"
"Yohohohoho! Is this our battle with the Marines? It's truly terrifying, though I have no heart or flesh to feel it, yohohohoho!" Brook exclaimed happily.
Brook swiftly executed his fencing attacks, continuously stabbing and dropping the Marine sailors. He was an even more frightening sight than Captain T-Bone, who at least looked vaguely human; Brook was literally a fighting skeleton who could talk and laugh. To the sailors, it felt like a horror movie.
"Alright, it's over now. Nose Song San Ding: Arrow Tail Cut!" Brook appeared behind a cluster of sailors almost instantly and quickly sheathed his sword. Suddenly, the sailors, who had seemed fine a moment ago, began bleeding from their chests and fell to the ground one after another.
This horrifying scene made many of the surrounding sailors want to retreat.
Meanwhile, the sounds of fighting echoed from the land behind them. A group of soldiers dressed in black materialized from seemingly nowhere, heading straight toward the rear of the Straw Hat Crew. However, they were stopped by Jean Bart and Kaku. Even though there were only two of them, they prevented hundreds of soldiers from advancing.
"Drink!" Jean Bart bellowed, sending one soldier flying with a single punch. The impact chain-reacted, knocking over four or five more soldiers.
Despite only being a temporary addition to the Heart Pirates, Jean Bart's strength was considerable. He was born with supernatural power, possessing arm strength capable of wrestling with a Pacifista. He had no problem dealing with this group of weak soldiers.
Kaku was even more devastating. Standing his ground, he unleashed a Tempest Kick (Rankyaku), instantly taking down a large number of the trash soldiers.
The Straw Hat Crew, with fewer than twenty members, was not being outmatched at all, despite facing nearly 400 combined Marine and Army personnel. Furthermore, the number of casualties for the Marines and Army continued to climb.
"Straw Hat Crew! None of you will be leaving today! Come forth, Vice Admiral Momousagi Gion!" a mature woman's voice shouted loudly.
A captivating woman with long legs descended suddenly from the sky. The famous sword in her hand was aimed directly at Zoro's head.
"Here you are! I've been waiting for you for a long time!" Zoro declared.
Just before the Vice Admiral's arrival, Zoro had slammed Bastille to the ground with a single slash. Now, he quickly bit down on his third blade, Wado Ichimonji, assuming the Three-Sword Style stance.
"Three-Sword Style: Three Thousand Worlds!" Zoro's two handheld swords spun. His entire body shot forward like a raptor.
Momousagi's blade slashed down in mid-air. The attacks of the two swordsmen collided, immediately creating a shockwave that sent all nearby individuals flying.
Everyone then witnessed Zoro flying backward. Blood was trickling from his mouth around Wado Ichimonji, showing he was clearly injured. Yet, Zoro slammed his feet onto the ground, plowing through the dirt for no less than ten meters before he finally stopped.
"Zoro!!!" the Straw Hat Crew cried out in alarm.
However, the surprise was short-lived, as they understood that Zoro's current strength wasn't quite enough to handle an opponent of this caliber.
"Cough! Cough! A Marine candidate Admiral is truly powerful. That blow was incredibly heavy—it felt like a mountain!" Zoro struggled to stand upright. Facing a formidable swordsman, he would never concede defeat, even if he knew the path ahead was fraught with danger. That was his creed.
Trafalgar Law, having cut a Mozambian Vice Admiral in half and tossed him aside, now stood opposite Momousagi alongside Zoro.
Momousagi raised an eyebrow, glancing at the two defeated Vice Admirals, and asked coldly, "You two are going to be my opponents?"
Zoro and Law didn't bother to reply; they simply charged forward immediately.
"Hmph! Overestimating yourselves!" Momousagi looked contemptuous, but her guard was high.
She raised her blade, intending to slash at Zoro. In the next moment, however, she suddenly noticed a change, as if something was covering the space around them. She looked at Law and saw that he had indeed opened his surgical space, his Room.
"Slaughterhouse!" Law declared.
Swish! Zoro instantly appeared right in front of Momousagi. His three swords slashed simultaneously at Momousagi's chest and abdomen.
Momousagi showed no panic. She brought her renowned blade, Kinpira, up in front of her, effortlessly blocking Zoro's triple attack. At the same time, Kinpira suddenly twisted and spun, somehow managing to bounce Zoro's three swords away.
"What?!" Zoro's expression changed. He quickly used his swords to form a defensive guard, trying to protect his vital areas.
But Momousagi was obviously faster. She executed a backhand slash that caught Zoro's shoulder, immediately drawing a significant amount of blood.
Law seized the opportunity, using his Slaughterhouse (Shambles) ability to switch places with Zoro. Simultaneously, he appeared behind Momousagi, and his cursed blade, Kikoku, lunged straight toward her back.
"Little brat, if it weren't for Sister Hina's sake, I'd kill you today!" Momousagi muttered with a low cry. Kinpira stabbed out from under her armpit, successfully pushing Kikoku away. At the same moment, her long leg whipped up and directly kicked Law away.
Zoro and Law's coordinated attack had failed to gain even the slightest advantage.
"Vice Admiral Momousagi is incredible!" Tashigi couldn't help but admire.
Momousagi glanced at Tashigi and said nothing. She saw the admiration in Tashigi's eyes—eyes that were perfectly clear. This is not at all how Kizaru described her, saying she had thrown herself in with the pirates, Momousagi thought. Also, due to Hina's request, Momousagi had no intention of making things difficult for Tashigi.
At that moment, a scruffy-looking man appeared with a group of sailors, quickly surrounding the area.
"Gion, you're running too fast!" Vice Admiral Chaton, also known as Tsuru's nephew, entered the battle circle slowly, his hands in his pockets, resembling a sleazy uncle.
However, in the next second, he suddenly flashed right in front of Franky, moving too fast for anyone to react. He aimed a kick straight at Franky's abdomen.
Bang! Franky stumbled back a few steps. But he hadn't been pushed back by Chaton's kick; he had been forcefully checked by a huge paw.
Licky, the Straw Hat Lion King, had appeared in front of Franky. One paw had firmly blocked the powerful kick from the Vice Admiral. The sheer force of the collision between the man and the lion still created a strong gust of wind, instantly blowing away the surrounding rocks and Marines.
"Licky, the Straw Hat Lion King? And Marianu, the Psychological Painter? Are you two going to be my opponents?" Chaton asked with a smiling face, though the smile didn't reach his eyes.
Marianu continued to gnaw on biscuits with an expressionless face, showing no fear of Chaton.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Chaton continuously kicked, and Licky countered by stretching out his paws to parry.
However, Licky's claws began to turn red at a visible rate and even started to swell. As expected of a candidate Admiral, Licky's body was incredibly tough, a defense many Vice Admirals couldn't breach. Yet, Chaton, a human, had nearly broken Licky's defense with only his legs. He was a strong fighter.
At that moment, Marianu suddenly raised the sword in her hand, unexpectedly launching a sharp slash toward Chaton's neck.
Chaton was startled. He hastily pulled his left hand from his pocket to block the attack, successfully deflecting the slash. He looked at Marianu with surprise, realizing he hadn't paid any attention to the little girl until then. He hadn't expected the girl's surprise attack to be so deadly.
"Is this a Tempest Kick (Rankyaku)? No, it should be called an Iron Finger (Shigan)!" This kind of attack wasn't uncommon, but it was usually performed by swordsmen who knew how to use swordless techniques. For this little girl to use the Tempest Kick move with her hand was very clever, he admitted.
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