"What an intense battlefield..."
On the other side, three CPO agents stood on the sea, watching the battle from afar. Slashes flew in all directions, strange abilities clashed, and legendary figures who ruled the seas had to fight with everything they had just to stay alive.
"This is even more intense than the Summit War."
Two years ago, the Summit War was just a battle between a Four Emperors crew and the Marines. But now, on this battlefield—Onigashima—there were the fully assembled Beasts Pirates, most of the BIG MOM Pirates, the Whitebeard Pirates without their captain, the up-and-coming Straw Hat Crew, and Wano Country, which was said to be the second strongest nation...
"If these guys joined forces, even the Holy Land would have a real problem on its hands."
"No way..."
Watching the giant knight that Roman had transformed into fight BIG MOM to a standstill, the three elite CP0 agents relaxed a little. They even had time to comment on the battlefield.
"Wano Country is rebellious, the Straw Hat Crew is always causing trouble, the Whitebeard Pirates have lost their symbol, BIG MOM is just a greedy fat hag, and the Beasts Pirates... Who even knows what Kaido really wants? A bunch like this could never form an alliance. Besides—"
Even so, for the big shots in the Holy Land, this was nothing more than a 'headache.'
If this battle ended up disturbing 'that person,' it would be a huge failure!
"But I didn't expect Roman to be this powerful."
"With someone like him around, things will be much easier for us in the future."
CP0 agents were still human. As the shield of the Celestial Dragons, they had power, wealth, and women—but if they could, who wouldn't want a few more days off?
"If things keep going this way, even if we can't destroy the Beasts Pirates or bring Wano Country under control, at the very least, we'll be able to severely weaken these lawless pirates..."
——————
While CP0 observed the battle, the high-ranking officers on both sides had already clashed violently.
In the sky, a black pteranodon covered in bright red flames soared and circled. Its massive wings whipped up wind blades, slashing through the air like a master swordsman's strikes—sharp as waves, dense as rain. Supporting it was a group of flying artificial Devil Fruit users. Their opponents—
"Oww~~"
Marco, covered in blue flames, had just been sliced mid-air by a flying slash. Yet he still had time to joke around, which left the usually silent "Wildfire" King feeling a bit helpless.
Marco—First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.
The Phoenix fruit, a Mythical Zoan-type even rarer than a Logia.
Marco had a physical body, but his wounds would be wrapped in his "regenerating blue flames" and heal, making most attacks useless. Of course, his regeneration had limits—he wasn't completely invincible.
However—
Reaching his healing limit... King alone—no, it wasn't even clear who would fall first.
"Blue Flame Swallow!!"
A massive pillar of blue fire shot from Marco's finger, blasting King away. Then, the flames scattered into countless fireballs, spreading in all directions, lighting up the sky like a festival of fireworks.
It looked beautiful.
But it was just as deadly.
The Beasts Pirates' flying fighters who got touched by the flames first felt an instant rush—like they had just taken some kind of powerful tonic! But before they could react, their hair, feathers, and scales suddenly started growing out of control!
"Ahhhh!!"
"Damn it! What the hell is this?!"
"Too... too heavy... I can't fly anymore..."
A group of artificial Devil Fruit users, covered in tangled fur and sprouting feathers, staggered and plunged toward the ground, weighed down by their wild, overgrown hair!
This was why King had his entire body covered in Haki for defense. Others only needed to touch a bit of the flames to turn into hairy monsters, but as the main target, if he let those flames seep into his body, he wouldn't just grow some fur and feathers—he'd sprout extra limbs that he couldn't even control, turning into a grotesque creature.
Since that's the case—
Boom! A massive explosion of flames surged into the sky, completely engulfing King. With his blazing wings spread wide, he looked like the legendary bird Garuda descending upon the world. The unyielding golden flames made his defense as solid as an impenetrable fortress.
These flames weren't part of his Devil Fruit power. King had the "Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Model, Pteranodon Form." His fire came from his natural racial ability. However, his race was now nearly extinct, making it one of the only two races that even Big Mom's Whole Cake Island didn't have.
Regardless of whether it was his racial power or Devil Fruit ability, King's flames could block Marco's blue flames. Even though they looked similar, Marco's flames were actually based on life force rather than true fire, so they couldn't break through King's flames.
"Slash!!"
King channeled his fire into his jagged longsword and swung it mid-air. A massive flying slash, burning with eerie flames, streaked toward Marco—and straight toward where Luffy, Ace, and Yamato were fighting Kaido!
"Immortal Feathers!"
With a powerful sweep of his arms, Marco's enormous blue wings transformed into a circular shield, forcefully blocking the devastating attack of a top-tier swordsman.
"Ace..."
Marco glanced back at his captain, who was locked in a fierce battle with Kaido. Over the past two years, no one understood better than him how much Ace had sacrificed for the Whitebeard Pirates—wearing the suit he hated, hiding behind a mask, fending off enemy attacks, learning internal management, staying up late reading newspapers and reports he once scorned...
