Rear Admiral Oliver watched the Moby Dick draw closer to the harbor.
He gripped his saber so tightly that sweat soaked the hilt without him realizing it.
“Listen to my order, fire!” Oliver commanded the moment the pirate ship entered the cannon’s range.
The booming of cannon fire echoed throughout the entire harbor as hundreds of cannonballs flew toward the ship.
In the Marine base building not far behind, Fleet Admiral Sengoku and Garp were hiding.
Seeing Oliver order the attack, Sengoku looked at Garp beside him.
“It’s starting, Garp.
Once they land, proceed according to plan.” Garp looked uncharacteristically serious and answered with a solemn expression, “Understood, Sengoku.” Whitebeard’s presence clearly put a lot of pressure on him.
Seeing the cannonballs flying toward them, Whitebeard and his crew weren’t flustered at all.
Everyone prepared to handle the Marine assault in their own way.
Right then, a purple ring of light expanded from Twilight Allen’s hand, enveloping the cannonballs while they were still hundreds of meters away.
After a few days of training, Allen’s Devil Fruit ability had improved significantly.
When he first ate the fruit, he could only control gravity within a fifty-meter radius, but now his range extended to hundreds of meters.
Under the heavy gravity, the cannonballs lost all momentum and dove straight into the sea one after another.
In the distance, the Marines wondered if something was wrong with their ammunition.
“Hahaha!
Twilight Allen, your ability is really useful,” Duke laughed, holding his gun since he had been ready to shoot the cannonballs.
“Once we get back, you should have a good spar with the boss.” He was totally setting Allen up.
Whitebeard heard this and smiled with interest.
“Gurarara!
Twilight Allen, let’s have a few good rounds when we get back.” Allen had been happy to get the praise, but his face fell instantly when he heard the second part.
“Let’s talk about that when we get back.” Seeing that the first round of shelling failed, the Marines fired several more salvos.
However, every time the cannonballs got within a few hundred meters of the ship, they acted like they had seen a ghost and dropped into the sea.
Once he realized what was happening, Rear Admiral Oliver’s expression turned solemn.
“Whose ability is this?
It doesn’t seem to be Whitebeard’s power, and I’ve never heard of anyone in his crew having an ability like this.” He couldn’t figure it out, so he stopped trying.
“Forget it, it doesn’t matter.
Just follow the plan and let Whitebeard land.” Oliver ordered his troops to retreat, giving up part of the harbor and pulling back behind the pre-set roadblocks to execute the plan.
Seeing the Marines stop firing and retreat, the pirates on the ship were confused.
“What are the Marines doing?
Have they given up?” This only made Allen more certain of his suspicions.
An ambush?
I wonder who came: Sengoku, Garp, or Zephyr.
He didn’t bother guessing anyone else, because against Whitebeard, anyone else would just be cannon fodder.
Before long, the Moby Dick docked at the shore, and the crew members couldn’t wait to jump onto the harbor.
Allen felt a mix of excitement and tension.
The first major battle since I arrived in this world is about to begin.
“Marco, stay on the ship.
Don’t come down,” Allen ordered.
Then, using his gravity to float down, he landed right beside Whitebeard.
Marco didn’t object.
He wanted to fight side-by-side with everyone, but he knew he would only be a burden right now, forcing the others to protect him.
Clenching his fists, Marco vowed to train much harder once they returned.
“My boys, attack!” Whitebeard shouted, destroying all the roadblocks with a single quake-infused strike.
“Oh, charge!” the pirates yelled.
The Marines drew their swords and fired their guns at the rushing pirates.
Allen wasn’t a bloodthirsty person, so as he walked toward the Marines, he unleashed his Conqueror’s Haki infused with gravity, sweeping it across the battlefield.
The black-red energy, tinged with a hint of purple, surged over the Marines.
In an instant, nearly half of the three thousand Marines collapsed, unable to handle the combined pressure of the Conqueror’s Haki and the heavy gravity.
Cold sweat broke out on Rear Admiral Oliver’s forehead.
“Damn it, since when did a guy like this join Whitebeard?” According to his intelligence, the only powerful figures on the ship were Whitebeard, who had a bounty of 1.29 billion beli, the sniper Duke with a 440 million beli bounty, and Frien with 60 million beli.
Allen’s sudden appearance completely caught them off guard.
Just as the Marine line was about to break under the pirates’ assault, a loud shout echoed from the front.
“Whitebeard, your opponent is me!
Take this, Fist Bone Impact!” Garp rushed out impatiently, leaping into the air and throwing a punch down at Whitebeard.
Whitebeard looked up and grinned.
“It’s you, Garp.
Come on then, Space-Shattering Fist!” He didn’t dare hold back against Garp, using a named attack right away.
The shockwave from Garp’s punch clashed with Whitebeard’s quake, creating a massive blast of wind that swept across the entire harbor.
The shaking ground and violent gales sent both pirates and Marines stumbling in all directions.
Allen watched the clash, thinking that if those two punches landed on him, he wasn’t sure he could survive it.
As he was distracted, a sudden burst of golden light shot toward the crew members near him.
“Buddha Impact!” With a loud boom, a massive shockwave exploded right next to Allen.
He quickly drew his sword and deployed a gravity ring to protect himself, but several crew members who couldn’t dodge in time were blown away by the blast.
Looking at the giant crater in front of him, Allen focused his attention and felt a chill run down his spine.
This is bad, Sengoku is here too.
He took a deep breath, looking at the giant golden figure in front of him.
The man attacking him was Sengoku, a user of the Mythical Zoan Human-Human Fruit, Model: Buddha.
Sengoku looked at the uninjured Allen with appreciation in his eyes.
“Kid, you don’t have a bounty yet, which means you just became a pirate.
Why don’t you leave the darkness and join the Marines instead?
I can personally pardon all the crimes you’ve committed so far.” Allen felt speechless.
Why are you acting so high and mighty?
If you went and took out Ochoku right now, I’d go home immediately.
Instead, he looked at Sengoku with disappointment and said, “No thanks.
The Marines can protect me, but they can’t protect my hometown.
I don’t want to join the Marines, only to find my home razed to the ground later, just like the G-5 Branch near my village.” Sengoku looked awkward, feeling like Allen’s words were a direct insult to the Marines’ capabilities.
Even though he realized from Allen’s tone that becoming a pirate was a last resort, Sengoku had no intention of letting him go.
Looking at Allen’s youthful face, Sengoku said, “Conqueror’s Haki, great swordsmanship, and a powerful Devil Fruit.
Your potential is terrifying.
I have to stop you here today to keep you from causing trouble in the future.
Your voyage ends here.”