Just a few minutes earlier, Queen had indeed been furious, ready to kill the b*stard who’d destroyed his banana plantation. But once the fight started, he managed to cool down.
Maybe spending too much time around a bunch of brutes was making him one himself; this kind of reaction was obviously unwise.
Fortunately, he’d had the foresight to bring Zeraora along. Between the two of them, they wouldn’t have to run away in a sorry state even facing a Marine Admiral. Still, Zeraora’s words made him feel a bit insecure.
He had said before that if anything went wrong, Zeraora could withdraw first and call for backup, but if he really did that…
“Hey, you wouldn’t actually be that heartless, would you…?”
A few drops of cold sweat trickled down his forehead. If Zeraora really did that…well, he’d just have to accept his bad luck.
Though, according to intel Omastar had eavesdropped, the World Government did seem to harbor a desire to kill him. However, their main goal was still to capture him alive. Unfortunately, the one carrying out this mission was a psycho, so it was quite possible he’d end up burned to ash.
Among the current Marine Admirals, Borsalino was the best at pursuit on sea, Kuzan at immobilization. Although Sakazuki’s ability doesn’t allow him to be as fast as the Glint ability or as good as Ice ability at immobilization, it didn’t mean he was helpless at sea.
He might not be able to catch up to Zeraora, but he’d have no trouble sticking close to Queen.
“Instead of wasting time here talking rubbish, why don’t you actually help out more in the fight?”
Leaving was out of the question. Although the other two pirate ships had moved out of artillery range, they weren’t safe yet. Right now, Zeraora could cover Queen’s retreat; using his flying ability, Queen would be safe as long as they could create some distance.
However, those on the other two ships would suffer a calamity. Some of them were agricultural experts whom Arceus had called “precious talents” that must be protected as much as possible.
In the end, a battle was unavoidable.
Lightning crackled along Zeraora’s fur as responding to his thoughts, the lightning stored within his body entered combat state. Meanwhile, Queen regained some courage—after all, he wasn’t alone; this was a two-on-one fight.
As for the ordinary Marine soldiers, Queen didn’t pay them any mind. Although there were two Rear Admirals on board handling other matters, they were easy to deal with. It was the occasional bullet hitting him that was starting to annoy him.
This was a typical Marine tactic in naval battles, just as common among pirates—keeping up long-range attacks even if they knew their weapons had limited effect, just to wear down the enemy’s stamina.
“Do you all think I’m easy to bully?! Don’t forget who I am…Plague Calamity!”
Though he may have appeared somewhat timid on the surface, his actions did not reflect that.
A cannon barrel extended from Queen’s mechanical arm. His Plague Bullets were ready to launch. Over the years, he’d shown a variety of abilities, yet his epithet had never changed.
It was partly due to the Marines’ habits: unless someone displayed entirely new capabilities that were clearly captured on video, they rarely updated epithets. Arceus was one such case. But this didn’t happen often.
For most, the epithet on their first bounty followed them for life. Queen, however, was unique—even with all the abilities he’d displayed, it was his Plague Bullets that continued to have the greatest impact on the outside world.
In large-scale battles, a single shot of Plague Bullet was so terrifying that it could instantly shift the tide of battles. The new type of toxin extracted from Muk and Weezing has given Queen’s Plague Bullets several additional effects, allowing them to adapt to a variety of situations.
However, the Beasts Pirates rarely used these casually. The impact of such a weapon on any occupied island was too severe, so typically, they were reserved for revenge missions only.
The shell left the chamber, and a warhead with a launch speed much slower than conventional ammunition flew towards the deck. As long as the Plague Bullet detonated, the people on the deck would be thrown into chaos. However, Sakazuki had no intention of allowing that to happen.
“Great Eruption!”
Transforming his arm into a massive magma fist, he intercepted Queen’s Plague Bullet just before it exploded, then launched it into the sky.
Boom!
The magma fist detonated mid-air, igniting the unknown contents of the Plague Bullet, which burned up completely in the air.
As a Marine Admiral, the information about officers like Queen is all in his head. If he allowed that thing to explode, it would likely incapacitate all the soldiers on the ship.
The fragmented small magma blocks were cooled by the cold air during their descent, gradually condensing into a stone rain. Meanwhile, Sakazuki also took action. He had arrived in front of Queen during the gap when Queen released Plague Bullets.
“Hound Blaze!”
A torrent of magma shaped like a hellhound surged from Sakazuki’s arm, snapping toward Queen. Despite Zeraora being more agile, Sakazuki kept Queen as his primary target.
Firstly, Queen was the primary target mentioned in the mission. Secondly, his Plague Bullets were too troublesome.
Although Sakazuki had just protected the Marine soldiers, he would not abandon this opportunity to act for their safety. He was well aware that the people on the ship were no match for Zeraora, and if Zeraora were to attack those soldiers now, they would have almost no means of resistance.
But Sakazuki was also confident—Queen alone was no match for him. If Zeraora did that, he would use the time bought by exchanging the lives of the soldiers to quickly deal with Queen. They were casualties he could accept.
If Zeraora diverted his attention to help Queen, the soldiers would be safe, freeing them to pursue the escaping pirate ships. After all, a Marine Admiral’s battle was out of their league.
With no foothold in the sky, the immense force pushed Queen back continuously. Sakazuki is a Logia User, but he’s also a monster capable of grappling with Whitebeard. Even in his severely ill and injured state, Whitebeard’s tremendous strength, with the help of the Quake-Quake Fruit, was enough to instantly annihilate adult Giants.
Still, Queen’s own considerable size wasn’t enough to offset this disadvantage. Meanwhile, Zeraora ignored the warships—Akainu wasn’t on board, so the people on the ship could handle themselves. He turned and flew toward Queen and Sakazuki’s direction.
—
“Muhahaha! So this is all a Marine Admiral can do? Compared to Boss Kaido, you’re too weak!”
Now on the island, two deep grooves in the earth marked where Queen had been forced from the sky to the ground. With a more solid foothold, he finally managed to receive Sakazuki’s attack.
The fire blazing on the island reflected in his eyes, and at his feet, he could see the crushed remains of banana trees. Despite his opponent being a Marine Admiral, his anger over the food rekindled his courage.
While a few burn holes had appeared on his arm, they were minor injuries at best.
The destructive power of Hound Blaze was greater than the Hell Hound. If Queen had blocked it with his left arm, the damage he received would be much less. But he didn’t do it because he was planning on how to counterattack.
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.
Become a Patron!