seeing his plant seeds destroyed, Aramaki felt a moment of indecision. Should he continue to confront the Infinite Pirates head-on, or would it be better to change targets?
"Is that guy one of the World Government people my sister mentioned before?"
Akame narrowed her eyes, spotting Aramaki a kilometer high in the sky. She immediately leaped up, using Moon Walk to propel herself into the air.
However, just as Akame made her move, someone else was faster than her.
A massive black figure rapidly flapped its wings and soared into the sky at incredible speed.
"Uncle Hermes!"
Upon seeing that figure, Akame instantly halted her advance. After all, no matter how fast she was, she couldn't outpace the flying Hermes! "Wood Dragon Descends!"
As Hermes's enormous form ascended, Aramaki's hands and feet transformed into an unending mass of trees, forming a gigantic wooden dragon that dove down.
"Eight Impact Fist: Shatter!"
In an instant, Hermes transformed into his Human-Beast Form, still sporting wings on his back, and then delivered a powerful punch to the wooden dragon's head.
The immense force sent the entire wooden dragon flying back into the sky, and in the next moment, it shattered into countless pieces.
"This guy, the Vice Captain of the Infinite Pirates, Hermes!"
Upon recognizing the newcomer, Aramaki's gaze sharpened.
Currently, aside from Barrett, the Infinite Pirates had another Vice Captain, Hermes.
The core members of the Infinite Pirates now included Chinjao, Ashura Doji, Esdeath, Akame, and Howard. Most of the members that Li Yuan had previously favored had not been promoted to core members and remained ordinary officers.
Chinjao, Ashura Doji, Akame, and Esdeath were all close to being promoted to Vice Captain level, but Li Yuan had increased the difficulty during assessments, preventing their advancement.
After all, a Vice Captain couldn't be too easily obtained. Li Yuan planned to allow them to advance only after they became stronger over time.
"You little brat, seeking death!"
Hermes was furious. As the Beast King with wings, he flew swiftly in the air. Having just shattered the wooden dragon, he continued to close in on Aramaki.
"So what if you're the Vice Captain of the Infinite Pirates? Die for me!"
Hermes's call of "little brat" instantly enraged Aramaki.
"Wooden Giant Hammer!"
Aramaki intertwined his hands, causing countless trees to merge into a massive hammer. Utilizing his height advantage, he swung the hammer down towards the approaching Hermes.
"Whoosh!!!"
However, at the moment Aramaki struck down, Hermes's speed suddenly increased even more.
Hermes skimmed along the edge of the giant hammer, evading its attack from the side, and rapidly closed in on Aramaki.
"Not good!"
More trees intertwined around Aramaki, forming a jungle in the air to block Hermes's approach.
But any tree that came close was forcefully snapped by Hermes. Even though those trees could regenerate, their rebirth was too slow to stop Hermes!
"Eight Impact Fist: Skyward!"
Once close to Aramaki, Hermes's fist, infused with the power of Conqueror's Haki, unleashed a devastating punch.
In an instant, the numerous wooden shields in front of Aramaki were destroyed, and the tremendous impact sent Aramaki flying downwards.
"Damn it, are all these Infinite Pirates monsters?"
Like a meteor falling from the sky, Aramaki couldn't help but wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth. He then enlarged the spinning wooden blades above his head, increasing their rotation to dissipate the downward force, allowing him to maintain balance and avoid crashing into the sea.
"I can't beat this guy; I need to change opponents!"
Seeing Hermes continue to charge at him, clearly unwilling to let Aramaki go, he had no intention of continuing to engage with Hermes.
"Infinite Wind Blade!"
Just as Hermes was about to toy with Aramaki, suddenly, numerous gigantic wind blades appeared from all directions, surrounding him.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!!"
Hermes abruptly halted his flight, covering his fists with Armament Haki, and shattered the incoming wind blades. Even the blades that he couldn't destroy merely grazed his powerful body, barely breaking his defenses without drawing blood.
"Aramaki, you're still as disappointing as ever!"
Next to Aramaki appeared a man dressed similarly in a suit and tie.
This man was Antonie Collado, a top-tier powerhouse sent by the Celestial Dragon family, who had consumed the Hurricane Fruit.
"Hermes is the Vice Captain of the Infinite Pirates; you should be careful!"
Under normal circumstances, Aramaki would have retorted, but he was not in the mood now. After giving Antonie a warning, he left the area, leaving Hermes to Antonie.
"Don't worry, I'm not you. If I want to dodge, no one can catch me!"
Antonie said confidently. His Devil Fruit might not have advantages in other areas, but in terms of speed and agility in the air, he was not afraid even of Kizaru with the Glint-Glint Fruit or Faraday with the Rumble-Rumble Fruit!
"Um? You little brat want to ambush me? Die!"
Upon spotting Antonie, Hermes wasted no time and charged at him like a tank in the air.
"Wind Shadow, formless!"
Seeing Hermes's actions, Antonie smiled slightly and instantly transformed into a whirlwind, dispersing.
Hermes's Observation Haki clearly detected Antonie's movements, and he quickly adjusted his direction to pursue Antonie.
However, Antonie repeatedly used his speed advantage to keep Hermes at bay, infuriating Hermes. He decided to ignore Antonie and charged towards the Navy instead.
Just as Hermes intended to leave Antonie behind, Antonie began to harass Hermes again, clearly not planning to let him go. He aimed to restrain Hermes.
Seeing this pesky opponent, Hermes flew back to the Infinite Pirates' fleet, no longer intending to deal with Antonie, planning to let others handle this troublesome foe!
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