Lulusia Kingdom, Port Town. Above the central plaza, reduced to ruins, Kozuki Hiyori, enveloped in electrical arcs, gripped Enma with both hands and looked solemnly at Aokiji.
"Actually, we don't really want to be enemies with the Marines. Can you let us go? Although we are often pursued by you Marines, we have always deliberately held back and should not have killed any Marines..."
"If you don't want to be enemies with the Marines, then why did you go out to sea and become pirates?" Aokiji asked, a hint of confusion in his voice. "Well! We weren't pirates originally. At most, we were an adventure group traveling around the sea... It's just that! When our Captain did what he thought was right, he offended you Marines and was slandered as a pirate! Later, you Marines even put a bounty on us. So, we had no choice but to give up and form a pirate group."
"Is that so? So, you are actually quite helpless... However, I am a Marine, and you are pirates. In this situation, I can't just stand by anymore..."
As he spoke, Aokiji assumed a fighting stance. Ice crystal gauntlets condensed on each of his hands, radiating bone-chilling white cold air that made people feel intimidated.
"Alas! I feel like we've caused a big trouble this time, I hope Master won't be angry because of this!" Kozuki Hiyori sighed, her face full of worry. A vast, dark Haki of Armament quickly wrapped around Enma, while the lightning around her body became even more dazzling.
The girl's figure flashed, and she appeared before Aokiji with lightning speed, swinging Enma at the opponent.
The next moment, the sharp, dark Black Blade collided with the ice crystal gauntlets in the air. The powerful Haki of Armament of both sides constantly crushed and squeezed each other.
Rumble! A circular shockwave of air spread out from the point of collision, grinding the stone ground and residential buildings into powder. After a brief clash of Haki of Armament, Kozuki Hiyori immediately retreated, not continuing the Haki of Armament consumption with Aokiji.
Even after becoming a vampire and transforming into her Nue human-beast form, her Haki of Armament was still slightly weaker than Aokiji's. Given his age, her Haki of Armament reserves were simply incomparable to his... This is also a common problem faced by most young powerhouses when confronting older powerhouses who are still in their prime. Even if they honed themselves and trained their Haki of Armament intensity to a top-tier level, they still could not match the older individuals in terms of Haki of Armament reserves.
In the short term, the younger generation might be able to contend with the older generation, but if the fight drags on, their Haki consumption won't keep up, and they will still fall into a disadvantage until they are defeated. Yamato and Kozuki Hiyori both faced this problem when dealing with Akainu and Aokiji.
Away from the central plaza, on the rooftop of a residential building. Perona floated in mid-air, looking at the low-ranking Marine officers kneeling on the rooftop in a state of despair, questioning their lives, all in the "Negative Hollow" posture.
She couldn't help but wipe the fine sweat from her forehead and let out a long sigh of relief. Under her kite tactic, she'd been constantly using Negative Hollows for long-range consumption while fighting and retreating. Over a hundred low-ranking officers had fallen into a state of depression and could no longer pursue her.
"What a troublesome bunch!" Perona muttered softly and quickly floated into an alleyway.
Rumble-! Rumble-!... Listening to the constant explosions and building collapses in the distance, Perona couldn't help but worry about the safety of Yamato and the others.
So, she quickly took out a den den mushi from her black shoulder bag and dialed a number. Soon, the call was connected, and Sephiroth's slightly drunk voice came from the den den mushi's mouth. "Hello!? Who is it!?"
"Sephiroth, something bad has happened! Come and save us quickly... Yamato and the others are in danger!" Perona said in a tone filled with anxiety and unease.
New World, on a winter island. Sephiroth, who was sitting at a long table drinking and chatting with Red-Haired Shanks and others, felt his heart sink when he heard Perona's words.
With the strength of Yamato and the others, there are very few things on this sea that could put them in danger... Could it be Kaido's Beasts Pirates?
"Okay! I'll be right there." Thinking of this, Sephiroth immediately hung up the phone, stood up, and drew the butcher knife tucked into his waist. Red-Haired Shanks let out a burp and asked with blurry, drunken eyes, "It seems like you've encountered some trouble?"
"Yes! Although I'm not sure exactly what it is, I have to go there immediately... I'll find you for a drink another day!"
After saying that, Sephiroth waved his hand, opened a spatial door, and walked through it. Judging by Red-Haired Shanks' words, if he were to ask for help, there would likely be a high chance of the latter lending a hand... However, Red-Haired Shanks' status as a Four Emperors is too sensitive. There's no problem with private contact, but if their friendship were to be made public, it would likely bring some minor troubles to the Umbrella Corporation. Therefore, Sephiroth never even considered the idea of asking Red-Haired Shanks for help.
Moreover, if he couldn't resolve this matter with his own strength and connections, Red-Haired Shanks might not be able to help much even if he went, which would instead make him owe the other party a favor for nothing.
Compared to those unclear debts of gratitude, Sephiroth actually prefers pure transactional relationships!