"The Shichibukai have some skill, but I wonder about the others. Killing a few more of you pirate scum would be satisfying. I didn't expect the Marines to all become turtles; I was hoping to collect some interest first." World bore significant injuries on his body, inflicted by the Empress. His strength had declined far too much after all.
He was no longer the demon king who had once terrified the world. With the More-more Fruit (Momo-Momo Fruit), he had once left Marine Headquarters helpless, only being captured in the end after an intelligence agency operative infiltrated his crew and he was betrayed.
Now, he had nearly failed to handle even a single woman. This displeased World greatly.
But the weakness brought by age and years of imprisonment was difficult to reverse. Nevertheless, he would still do what he wanted to do—take revenge on the Marines.
The Pirate Empress and many of her subordinates were tied to crosses. World didn't trust any church; this was simply a convenient way to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, to let the world clearly see their return.
World's former subordinates had arrived and had already docked the pirate ship carrying the massive cannon nearby. After this matter was concluded, they could choose a suitable location and blast Marineford to smithereens with one shot.
With such a huge cannon, combined with his ability to increase an object's size a hundredfold and then further imbue it with a hundred times the speed, shattering an island was not difficult.
A person who was already powerful, also possessing the ability to make objects attack with a hundred times the speed and a hundred times the volume, was absolutely terrifying.
"Sister." The Empress's two sisters, looking at the Empress also bound to the wooden frames, wore very grim expressions and were somewhat terrified. These two pirates were simply too strong.
Originally, given the Empress's strength, even if she couldn't defeat one of them alone, escaping would not have been a problem. But because there were hostages here, Hancock chose to fight to the death, and the result was defeat.
Now, being tied up publicly like this was tantamount to extreme humiliation. She's afraid that from now on, whenever people mention the Empress, they would inevitably recall this stain: she had been defeated, bound to a cross, and displayed on the street.
Especially when the Empress's Haki picked up the murmurs of some watching pirates nearby, her expression turned absolutely livid, to the extreme. It even began to stir up some unpleasant memories from her past.
"Who are those two? Even the Empress of the Kuja Pirates lost? And it seems they're provoking the Marines, hoping they'll send stronger Shichibukai to challenge them? This isn't something a normal person would do." A pirate shuddered, having clearly witnessed the earlier battle.
But as exciting as the spectacle was, they dared not get too close. The Empress had displayed formidable power, She was truly formidable, and yet she still lost.. The two of them had fought for most of a day before a victor emerged.
"No idea. Never heard of such figures."
"You guys are out of the loop. These guys are on the Marines' latest wanted posters. They're incredibly powerful pirates from way back, heard they escaped from Impel Down."
"Escaped from hell? Seems like there was something about that. When Straw Hat and Blackbeard turned Impel Down upside down, a lot of strong pirates took the chance to break out."
"Do you think any other Shichibukai will show up?"
"Don't know, but the Marines can't just ignore this, can they?"
"Are we still waiting? Looks like no one's coming today. Let's just cut to the chase, kill them, and then go blow up Marine Headquarters." The Evil Governor suggested.
He didn't think much of the Shichibukai. The Empress's strength was decent, quite powerful, but he was also confident he could take her in a one-on-one fight.
"No rush. Some preparations are still needed. It seems the pirates who became Shichibukai have lost their nerve. How disappointing. No fun at all." World sounded slightly let down.
The Grand Line wasn't that vast. If a strong person was willing to travel, following the fixed route, a day's time was enough. And their location wasn't too far from Marine Headquarters.
"Those bastards... bastards! I'll kill them all!" The Pirate Empress, hearing the pirates' discussions and how casually the Evil Governor and World spoke of her life and death, flew into a violent rage.
'Will any Shichibukai come?' Sandersonia's face was filled with sorrow. It seemed very unlikely.
Although it was a summons from Marine Headquarters, it wasn't a mandatory summons after all. And even mandatory summons had limits; they were only issued during special times.
For a regular Marine Headquarters summons, whether a Shichibukai came or not depended entirely on personal interest. And the Marines truly couldn't spare any more forces.
The seas would remain in turmoil for a while during this troubled period, at least until a World Military Draft could bring in a large number of strong individuals.
'Will any Shichibukai come? Hah...' The Empress scoffed internally. It was completely unrealistic. As for who could save her, she searched her entire life and couldn't think of anyone.
The fact that the watching pirates hadn't stooped to kicking her while she was down already felt like a miracle to her.
But miracles wouldn't last long.
"Lord World, may I join your crew? I'll do my utmost to clear obstacles for you. I can even handle these Kuja Pirates women for you, so you don't have to dirty your hands..." A pirate captain with a 50 million Berry bounty groveled fawningly, his gaze towards the Pirate Empress filled with fervor.
She was the most beautiful woman in the world, truly alluring. If he were allowed to dispose of her, even being World's dog, or even dying, would be worth it.
And then, a moment later, he was dead.
"What garbage, get lost!" Although World hated the Marines, it was because he'd been ambushed by intelligence agents and betrayed, leaving him unable to trust even his former comrades now.
His former ideals had been twisted. World no longer saw companions as brothers, but as tools.
Despite that, he showed no mercy to pirates who displeased him like this one.
A single slap, without even needing to use his fruit's acceleration, sent the man flying. He smashed through dozens of houses before dying.
"Disgusting man..." The Empress's expression didn't improve one bit. Whether it was World or that pirate just now, they brought her nothing but revulsion.
"Forget it, let's listen to you. Let's just kill them all. Save any more blind pirates from coming and ruining my appetite." World stood up, holding a pebble, looking at the Pirate Empress, ready to accelerate the stone and execute her and the others on the spot.
"I didn't think you old fossil would be here making trouble instead of following Blackbeard. Evil Governor, it seems you're destined to die by my hand." But just then, a sword slash and a black grain of sand pierced through the air.
Aimed at World and the Evil Governor.
Danger!
In that instant, the two battle-hardened legendary pirates sensed the power and ferocity of these two attacks.
"Thirty Times Speed!" World instantly accelerated the stone in his hand, firing it with full force.
It was many times faster than a cannonball. That small stone, now like a meteor, shot towards the black grain of sand.
A thunderous boom, like a volcanic eruption. An intense blast of wind pressure swept in all directions, the explosive force collapsing the ground beneath them.
The Evil Governor had a very robust physique, with features somewhat resembling those of the Emperor Kaido, including a pair of sharp horns on his head. Facing the overwhelming sword slash, he coated both arms in Armament Haki and swept them out to meet it head-on.
Another thunderous crash. He shattered the sword energy with his brutal arms, but his arms trembled violently from the impact. This was not good. The newcomer's strength seemed slightly greater than his own current level!
(End of Chapter)