Seawater was a well-known weakness of Devil Fruit users. There were ways to cleverly get around it, but with so little time, Ayala hadn't been able to figure them out yet.
Sure enough, even though Kurota's move affected a huge area, it didn't take long for someone to notice that weakness.
"Seawater… everyone, jump into the river! The itching will stop!"
Once the warning spread, everyone rushed toward the riverbank. In an instant, the once-wide channel became jammed, but at least they were finally saved.
At that moment, another sky-blue dinosaur robot stepped forward.
"Then, big brother, it's my turn."
"Oh, go for it, Kuromu. Don't let the boss and big sis down!"
"Don't worry, big brother!!!"
Kuromu walked to the edge of the river, lightning crackling all over his body, then slapped his hand down toward the water.
The air visibly rippled. A deep sense of unease crept into the hearts of the pirate hunters who had just thought they were safe in the river.
"Super Large Air Gate."
In an instant, the wide river surface slowly lifted, as if a giant door had been opened. The current reversed, and the water flowed backward, exposing the dried riverbed beneath.
People and ships on the water were packed tightly together. In the raging current, bodies slammed into bodies, ships crashed into ships, and everything was swept back to where they had come from, the outlet itself. There, they piled up into a massive heap, a mountain made of ships and pirate hunters.
"Boom…"
As the ability ended, the exposed riverbed instantly dropped back down. The river surged in again, washing everything away.
After being tossed back and forth like that, nearly half of the pirate hunters were left floating on the water, eyes rolled back, completely out of the fight.
Those who survived, coughing up seawater as they crawled onto the shore, stared at the three dinosaur-shaped robots before them, their faces deathly pale.
"So… so terrifying… this is the Sky Pirates worth fifty billion Belly…?"
"Monsters… demons…"
"There's still another monster who hasn't even made a move…"
"No… more than one. The Sky Pirates' captain, vice-captain, navigator, and swordsman haven't even moved yet…"
"Are you kidding me… if these three nameless monsters are already this terrifying, then what about the others…"
"No… I don't want to die…"
The wails of the defeated echoed across Scrap Island. Fear of death had long since crushed their greed, snapping the pirate hunters back to their senses.
This was not a pirate crew they could afford to covet.
To them, this kind of power was like the difference between heaven and earth.
Some had already started backing away. Treasure was tempting, but staying alive mattered more.
Some even began to voice their anger.
"Why doesn't the Navy have bounties on monsters like this… is this some kind of Marine conspiracy?"
At that very moment, the same question was being asked inside the Marine Headquarters conference room.
"Why? Intelligence Division, what's going on with these four steel monsters?!"
Fleet Admiral Kong roared in fury.
At first, he had thought those four steel figures were nothing more than toys. Now it was obvious they were anything but. They were terrifying steel monsters.
"I… I'm sorry… We didn't receive any intelligence at all… The Sky Pirates' movements are simply too difficult to track…"
"Damn it…"
Fleet Admiral Kong was furious, yet there was nothing he could do. He turned his gaze back to the projected image and spoke in a grave tone.
"We have to get to the bottom of this. What exactly are those things? If the Sky Pirates have the ability to mass-produce monsters like that… send this footage to the Science Division immediately and have them analyze it thoroughly."
"Yes, sir!!!"
At that moment, Tsuru suddenly seemed to realize something and spoke up.
"This might be related to the Devil Fruit ability that hasn't been revealed yet."
Everyone froze for a moment, recalling the intelligence they had gathered.
"You mean the Baku Baku no Mi?"
"Yes," Tsuru nodded. "Everyone here should understand the Baku Baku no Mi's abilities. It can turn what it eats into part of the user's body, or fuse with other objects to create new things. In the Drum Kingdom, the Sky Pirates took three Devil Fruits. The Noko Noko no Mi and the Kama Kama no Mi have already appeared. The only one that hasn't been shown yet is the Baku Baku no Mi."
"But the Baku Baku no Mi can't create living beings. From the way the Goro Goro no Mi was used earlier, it's clear that there must be something else inside those four steel monsters. That's what we need to be wary of."
"Mhm."
Kong nodded, clearly impressed by Tsuru's insight.
However, Tsuru's expression darkened as she brought up another issue.
"There's also something else that's quite troubling. If I'm not mistaken, the ability displayed by that sky-blue robot should be the Doa Doa no Mi, which belongs to a CP9 member named Pax. If this is just a coincidence, then fine. But if it isn't, it means the Sky Pirates may have the ability to extract Devil Fruit powers from the bodies of Devil Fruit users."
The entire room was shaken by her words.
"Vice Admiral Tsuru, you can't be serious. How could something like that even be possible?" one Vice Admiral said in disbelief.
"I hope it's not true either," Tsuru replied calmly. "But as Marines, we can't ignore even the slightest possibility."
At that moment, Kong slammed his fist heavily onto the table.
"Tsuru is right. I'll report this matter to the Five Elders. It may be time for us to rank the Sky Pirates as our highest priority threat."
The instant Kong finished speaking, the image on the projection changed once more…
...
"Looks like it's your turn, Tiger, Erik."
Aboard the Twin Goddesses, Yemu spoke after sensing the situation on Scrap Island through Observation Haki.
"I understand," Tiger replied, clenching his fists as excitement surged through him. "It's been more than three years since I last fought freely. My body's gotten a bit stiff."
Erik drew the twin blades from his waist.
One was the Sandai Kitetsu, emitting a dark, ominous glow. The other was Tensetsugetsu, its blade black-red in color, etched with patterns resembling a crescent moon.
"If Tiger-san is giving it his all, I can't disgrace the name of Shinto Sword Style!"
"Then we'll leave it to you," Yemu said.
"Leave it to us!"
As the words fell, Tiger leapt into the air, heading toward the open sea behind the Twin Goddesses.
"Fish-Man Karate: Karakusagawara Seiken!"
In an instant, a clearly visible shockwave burst from Tiger's fist and slammed into the ocean.
"What?!"
"Mad Anchor!!!"
With a startled cry, a semi-transparent pirate ship appeared, accompanied by countless black chains shaped like anchors. But Tiger's shockwave smashed through them all in a single blow.
At the same time, Erik vanished from the deck.
His voice echoed from the sky.
"Shinto Sword Style: Cross Slash!"
In the brilliant sky, it was as if the sun itself had been split apart. A massive, fireball-like figure appeared, cleaved straight out of the heavens by that single strike…