The sea breeze at the port swept silently between the two groups on the steps, rustling their clothes with a faint whisper.
The manic grin on Teach's face stiffened, his muscles twitching uncontrollably.
Behind him, Lafitte, Burgess, and the others were on high alert, their bodies tensed to the extreme.
They had conside the possibilities, but never once had they imagined that Orion—a man standing at the pinnacle of the world—would appear at the port as casually as an ordinary tourist, accompanied by the Pirate Empress, precisely blocking their path.
Clearly, their movements had been under Orion's surveillance all along!
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the heart of the ambitious Teach began to race wildly.
Escape?
The thought had barely surfaced before he crushed it himself.
Turning to flee in front of Fleet Admiral Orion was no different from seeking death.
"Zehahahaha…"
A dry, grating laugh forced its way out of Teach's throat.
He slowly raised his head, meeting Orion's profound gaze, his gaping mouth revealing uneven teeth.
"If I were to travel, of course I'd go to the place I most want to see!"
The instant his words fell, Lafitte and Jesus Burgess behind him almost simultaneously took half a step forward.
Lafitte held his sword-cane, leaning slightly forward with an elegant yet deadly posture.
Burgess spread his arms wide, shielding Teach like a mountain of flesh, his fierce eyes fixed intently on Orion.
Further back in the shadows, Van Augur had silently retreated, gripping his rifle tightly, its muzzle aimed steadily through the darkness at the imposing figure on the steps.
Only Doc Q remained as listless as ever, slumped over his beloved horse Stronger as if on the verge of collapse, yet a dangerous glint flickered in his half-open eyes.
"Oh?" Orion took in their reactions with an unchanged smile. "What is this? Preparing to wage war against me?"
He took a step forward.
"If you intend to fight me, you'd better be prepared to die!"
BOOM—
An invisible shockwave erupted from Orion as the epicenter.
Terrifying Conqueror's Haki surged forth like a bursting dam, crashing toward Teach and the others with overwhelming force.
The port's ground cracked inch by inch, the air groaned under the strain, and the ships docked at the harbor rocked violently as if they might capsize at any moment from this oppressive aura!
"Zehahahaha!"
Facing this pressure that would make ordinary strong-willed individuals tremble in fear, Teach advanced instead of retreating, his eyes blazing with madness and ambition.
"If we can't avoid it, then we fight!"
"Dark Vortex!"
He spread his arms wide and laughed maniacally at the sky.
Instantly, endless darkness surged out from him like a living tide!
Light, sound, even the air itself—everything was completely devoured and annihilated the moment it touched the darkness.
A black gravitational pull dragged gravel and wood splinters from the ground, converging toward Teach's body as if he were the universe's singularity, a tangible black hole!
"Rumors say the Fleet Admiral is immensely powerful, nearly invincible. Today, I'll see if you're as exaggerated as the stories claim!"
Just as Teach unleashed his devil fruit ability, turning the world ashen—
Bang!
A sharp, abrupt gunshot pierced through the tense standoff!
Van Augur, hidden in the distance, didn't hesitate in the slightest and decisively pulled the trigger.
A specially crafted bullet tore through the air with a spinning, sharp whistle, instantly enlarging in Orion's pupils.
The shot was fast, accurate, and ruthless—without any hesitation.
Yet, just as the bullet was about to pierce Orion's forehead—
Time seemed to slow down.
Orion simply raised his right hand with ease, extending his index and middle fingers.
Clink.
The bullet, capable of piercing through steel plates, was firmly clamped between his two fingers, unable to advance even a fraction further.
"It seems you've all made your resolve to die."
Before the words faded, Orion abruptly flicked his fingers.
Hum—
The clamped bullet shot back at a speed even more terrifying than before!
Wrapped around the bullet's surface were visible black and red electric arcs—highly concentrated Conqueror's Haki!
Where the bullet passed, it tore a clear vacuum channel through the air!
Van Augur's pupils constricted sharply in the distance.
Fortunately, he was prepared.
