The largest main ship was not any smaller than a warship at all, and the Rocket Team's Meowth flag was flying.
On the other three ships, there were two flags flying.
One flag had Meowth's portrait, representing that they were under the Rocket Team pirates.
The other three were their own personal flags.
Gecko, Black Steel, Snake Princess.
"It's the Rocket Team pirates! The Rocket Team pirates!"
"Reinforcements, reinforcements!"
"Damn it! They've already formed a large force. They must have completed their reorganization at Fish-Man Island."
They had gone directly from a small pirate crew of a few dozen people to a massive pirate crew of over a thousand.
The lower-ranking soldiers from the damaged warship began preparing to flee, while the higher-ranking officers and commanders stepped through the air using Geppo and launched attacks toward the Rocket Team pirates.
This was the New World. The quality of the Marines here could not be compared to the cannon fodder from the first half of the Grand Line or the Four Seas. At the officer level, it was impossible not to know at least some of the Rokushiki.
"Nation-Slayer Vane! Surrender at once!"
The Vice Admiral whose ship had been destroyed was furious and flew straight toward the main ship.
"Kehehehe~ If you want to deal with my Captain, then you'll have to get past me first."
A pitch-black shadow warrior appeared in front of the Vice Admiral, along with a large number of shadow bats interfering with him.
"Gecko Moria, you failure, you still dare to go out to sea?!"
"Gecko is the name of my ship. From now on, you can call me Shadow Pillar Moria!"
Moria had no problem holding off a Vice Admiral, especially now that he had regained mastery over his Haki.
"Slave Arrow!"
Hancock came to the ship's railing and lightly touched her lips with her finger. A pink heart appeared, and she pulled it back like a bowstring. When she released it, dozens of pink arrows shot out.
Slave Arrow was the most bug-like ability of the Empress's Love-Love Fruit, because these arrows didn't require the target to be a living being, nor did the target need to be charmed by her beauty to be petrified.
Unless they defended in advance with Haki.
The officers flying in the air reacted quickly and narrowly avoided the attack, while those who reacted slower were struck directly and turned into stone, falling into the sea.
"An unknown ability user!"
A Rear Admiral immediately led several field-grade officers and changed their target, charging toward Hancock.
"Who are you!"
"I am Vane-sama's mo— mo— most… newest Captain. Worthless Marines, do not even think about disturbing Vane-sama."
The Marine Rear Admiral only thought this woman was quite beautiful… and in the next moment, he was finished. Hancock dashed forward with a flying kick.
He instinctively used Tekkai to block it.
The force was heavy, but he could withstand it… Wait, no!?
His body also turned to stone the moment he was struck.
From the moment he thought Hancock was beautiful, he had already fallen into absolute despair. In the future, even Vice Admirals like Momonga would have to stab through their own palms with a blade just to resist Hancock's charm.
In the original timeline, Hancock set out to sea at 17 and became one of the Shichibukai at 18.
Now she had been freed a year earlier, but her strength was just as powerful as in the original timeline.
The three ability users on the Snake Princess ship also took action. Two giant snakes and a gorgeous frilled lizard appeared and clashed with the field-grade officers.
Their strength could only be considered average for now. Being able to stall their opponents was already good enough.
The truly terrifying one was Hancock. Her long legs leapt into the crowd—whoever she kicked turned into stone.
Bonez's ship did not take action. The Marine officers who had escaped from the damaged warship were basically intercepted by Moria and Hancock's ships, leaving him at the back with nothing to do.
On the other side, the reinforcing warship sailed straight toward the main ship, leaving him with no opportunity there either. Being stuck in the middle was truly frustrating—he had no chance to show himself.
"Let the warship come closer. Don't damage this ship."
The Marine warship carrying the Vice Admiral was considered a top-tier assault ship in this world. Whether in firepower, speed, or transport capacity, it was top class.
Destroying one was to reduce pressure. This one, Vane wanted to keep.
"Then I won't activate the weapon system, Meowth."
The Lightning Projector that had already been activated was stopped by Meowth.
"Kuhaha! Then let me block their artillery."
"I'm coming too!"
Burgess and Dice came to the side facing the warship. The enemy had no intention of preserving the Thunder Fortress and immediately fired a full volley.
"Kuuu—"
Burgess's body began to swell continuously. His limbs became thicker, and several parts of his body grew visibly hard armor plating.
He also grew a tail, with a meteor hammer at the end.
Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Zoan, Ankylosaurus form. If nothing else, in terms of presence alone, he already had the aura of one of Kaido's future All-Stars.
Burgess leapt up and spun in place, swinging his meteor hammer tail at high speed, directly deflecting an entire wave of cannon shells.
Dice was even more stubborn, using his chest to receive the cannon fire.
Each time a shell struck him, his body expanded another ring. After taking several shells, his body grew to nearly the same size as Burgess.
With the cooperation of the two of them, the artillery posed almost zero threat to the Thunder Fortress. Even the occasional stray shell was shot down by Lena, who held Lassoo Gun.
"Rocket Team pirates… truly damned."
When the warship reached close range, the Vice Admiral aboard stepped through the air with Geppo and rose into the sky.
This Vice Admiral had a very distinctive appearance. His scalp had multiple folds.
The Vice Admiral was also a master of Rokushiki. He kicked out in midair, releasing a powerful shockwave.
"Let me handle it."
Relying on the powerful vitality and defense of his Ancient Zoan, Burgess prepared to take the attack head-on. However, at that moment, Vane appeared, stepping onto his shoulder and stopping him with one foot before flying forward himself.
"This kind of opponent is still too early for you."
The Cursed Sword was drawn, and the shockwave split into two halves in midair before crashing into the sea.
Boom! Boom!!
Two massive splashes exploded beside the Thunder Fortress, and many fish were blasted onto the deck.
The Vice Admiral stood in midair using Geppo, facing Vane. Behind Vane, beautiful blue wings grew.
These wings could appear without entering the Demon Form. Vane had previously thought this was an evolution of his Blood Demon Art, but now it seemed more like a second Blood Demon Art.
It was common knowledge that the Demon King possessed multiple Blood Demon Arts. Having two himself was also a normal phenomenon.
"Marines? Have you come to seize slaves for the Celestial Dragons? Truly loyal tools raised by the Celestial Dragons."
"How is Rear Admiral Strawberry? He and I are good friends."
Vane had just returned from the sea surface and did not know the exact situation, but with the Celestial Dragons' temperament, the trap he had planted would definitely make Strawberry suffer.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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