Although the sheer number of Marines left standing had drastically plummeted, the overall combat quality of the surviving forces had actually condensed and spiked. The ordinary grunts were all unconscious or incapacitated; the ones still on their feet were seasoned Captains, Commodores, and Rear Admirals. Instantly, the suffocating pressure of the battle shifted heavily back onto Robin and the White Dragon vanguard.
These veteran Marine elites rapidly deduced the mechanics behind Perona's devastating crowd control. While they didn't fear the pirates' physical attacks, they realized that getting grazed by those translucent ghosts meant instant, unavoidable psychological defeat, completely neutralizing their combat strength.
"Dodge the ghosts! Do not let them touch you!" a Commodore roared, his eyes tracking the floating specters. "Armament Haki can disrupt the ghosts!" "Focus on the source! Target the floating girl with the umbrella!"
Having formulated a rapid counter-strategy, several battle-hardened Marine elites immediately broke away from the main skirmish, utilizing Soru (Shave) to violently blitz directly toward Perona.
Noticing the incoming threat, Sai and Leo desperately tried to break off and intercept them, but the remaining Marines aggressively doubled their offensive pressure, completely locking the two fighters down in a brutal melee.
"Ah!" Perona panicked slightly, quickly commanding several Negative Hollows to dive-bomb the incoming Marines.
However, these elites were highly proficient in Soru. Moving in rapid, zigzagging blurs, they effortlessly evaded the slow-moving ghosts. The Negative Hollows simply lacked the necessary velocity to catch a focused Rokushiki master.
Seeing the Marines rapidly closing in on her position, Perona quickly calmed down. Wait, why am I scared? Her true physical body was safely hidden away in a locked room back on the White Dragon; her current form was purely an astral projection. She was completely immune to standard physical attacks, and she could fly!
"Bleh! You can't catch me, you big idiots!" Perona stuck her tongue out, pulling down her lower eyelid to mock them before rapidly floating high into the air.
To her absolute horror, one of the elite Marines didn't stop at the edge of the crater. Kicking the air with explosive force, he utilized Geppo (Moonwalk) to launch himself directly into the sky after her, his fist rapidly turning pitch-black with Armament Haki.
"Eeeek! Robin, save me!" Perona shrieked, instantly realizing that a Haki-infused punch would absolutely damage her astral form.
"Tsk."
Standing amidst the chaos below, Robin was flawlessly overseeing the entire battlefield. Even without Perona's frantic plea, she was already acting.
Before the airborne Marine could even extend his Haki-coated fist, dozens of ethereal arms suddenly bloomed across his torso and limbs. In a fraction of a second, the arms violently twisted backward, completely immobilizing him mid-air. Utterly helpless, the Marine lost his momentum and began plummeting heavily toward the earth.
"Take this! Special Hollow: Kamikaze Bomb!"
Seizing the perfect opening, Perona instantly manifested a massive, spherical ghost the size of a boulder. The giant hollow lunged downward, violently biting onto the falling Marine just as he hit the ground.
Robin flawlessly released her Clutch and retracted her arms a microsecond before impact.
KA-BOOOOOOM!
A massive, devastating shockwave erupted as the giant ghost detonated with the force of high-grade artillery. The targeted Marine was instantly blasted into unconsciousness, and the terrifying concussive force sent the other pursuing Marines violently tumbling backward through the rubble.
"Hmph! Serves you right!" Perona humped smugly, resting her hands on her hips. She quickly generated a dense, swirling swarm of Mini-Hollows, creating an impenetrable defensive perimeter around herself to ensure she wouldn't get rushed again.
Honestly, she thought to herself, the only reason I didn't use my ghost bombs earlier was because everyone was mixed together and I was worried about friendly fire. It absolutely wasn't because I forgot I could make them explode! Yeah... exactly!
On the other side of the battlefield, the Marines were growing increasingly frustrated and deeply depressed.
Not only had they completely failed to eliminate the source of the ghosts—losing several elite officers in the attempt—but they were also beginning to genuinely question their own sanity. Whenever a Marine successfully landed a brutal, seemingly fight-ending slash or bullet on one of the pirates, the pirate would simply grit their teeth, and a microsecond later... they would be completely fine! It was as if the lethal wounds simply vanished into thin air, allowing the pirates to endlessly continue their relentless assault.
This was the absolute, terrifying utility of Mansherry. Minor cuts and bruises were instantly patched up by her scattered, passive dandelion spores. If a crew member suffered a critical, heavy wound, Mansherry would stealthily zip across the battlefield and apply a direct dose of her Heal-Heal Fruit, instantly returning them to peak condition.
As the grinding war of attrition dragged on, the scales of victory slowly but inevitably began tilting in the White Dragon's favor. The Marines quickly realized that unless they could locate and assassinate the tiny Tontatta healer, they were guaranteed to lose this battle of endurance.
However, assassinating Mansherry was nearly impossible. Bardock had rigorously trained her in absolute evasion. She was tiny, insanely fast, completely avoided direct combat, and could instantly heal herself if she took a stray hit. Her only operational directive was pure survival.
The Navy vanguard was effectively stalled. Their only hope of securing a victory now rested entirely on the shoulders of their three Vice Admirals.
Meanwhile, on the primary battlefield, the duel between Bardock and Tsuru had escalated into a highly dangerous, psychological minefield.
Bardock was fighting with extreme caution. The Great Staff Officer's Devil Fruit was genuinely terrifying. Every time their limbs even lightly grazed each other, Bardock felt a bizarre, sickening sensation wash over his mind, as if his sheer will to fight and his killing intent were being forcefully "washed" away and pacified. To counter this bizarre, conceptual ability, Bardock was forced to rapidly burn through his stamina, continuously flooding his body with maximum-density Armament and Conqueror's Haki to form an absolute barrier between his skin and her hands.
Tsuru, on the other hand, was deeply analyzing the young pirate. Now she fully understood exactly what Garp had meant.
Bardock possessed monstrous physical strength, blinding speed, and perfect mastery over all three types of Haki. His combat profile was uncannily similar to a young Kaido. And the most terrifying part? He had been fighting her to a complete standstill this entire time while remaining strictly in his human form, completely holding back his Mythical Zoan transformation.
'To grow old...' Tsuru sighed deeply in her heart. If she were still in her physical prime, she was highly confident she could suppress and capture the young pirate before he fully matured. But right now, forcing a decisive victory was proving incredibly difficult.
They exchanged another brutal flurry of blows, shattering the ground beneath them.
Suddenly, Bardock's eyes narrowed sharply. Instead of pressing the attack, he violently swung his staff, forcing Tsuru to step back, and instantly utilized Soru to retreat several dozen meters. Ignoring the Great Staff Officer, he looked directly up at the sky.
Sensing the massive shift in the atmosphere through her own Observation Haki, Tsuru immediately halted her advance and also looked up.
A party crasher had arrived.