Leno, who was fiercely clashing with Akainu, suddenly frowned.
He sensed a powerful aura rapidly approaching.
It wasn't that his perception was unusually sharp.
It was simply that Sengoku, while charging through the air, was shouting nonstop.
His voice was so loud it created visible soundwaves, echoing across the entire battlefield.
"Sakazuki! Hold on! I'll be there soon!!"
Hearing this—
Leno's heart tightened.
Against Akainu alone, he was at ease, even holding a steady advantage.
But if Fleet Admiral Sengoku—no weakling himself—joined the fight, the situation would completely change.
He would definitely feel the pressure. He might even fall into real danger.
"We can't drag this out any longer!"
Leno made an immediate decision and called out to his girls:
"Everyone! End this quickly! Stop wasting time!"
"Prioritize capturing Hibari and Kujaku!"
As long as those two were under control, it would be enough to make Akainu and Sengoku hesitate.
Leno's reasoning was crystal clear.
Hibari was Akainu's precious daughter.
Kujaku was the granddaughter of Sengoku's old comrade Tsuru.
With those two heavyweight hostages in hand, neither Akainu nor Sengoku would dare act recklessly.
Hibari and Kujaku's faces darkened.
They were really popular, huh? Even getting special attention from Leno!
The moment he gave the order, Akainu realized something was wrong.
"That brat… he's targeting Hibari and Kujaku!"
Shock and fury surged in his heart.
No matter what Leno intended to do, it couldn't possibly be anything good!
Without hesitation, Akainu swept the battlefield with Observation Haki, preparing to dispatch forces to protect them.
One glance—
And his heart sank to the bottom.
Even knowing Leno's intention, what could he do?
There were almost no usable Marines left on the battlefield!
Aside from a handful of female Marines fighting Hancock—who, due to being women, had some resistance to her charm—
Nearly all the male Marines, along with some weak-willed female soldiers, had already been turned into stone statues by Hancock.
Lifelike stone figures. Clearly Marines at a glance.
Even strong willpower didn't matter.
Hancock's ability wasn't only passive petrification—she could actively petrify as well.
The female Marines Akainu had deliberately brought to threaten Leno—
If they hadn't wanted to become Leno's women rather than Hancock's—
They likely would've been petrified too.
Although they weren't turned to stone, their situation wasn't any better.
They were currently being completely overwhelmed by Domino and the others, unable to fight back.
This was far worse than Akainu had anticipated.
He had originally believed the Leno Pirates had only one top-tier powerhouse—Leno himself.
The rest were just decorative vases.
But seeing it with his own eyes—
These women had grown to such an extent!
Especially that little girl with the Mythical Zoan Siren form.
Her song was incredibly troublesome—even he was slightly affected.
Let alone the others.
And then there was Domino, who had eaten Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
She had only just obtained it, yet the destructive power she displayed was already formidable.
"It hasn't even been that long… since leaving Marineford, the Leno Pirates have grown to this level!"
Akainu was shaken.
"If they're allowed to keep growing, they'll all become major threats to the Navy in the future!"
He even felt that the Pirate Empress's gaze toward Leno—and their coordination in battle—
Suggested it wouldn't be long before she formally joined the Leno Pirates as well.
Knowing all this didn't help.
Akainu simply couldn't disengage to provide support.
His battle with Leno left him no breathing room.
In fact, it looked like he was the one at a disadvantage!
That damned Annihilation of All Things was utterly disgusting.
Able to attack and defend—it made him miserable.
He had never fought such a frustrating battle in his life.
Fortunately, he had just heard Sengoku's voice.
"Once Sengoku arrives, things won't be so bad."
That thought steadied him slightly.
For Akainu, Sengoku's arrival was good news.
But for the Blackbeard Pirates, who had been watching from afar—
Sengoku's sudden appearance caused an uproar.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku?! He's here too?!" Van Augur exclaimed.
This drastically disrupted the plan they had just devised.
No one could ignore Sengoku's presence.
"Damn it! The plan's changed!" Lafitte's smile froze.
Avalo Pizarro and Vasco Shot's expressions shifted drastically as well.
One Marine Admiral, Akainu—
One newly crowned Emperor, Leno—
Was already terrifying enough.
And now Fleet Admiral Sengoku had arrived!
If they still dared to wade in and try to snatch something from this chaos—
That would be outright suicide.
Not to mention, their captain Blackbeard still hadn't obtained the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
He hadn't yet reached his strongest form.
"Captain! This is bad! Let's retreat!" Burgess was the first to shout. He was reckless—but not stupid.
"If we jump in now, we'll die~"
"Avoiding the edge is the wiser move! None of us want to go back to Impel Down!"
Almost all of the Blackbeard Pirates began urging immediate retreat from the Calm Belt.
The fruit was great—
But you needed to be alive to enjoy it.
Blackbeard stared into the distance, his expression twisting grotesquely as he struggled internally.
"Last time… the Tremor-Tremor Fruit slipped right through my fingers!!"
He clenched his fists so tightly his nails nearly pierced his palms.
"This time… am I supposed to just watch the opportunity slip away again?!"
He looked at Domino, who was still fighting in the distance.
His eyes were filled with unwillingness and greed.
"If we wait any longer… Domino and Leno will only grow stronger! By then, getting the Tremor-Tremor Fruit will be even more impossible!!"
A reckless, desperate thought began spreading wildly in his mind.
A pirate who never gambled—
Would never reach the summit!
Hadn't he lurked in the Whitebeard Pirates for decades—
All to gamble that the Dark-Dark Fruit would appear?
Greed and gambler's instinct crushed his fear.
Blackbeard lifted his head, his eyes bloodshot and crazed.
His face twisted as he growled at his crew:
"Shut up!! All of you, listen carefully!!"
His gaze swept across each subordinate—
Especially those Level Six escapees who looked hesitant.
"The Tremor-Tremor Fruit… I must obtain it! No matter what!!"
"If you want to grow stronger, if you want powerful Devil Fruits—then you listen to me!"
"If we pull this off and succeed! Whatever fruit you want in the future, I'll get it for you!!"
The crew reacted differently.
Burgess and the others who had followed Blackbeard from early on thought it was risky—but they still had some faith in him.
They hesitated.
But Avalo Pizarro and the others who had only recently joined from Impel Down?
They hadn't been with Blackbeard long.
There was no way they were eager to risk their lives for him.
They had barely escaped the depths of the Infinite Hell.
Who the hell wanted to go back?
✨ Bonus Chapter Goals ✨
10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◇ You can read 90+ chapter ahead on P@treon if you're interested: patreon.com/CanonBreaker