Chapter 178: Ghosts, the World's Mutation (4k)

"Little brother, in your view, even if four Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals join forces, they can't win against that guy?"

Gion, codenamed "Chaton," was unlike the other Headquarters Vice Admirals in both dress and manner of speech; rather, he was quite frivolous. It was evident that this guy had a rather lazy personality, with a bit of Huangyuan's shadow.

However, Bai Cangshu could not underestimate him. The so-called "Admiral Candidate" was a special designation for those recognized as stronger than all other Vice Admirals (with the exception of Garp). Once an Admiral position became vacant, barring any accidents, these guys would be the ones to fill it.

Whether it was physical techniques, physical ability, the practice of Haki, or the level of mastery over the Six Styles, this guy was above those other Headquarters Vice Admirals.

In Bai Cangshu's view, this kind of guy, when placed into the power system Rating of the space, was likely in the upper tier of the "Strong" rank. Given enough time, the so-called "Ten Thousand Enemy" would be easy for them.

Furthermore, as a combat unit type in the Pirate World—a world that emphasizes physical fitness and direct ability—this guy's defensive and survival capabilities were also terrifyingly strong; he was a true humanoid weapon.

"Hehe, I haven't seen much of the big stage, after all..."

Gion waved his hand, signaling that Bai Cangshu didn't need to engage in such useless self-deprecation and flattery. He didn't care about the face of the Navy; if you can win, you can win, and if you can't, you can't.

Bai Cangshu himself was not a humble character either. Such polite remarks, when spoken by him, were basically the same as those off-the-cuff lies; they were completely made up on the spot. Seeing that the other party wanted to hear the truth, he suddenly looked at him with a strange smile and said:

"Vice Admiral Gion (Admiral Candidate is a special title, the military rank remains Vice Admiral), if I were to speak from my own feeling..."

"You will die."

"That guy's Devil Fruit ability, even among Logia types, is terrifyingly second to none."

"Vice Admiral, if necessary, it would be better for you to treat him directly as a hostile Admiral of the Navy..."

Gion listened to Bai Cangshu's words without any reaction.

Marine Headquarters Vice Admirals were the backbone of this ocean. Almost every one of them had clashed with those most powerful Monsters, faced the arrogant Whitebeard head-on, and participated in the encirclement of the Monster Kaido.

No one knew the strength of the world's top-tier powers better than they did.

They were powerful, and at the same time, they maintained awe for power.

But precisely because of this, they felt even more strongly how powerful the "Navy" faction they belonged to was.

No matter how powerful a Pirate crew was, it could not rival the Navy. As long as the Navy was determined to eradicate you, the Navy would surely be able to obtain an overwhelming power advantage.

No matter how strong the Four Emperors were, they were individual entities, but the Navy was a behemoth.

No matter how strong Whitebeard was, could he rival three Admirals joining forces?

Could he rival Zhan Guo and Garp joining forces?

No matter how many Captains Whitebeard had, could they be as numerous as the Navy's Vice Admirals?

Gion stood up and walked to the bow of the ship. Ever since he appeared, even the arrogant Onigumo had to obey his orders.

"Onigumo, sacrifice your flagship, no problem, right?"

Onigumo nodded, understanding the other's meaning, and immediately directed all the Marines on the ship to transfer to Dalmatian's flagship at the rear by building a bridge.

Gion shook his shoulders, letting his Justice dacang fall off. He then vanished in an instant, and the next moment, a massive force erupted from the sea surface behind.

Bai Cangshu jumped onto Dalmatian's flagship. Watching Gion below, standing in the sea and pushing a nearly hundred-meter-long naval warship forward rapidly with one hand, his eyelids twitched, and a look of delight appeared on his face.

This kind of power, it's really good...

Gion didn't know how to pilot a warship, but at the same time, he didn't want other Marines to take risks with him, so he chose to push the warship into the target sea area.

Although Bai Cangshu told him that Enel's Observation Haki was extremely profound and that he could perceive exactly how many people were on the ship.

But Gion still insisted on doing so.

On this point, Gion displayed the consistent trait of the strong in the Pirate World—a strange persistence.

Almost every one of those people standing at the top of this world had their own unique ambition or some kind of quirk.

Whitebeard's longing for family, Kaido's craving for slaughter and death—these people had never extinguished their desires, nor had they ever been persuaded. These people were exceptionally honest about their own "hearts."

Almost every one of them was stubborn to the point of death.

Bai Cangshu was not sure if this abnormal psychology had any connection to their powerful strength.

But he was very certain that the Admiral Candidate before him was also someone walking on this path.

