Ryne’s voice wasn’t loud, yet every member of the crew heard it clearly.
“After we take G-8…
but before that…” He picked up an ordinary cut of beef from the chopping board.
A strange gleam flashed through his eyes.
“I can prepare a few special appetizers for all of you…” “To help you warm up.” Rocks and Newgate exchanged a glance.
Both of them saw the same hint of surprise in the other’s eyes.
Their instincts told them that, in that single moment, their young Head Chef had undergone an astonishing transformation.
… The Marine G-8 Base—the iron fortress reputed to be impregnable—was already on full alert.
The shrill alarm bells atop the watchtowers echoed through the sky.
Under the command of officers at every level, countless Marines rushed to the artillery batteries and defensive walls.
Rows upon rows of dark cannon muzzles formed a forest of steel, all trained on the lone sailing ship steadily approaching the fortress.
Inside the command tower, G-8’s commanding officer, Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Will, peered through a telescope, his brow deeply furrowed.
“One ship?
Just one?” He muttered to himself, his expression grave.
“Rocks…
Edward Newgate…
What are those two monsters planning?” He couldn’t figure it out.
But his beast-like instincts warned him that this was no reckless suicide attack.
The enemy’s calmness alone exuded an overwhelming sense of oppression.
“All units, maintain maximum alert!
No one lets their guard down!
The moment they enter the A-3 firing zone, begin saturation bombardment!” Will issued the order in a deep, commanding voice.
Meanwhile, aboard the tiny sailing ship being targeted by countless cannons, the atmosphere couldn’t have been more different.
If anything…
It was almost relaxed.
The crew crowded around the kitchen entrance like hungry chicks waiting to be fed, staring expectantly at the small figure busily working inside.
Standing before the stove, Ryne moved unlike ever before.
If the old Ryne embodied precision and efficiency…
Then every movement he made now possessed an indescribable rhythm.
He wasn’t simply cooking.
He was creating.
Performing a dance with the very souls of his ingredients.
Picking up a premium cut of beef confiscated from the Marines, he didn’t use a knife.
Instead, he gently tore along the natural grain with his fingertips.
The entire cut separated perfectly.
Then Ryne infused it with a fragment of his own will— A pure Soul of Fury, burning with the desire for battle and destruction.
Instantly, the beef deepened into a vivid crimson, as though molten lava flowed beneath its surface.
He placed it onto a scorching iron griddle.
After only three seconds—just enough to sear a delicate crust across the outside—he removed it immediately and skewered it on a wooden stick.
“Gatz.” “This one’s yours.” Ryne handed him the seemingly ordinary skewer of lightly seared beef.
Gatz accepted it without hesitation and swallowed it in a single bite.
The next instant…
His eyes flew wide open.
Every muscle in his body visibly bulged and swelled, while a faint crimson glow spread across his skin.
“ROOOAAAR!” An inhuman roar burst from his throat.
It felt as though a savage beast had awakened inside him.
Every muscle fiber screamed for destruction.
Every instinct yearned to tear something apart.
“Power!” “I’ve got endless power!” He clenched his fist.
BOOM!
The air exploded with a deafening shockwave.
Next, Ryne picked up a small slice of Thunder Abyss Leviathan meat and soaked it in ice water until it became crystal clear.
He infused it with the Soul of Tranquility.
Immediately, the fish lost all sense of presence, becoming almost transparent like a piece of clear jelly.
“Silver.” Silver accepted the paper-thin slice and placed it into his mouth.
The fish dissolved instantly.
It had no discernible taste.
But in the next moment…
Silver’s figure became hazy.
His presence disappeared completely, as though he had merged with the air itself.
Had they not been watching him with their own eyes, no one would have realized anyone was standing there at all.
“This…” Silver’s eyes widened in astonishment.
He felt as though he had become one with his surroundings.
Dorum received something entirely different.
It was a rock-hard biscuit baked from flour mixed with the powder of a special mineral.
Into it, Ryne infused the Soul of Fortitude.
Dorum bit down.
CRACK!
He nearly broke his teeth.
Then a heavy, steadfast energy surged throughout his body.
He knocked on his own chest.
Clang!
Clang!
The sound was unmistakably metallic.
“My body’s…” “It feels like it’s made of iron!” Finally, Ryne reheated the concentrated broth left over from cooking the Thunder Abyss Leviathan.
This time, he infused it with no specific soul.
Instead, he poured his own understanding of battle itself into the soup.
The broth became perfectly transparent.
Yet within its crystal-clear depths seemed to lie oceans and stars.
“Rocks.” “Newgate.” The two each accepted a bowl and drained it in a single gulp.
The instant the broth entered their mouths, they both felt the Haki they had already honed to the highest level ignite like wildfire.
It became denser.
Wilder.
Far easier to wield according to their will.
“Gurararara!” “Interesting!” “Now this is interesting!” Newgate laughed heartily.
Rocks, meanwhile, fixed his gaze on Ryne.
His eyes burned with such intensity that they seemed capable of melting steel.
“Ryne…” “You’ve given me yet another incredible surprise.” This was the true terror of Master-Level Culinary Arts.
