· Thunder Emperor · Charlotte Rector!
The six-armed phantom waved the divine rings in its hands simultaneously, and blinding thunderous light burst forth from every single divine ring.
Thunder beasts of various forms surged out from the halos, pouncing towards Zephyr with earth-shaking roars.
Six giant divine rings stood in the sky, resembling six independent worlds of thunder.
Fists collided with the thunder beasts, and immediately afterwards, the six thunder rings smashed toward Zephyr like six heavenly kingdoms.
The blinding white light instantly swallowed the entire sky, and the thick clouds were churned into pieces.
The sea surface could not withstand the air pressure of the collision, forcefully caving downward in a huge area while seawater churned wildly outward.
Thunder roared, and the airflow howled.
The full-power collision between two powerhouses capable of changing the era directly disrupted the natural laws of this sea area.
…
On the distant sea, a warship with tilted masts and a hull covered in cracks drifted lonely, its sides still bearing marks scorched by lightning.
The soldiers on the deck were all pale-faced, and quite a few sat paralyzed on the ground with weak legs; that calamity-like power just now had heavily smashed into everyone’s hearts.
“We…
still alive?”
“We are still alive…”
“Where is Vice Admiral Zephyr?
Where did the Vice Admiral go!”
“Idiot!
Go look for him quickly!”
…
“No need to search, this old man is back.”
“Bang”
With a muffled thud, a figure emitting black smoke heavily landed on the deck, skin debris scorched into ashes by the high temperature fluttering down to the ground with the wind.
When the smoke and dust cleared, revealing a battered and bloody appearance underneath, all the soldiers were dumbfounded.
Everyone’s pupils suddenly shrank, their faces full of panic, and someone sat paralyzed on the deck in disbelief, muttering to themselves.
“This…
how is this possible!”
“Doctor!
Call a doctor quickly!”
The deck instantly descended into chaos.
Zephyr’s originally fair skin was almost entirely burned, leaving only crimson flesh covered with lightning-shaped patterns burned by thunder, and blood was continuously seeping out from the edges of the patterns.
A pirate who had debuted not long ago was actually able to injure Vice Admiral Zephyr like this, completely exceeding everyone’s understanding.
…
Marineford, Marineford.
The atmosphere in the Admiral’s office was oppressive.
Kong looked at Zephyr, who was wrapped in bandages all over, his fingers gripping the combat report in his hand tighter and tighter until the paper sheets deformed.
“As expected of the strongest Logia-type Devil Fruit, it actually managed to injure you like this.”
“It’s not just because of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.”
Zephyr shook his head, a strange look flashing in his eyes, “I can feel that child is a madman, a thorough madman.”
“He is even madder and more unbridled than Rocks.”
“If we let him continue to grow, he will become an even thornier threat than Rocks.”
“I propose raising his bounty; the current 130 million is no longer worthy of his strength.”
“Good.”
Kong nodded.
He knew Zephyr’s strength very well.
Looking across the entire Marine, people who could go head-to-head with top pirates like Newgate were few and far between, and Zephyr was one of them.
The last time Zephyr was injured this heavily was when he fought Newgate.
(Hachinosu)
The most absurd and freest pirate city in the old era, and also the stronghold of the strongest pirate crew of the old era.
The scorching charred smell mixed with the pungent scent of strong liquor, a faint smell of blood, and the oily fragrance of roasted meat drifting in the salty-humid sea breeze.
Spilled liquor stains were scattered on the pitted ground, along with several patches of dried dark brown bloodstains.
In the very center of the island, a giant skull rock stood lonely under the sunlight.
Its pitch-black eye sockets faced the direction of the port, as if silently proclaiming the fate of all trespassers.
Beneath the skull, densely packed honeycomb-like buildings spread layer upon layer along the rock wall, extending all the way to the foot of the mountain.
Various buildings around the rock wall were crowded with taverns, weapon shops, slave markets, bounty houses, and all kinds of entertainment venues, faded signs creaking and rattling in the wind.
——This is heaven for the strong, and hell for the weak.
Near the port of Hachinosu, dozens of pirate ships had just docked fully loaded; the roaring of pirates, the clinking of wine glasses, and crude laughter and scolding were stirred together, drifting far away with the sea breeze.
“The pirate Empress Shakky!!!”
One day ago, the pirate Empress Shakky personally delivered her Captain Gloriosa to Hachinosu.
Shakky’s ship had long disappeared at the end of the sea, but there were still a large number of pirates in the port with hearts in their eyes, their minds filled with her stunning appearance.
