"Plop!"
"Plop!"
"Plop!"
Almost all the pirates who were attempting to abandon their ships and flee felt an overwhelming pressure.
One by one, they were crushed to the ground by the sheer weight of the Reiatsu.
"What is this?!"
The Big Mom Pirates, the infamous "Lonely Red" Baloric Redfield, and others aboard the stolen Impel Down warship all felt the suffocating force pressing upon them.
Instinctively, they looked up at the sky.
However, before they could even react—
Thousands of pitch-black cannonballs rained down, covering the sky, growing larger in their pupils with every passing second.
"No... this isn't good!"
On the main ship of the Big Mom Pirates, Perospero, the eldest son of the Charlotte family, watched in horror as the cannonballs descended upon them.
He cursed the so-called "Great Pirate Alliance" for their foolishness.
Without hesitation, he used his Candy Fruit abilities to create a massive 'candy barrier' to protect the main ship.
As for the rest of the so-called allies? He had neither the strength nor the will to protect them.
At that moment—
"Hey, hey, hey... The war hasn't even started, and already it looks like we're on our own."
On the stolen Impel Down warship, the Evil King Pizarro's expression turned grim.
Bang! Heavy footsteps echoed.
It was 'Devil's Descendant' Douglas Bullet. He remained silent, stepping forward with a calm but imposing presence.
His gaze locked onto the approaching cannonballs.
With a clenched fist, he began gathering energy.
Then he muttered, "If you can't handle something of this level, then you're not worthy to fight that monster at all."
As his words fell,
Hummm...
Jet-black Armament Haki surged from his white-gloved fist.
A heavy, almost suffocating Conqueror's Haki followed, making even the strongest warriors flinch.
"What a terrifying monster..." Bullet murmured.
Then, as if answering the challenge—
BOOM!!!
A violent explosion erupted, the detonation shaking the very ocean surrounding the Red Line.
The sheer force of the impact was so great that even those hundreds of kilometers away could feel the tremors.
When the smoke and dust settled—
Dozens of kilometers of ocean were littered with the wreckage of pirate ships and the floating corpses of countless pirates.
The so-called 'Great Pirate Alliance'—
Aside from the core Big Mom Pirates, Beast Pirates' Jhin, and the remnants led by the Red Earl and others from Impel Down—
More than half of their forces had been annihilated in an instant.
Witnessing such a scene would shake even the most hardened warriors to their core.
The surviving pirates trembled under the weight of the immense Conqueror's Haki emanating from the sky.
"That... that monster...!"
Many of the gathered pirates had been blinded by their greed, clustering together too densely to escape the blast radius.
But to lose so much power before the real battle had even begun?
How could they possibly accept this?
At that moment—
"Gulp... Captain Teach, that guy isn't weak at all..."
On the stolen Impel Down warship, Jesus Burgess nervously glanced at Blackbeard and whispered.
But Blackbeard didn't need to hear his crew's words.
His face had already twisted into an expression of sheer unease.
Even just from looking, he could tell—
This wasn't the result of exhaustion from the battle with Im.
No.
That monster—
He was even younger than before!
And if the power that nearly burned down the entire Grand Line was anything to go by...
Blackbeard swallowed hard.
"Damn it..."
His original plan had been to use the Impel Down escapees—Redfield and the others—to capture that monster's energy.
But now, it seemed like the worst decision he could have made.
No, from the moment he decided to involve that man—
His plans were never in his control to begin with!
Even knowing this, Blackbeard's face darkened.
He had no choice but to fight.
The war had already begun.
The arrow had left the bowstring.
It couldn't be stopped now.
All he could do was hope—hope that 'Lonely Red' and Big Mom wouldn't let him down.
Because if they failed—
Rumble...
Feeling the monstrous pressure looming over the battlefield, Blackbeard clenched his fists.
He knew one thing for certain—
If they failed, they would all die.
This wasn't just a battle anymore.
This was a fight for their very survival.
And in that moment—
[Host has returned to his optimal age.]
"My body feels stronger than before..."
"My senses have sharpened..."
"Not just my senses, but this feeling of lightness..."
Bai Ye carefully assessed his rejuvenated body, deep in thought.
He could already grasp the benefits of regaining his youth.
And with this younger body—
Even without any further progress in his template, his combat power had already increased significantly.
A younger body meant superior endurance.
A lighter body meant faster movements.
Sharper senses meant nothing could escape his gaze.
This wasn't just about regaining his youth.
It was a complete and utter power boost.
Though he hadn't fully adjusted yet—
His eyes landed on the so-called 'Great Pirate Alliance.'
He knew.
They would serve as the perfect tools to help him adapt to his newfound strength.
And as he scanned the battlefield—
Seeing no more pirate reinforcements arriving—
An indifferent glint flashed in Bai Ye's eyes.
He drew his blade—
Ryūjin Jakka
Flames danced along the sword's edge, their heat beginning to evaporate the raindrops in the air, making the atmosphere unbearably hot.
"The monster is moving!"
"What is he planning?!"
The pirates, struggling under the suffocating Reiatsu, felt an eerie sense of foreboding.
Then, someone realized the unthinkable.
"No way... That bastard—he's planning to destroy the World Government's so-called 'treasure'?!"
The moment this realization dawned—
"Bastard! Stop this, right now!"
Charlotte Linlin's enraged roar echoed.
Her bloodshot eyes locked onto Bai Ye as she grabbed Prometheus, summoning flames into her hands.
"Heavenly Fireball!!!"
Countless fireballs hurtled toward Bai Ye.
Lonely Red Baloric Redfield and the others reacted instantly, defying the immense pressure in the air as they launched their attacks.
But—
It was already too late.
The moment Bai Ye swung Ryūjin Jakka—
The war was no longer a battle.
It became a one-sided massacre.
The annihilation of the Great Pirate Alliance had begun.