Splash, splash~

The waves rolled, and the warship quickly left the fleet, heading toward the target sea area.

After gaining sufficient speed, Gion jumped back onto the ship. He looked up and shouted at the sky.

"Enel, surrender!"

The voice echoed on the outskirts of the Skuld Island sea area.

Onigumo and the others were all watching this from ten nautical miles away.

They were ready to intervene in the battle at any time.

At the same time, Vergo and the others had broken into smaller groups, preparing to infiltrate Skuld Island after the battle began to investigate the truth of the Golden Town.

This was the Navy's first step in their operational plan.

Bai Cangshu was noncommittal about this plan. He knew that the Navy's top brass were likely under pressure from the World Government to confirm whether the "Golden Town" existed as soon as possible before proceeding with subsequent actions.

But the current strategy was nothing more than a dangerous gamble.

Once Gion was defeated quickly, this elite group of Marines would also suffer a devastating blow.

Boom~

In the sky, muffled thunder began to rumble.

Dalmatian's feet transformed into beast paws; he activated his Devil Fruit ability as soon as he started, transforming into his human-beast form. Several of them stared intently at the sky.

In their Jianwense, a premonition of extreme danger had already shrouded the surroundings.

Zzz~

The next moment, blue-white electric light began to flash in the air.

Gion looked up, watching the electric light flashing in the sky all around, his eyes shifting.

The next moment, he looked up, only to see blue-white thunder suddenly appear in the sky.

Gion vanished in an instant.

Crack!

Dazzling lightning engulfed everyone's field of vision.

"Navy, it seems you still haven't learned how to respect a god."

Enel's figure flashed several times, condensing into a solid form.

He was bare-chested, with several drums behind his back as if they had grown out of his body, and his earlobes were of astonishing length, resembling two pendants.

Enel's eyelids drooped, and he sat cross-legged in the air; he was not very surprised by the appearance of the Navy.

After all, as the ruler of this ocean on the surface, they would always come to challenge him, this god.

Whoosh!

Gion appeared instantly in front of Enel, her pitch-black fist striking toward Enel's chest in an instant.

Zzzzt~

Enel's body actively dispersed, turning into several currents of electricity that spread in all directions; Gion stepped on the air dozens of times, and in an instant, her figure appeared in the direction one of the currents was spreading.

Enel happened to condense there at that moment, and Gion threw a punch; the air burst in waves, and a sonic boom cloud exploded directly.

As Enel's figure just condensed, the intense gale made his skin twitch.

Bang!

The head exploded instantly.

In the rear, because they were extremely far away, even with the Observation Haki of the several Navy Vice Admirals, they could only perceive the general situation.

At this moment, several of them were somewhat moved.

"Vice Admiral Gion won?!"

Dalmatian wanted to rush over to support, but the next moment.

Intense lightning suddenly exploded.

Chaton's figure fell into the sea from the air, emitting black smoke.

Bai Cangshu withdrew his gaze, turned around, and lowered a lifeboat by himself, throwing it into the sea.

Brina frowned.

"Are you going to land on the island?"

Bai Cangshu nodded, then said to this ambitious woman:

"Woman, if the Navy wants to launch a full-scale attack, you can suggest they choose to do it in seven days."

Afterward, he followed Vergo's infiltration squad and disappeared into the sea, which was once again covered in sea mist due to the electric shocks.

On the other side, Gion, who had fallen into the sea, stepped on the air and rose again; she fled toward the rear, her expression still calm.

This Enel's Devil Fruit ability was indeed too powerful; even with the strength of her Armament Haki, she was nearly killed in seconds.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Several figures came stepping on the air from the rear; the Navy Vice Admirals began to assemble.

Gion knew that the gap in strength between herself and the Seven Warlords of the Sea was not large—perhaps stronger than those at the bottom, but inferior to those at the top.

Therefore, after learning that Doflamingo had been defeated, she knew that she alone would likely be unable to match the opponent.

But she was not the only Vice Admiral from Headquarters to come this time.

The Navy was, by nature, a force skilled in using overwhelming numbers to suppress others.

Boom!

Knowing that Enel's strength was superior to theirs, the Navy Vice Admirals' fighting style was very clever.

Dalmatian stepped forward instantly, his punch blasting the surrounding air along with it, and then his whole person disappeared in an instant.

Behind Onigumo, his hair began to move freely like arms, drawing several blades; Life Return had already been activated.

As he swung them, flying slashes broke through the air.

The Headquarters Vice Admirals had strong Observation Haki and moved at extremely high speeds, so Enel's multiple lightning strikes were all dodged in advance.

