New World, Wano Country. Above the sky, dark clouds obscured the sun, and thunder roared incessantly. Turbulent whirlpool currents swirled around towering rock pillars, constantly sweeping objects approaching this sea area and smashing them against the rock pillars.
On those rock pillars, the Beasts Pirates, using the advantage of the terrain, set up watchtowers for vigilance, and dispatched special lookouts to constantly monitor the situation on the sea and in the sky. Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!... A sharp alarm sounded abruptly on an outer rock pillar watchtower.
A member of the Beasts Pirates, holding a snail-phone in his left hand and binoculars in his right, reported the situation to Flower Capital at a rapid pace:
"Enemy attack! Twelve o'clock direction, a large aerial fleet has appeared in the sky!!! Preliminary estimate is over fifty ships! Flag... I see a pirate flag... Is it the Kuja Pirates!!?" Boom!
From within the dark clouds, a blue and white pillar of lightning, dozens of meters in diameter, struck down from the sky, directly pulverizing this member of the Beasts Pirates, along with the entire watchtower. In the distance, the same scene unfolded repeatedly, with pillars of lightning continuously striking down, destroying the Beasts Pirates' surveillance watchtowers one after another.
Within the clouds, the Gods Breath, shaped like a giant red goldfish, under Marie Gold's control, rapidly cleared out the Beasts Pirates members on the outskirts of Wano Country with overwhelming force, heading straight towards Flower Capital.
Since Wano Country is the Beasts Pirates' headquarters, having been managed by Kaido and Doflamingo for many years, aside from the slave factories, most free people have various intricate connections with the Beasts Pirates.
Therefore, if Umbrella Corporation wants to steadily bring Wano Country under control, it will need assistance from some local forces within Wano Country, and cannot rely solely on military force for rule. Otherwise, the entire Wano Country has over a million slaves, and hundreds of thousands of people connected to the Beasts Pirates.
As outsiders, Umbrella Corporation would need to invest at least a hundred thousand permanent troops to achieve long-term stability for this country, which would be very uneconomical. On the deck of the Interstellar Ark, Sephiroth looked at Kozuki Hiyori beside him, his expression serious, and said:
"Hiyori, the task of uniting the surviving forces of the Kozuki in Wano Country is entrusted to you.
I hope you can bring those people under your command... in the name of Kozuki! In the future, I will hand this country over to you to manage. I hope you can govern it well and bring it completely under control. This country will become an important stronghold for Umbrella Corporation's development of influence and territory in the New World, and there must be no unstable factors...
Don't disappoint me, do you understand?" "Master, I understand!" Kozuki Hiyori nodded, her tone filled with solemnity and joy. This was Sephiroth's immense trust in her, and she would do her best no matter what. ...... Flower Capital. Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!... Piercing alarms continuously echoed over the entire city.
Members of the Beasts Pirates, armed with weapons, quickly gathered at the entrance of the Generals Mansion. Even the Beasts Pirates executives residing around the Generals Mansion entered the Generals Mansion's council hall one after another after receiving news of the enemy attack. Soon, more than a dozen Beasts Pirates executives gathered in the hall, including Ulti, Drake, Baby-5, and Pica.
Although the Beasts Pirates sent most of their elite forces to Marineford to participate in the Marineford War, in order to prevent attacks from other forces, they still left a considerable force in Wano Country to deal with unexpected situations. Ulti put her hands on her hips, saying somewhat through gritted teeth:
"Who is it, who dares to challenge our Beasts Pirates at this time?"
Trebol sniffled, his face gloomy, and said:
"According to the scout's report, it's said to be the large fleet of the Kuja Pirates..." Upon hearing this, Pica crossed his arms, a look of disdain on his face, and said:
"Pirate Empress Boa Hancock's fleet? She actually dares to be so overconfident and attack our Beasts Pirates' headquarters. Is she not afraid of Mr. Kaido's wrath?"
