Dragon!!
Even though his face was hidden beneath a wide, dark green hood, there was no mistaking him. Dragon had grown up in the Marines—and with his one-of-a-kind Devil Fruit ability on the open sea...
Sengoku and Sakazuki recognized him instantly!
They reacted at once, turning sharply to glare at Daren.
That guy Daren… he was still in contact with the "traitor" Dragon!?
"Hey, hey, hey, don't look at me like that..."
Daren shrugged casually, flashing a small smile.
"The Marines are in desperate need of a victory right now, aren't they?"
Sengoku and Sakazuki fell silent at his words.
It was true.
The Marines were under immense political pressure. They couldn't afford to lose this battle!
And the fact was undeniable—
In a sea battle, Dragon's Devil Fruit ability could easily be considered among the most powerful out there!
Back then, when Fleet Admiral Kong entrusted the Logia-type Kaze Kaze no Mi to Dragon, it was with the intention of grooming him as a future Fleet Admiral—someone who could cover the Marines' weakness in naval combat!
Fleet Admiral Kong had hoped Dragon would one day wield the power of the Kaze Kaze no Mi to stand against the likes of Shiki and Whitebeard on the battlefield!
"So… this is your trump card, Daren?"
Sengoku stared at him, his expression grim, voice low and serious.
"Trump card?"
Daren chuckled.
"Maybe. But it doesn't really matter anymore."
"Dragon showing up here might have nothing to do with me. Maybe he's just trying to help the Marines get through this mess. Maybe he's repaying the Marines for raising him by using his Devil Fruit ability."
"Who can say?"
Sengoku rolled his eyes at the kid's words, but he didn't press the issue any further.
Keeping secret contact with a "traitor" and "criminal" like Dragon was clearly a violation of military discipline. Under normal circumstances, it'd warrant severe punishment—maybe even stripping Daren of his military status.
But right now, Sengoku didn't have the luxury to worry about that.
Without a doubt, Dragon's support... was a massive advantage.
"Then... prepare to attack, Admiral Sengoku."
Daren said flatly.
...
Thirty seconds earlier.
"Jihahahaha!! Roger!! Soon... your crew won't be able to hold out much longer!"
Shiki let out a twisted laugh. His eyes gleamed with a strange red light, and both blades—wrapped in black and crimson lightning—came slashing down like twin arcs of destruction!
Clang!!
Roger met the strike head-on, parrying it with brute force.
Rain streamed down his face, but his eyes shone bright and fierce.
"Impossible!! These are the comrades who've come this far with me!"
He laughed loudly, brushing the rain from his face with a sweep of his hand.
Then, with lightning surging along the length of his blade, he slashed upward from below—like he was going to cleave the sky in half!
A strike so overwhelming even demons would flee!
"Kamusari!!"
Shiki's pupils shrank as he faced the attack.
In their reflection, Roger's sword gleamed so brightly it swallowed the entire field of vision. A wave of dread crashed over him like nothing he'd ever felt before.
He couldn't block it!
Even now, after all these years, he vividly remembered... that arrogant lunatic Rocks—he was wounded by this very slash when he underestimated Roger's strength, and only then was he taken down by Garp!
Every pore on Shiki's body stood on end. A strange red glow surged in the depths of his eyes. Like a hawk, he twisted his body in midair and veered to the side.
The blood-red slash grazed past him, slicing off a tuft of his golden hair.
Seizing the moment, Shiki drifted rapidly backward. Hovering high above, he stared down at Roger, who had begun to fall, a cruel, feral grin spreading across his face.
"Since you refuse to submit... I have no choice but to sink all your crew into the sea!!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Oto and Kogarashi swung through the air simultaneously!
There was no slash.
Instead, the sea suddenly erupted with towering waves.
The surging water rose like endless shadows on the turbulent surface.
Boom...
The sea let out a deafening roar as massive waves surged layer upon layer, instantly gathering into a colossal lion-shaped mass of seawater that blotted out the sky. With its jaws wide open, it roared and lunged toward the Oro Jackson!
Shishi Odoshi: Chimaki!!
Onboard the Oro Jackson, the faces of Roger's crew changed dramatically. Their hearts pounded with alarm.
An attack of this scale—especially in the vastness of the open sea—left them with no escape!
A despair they had never known before welled up in their eyes.
Not even Garp had ever pushed them into such a hopeless situation!
Worse yet, against a tsunami of this magnitude, the "high-speed explosion" device loaded on the Oro Jackson was completely useless!
"This madman!!"
Roger's eyes filled with blood as he stared fiercely at the incoming tsunami, his grip tightening on his longsword.
This wasn't just about the Oro Jackson anymore. At least twenty of the Flying Pirates' ships surrounding them had been caught in the radius of the attack!
That bastard Shiki didn't care about his subordinates' lives at all!
"Jihahahaha!!"
"Roger!! You see it now, don't you!?"
Shiki laughed wildly, his eyes gleaming with madness. It was as if he could already see the Roger Pirates being swallowed by the sea.
Although he had clashed with Roger many times before, this was the first time he had truly cornered him like this!
As for the tens of thousands of unfortunate souls aboard those other ships, Shiki simply disregarded them.
Subordinates? They meant nothing to him.
With enough strength and power, he could always get more!
Even though he hadn't gotten any clues about the ancient weapon from Roger this time, he believed that with time, he'd find them eventually.
If he could eliminate Roger now, he could dominate the seas!
With that thought, his ambition ignited—burning in his eyes like a blazing inferno.
"This is my true strength!! Jihahahaha!!"
"I am invincible in sea battles... What is that!?"
Shiki's maniacal laughter stopped abruptly.
As if sensing something, his pupils narrowed into sharp pinpoints as he stared hard at the scene ahead.
The despairing Roger Pirates froze.
Then, their expressions turned from shock to sheer horror.
"What... is that!?"
Rayleigh muttered, his face grim.
"A... a natural disaster!!!"
Buggy screamed, his face pale, body trembling, eyes bulging out of his head.
And it wasn't just them.
Across the sea and aboard the dozens of floating pirate ships in the sky, countless pirates gasped in unison. Their faces drained of color as they stared at the unfolding spectacle in dread.
They were witnessing something they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
A storm.
An unprecedented storm, infused with unimaginable natural power... had crashed into the giant tsunami Shiki had summoned with his Devil Fruit—and destroyed it in an instant!
Then, all that seawater surged back, rolling in reverse.
A roaring tornado ripped through everything in its path with unstoppable force!
This was... a true natural disaster!
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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