"You've truly become a reliable man. Pops had a good eye for people. So—"
"Heh, I can't let you interfere with the Admirals' fight."
Facing King, one of the All-Stars, along with a whole squad of flying artificial Devil Fruit users, Marco spread his wings and smiled confidently.
"Sorry, but this road is one-way! Be a good boy and turn back!"
—
Whoosh! A flash of light streaked down, and a laser blast crashed into the ground, instantly exploding into a massive, circular crater! But Zoro had already dodged with ease. Even as more lasers fired continuously at him, for someone who had just fought and defeated the illusion of "Kizaru" conjured by Red Earl, this was nothing.
"Not quite good enough,"
Swish—
In an instant, Zoro dashed forward, appearing right beneath Queen in his hybrid beast form. Seeing Queen's laser-armed left hand, Zoro smirked.
"A weapon that can fire lasers repeatedly? Franky would love this."
Clang! Zoro's Sandai Kitetsu, now coated in pitch-black Haki, slashed down onto Queen's arm. A loud, piercing screech echoed—like two massive chainsaws grinding and tearing into each other at high speed.
"Pretty tough,"
At Zoro's remark, Queen glanced at the blade mark on his mechanical arm, which was reinforced with Seastone. His expression turned serious.
Clang! He drew the katana from his waist and swung fiercely. The blade shimmered with continuous streaks of silver light, wild and relentless, like a raging thunderstorm. As it slashed through the air, the sheer force shattered stones and tore through the ground. Queen wasn't just tough—he was a swordsman of the highest caliber!
"Don't get cocky, brats—"
—
As the officers on both sides began clashing in fierce battles, the tide of victory clearly shifted in favor of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. The reason was simple: in Roman's plan, the nine members of the Straw Hat Crew, more than a dozen commanders from the Whitebeard Pirates, and the Red Scabbards of Wano Country together held an overwhelming advantage in high-ranking combat power. Even without the samurai of Wano Country joining the fight, they could still dominate the battlefield.
On the other hand, the Beasts Pirates only had the Tobi Roppo and the three All-Stars as their elite fighters. As for the other "Headliners"... it wasn't that Roman looked down on them, but aside from Hawkins and Apoo, who were somewhat capable, the rest were just tough and durable without much real strength.
As for the samurai and ninjas of Wano Country... after Kaido had just cut down Kurozumi Orochi and announced his plan to enslave one of Wano's last prosperous regions, the Flower Capital, and turn it into a weapons factory, their morale was shattered. Many of the former Orochi loyalists quickly switched sides mid-battle—after all, their own families were in the Flower Capital. Who would willingly let their homeland become a wasteland of poison gas and polluted water? The ninjas, on the other hand, continued fighting under their leader, Fukurokuju, but ninjas specialized in espionage, assassinations, and poison, not direct combat. Against a group of samurai, they were being overwhelmed, and it was only a matter of time before they collapsed.
As for the Big Mom Pirates, this was Onigashima, not Whole Cake Island. They had no reason to fight desperately to protect Kaido's territory. Aside from Cracker, who was off battling Sanji on his own, the rest of the crew, led by Perospero, had pulled back into a defensive formation, clearly planning to sit this one out.
With this shift, the Straw Hat Crew, who had been forced to flee in the original story, were now not only holding their own against the Beasts Pirates but even had extra firepower to spare in the high-level fights. It seemed like:
"Could Roman's plan really work?"
Out at sea, three masked CP0 agents were observing the battle. Even though their faces were hidden, their shock was unmistakable. After all, a force like the Four Emperors could usually only be taken down by a full-scale Marine assault—an operation that carried the risk of another Emperor taking advantage of the chaos. Yet, in just a few days, Roman had assembled a multi-faction alliance that was now fighting both the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates on equal footing.
"No, it's not that simple."
After the initial shock, the CP0 leader, a man in a black-and-white mask and a suit with a top hat, shook his head.
"The key is still Kaido. He didn't earn the title of 'World's Strongest Creature' through talk—it was through battle! While he's nothing compared to the 'Gods,' on the open sea, he is one of the most powerful fighters alive."
"If Kaido isn't defeated, the best they can achieve is severely damaging the Beasts Pirates. That would still fulfill our mission—at that point, it would become a buyer's market, and we'd hold the advantage in negotiations. But..."
Based on what he knew of Roman, it was clear that he was someone who sought perfection. A half-victory like that wouldn't satisfy him. Which meant that the three young fighters...
The CP0 leader's gaze fell on Luffy, Ace, and Yamato. He recognized Luffy, the grandson of Vice Admiral Garp. The man with black markings spreading across half of his chest looked oddly familiar. As for the tall girl beside them, he had no idea who she was...
But they were all incredibly strong!
So these were the people Roman had chosen to take down Kaido?
And yet...
Why did the CP0 leader feel like these three young fighters would become an even bigger threat in the future?
——————
(End of Chapter)
----
You can read 30 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu