The abundant gold resources of Skypiea were enough to sustain the Beasts Pirates' expenses for decades, and those miraculous Dials were perfect materials for crafting weapons. Kaido had long since calculated this clearly in his mind—he was determined to claim this sky island.
Facing Kaido, Gan Fall spoke in a resolute tone. "Sir Kaido, if you only need gold, you may take a portion. But my people live on Skypiea. If you have other ambitions, we will not stand idly by."
Kaido laughed heartily upon hearing this. "Wororororo... All that talk, and it still comes down to a fight. King, Queen, Bullet, I leave this place to you."
He issued the combat order without hesitation, clearly having prepared for a military solution from the start.
Both sides were poised for battle, a fight imminent upon the slightest provocation.
Hearing this, Queen grinned, revealing a mouthful of gold teeth. He leisurely pulled a fresh cigar from his breast pocket, lit it with a lighter, took a deep puff, and blew out smoke that formed strange shapes in the sunlight. "Muahahaha... The boss has spoken. Don't blame us for being impolite then."
King silently took a step forward, his distinctive black wings slowly unfurling behind him, gleaming with a metallic sheen under the sun. He looked down imperiously at the Skypieans, his eyes filled with icy killing intent. Bullet, meanwhile, rolled his thick arms, his knuckles cracking with a menacing sound.
"All Priests, prepare for battle!" Gan Fall's low, firm voice echoed across the battlefield. This God of Skypiea gripped his medieval lance tightly, his silvery-white armor glinting coldly in the sunlight. His eyes revealed a determination to fight to the death; his white cape flapped loudly in the wind behind him.
"Muahahaha..." A grating laugh suddenly split the sky.
Queen's obese body shot toward the Skypiean ranks at a speed completely at odds with his physique, the cigar in his mouth tracing a red arc through his rapid movement. "Let you country bumpkins get a load of my new toy!" he cackled, pulling a bizarrely-shaped weapon from his breast pocket, its dark muzzle aimed directly at the most densely packed area of Skypiean soldiers.
BOOM—!
An ear-splitting explosion shook the heavens, followed by an eerie gray-green smoke rapidly spreading outward from the blast's epicenter.
The first dozen or so soldiers to come into contact with the smoke immediately clutched their throats in agony, their skin visibly beginning to fester. "Poison gas! Disperse!" an experienced Priest shouted a high alert.
In the midst of this chaos, the sky suddenly darkened. King spread his distinctive black wings, hovering in mid-air like a demon from hell. Blazing flames swirled around him, gradually coalescing into a massive fireball over ten meters in diameter.
"Face judgment!" With King's icy voice, the fireball plummeted with devastating force toward the Skypiean army's command center.
"Blue Sea scum, you shall not succeed!" Gan Fall roared, propelling himself into the air with a powerful leap from his legs. The lance in his hands traced a perfect arc, actually splitting the enormous fireball in two. This unexpected counterattack made King narrow his eyes slightly, but the next second, his figure had vanished from its spot.
THUD! A dull impact sounded as Gan Fall, struck by a powerful kick to his side from King who had suddenly appeared beside him, flew through the air like a kite with a severed string. He crashed heavily into a distant rocky wall.
"Lord God!" the Priests cried out in horror, but a more terrifying threat had already arrived.
Bullet charged into the group of Priests with a wild laugh, his over-two-meter-tall frame like a human tank. His enormous fists, wrapped in a gale-force wind, sent three Priests flying dozens of meters with a single punch.
"Too weak!" this monstrous man sneered, paying no mind to the Impact Dial energy striking his body as he continued his advance.
The battle situation turned sharply within mere minutes. The poison gas released by Queen had covered over half the battlefield, incapacitating a large number of soldiers; the flames controlled by King mercilessly devoured lives; while Bullet rampaged freely through the enemy lines, leaving carnage in his wake.
Meanwhile, the elite pirate forces led by Sebastian and Gavin launched a flanking attack, ceaselessly harvesting the remaining resistance.
Gan Fall struggled to crawl out of the pile of rubble. His armor was severely dented, and blood continuously seeped from the corner of his mouth.
When he looked around, he saw a scene of despair: the once-proud Skypiean army was in complete disarray, soldiers either lying in pools of blood or being hunted down by the enemy. And the enemy leader still stood nonchalantly in his original spot, indifferently watching this slaughter.
Gan Fall took a deep breath, the sharp pain in his chest nearly suffocating him. But when he saw another group of young soldiers charging toward the enemy, he finally made a decision. Trembling, he raised his right hand and shouted in a hoarse voice, "Stop... We... surrender." Each word cut his heart like a knife, but to preserve these young lives, he had to bear this humiliation.
The sounds of combat on the battlefield gradually died down.
Queen swaggered up to Gan Fall, blowing cigar smoke into his face. "Muahahaha, if you'd just done this earlier, wouldn't it have been fine? Saved me the trouble of wasting all this poison gas!"
Gan Fall silently bowed his head.
ROAR——
An ear-shattering roar suddenly tore across the sky. Everyone who had just witnessed the battle's end involuntarily looked up. A colossal, sky-blocking behemoth was slowly revealing its form. Its enormous body nearly blotted out half the sky, its shadow covering the greater part of the battlefield.
"This... this is just too much!" Gavin's head was tilted back, his mouth agape, the twin swords in his hands nearly dropping to the ground. He had never seen such a gigantic creature; its sinuous body was like a moving mountain range.
Sebastian narrowed his eyes, analyzing calmly. "Judging by its size, it's on the level of a Sea King." His fingers unconsciously rubbed the hammer at his waist, a flash of gravity in his eyes.
Coiling before them was a giant serpent, its entire body a deep blue. Its thick body was coiled in layer upon layer, with just the upright portion reaching a hundred meters high. Two scarlet snake eyes gleamed like twin bloody moons, radiating dangerous light under the gloomy sky.
The giant serpent slowly swung its massive head, every movement stirring the surrounding cloud layers, as if the legendary World Serpent had descended upon the mortal realm.
"It's the Ruler of the Sky, Nola!" the Priests cried out in terror, their voices trembling uncontrollably. They involuntarily took a few steps back, clearly harboring a deep fear of this giant serpent.
Most of the pirates instinctively tensed their nerves, tightening their grip on their weapons. However, King and Bullet appeared exceptionally excited, a gleam of eager anticipation flashing in their eyes.
"Captain, leave this big snake to me to deal with!" Fearing King would beat him to it, Bullet launched himself forward before the words had fully left his mouth. His figure was like a black lightning bolt, carving an arc across the battlefield. On the current pirate ship, aside from Captain Kaido, only King's strength could surpass his.
"Tch, he got the jump on me again," King clicked his tongue in annoyance. With his flying ability, he could have easily overtaken Bullet, but since the other had already made his move, he had no choice but to let it go.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
While Bullet wasn't known for his speed, his explosive power was astonishing. In just a few bounds, he closed the distance to Nola, using the giant serpent's coiled body as a springboard. With a few leaps, he scaled Nola's head. He jumped high into the air, his right fist descending with the force of a thunderbolt, smashing squarely onto the crown of the giant serpent's head.
KABOOOOOM——
Accompanied by a deafening roar, Nola's enormous body toppled over with a crash. The entirety of Shandora trembled from the violent impact, dust and debris billowing, blotting out the sky. Surrounding trees were uprooted by the shockwave, and shattered stones flew in all directions.