The moment the bullet flew toward him, his figure vanished from the spot instantly.
The next second, he reappeared a hundred meters away and raised his gun again, ready to find a new firing angle.
But when he searched for Orion through his scope, he realized Orion was no longer on the steps.
An extreme chill shot up from his feet to the crown of his head!
He spun around abruptly.
A face with a gentle smile was right in front of him, close enough to meet eye to eye.
"Impossible!" Van Augur's voice warped with utter shock.
"It just a mere Teleport-Teleport Fruit ability," Orion's tone held a hint of amusement, "is nothing but a childs play before my Observation Haki."
With those words, Orion turned his hand like flipping a cloud.
A burst of Conqueror's Haki, more refined and terrifying than before, suddenly erupted like an invisible giant hand, gripping Van Augur tightly!
Van Augur felt as if an invisible mountain had descended from the sky.
Every bone in his body groaned under the strain, his legs gave way, and he uncontrollably collapsed to his knees with a heavy thud.
As he lay prostrate on the ground, Orion casually snatched his prized sniper rifle from his grasp.
Click.
With practiced ease, Orion chambered a round and aimed the barrel directly at Van Augur.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Without a moment's hesitation, three shots rang out in rapid succession.
Two to the chest, one to the head.
The entire sequence unfolded and concluded in the blink of an eye.
Before Teach and the others could even react, Orion raised the rifle again, this time targeting Doc Q, who was still slumped over his horse.
Bang!
Another gunshot echoed.
Doc Q's frail body convulsed violently before he slumped lifelessly from his saddle.
His equally sickly beloved horse, Stronger, let out a mournful whinny and collapsed with a heavy thud.
Only then did Teach, Lafitte, and Burgess snap out of their daze.
"Van Augur! Doc Q!"
Teach's eyes bulged, bloodshot veins spreading across his sclera.
He frantically activated the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit, unleashing an endless expanse of darkness that surged forward, intent on devouring Orion into its abyssal depths!
"Kill him!"
Lafitte and Burgess simultaneously erupted into action, transforming into blurs as they charged at Orion from both sides.
However, the moment Lafitte leaped into the air, a breathtakingly beautiful figure intercepted him with blinding speed.
"How dare you lowlifes think yourselves worthy of facing my husband?"
A cold, haughty voice cut through the air as Hancock's slender leg swept in a graceful arc.
It was enveloped in a pink, heart-shaped shockwave as it slammed squarely into Lafitte's body!
Perfume Femur!
Pfft!
Lafitte didn't even have time to react.
He vomited blood and was sent flying backward, his body beginning to petrify mid-air before finally crashing into a warehouse with a deafening boom, reducing it to rubble!
Simultaneously, facing Teach's dark gravitational pull and Burgess's full-force charge, Orion fearlessly drew his blade.
The Supreme Grade Blade slid from its scabbard with a clear, resonant ring that pierced the night sky.
The instant the blade was drawn, a black and red Conqueror's Haki coiled around it, as if plating the steel with destructive lightning!
Gripping the sword single-handedly, Orion swung it down in a decisive slash against the rapidly expanding darkness!
A pure, domineering slash erupted from the tip of the blade.
The all-devouring darkness was effortlessly split in two by this strike, as if it were mere cloth.
Just then, Jesus Burgess's elbow strike arrived right in front of him, the force capable of shattering mountains and splitting rocks, accompanied by a shrieking tear through the air.
Without even turning his head, Orion casually raised his left hand to block.
Boom!
Burgess felt as if he had slammed into an immovable iron wall.
The tremendous recoil sent numbness shooting through his entire arm.
"Is that all the strength you have?" Orion's icy voice whispered beside his ear.
In the next instant, Orion twisted his left hand, seized Burgess's arm, and violently slammed it downward!
Crash!
A terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki, solid as a massive hammer, crushed Jesus Burgess flat against the ground.
The hard surface of the dock instantly shattered, forming a crater several meters wide.
Burgess was embedded deep within it, every bone in his body shattered, dead on the spot!