Chapter 212

Why is everyone so prickly?

"Then I'll trouble you all." Franky exhaled black smoke: "I'm out of here."

He rubbed the Hearthstone and flashed away.

But the Going Merry was right beside them, and Borsalino's Observation Haki locked onto him directly.

Just as he was about to transform into light to pursue—

"Swoosh—"

An invisible ripple swept past him, and Borsalino stumbled awkwardly, forced out of his elementalized form.

This familiar sense of helplessness...

Borsalino shot Sima Di a sidelong glance. You're behind this again, aren't you?

Anti-Magic Domain!

"Don't look at me." Sima Di shrugged. "The man wants to spar with you. Would it be rude to just leave?"

Borsalino: "..."

He glanced at Brook, whose blade was still wreathed in green flames, and at Zoro, who was completely unaffected.

Then he looked at his own empty hands.

This...

Is that fair?

"Di, at least give him a sword," Zoro said, frowning.

It's not every day you get a chance to cross swords with an Admiral!

"You think he'd take it if I did?" Sima Di rolled his eyes. "His Armament Haki is top-tier. Whether you can even break his defense is the question—worry about yourself."

Just as Sima Di said,

Borsalino formed his palm into a blade; reinforced with Armament Haki, it clashed evenly with the enchanted Wado Ichimonji. Only Brook's strange green flames forced Borsalino to dodge.

—Getting stained by that thing definitely wouldn't end well!

At this moment,

Seeing Kuzan led a fresh wave of Marines charging in!

"All Marines, board the ship and arrest the pirate Franky!" Seeing Kuzan ordered fluently.

—Because of the Anti-Magic Domain, his Voice-Voice Fruit powers had also failed.

Crocus and Vivi intercepted Seeing Kuzan once more, while Sanji and the others guarded the perimeter of the Going Merry.

Although Ace had been added to their fighting force, they were still short on combat power.

【《Wood Release》!!!】

Robin had gone all-out!

She had actually invoked the Dragon's Tongue, temporarily gaining the power of "Wood Release." Clapping her hands together, she unleashed "Wood Release:???"—a torrent of wooden spikes erupted from the ground, surging toward the Marines like a tidal wave!

But it was enough to intimidate them!

The ones Robin had set her sights on—Spider-Man and the others—couldn't help but regard her with Gaze Heavy with Solemnity!

"True Thousand Hands:???"

The giant fists rained down in full!

Spider-Man and the others swung their blades to the limit, shattering fist after fist, but clearly couldn't dispel all the attacks in such a short time and were eventually buried beneath the barrage.

"BOOM BOOM BOOM—"

The impact site collapsed directly into a massive crater.

The Thousand-Hand Buddha statue dissipated along with it. Robin used the last of her strength to activate the Hearthstone and returned to the Going Merry.

The consumption of the Dragon's Tongue is not something an ordinary person can endure!

—That is a language only gods can wield!

Looking back at the crater,

The other Marines had certainly been smashed into meat patties. Only Spider-Man and a few Vice Admirals survived thanks to their Armament Haki, though they too were gravely wounded, crawling out of the pit while supporting one another.

"Robin-chan's gone all-out—we can't fall behind!" Sanji roared.

He spun like a top at high speed. As his right foot glowed white-hot, a tornado whipped up around it, flames scattering outward in every direction—in the blink of an eye, a fiery tornado was rampaging across the battlefield!

"Diable Jambe:???"

Wherever the fire tornado passed, Marine soldiers could only be swallowed, torn apart, and incinerated. The path it left was as clean as dishes rinsed with dish soap.

"Bastards! Die!"

Defeated time and again, Smoker charged headlong into the fire tornado without hesitation. His smoke smothered much of the flame, but it was also walking right into a trap.

Sanji...

But he also wields Armament Haki!

"Don't underestimate the Marines!!!"

A giant Vice Admiral among the Marines coated his entire body in Armament Haki and threw himself bodily at the dying tornado. A shrill, cutting sound rang out, but he held the tornado fast, no longer letting it run rampant.

Having no choice,

Sanji could only disperse his technique, kicking the battered Smoker away and sending a flying kick at the giant Vice Admiral.

"Grass in the Wind!"

"Hegemony!!!"

Unexpectedly, the giant Vice Admiral was able to unleash a bare-handed "Hegemony" slash. After Sanji's Wind God Leg briefly clashed with it, he realized there was still a gap between himself and a Vice Admiral.

But he had the Wind God Leg!

Before his Armament Haki ran out, he could still fight!

"Whoosh—"

A bullet struck the shoulder of the Giant Admiral, exploding into a burst of fireworks that threw him off balance.

It was Usopp's sniper shot.

Though it couldn't threaten the Admiral, coordinating with the others was no problem.

"Move aside!"

Laboon's right arm transformed into a fish fin hundreds of meters long and slammed down upon the mere dozen-meter-tall Giant Admiral like a mountain crushing down.

"Haiguo!!!"

The two clashed for several seconds,

until finally Laboon's fin was blasted flying backward; size alone could not bridge the gap between them.

"Fire Fist!"

Ace struck in time, blocking the Giant Admiral's pursuit.

Nearby,

watching the Straw Hat Pirates and the Navy Admiral trade blows evenly, Sima Di nodded with great satisfaction.

They are quite capable!

But...

"Di! Stop spectating!" Nami shouted, "The lightning in the thunderclouds is almost exhausted; think of a way to break out quickly!"

Break out?

That's simple; all he needs to do is join the fight...

"Crash-crash-crash—"

Sengoku burst from the ruins, his gaze fixed squarely on Sima Di, and canceled his Buddha form midway—after all, it couldn't be used in the anti-magic field anyway.

At the same time, he didn't forget to call for reinforcements—

"Garp! What are you still staring at? At least retrieve the Pluton blueprints; then we can still give an account!"

Yes!

Sengoku's target was no longer Ace.

With this lineup today,

if they killed Ace, the Navy might as well rename itself the "Pluton Army."

As for the Navy's prestige...

When survival itself is in question, who cares about that thing!

Survive first, then worry about the rest!

Only by gathering the Navy's full strength to seize the Pluton blueprints while Shanks holds Whitebeard back could they barely make up for the loss.