"Boa Hancock herself should still be at Marineford, but the Kuja Pirates are attacking at this time... I'm afraid they mean trouble! According to the recent news, the enemy has already reached the outer sea and is estimated to arrive in Wano Country within an hour, so we need to respond quickly now..." Drake said with a frown.
As a Marine spy sent to the Beasts Pirates, just recently, he received information from Marineford that Kaido of the Beasts had fallen in the war, and Whitebeard Newgate was seriously injured and died before even reaching Marineford. However, Kaido of the Beasts' death does not mean Drake's mission is complete.
He still needs to continue monitoring the Beasts Pirates' movements and report to Marineford regularly. If possible, he could also seize the opportunity to take action and eliminate the Beasts Pirates' effective strength. Boom!
Just as the Beasts Pirates executives in the council hall were still discussing how to defend against the enemy's attack, the sky above Flower Capital suddenly became covered with dark clouds, with muffled thunder rolling. A spatial gate opened, and ships flew out of the spatial gate in an orderly manner. Seeing this scene, the Beasts Pirates executives all looked horrified.
They didn't expect the enemy to arrive in Wano Country so quickly. Baby-5 glanced at the vast fleet in the sky, her brow furrowed, and said in a deep voice:
"It seems we don't have time to continue discussing... Prepare to fight!" After speaking, she quickly ran out of the council hall and stood in the spacious courtyard. Click—! Click—!...
In the blink of an eye, Baby-5 used her Weapon-Weapon Fruit ability, extending her body to create six laser cannons with a caliber of fifty centimeters. She raised the muzzles, aiming at the dozens of flying ships that suddenly appeared several thousand meters high in the sky.
These were high-power weapons specially developed by Doflamingo for Baby-5, based on the laser weapon technology left behind by Queen, and manufactured by Caesar. With a single shot, a large sailing ship could be instantly destroyed. Furthermore, the most terrifying aspect of this type of laser weapon was... its ability to fire continuously!
Although limited by Baby-5's own stamina consumption, she could only maintain continuous firing for a maximum of two minutes in a sustained firing state, but this was already terrifying enough!
She was confident that she could pulverize the dozens of flying ships in the sky within ten seconds, and the first to bear the brunt was the massive Interstellar Ark, one hundred and fifty meters long, which appeared at the very front. Buzz—! Buzz—! Buzz—!...
The six large laser cannons rapidly consumed Baby-5's stamina, converting it into driving energy, causing the muzzles to glow with a bright yellow light. The next moment. Boom! A blue and white pillar of lightning, three hundred meters in diameter, suddenly struck down from the dark and cloudy sky, instantly hitting the Generals Mansion, pulverizing the entire palace and residence.
Even the giant crooked cherry blossom tree supporting the entire Generals Mansion was struck and snapped in half, bursting into flames. On the deck of the Interstellar Ark. Sephiroth, who was maintaining the open state of the spatial gate, turned his head with a speechless expression to look at Marie Gold, who was leaning back in the pilot's seat and wearing a metal helmet.
He said somewhat helplessly:
"Wano Country is our target, but let's avoid unnecessary destruction. Reckless devastation would demand too many resources for reconstruction."
Marie Gold listened, then shared her vision from Observation Haki:
"In the palace, a woman sprouted six laser cannons from her body and trained them on our fleet. Without my intervention, she'd have obliterated a dozen ships in seconds.
There are also over ten formidable individuals inside—likely Beasts Pirates executives. That's why I ordered Gods Breath to strike."
"Wait, what?" Sephiroth scratched his head, conflicted but resigned. "Fine. You made the right call." He extended his own Observation Haki toward the ruins of the Generals Mansion.
The lightning pillar had left only four faint auras behind. The others... If they lacked Observation Haki, they were probably... Wait. No. They were charred remains.
The Beasts Pirates members gathered near the Generals Mansion witnessed the entire structure obliterated by lightning. With their commanders gone, most made the pragmatic choice—they scattered, fleeing through the streets of Flower Capital.