Chapter 603: Prelude to War

Bang~

Beckman took the lead in attacking. A pitch-black bullet grazed Shanks' earlobe and shot toward Karl's face.

Karl seemed to have expected it, reaching out his right hand with lightning speed to pinch this fatal projectile.

Clang~

The smoking projectile was discarded on the ground at will. Light erupted from Karl's body, and 12 wings of light appeared behind him.

"Holy Light Apocalypse!"

The holy wings flapped, and golden light shone. All Navy soldiers were strengthened.

"Yasakani no Magatama!!!"

"Gravity Blade: Hell Journey!!!"

Kizaru and Fujitora took the lead in attacking and tacitly bypassed Shanks. Their targets were Beckman and the others. Shanks, naturally, was Karl's opponent.

Other Navy Vice Admirals also showed their magical powers, launching a siege on the Red Hair Pirates.

Caw!

Raven turned into a silver-white long sword and landed in Karl's hand. Karl brushed it lightly, but his eyes remained fixed on Shanks.

"Speaking of which, the last time we fought dates back two years ago, right! Shanks, I don't know how much stronger you've become after two years?"

Shanks grinned and revealed a hearty smile: "How much stronger I've become, you'll know in a moment!"

Swish~

Shanks drew "Gryphon"—to be precise, it should be a replica of Gryphon. A long time ago, Karl had used Raven to cut off Shanks' Gryphon. This replica was certainly not as good as the original Gryphon, but in Shanks' hands, the difference wouldn't be too great.

"Elbaf Spear: Hakoku!"

Karl raised his hand and fired a Hakoku sword energy, tearing the earth apart and roaring toward Shanks.

Clang~

Red light flashed in Shanks' eyes, and he gripped Gryphon without fear: "Divine Departure!"

Cackle cackle~

Two flying slashes collided instantly. The platform under their feet couldn't support such a shock and instantly turned into powder.

Karl leaped up, stretched out his left hand in the air, and released countless small light eggs. Karl would like to call them "Sixteen-Shaku Yasakani no Magatama." Anyway, they were stronger than Kizaru's Yasakani no Magatama!

Bang bang bang~

Amidst countless explosions, dust rose everywhere.

At this moment, a bright blade light tore through the smog, and Shanks charged toward Karl with his sword.

Karl's mouth turned up slightly: "Just in time!"

Subsequently, Karl held the hilt with both hands, responding to Shanks' surprise attack with a heavy horizontal sweep.

It was clearly bullying Shanks, a disabled person, with the strength of two arms.

Clang~

The moment the two weapons met, a crisp sound was made. The next second, Shanks flew toward the center of Elegia Island.

Obviously, in the contest of strength, Shanks clearly fell into a disadvantage. Even if he blocked Karl's attack, he still flew out.

Shoo~ Karl's figure flashed, turning into a stream of light to chase Shanks, not giving Shanks any room to breathe.

"One Sword Style: Broken Jade!"

A huge golden flying slash chased in Shanks' direction.

Shanks, who was unloading force in the air, froze his gaze, quickly raised Gryphon, attached Conqueror's Haki to it, and gave a powerful counterattack when the golden sword energy was about to arrive.

Boom~ The two sword energies collided, producing a majestic shockwave. The entire Elegia Island shook.

The destructive power of top-tier powerhouses is just that terrifying.

Only the sky is their limit.

This is also why pirates choose to fight on islands or land. On the sea, if they are not careful, they will destroy the other party's ship, and then what's the point of fighting.

Of course, lone wolves like Mihawk are the exception. He fights however he wants, fearless and uninhibited.

Rumble~

Driven by the powerful shockwave, Shanks plunged into the ruins of Elegia Island, kicking up a cloud of dust.

He was definitely fine. Karl didn't think he could knock Shanks down with these few moves.

He used to be able to chase Shanks and fight him, but that was only after exhausting Shanks' physical strength that he could control the situation.

Karl stretched out a finger, golden light condensed at the tip, and after accumulating to the size of a basketball, he released it all at once.

Pew!

Hmm, it has a Frieza vibe.

Another explosion, the earth shook and the mountains swayed. Karl created a ten-meter-deep pit with a casual strike, but he didn't see Shanks' figure.

"Divine Departure!"

The surrounding air seemed to become viscous, and a silver-bright blade light headed straight for Karl's waist.

Karl was stunned. You thick-browed and big-eyed Shanks, coming to sneak attack me, a 33-year-old child, is this okay?

This is not okay...

"Holy Light Protection!"

The translucent golden shield had just been generated when it was shattered by Shanks, making a crisp "click" sound, and the shield turned into fragments. However, this also deflected Shanks' weapon, making his strike lose its threat.

Karl instantly turned into a stream of light and rushed into the sky. Shanks quickly landed on the ground, looking around vigilantly. With Karl's speed, he could appear from anywhere.

It's a bit annoying to say, Karl's ability is clearly a Paramecia, so how does it have the same ability characteristics as Kizaru? It's really damn annoying.

Kizaru is already difficult to deal with relying on this ability. If it weren't for his martial arts and Haki not being great, even he wouldn't be able to do anything about Kizaru.

Karl is different. Observation Haki killing, Conqueror's Haki coating, shameless recovery, powerful physique—every one of them is top-tier. Plus this perverted speed, Shanks really couldn't think of anyone who could defeat Karl.

Captain Luo Jie? Probably not. Although Captain Luo Jie was strong, he was ill and would definitely be exhausted by Karl.

It is estimated that only a young Whitebeard could rival Karl.

But it's meaningless to say these things now. The person facing Karl now is him. No matter what, he must try his best.

"Zoro, quickly unlock my Seastone handcuffs, I want to go help Shanks!" Although Luffy's expression was spot on, his body was limp, like a hollowed-out weakling.

Zoro sighed and shook his head: "Sorry, Luffy, I can only unlock them for you after the result of Elegia Island comes out. This is Shanks' own words."

"Right, can't unlock them for him. We finally escaped from the Uta World and left the vortex of war, how can we run back?" Nami said through gritted teeth.

"Luffy, I know the bond between you and Red Hair Shanks, but this is a grudge between the Red Hair Pirates and the Navy. It's better if we don't get involved. I think Shanks wouldn't want you to come back either, and you wouldn't want to disappoint Shanks, right? Luffy?" Robin analyzed calmly.

Others were also trying to persuade him, fearing that their captain would get hot-headed and insist on rushing up to fight the Navy head-on, except for Usopp.

It wasn't that they were afraid to fight the Navy, but that there was simply no need. ===== CHAPTER 605 =====