"Wooooohohohoho..."
"Destruction! Everything that dares to stand in my way... be destroyed!!!"
Byrnndi World stood at the bow of his colossal flagship, gently stroking the massive iron main cannon mounted at the front.
"Moa 100-fold Cannon!!"
With a sharp shout, the cannon roared with deafening fury.
A standard iron cannonball, about thirty centimeters in diameter, exited the smoking barrel and suddenly, violently expanded mid-flight. Amplified by the Moa Moa no Mi (More-More Fruit), it multiplied to one hundred times its original size and speed, instantly becoming a thirty-meter apocalyptic meteor!
The colossal cannonball, seemingly capable of blotting out the entire sky, flew from the sea, directly targeting the western port where countless pirate ships were helplessly anchored.
"Bastard!! Does he want to destroy all our ships?!"
A pirate captain cursed from the docks, but he was entirely helpless against such a massive, high-speed projectile, only able to watch in absolute terror as the shadow fell over them.
Swish! Swish!
Vista, who had sprinted back to the port before Marco, drew his twin blades and unleashed two massive Flying Slash Attacks, attempting to cut the colossal cannonball in mid-air to protect the fleet.
But just like the veteran pirates who had tried to block the bombardment in the open-air gladiatorial arena, Vista's sword slashes dissipated like fragile sea foam upon hitting the Haki-infused cannonball, having absolutely zero effect.
"Damn it!!"
Vista cursed in bitter frustration, feeling profoundly stifled by his current lack of strength.
"Are our ships just going to be destroyed like this?!"
"Don't give up so easily, kid!"
Just then, a mature, incredibly relaxed male voice suddenly rang out from the docks.
A handsome, blonde middle-aged man wearing glasses calmly drew the longsword from his waist. Without any exaggerated stance, he casually slashed upward at the sky. A terrifyingly dense, invisible flying slash soared out, effortlessly slicing the despair-inducing giant cannonball directly into two perfect halves in mid-air.
BOOM!!!
The bifurcated halves missed the ships and exploded violently in the air above the water. The giant fireball brought rolling, suffocating heatwaves. The resulting wind pressure was so intense that Vista instinctively raised his arms to block his face.
"So strong..." Vista sighed softly, his eyes wide.
He didn't compare the man to Whitebeard; he was simply deeply envious of such casual, monstrous swordsmanship.
Silvers Rayleigh slowly sheathed his sword and laughed loudly toward the dreadnought out at sea. "World! This is the venue for the Pirate Expo! It's a celebration for our kind! How about you come onto the island and enjoy a drink instead of blowing it up?!"
On the World Pirates' ship, Byrnndi World had been looking for the culprit after seeing his enhanced cannonball casually sliced in half. When he heard Rayleigh's shout echoing across the water, his scarred face immediately darkened.
"I wondered who had the nerve and the skill. Turns out it's you, Rayleigh!"
"Hmph!!" World gripped the railing, his eyes burning with chaotic fury. "The Expo didn't send me a damn invitation! The Pirate Expo organizers are at fault first!!"
"I'm going to destroy this entire place right now!! Since none of you scum sent me an invitation, then absolutely none of you will get to enjoy this celebration!!"
World's psychotic words made Rayleigh sigh, putting a hand to his forehead.
'If it weren't for you destroying absolutely everything you see and earning the title of "World Destroyer," you bastard, would the Underworld organizers really not dare to send you an invitation?' Rayleigh thought in exasperation.
However, looking at it objectively, Buena Festa and the Expo planners had indeed slighted one of the most dangerous men on the seas.
Rayleigh didn't bother to argue with World's twisted logic anymore, only issuing one final, serious warning: "Since the Pirate Expo is the one at fault, don't destroy these docked ships anymore!"
Rayleigh pointed a finger directly at the massive whale-ship nearby. "That's Newgate's Moby Dick! Think very carefully if you really want to pick a fight and destroy his ship too!!"
"Hmph!!"
World snorted coldly upon hearing Whitebeard's name. As crazy as he was, fighting two absolute legends simultaneously wasn't tactically sound. He waved his hand, ordering his subordinates to cease the bombardment of the harbor.
"Men! Prepare to dock!!" World roared.
"Every wrong has its source, and every debt has its owner! This time, we'll only cause absolute hell for the Pirate Expo!"
"Destroy their festival! And then plunder everything they have!!"
The vicious members of the World Pirates cheered excitedly upon hearing this. In fact, compared to simply destroying the island, they were far more eager to plunder the legendary treasures gathered here. After all, although the World Pirates hadn't received an official invitation, they had acquired the promotional flyers. They had high expectations for the grand prizes, knowing that if they completely plundered this place, they wouldn't need to open for business again for at least a few years.
