One Piece: New Order-Chapter 66: Battle of Sgri (9)

Woooo—

A sharp, piercing horn echoed across the sea.

From afar, the approaching Marine Headquarters fleet could just barely make out a tiny black dot racing toward the enemy lines, trailing thick smoke behind it.

Ahead of that lone figure was a sea full of Golden Lion pirate ships. Yet it kept charging, as if nothing was there.

In that moment, every Marine aboard the Headquarters fleet felt their blood surge. Eyes turned red.

Numerous officers leapt from their warships. Some activated their Devil Fruit powers; others soared across the sky with Geppo. All of them rushed toward that dot.

...

Back on Garp's ship, Rear Admiral Keane seemed to sense something. He turned to look behind him. There it was: the massive force of the Headquarters fleet coming in. Countless warriors were charging forward.

Keane smiled. It was a bright, fearless smile.

Whoosh!

Boom! Boom! Boom!...

Shells rained down like a storm. Some exploded in the sea, sending water skyward. Others struck the hull, igniting fires that spread across the deck and into the cabins. Black smoke billowed into the sky, and flames cast flickering shadows across the faces of those still standing.

Now missing his left arm, Keane picked up his sword with his remaining hand. His body was covered in wounds, and blood flowed freely from the gashes. His vision blurred. Still, he pressed forward.

He took a long, shuddering breath. Pain twisted his face, but he locked his gaze on the pirate fleet ahead. His eyes blazed with fierce determination.

"For... justice!!!"

With a roar, he launched himself into the air. The blade in his hand swung again and again. Incoming shells were sliced in two and plunged harmlessly into the waters below.

Until, a hail of cannon fire engulfed him. He could no longer hold on.

BOOM!!!

A severed arm, still gripping a sword, dropped into the ocean. But the body was nowhere to be seen.

The charge continued.

The burning, broken warship—riddled with wounds—never stopped. It kept pushing forward toward the Golden Lion fleet. The last remaining Marines threw themselves one by one into the path of incoming shells.

Woooo—

The blaring horn didn't stop for a second. It roared forward. The pirate ships of the Golden Lion fleet were right ahead now.

"Madmen!"

"They're insane!"

"They're going to crash into us!"

"Turn the rudder! Hurry!"

"Move it! Now!"

As the Marine warship drew closer, the officers finally panicked, scrambling to steer away.

They had thought it was just the last gasp of a dying ship. But they never imagined this suicidal resolve. It was madness—madder than anything they'd ever seen, even among pirates.

"Turn the ship, now! Hurry!!!"

The captain of a pirate vessel screamed in terror.

"It's too late! Jump! Into the water!"

The pirate helmsman, pale with fear, shouted back. Their ship was massive. Dodging in time was impossible.

Closer. Even closer.

Woooo—

The burning, smoke-spewing Marine warship rammed forward under the horrified gazes of the pirates.

A few seconds later...

BOOM!!!

A deafening crash tore through the air.

It hit.

The Marine ship struck the pirate vessel head-on with terrifying resolve. The bow shattered. Debris flew everywhere. Under the tremendous impact, the remaining marines aboard were slammed against the decks, bloodied and mangled.

The marine helmsman, barely conscious, dragged himself up. Every step left a bloody footprint as he staggered toward the ammunition hold. Pushing open the heavy door, he was greeted by rows upon rows of cannonballs.

On Garp's ship, ammo was never in short supply.

He grabbed one shell and limped toward the center, where the largest shells were stored. With a final effort, he raised his hand, coughing up blood.

"For... justice..."

And with that, his body gave out. The shell slipped from his hand, falling forward with the weight of his dying momentum.

Clang—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The chain reaction detonated everything. In an instant, the entire warship and the pirate vessel with it erupted into a towering fireball. Within a range of several hundred meters, not a single life remained.

Everyone was stunned.

The surrounding pirate officers stared at the blazing inferno, hearts gripped by fear.

"Madmen... these Marines are all madmen."

"This is insane..."

For the first time, doubt crept into their hearts. If every Marine was this crazy... could they really win?

The long-famous pirates suddenly remembered what that blaring horn had always meant.

It was back when they first took to the seas. Whenever that loud horn sounded, whether they'd finished looting or not, everyone would drop everything and flee.

Because it meant... the Marines were coming.

"Captain, look!"

"What is it?!"

In the distance, countless small black dots were darting through the sky, heading straight for them.

One pirate officer, looking through a telescope, broke into a sweat as he saw their faces. He waved over a subordinate and whispered, "Tell the helmsman to pull back slowly. Do it carefully. Don't let anyone notice."

He then raised the telescope again, eyes filled with tension. As the dots got closer, the Marines' justice capes came into view, fluttering in the wind.

Blades and Devil Fruit attacks rained down like a storm from above. They struck the Golden Lion's fleet from the sky. Some of the stronger pirate officers swung their swords or used their abilities to fight back.

Hundreds of meters above the Big Mom Pirates' ship, Enel silently formed one lightning spear after another. He hurled them downward without expression.

Below, Katakuri stood ready. His powerful Observation Haki guided him, predicting the exact path of each spear. Every time, he blocked them just before impact with his mochi abilities.

But Enel, with equally sharp Observation Haki, studied Katakuri carefully. 'Lightning isn't something you can block just by sensing where it's going...'

He let out a quiet grunt. Then began forming his lightning spears even faster.

At the same time, the main Marine fleet in the distance was steadily closing in on the Big Mom Pirates.

...

The Battle of Sgri, Day Seven.

Under the relentless bombardment of the Marine Headquarters fleet, nearly half of the Golden Lion armada had been annihilated. The surviving pirates were retreating, fleeing toward where Shiki himself was stationed.

On the other side, the Big Mom Pirates found themselves completely surrounded by Marine warships, unable to break through the encirclement. Thanks to the many Devil Fruit users aboard, they managed to hold their ground against their attackers—for now.

But Enel didn't waste the opportunity. Several of his lightning spears struck down pirates, killing them instantly. Judging from the fury on the face of that mochi-ability user leading the Big Mom crew, it was clear some of the dead pirates weren't just nobodies.

Meanwhile, on another battlefield—

The five marines had temporarily regrouped on the patch of hardened magma.

The most severely wounded among them were Sakazuki and Zephyr. There wasn't a single part of their bodies left unscathed. One had gone head-to-head with Whitebeard; the other had fought Roger to the brink. Now, they were both devouring Sea Kings like madmen, using Life Return to recover their strength.

Nearby stood Sengoku, Garp, and Kong. All three bore wounds of their own, looking ragged from battle. Their eyes were fixed on the distant Oro Jackson as they quietly discussed their next move.

"Whitebeard's presence is fading fast," Kong said. "He's not going to last much longer. We need to decide how we handle Golden Lion, Roger, and Big Mom next."

He pondered for a moment, then began giving orders with calm authority.

"Sengoku, you go contain Big Mom. Garp, take on Golden Lion. Zephyr, keep Rayleigh occupied. Sakazuki, you're on Frank.

"I'll deal with Roger myself."

Everyone nodded silently.

Kong kept his gaze locked on the Oro Jackson, eyes narrowing with sharp intent.

Top-tier battles rarely ended quickly and killing someone at that level wasn't easy. But Roger was already wounded. If he could strike him down now, even at the cost of his own life...

It would be worth it.

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