“Damn it!
Why did I choose to set sail today!”
Pirates who had just returned from outside heard that Shakky had been here before, and instantly knelt in agony on the deck, their wails drowning out the surrounding commotion.
In their eyes, no amount of treasure could compare to catching a glimpse of Shakky.
Half of the pirates in the entire port were carnivalizing for their harvest, and half were regretting for missing out; the two emotions were tangled messily together.
In a tavern in the inner district of Hachinosu, warm yellow sunlight passed through the dust-covered glass windows, falling upon two legendary women.
Gloriosa pinched that bounty poster, her gaze moving back and forth between Charlotte Linlin and the bounty poster, her brows slightly furrowed.
“Is Rector really your son?” she asked.
The bounty amount on the poster had risen to 670 million Berries, a figure that already surpassed Kaido’s bounty and was about to catch up to the level of the core executives of the Rocks Pirates.
“Popcorn machine, how could you give birth to such an amazing son?”
“Big Brother is the most amazing!” Perospero, sitting on Charlotte Linlin’s shoulder, held a lollipop in his mouth, biting it while smiling.
Linlin’s action of holding the wine bottle paused for a moment, “Who did you say is a popcorn machine?!”
Her tone sounded annoyed, but the smile on her face became even brighter, “Rector is my strongest son!”
“The cake you are eating right now was made by him when he was only two years old!
And my intelligence network has always been managed by him!”
Linlin’s face was full of undisguised pride, while Gloriosa listened with twitching corners of her mouth, her eyes full of disbelief.
On the other side of the tavern, a young Edward Newgate sat on a chair by the window, the sea breeze lifting the corners of his cape, his expression stern.
He was lowering his head to wipe his beloved sword—Murakumogiri, one of the Supreme Grade 12 Swords.
The blade was as bright as a crescent moon, reflecting the sunlight falling in from outside the window, emitting a chilly metallic luster.
“What truly incredible strength~”
Buckin’s fingertips brushed across the headline on the newspaper, her seductive eyes sweeping over the content above.
[Pirate Calamity · Thunder Emperor · Charlotte Rector forced back the fleet led by Marine elite Vice Admiral Black Arm Zephyr single-handedly!]
[Black Arm Zephyr heavily injured!
Charlotte Rector’s whereabouts unknown!]
“Kaido, your bounty can’t even compare to a rookie kid anymore oh~!!!”
Buckin casually tossed the newspaper to Kaido, who was drinking nearby, and Kaido glanced at it faintly.
“I am Kaido!
Such trash, I can resolve with a single club.”
“Oh——!!!
Is that so?”
Buckin purposely elongated her tone, the corner of her eyes glancing towards Charlotte Linlin nearby.
On one side was the newcomer she favored, and on the other side was Linlin’s biological son; she was very curious about what Linlin’s reaction would be.
The originally noisy sound in the tavern instantly quieted down, and everyone quietly looked in the direction of Charlotte Linlin.
Those close to the door were already quietly moving their feet, ready to slip away at any moment.
From Linlin’s previous words, it was not hard to hear that this son was her pride.
Kaido belittling Rector like this was equivalent to directly slapping her in the face.
“Mamamama!!!”
“Kaido, you will pay the price for what you said today.”
Charlotte Linlin held the wine bottle, not a trace of anger discernible on her face, instead carrying a bit of expectant smiling expression.
“Doesn’t the newspaper say Rector’s whereabouts are unknown?
Aren’t you afraid he’ll be caught by the Marines?”
Buckin’s slender fingers tapped on the content about Rector in the newspaper.
“Impossible!
I have his Vivre Card here!!!”
Perospero, sitting on Linlin’s shoulder, took out an irregularly shaped Vivre Card from his bosom and handed it before Linlin’s eyes.
The edges of the paper piece were somewhat charred black, yet there were no traces of burning.
Rector was not in mortal danger, just injured, and should be recuperating somewhere right now.
Grand Line, Karakuri Island · Baldimore.
Snowstorms filling the sky covered the entire island, and the outlines of the city loomed indistinctly in the snow mist.
Knee-deep snow accumulated in the suburban forest, and many modified beasts with red-glowing eyes wandered among the trees, making soft creaking sounds when stepping on the snow.
But the next second——
The sky seemed to have been torn open with a gash.
A thick and terrifying pillar of thunder smashed without warning into the distant mountain forest, the thunderous light illuminating the entire snowy field.
The entire island shook violently along with it, and the scattered, darting lightning forcefully shattered the clouds of the blizzard filling the sky.