Chapter 268: A Critical Moment
The obese figure, almost as wide as it was tall, resembled a mountain of flesh at first glance. The white crescent-shaped mustache could make one think of the world's strongest man.
A large blade was gripped tightly in his hand, blood dripping steadily from the tip, and beside his legs—surprisingly thin for such a massive body—a new navy recruit lay collapsed on the deck.
With Zephyr's observation haki, he could tell the recruit had already lost his life. He snarled in anger, "Damn pirates!"
"Zephyr-sensei!" Zephyr's students quickly gathered behind him, the many sailors gazing up at the towering figure that stood more than six meters tall.
A small figure appeared at his side.
BGin , with his wrinkled face, pointed at Zephyr with his cane, his voice harsh, "Go, my treasure. Go and kill them all, take their loot!"
"Really, Mom?"
Edward Weevil, turning the large sword in his hand, let out a bloodthirsty glow in his eyes.
"Can I kill them all?"
His massive frame immediately shifted into a battle-ready stance.
"Of course, Weevil."
Weevil, already of an imposing size, exuded an overwhelming murderous intent once more. This made Zephyr's rookie sailors uneasy. They were fresh recruits, unaccustomed to life-or-death battles, and the first time they faced such a terrifying opponent, how could they not be scared?
As the Navy instructor, Zephyr had one goal in his mind at that moment: to protect his students!
Zephyr, wrapping his hands in Armament Haki, charged at Edward Weevil. The long blade in Weevil's hand glinted coldly as it swung toward Zephyr.
The clash of fist and blade resounded.
"Boom!"
A flash of lightning struck in the distance, and the deafening thunder added a somber atmosphere to the scene.
◇
"Seriously, the weather in the Grand Line changes so suddenly. Wendy, just in case, let's bring the ship back down to the sea."
"Okay, Eric -." Wendy slowly guided the Invincible down.
The crew, who had been traveling by Wendy's Floater Fruit, felt the force of the ocean's waves once again.
"Captain, we've spotted a Navy warship," Chiron, who had been on lookout, reported in time. "However, it doesn't appear to be a regular Navy ship. It seems to be a Navy training vessel."
"Uh, these new Navy recruits shouldn't be running up to me, shouting 'catch pirates,' right?" Eric joked.
"They probably don't have the leisure to chase us down," Chiron's voice became serious. "They're engaged in battle with a strong enemy aboard the ship, and they've already lost more than a dozen recruits."
Chiron, perhaps because of his background as a teacher, felt an unexplainable bond to the recruits.
"Daring to attack the Navy alone? That's really…" Eric suddenly stopped and turned serious, asking, "Is it a pirate with a massive build, a white crescent-shaped mustache, golden hair, and wielding a long sword?"
"Exactly, Captain, do you know him?"
"Small world. Where are they located?"
"Two o'clock, about seven thousand kilometers away."
"Alright, Gin , head toward them!" Eric sympathized with Zephyr's predicament. "A Navy admiral known as 'The Reluctant' is wiped out by vengeful pirates; someone who invested so much into the Navy, training countless elite soldiers, yet once again betrayed; in his despair, he wanted to destroy the New World, only to be killed by his own student."
"Understood!" Gin quickly turned the wheel of the ship.
"Chiron, help the Navy now, use your bow and arrows to attack that pirate."
"Understood, Captain!"
[Chiron's Affinity increased, Bond Level unchanged]
'Come to think of it, I remember that Kizaru first appeared when he stepped on a cannonball flying to Sabaody Archipelago...'
"Kallen, fire a cannonball towards the Navy training ship. I'll perform the 'step on a missile' trick."
"Yes!"
"Whir…"
The triple-barrel cannon in front slowly turned, and a large cannon barrel raised.
"Boom!"
A loud bang, the cannon belched smoke and fire, and a cone-shaped cannonball with a sharp whistle flew toward the Navy training ship.
Eric vanished and appeared above the cannonball.
"Damn, I forgot Kizaru used a smoothbore cannon, but we're using a rifled cannon!!"
"Ahhh!!"
"I think I heard the Captain scream."
"I think I heard it too."
"No worries, the Captain just hugged the cannonball with both hands and spun along with it," Chiron's voice was calm, but there was a slight quiver in it, as if struggling not to laugh.
"Ahem, then..." Chiron stood in the wind and rain, feeling the wind's speed and direction. His left hand held the Heart Lock Bow in front of him, while his right hand hooked the bowstring and pulled back.
Shooting in the rain? No problem for an unparalleled archer!
Is there a more famous archer than Chiron, who became Sagittarius?
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh"
The bowstring vibrated as Chiron pulled it back, his right hand moving so fast that it became a blur. In the blink of an eye, Chiron shot dozens of arrows.
The arrows cut through the air in arcs, arriving at their target ahead of Eric and the cannonball!
"Clang, clang, clang!"
The sharp arrows, wrapped in Haki, struck Weevil's back. The arrowheads pierced just an inch or two.
"Who's there?!" Weevil, injured, turned around and bellowed in fury.
The shallow wounds on his enormous body did nothing to stop him.
"Hm?" BGin , watching from a safe distance, frowned.
◇
Two minutes ago, Zephyr's heavy breathing was deafening, his lungs sounding like a broken bellows, exhaling with a "huff, huff" sound.
In front of him, more than a dozen Navy recruits had fallen. Some were even split in two by the long sword. The rain continued to pour down on the deck, but it couldn't wash away the thick blood stains.
Zephyr's eyes were bloodshot, and he roared angrily, "Damn pirates!" but he was helpless against Weevil.
According to Admiral Kizaru, Whitebeard's second son, nine years later, would possess the same strength as the young Whitebeard.
Of course, Kizaru's usual exaggeration made his claims questionable—whether Kizaru had ever fought the young Whitebeard was another issue.
But historically, Edward Weevil, who was able to sever the right arm of "Black Arm" Zephyr and become a Warlord of the Sea, was clearly not someone to be underestimated.
His strength and speed left Zephyr, a former admiral, shocked. Even his Armament Haki wasn't enough to handle Weevil's sheer power. His fists, striking against the blade, trembled constantly, and a deep wound, exposing bone, remained on his right arm.
His only weakness seemed to be his low intelligence, with the old woman behind him always giving orders.
'If I bypass him and attack that woman, he could kill my students in an instant…' Zephyr's mind raced, considering his options.
"Weevil, finish them off quickly!"
"Yes, Mama!"
Just as Weevil was about to attack, he was struck with arrows that turned him into a pincuYoshino.
(END CHAPTER)
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