And in a multi-person battle, his mind-reading ability was not as convenient as in a one-on-one, so the battle unexpectedly reached a stalemate for a short time.

After fighting for a while, Enel became somewhat annoyed; he spread his arms, and intense lightning instantly spread from around his body.

"Liutianwanfute, Electric Shock!"

The voltage enveloped a space of several hundred meters; the several Navy Vice Admirals instantly dodged using Moon Walk, but Enel also took the opportunity to gain space.

He raised his right hand high.

Above the sea, the ionized particles from every one of Enel's missed lightning strikes, which had not yet dissipated, began to shine again.

Gion sensed this attack; remembering the warnings from Brina and that Bai Cangshu, she immediately said:

"Watch out, it's that move!"

Dalmatian's heart sank, and he scanned the area quickly; the range of the opponent's ability was so vast that, among the Logia ability users he had seen, he feared that apart from Admiral Aokiji, no one else could compare.

The few of them exchanged a look, then kicked off the ground and charged toward the sea; even Dalmatian, who was a Devil Fruit ability user, was no exception.

Splash!

The moment the few of them dove into the sea, the terrifying lightning completely electrolyzed the space within a radius of more than ten nautical miles once again.

For ordinary lightning strikes, entering the water was completely useless, but when facing this kind of large-scale Devil Fruit ability attack, jumping into the sea was the only solution the several Headquarters Vice Admirals could think of.

Although seawater could not nullify Devil Fruit abilities, it could produce a certain effect.

For example, those ionized particles would not spread beneath the surface of the sea on their own.

A Logia Devil Fruit ability user's attacks could affect the sea, but they themselves could not actively spread their elementalized parts beneath the surface of the sea.

Just like Aokiji, although he could freeze the sea, he himself was likewise unable to transfer his own body into the water; lightning strikes were the same.

The few of them hid beneath the surface of the sea; although they would suffer from the conducted lightning attacks, they would not be wrapped in countless ionized particles as they would be in the air, and thus be roasted into charcoal.

After Dalmatian entered the sea, he instantly lost the ability to move; Onigumo grabbed him, stuffed his mouth and nose with hair, and covered his entire body with Armament Haki, while the few of them protected Dalmatian in the center.

Crackle!

Intense thunder roared into the sea, and all of them shuddered, but they did not lose consciousness.

The next moment, they stomped their feet and appeared on the surface of the sea once again.

Having left the sea, Dalmatian was still somewhat Weak, but after shaking himself a few times, he recovered rapidly.

Seeing that the group was still full of vigor under the attack of his 【Raigo】, Enel's expression turned completely gloomy.

"Do you not know that dying in accordance with the will of God is a form of mercy?"

In Gion's terrified gaze, Enel raised his right hand again, and the ionized particles in the air lit up once more.

"Does this power have absolutely no limits..."

At the same time, Enel mocked,

"You don't actually think that by dragging me here, those Worms you sent to the island will have any good ending, do you?"

"Did that woman Brina not tell you about the legend of the Ghost... Ye-hahaha."

Crackle~ Boom!

Bai Cangshu rowed his boat, approaching the beach again; he looked back, saw the incandescent lightning covering his entire field of vision once more, and narrowed his eyes as he turned to leave.

Perhaps, next time, an Admiral really will come.

Bai Cangshu lowered his heartbeat, breathing, and Meridian pulses, entering that state of "concealment" again, but at this moment, a gale suddenly rose on the sea.

A massive amount of white fog blew in from the open sea, as if it were about to drown the entire world.

Bai Cangshu looked back, frowning as he watched the distant sea; the fog from Enel's 【Raigo】 electrolyzing the sea clearly hadn't spread yet.

This white fog... where on earth did it come from...

The next moment, the white fog completely submerged the beach where Bai Cangshu was.

Vergo and that group of elite Navy who had landed on the island together vanished from Bai Cangshu's field of vision in an instant.

It wasn't just his vision; even his keen hearing could no longer detect the presence of that group of people.

Whoosh~

Bai Cangshu exhaled a small breath of turbid air; clear white mist appeared, as the temperature here was abnormally low, to the point that condensation occurred.

Bai Cangshu blinked, and suddenly saw a familiar figure coalescing from the white fog.

That "Officer Kori" appeared from the white fog again, but this time, he was not alone; Bai Cangshu saw clearly that in the white fog, behind him, there were hundreds and thousands of ghosts, all following the white fog to land on this island, and then walking toward the mountain range that hid the Golden Town.

Bai Cangshu watched this scene, his eyes narrowing.

This world has a problem...

(End of chapter)