And so, the World Pirates' massive dreadnought slowly docked at the western harbor.
Byrnndi World was the very first to leap off the ship, landing heavily on the stone pier.
Rayleigh pulled out a small steel flask of sake and stood casually by, taking small sips. As World landed near him, he calmly asked, "World... what exactly are you trying to achieve with all this aimless destruction?"
"None of your damn business!!"
World's aggressive single sentence cut off all of Rayleigh's follow-up questions.
Rayleigh sighed softly, no longer bothering to mediate. He found a smooth rock on the spot, sat down, and began to drink quietly, watching the chaos unfold.
"WORLD!!"
An angry, youthful roar suddenly erupted from the ruins. A young boy with a pineapple-shaped hairstyle suddenly blurred into view, leaping high into the air and delivering a ferocious, Haki-laced flying kick directly towards World's head.
"How dare you ruin my tournament! And you tried to destroy our ship!!"
World didn't even flinch. He raised a thick arm clad in Armament Haki, easily blocking Marco's furious kick. With a fluid, brutal motion, he counter-punched, slamming his fist into Marco's chest and sending the boy flying like a bullet.
"Die, small fry!!"
BOOM!!
Marco crashed violently into a brick building in the port, collapsing the structure and stirring up a massive cloud of dust.
But just as World thought he had effortlessly dealt with the Whitebeard rookie in one move, a massive, distorted shadow suddenly flashed within the settling smoke.
World's steps faltered, and he turned to look, his eyes narrowing.
Eight ferocious, scaled reptilian heads suddenly emerged from the smoke, letting out a unified, demonic hiss. Massive jaws unhinged, spewing a terrifying torrent of lethal, corrosive venom that swept across the street directly toward World.
Suddenly, a bizarre man holding a square-headed sledgehammer leaped up from behind World, smashing his hammer into the cobblestone path exactly where the venom was surging.
"Cube-Cube: Disorder!!"
Powered by the Kyubu Kyubu no Mi (Cube-Cube Fruit), the flat street ground instantly fractured and transformed into countless floating, perfectly geometric cubes. The highly acidic venom spewed by the Eight-Headed Serpent flowed harmlessly into the deep depressions created by the displaced floating blocks, completely missing World.
"Guyram, this kid is yours," World ordered, withdrawing his gaze and continuing his relentless advance toward the arena.
"Don't worry, Captain World!!"
Guyram, holding his square-headed sledgehammer, responded confidently. He swung his weapon, manipulating the environment to violently smash the floating stone cubes one after another towards the massive Mythical Zoan beast.
"Cube-Cube: Acceleration Block!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The massive geometric cubes, made of solid rock and earth, crashed violently into the Eight-Headed Serpent's thick necks. While it caused no substantial physical damage to Marco's mythical durability, it successfully battered his heads around, interrupting his continuous venom-spitting barrage.
Marco's eight pairs of cold, reptilian eyes narrowed, locking onto Guyram in front of him.
His massive, serpentine body rapidly shrank and compressed, finally transforming into a lethal, bipedal half-beastman completely covered in dark, venomous snake scales.
Guyram swung his sledgehammer casually onto his shoulder. "I am your opponent now, kid!!"
Vista stood on the deck of the Moby Dick, holding his twin swords, silently observing the tense, high-level confrontation between Marco and Guyram on the docks.
He actually desperately wanted to leap down and help Marco double-team the World Pirate commander. But after the catastrophic bombardment that had just occurred, Vista firmly believed that physically guarding the Moby Dick from any further sabotage was tactically more important than assisting Marco.
Of course, there was another reason: he absolutely didn't think Marco would lose to Guyram. Since it wasn't Byrnndi World himself, there was no logical reason for a genius rookie like Marco—armed with the mythical Hebi Hebi no Mi, Model: Yamata no Orochi—to lose!!
World's side.
After deploying Guyram to stall the Whitebeard vanguard, Byrnndi World led the remaining two core cadres—Sebastian, the massive, blind Wotan (Fishman-Giant hybrid), and the ship's doctor, Nightin—along with a large horde of ordinary subordinates, directly toward the smoldering ruins of the open-air gladiatorial arena.
"First!" World roared, pointing at the shattered stadium. "We're going to plunder their grand prizes!!"
.....
.....
.....
Give me powerstones.
Support me and read advance chapters on patreon.com/ImmortalDaoWriter