A few simple appetizers had elevated the entire Rocks Pirates’ combat strength by several levels in an instant.
By then, their ship had entered the G-8 Base’s A-3 firing zone.
“Fire!” Vice Admiral Will’s cold command echoed through every artillery position via the Den Den Mushi.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Hundreds of heavy cannons roared simultaneously.
Countless cannonballs wove together into an inescapable net of death that descended upon the tiny sailing ship.
Facing an assault capable of annihilating anything in its path…
Rocks slowly stepped onto the bow.
He glanced at the crew beside him, each of them radiating surging battle spirit after Ryne’s cooking.
Then he looked toward the so-called impregnable fortress.
A domineering laugh burst from his lips.
“WAHAHAHAHAHA!” “Boys!” “Let the whole world hear our name!” “Rip that pile of scrap metal apart!” The deck that Dorum had painstakingly reinforced caved in beneath Gatz’s feet, leaving behind two deep craters.
His massive body shot through the air like a black meteor, carrying an overwhelming aura of savage destruction as he soared hundreds of meters across the sea and slammed straight toward the iron walls of the Marine G-8 Base.
“ROOOAAAR!” Midair, Gatz let out a beastly roar.
He drew back his boulder-sized fist and aimed it directly at the incoming barrage of cannonballs.
He didn’t dodge.
He didn’t block.
He met them head-on with nothing but raw, overwhelming force.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The heavy shells—each capable of tearing a ship apart—shattered like fragile eggs the instant they collided with his fist.
The iron projectiles were crushed and twisted out of shape with a single punch.
Several were even punched straight back toward the fortress, screaming through the air at an even greater speed before hurtling into its artillery batteries.
Inside the G-8 command tower, Vice Admiral Will stared through his telescope.
His jaw slowly dropped.
Even the cigar slipped from his fingers.
“Wh-What kind of monster is that?” “He’s…
punching cannonballs apart with his bare fists?” The officers and staff surrounding him were equally speechless.
It was as though they were witnessing something that defied all common sense.
Yet…
That was only the beginning.
While everyone’s attention remained fixed on Gatz’s berserk charge, a shadow almost impossible to detect slipped silently from the pirate ship.
Silver skipped across the sea in a few light steps, melting completely into the mist and shadows created by the exploding shells.
The slice of Leviathan infused with the Soul of Tranquility had erased his very existence.
His presence.
His sound.
Even the feeling that someone was there.
All of it vanished completely.
He moved through the rain of bullets and explosions like a true phantom.
Not a single Marine noticed him.
Not even the surveillance Den Den Mushi could capture his movements.
When he appeared again, he was already standing atop G-8’s first defensive wall.
Like a ghost, he materialized behind one of the main artillery batteries.
The Marines inside continued loading and firing their cannons in a frenzy, completely unaware that death itself had appeared behind them.
“Good night.” His cold voice sounded like Death whispering in their ears.
The next instant— A flash of silver burst forth.
Silver’s spear danced like a soaring dragon, leaving countless afterimages within the cramped artillery emplacement.
He did not kill.
Instead, every precise strike landed on a Marine’s wrist, knee, or the back of the neck.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
One dull impact after another echoed through the battery.
The Marines collapsed one after another like stalks of wheat before the harvest, each losing consciousness without a chance to fight back.
Without pausing for even a moment, Silver disappeared once again.
Repeating the same flawless tactic, he silently infiltrated the next artillery position.
Meanwhile, aboard the pirate ship, it was Dorum’s turn to shine.
After devouring the mineral biscuit infused with the Soul of Fortitude, he felt as though his body had become even tougher than the ship’s keel.
Standing proudly at the bow, he squared his shoulders and faced the cannonballs that slipped through the bombardment.
He didn’t move.
He didn’t dodge.
“Come on!” “Let’s see whether your cannonballs are tougher…” “…or my bones!” CLANG!
A cannonball slammed squarely into his chest.
The gruesome explosion everyone expected never came.
Instead, the shell struck him as though it had collided with an immovable steel anvil.
The iron casing instantly crumpled before dropping harmlessly into the sea.
Only a faint white mark remained on Dorum’s chest.
He casually slapped the spot.
Clang!
Clang!
The metallic ringing echoed loudly.
An immensely satisfied grin spread across his face.
“Not bad.” “I can actually feel that one.” “Again!” Like a walking fortress of steel, Dorum intercepted every cannonball aimed at the ship with nothing but his own body.
Watching the scene unfold from afar, Vice Admiral Will’s eye twitched violently.
“They’re insane…” “Every last one of them is completely insane!” If Gatz, Silver, and Dorum had already surpassed the limits of common sense…
Then the actions of Rocks and Newgate bordered on the miraculous.
Newgate simply swung his naginata forward with casual ease.
CRACK!
The space before him shattered like an enormous pane of glass, instantly filling with countless spiderweb-like fractures.
Every cannonball flying toward the starboard side of the ship entered the fractured space, only for its trajectory to warp unexpectedly.
The shells slammed into one another, detonating in midair and blooming into a spectacular display of fiery explosions.
As for Rocks…
He couldn’t even be bothered to raise a hand.
He simply stood there.
From his body spread an invisible, distorted gravitational field.
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