"Wh-what's going on?! Did Pops flare up again?!"
"No, that's not it, it's not Pops, he didn't even make a move just now! Is this some kind of natural disaster..."
Back at the start, the tsunami Whitebeard caused with a Seaquake was already enough to engulf the entire Marinfanto, and it was only thanks to Kuzan's ability that the tsunami's impact was neutralized.
After that, Whitebeard never launched a similar attack again. Partly because of Kuzan's ability, but also because his subordinates had already begun the landing operation; if he kept triggering large-scale Seaquakes, the members of the Whitebeard Pirates would suffer massive casualties as well.
This was also the downside of the Quake-Quake Fruit: while it possessed unparalleled destructive power, the aftershocks of the tremors had a huge impact on allies too.
The tsunami Whitebeard created did indeed have destructive, annihilating force, but compared to this new wave, it was like a kiddie trick in front of a real monster.
King and Shaina instinctively flew higher into the sky, planning to avoid the effects brought by the tsunami.
"This direction... did Lord Sacred Beast get angry?"
"Doesn't seem like it. If Lord Sacred Beast really got mad, the impact wouldn't be this normal. This feels more like aftershocks... Besides, according to Lord Sacred Beast, once he took back his stuff he was heading straight back to Wano Kuni; he never intended to get involved in Mr. Kaidou's business."
Neither of them was affected by the waves. This tsunami looked terrifying, but it posed no real threat to them. Kaidou had deliberately picked High-Level Officials capable of flight precisely to handle sudden situations like this; as long as they could fly above the waves, no matter how big the tsunami was, it couldn't threaten them.
There were a lot of people down below, but they were either Navy or Whitebeard's men. Facing these non-friendly units, they couldn't care less.
Whether it was King or Shaina, both were people who'd walked out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood; no matter how many unrelated people died, their emotions wouldn't waver. In fact, they were more curious about what had happened on Arceus's side.
"True, Lord Sacred Beast's power is way more than this. Wait... is there something on top of that wave?"
King knew perfectly well that Arceus possessed the power to wipe out a nation with a wave of his hand. If he was truly enraged, he wouldn't use something as inefficient as a tsunami.
He had originally wanted to see how the Navy would deal with this tsunami, but then he noticed some strange things seeming to float atop the wave crest.
"Those should be ships. With a tsunami this big, it's not strange for ships to get swept up. Looks like the warships stationed on Marinfanto's outskirts."
"They are warships, but inside... looks like all prisoners, right? How could there be warships fully loaded with prisoners in a place like this?"
"No idea, but I do know that Mr. Kaidou is probably going to have even more fun than he expected. By the way, where did that guy Queen go?"
Shaina glanced around and didn't see Queen anywhere.
Logically speaking, they were all people in their forties or fifties; everyone knew exactly how to face danger, so King and Shaina hadn't bothered with him and just minding their own business climbed higher.
Given Queen's personality, he would never put himself in a dangerous position, unless someone touched his bananas or had a Wolf Fang Club pressed against his head.
"Queen... oh, there he is, alive and kicking."
Following the direction King pointed, Shaina saw Queen engaged in an aerial battle with two giant dragons. In appearance they didn't look any different from ordinary Western dragons, their size also much smaller than the Eight-Headed Evil Dragon, but on their backs they were equipped with Laser Cannons similar to those on Peacekeepers.
Behind them trailed smaller creatures resembling bipedal wyverns, with regular Revolver Machine Guns mounted on their bodies.
Just like the Peacekeepers, these were also masterpieces of the Navy Science Corps, creatures recreated years ago using the Bloodline Factor of the Eight-Headed Evil Dragon as a blueprint. After years of cultivation, they had finally formed this aerial force.
According to Sengoku's orders, they were a special unit hidden above the cloud layer, just waiting for the command to attack.
It was just that the battle below had been progressing very smoothly, so Sengoku had held back their sortie, planning to send them out to pursue once the pirates were completely routed. Then Kaidou suddenly barged into the picture, followed by this massive tsunami.
Before they could even react, Queen dove straight into their ranks, which ultimately resulted in the current aerial battle.
"Come on! Let Lord Queen see what you cheap knockoffs can do! You two stay back! I'm going to personally deal with these thieves who stole my work!"
Queen was also pouring out firepower of his own, and for once, he was actually telling Shaina and King not to interfere in his fight.
"Has this guy gone insane? He really thinks this is his own work?"
In Shaina's eyes, Queen was already a walking contradiction. He feared the danger that came with taking the blame, yet also enjoyed the glory that taking the blame brought him.
To outsiders, this looked like Queen had seen through the origin of the Navy's Flying Dragon Team and was defending his own invention. But as fellow top executives, Shaina and King knew exactly how much Queen was really worth.
"No, he's just finding an excuse for himself. This way he doesn't have to step into any fights that are too dangerous... Those things at best make up thirty percent of the firepower on his body."
Shaina would only attack Queen physically when she was in a bad mood, but King was different. He enjoyed dealing simultaneous mental and physical blows to Queen, so he understood Queen's thought process extremely well.
Just from his movements, he could guess roughly eighty to ninety percent of it. And it was exactly as King thought: Queen was looking for a reasonable excuse to slack off. He was not like King and Shaina; as Lunarians, the two of them were stronger and more valued by Arceus.
Even if they did nothing in the Summit War, they'd be fine once they went back.
Right now Yamato had already been thrown into the crowd by Kaidou, and Kaidou wouldn't have time to worry about her for a while, which meant the one in real danger was him. In order to avoid being targeted by Kaidou and having some troublesome opponent forcibly assigned to him, Queen decided to pick a group of guys who looked tough but weren't actually that strong to fight.
Originally, he had his eye on those giant Vice Admirals down below; in his eyes, they were the easiest enemies to handle. But while dodging the tsunami, Queen came up with a new idea and started his aerial battle with these aerial troops.
Queen hoped he could slack off like this until the fight was over, then return to Wano Kuni safe and sound. Unfortunately, accidents always happen. Just when he was engaging these "bootlegs" in a friendly fight, the genuine product arrived.
"Rooaar!!"
With a roar, the Eight-Headed Evil Dragon, which had been idling in the sky, charged at this Flying Dragon Team. With just a single pass it shattered their formation, then all eight heads shot out at once and directly bit off the neck of one of the big dragons.
"Roar?"
After that, the Eight-Headed Evil Dragon looked at Queen in confusion, the meaning behind its roar very clear.
[Why were such weaklings able to chase you around?]