Chapter 471: Extreme Escape
BOOM!
A massive explosion occurred in an instant.
The black smoke and shockwaves from the explosion made the entire sky chaotic. The surrounding clouds were swept away.
"Hm?"
The black shadow in darkness was somewhat surprised. "Actually..."
The exploding fireball continued spreading, even engulfing several other light beams.
However, within this exploding fireball...
A black shadow shot out, followed by a large mass of shadows behind it.
"Aaaaahhhhh!!"
Brett roared. He was running frantically.
In the sky, stepping on clouds he created, constantly running forward.
His originally fiery red scales had turned charred black. Even large patches of scales had disappeared somewhere.
Fortunately, his recovery ability was jaw-dropping.
The charred flesh rapidly became tender and pink. Lost scales also rapidly regrew.
However, the people dragged behind him weren't so fortunate.
"Ara ara, almost got completely melted."
Aokiji was similarly charred black all over. He lay limply on the clouds, murmuring softly.
Beside him was Akainu, similarly scorched all over.
Far from just Aokiji and Akainu being scorched, everyone was almost in the same state.
As for why people of clearly different strength levels maintained similar conditions, probably because everyone tacitly used Haki to protect each other while passing through the explosion.
However, though everyone suffered similar injuries, their ability to endure injuries was completely different.
Screams and wails sounded again.
More were voices that could never sound again.
Brett fell silent. All he could do was let those voices that could never sound return to the sea.
Let them embrace the ocean.
Probably another half were gone.
Of the remaining half, about one-third were currently struggling on death's edge. They were also slowly losing their lives.
Good news was, the speed increased further.
Basically could already keep up with the light beams' movement speed. This way they wouldn't be surrounded again.
"..."
Kuma sat cross-legged on the clouds. He was silently reciting something.
Others might not hear, but Brett heard very clearly.
He was silently reciting scripture.
It's still a bit too early for that, Kuma-san!
We haven't completely escaped crisis yet!!
Brett felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.
Those thirteen light beams had disappeared now, but Brett could hear it. New bombardment was already being prepared!
The sweat on Brett's body had already been completely vaporized in the earlier explosion. But now, new sweat separated out again.
Thirty-nine shots!
The bombardment count was three times more than before.
"Hey hey hey! Still not giving up?"
Aokiji looked back and broke out in cold sweat too.
One bombardment already had them half-dead. With this round of bombardment, probably even a major nation on the surface would be completely blown away!
"Brett! Can you dodge it?"
Zephyr also felt somewhat desperate.
They seemed to have nowhere left to escape.
"..."
Brett didn't answer. He had no energy to answer anymore.
His Observation Haki operated to the limit. Brett began waiting for the next bombardment.
Then, the bombardment came.
The entire sky seemed covered by the bombardment's radiance. Bombardments born for destruction swept across the sky.
Brett's speed increased to the limit. He began dodging in the sky, constantly weaving between bombardments.
His speed indeed came up. Even such dense bombardment still hadn't hit him. After all, he had the dual blessing of foreseeing the future and listening to thoughts.
Then, these bombardments became beams like before, beginning to shift, beginning to track and hunt Brett's group.
"Accelerate! Brett! Accelerate!!"
Aokiji couldn't help cheering Brett on.
Brett felt like he'd entered a forest. He was like a leading bird, absolutely unable to touch any tree.
He almost couldn't hear other sounds anymore. All his energy concentrated on evading bombardment.
But even so, facing so many bombardment beams, Brett's evasion seemed inadequate.
No matter how much he dodged left and right, there were still times when he approached beams.
At such times, everyone would attack with all their might, creating gaps in the beams, letting them catch their breath briefly.
Then, Brett's speed grew faster and faster.
Because the people he needed to carry became fewer and fewer.
Just approaching the beams brought high temperatures the injured couldn't endure, let alone the impact from explosions.
Miss Ain had white traces beneath her eyes.
That was salt residue left after tears evaporated.
People who'd fought alongside her until recently were constantly dying.
"..."
Aokiji sighed. "Truly despairing."
Facing such a weapon, even a man like Brett could only struggle to keep escaping, let alone other people at sea.
They'd probably all be caught off guard and directly vaporized by one shot.
Such a weapon actually existed in the world.
The World Government truly hid things ordinary people couldn't imagine.
It was getting easier and easier.
While dodging, Brett thought this.
His speed had gradually approached his single-person limit standard.
The light beams that originally chased him with nowhere to run in heaven or earth now gradually seemed slow to him.
He gradually escaped that beam cluster. Even the distance from the pursuing colossus behind was gradually increasing.
But what was the price?
The voices he could hear were getting fewer and fewer.
"Damn it!"
In the dark space, the black shadow's emotions fluctuated for the first time. He, or rather she, angrily shouted. "Is this guy a fly?"
The attacks couldn't catch up with that Brett guy!
Not that the bombardment firing speed wasn't enough. That guy could always calmly evade attacks one step ahead.
The distance was getting farther and farther.
"Is it finally ending?"
Even someone as battle-hardened as Zephyr couldn't help feeling like he'd survived a disaster.
"It's not over yet."
Brett said.
As if confirming his words.
Behind them, beams shot forth like a rainstorm.
This time, truly a small portion of the sky was blocked by beams.
"Seems they've run out of tricks."
Though this bombardment's quantity was unprecedentedly large, it could no longer push Brett into desperate straits.
His speed soared to the limit. Long before the bombardment fired, he'd already clarified these bombardments' routes. He calmly wove through the bombardment storm.
Then, bringing everyone through from above the storm, immediately proceeding forward at full speed.
"..."
In the darkness, someone could only remain speechless.
Couldn't catch up.
"...Brett..."
He broke through the curtain of sky.