"Back in the Age of Gods, when ships and navigation didn't exist… this is how the Great Apes used to travel from one island to another."
Zechs sweatdropped at that explanation, "Oh, really?"
Linlin, however, looked genuinely stunned, "Really? I didn't know that!"
"Don't believe what he's saying," Zechs said flatly. "He is bullshitting."
"Eh? He's bullshitting?" Linlin asked, tilting her head.
"Of course he is," Zechs replied. "Are you really that gullible to believe something like that?"
Hearing this, Linlin began to think Zechs might be right. She turned toward Kong with an angry glare, "Damn monkey… were you trying to fool me?"
Zechs could only stare at her, speechless that she had even considered Kong's claim to be true.
At the same time, he couldn't help but think of another shameless bullshitter, someone who once went on about Pteranodon's hunting techniques.
'People in this world really know how to bullshit,' Zechs thought.
[Host, how do you know what they're saying is bullshit?] Miss System said calmly. [This isn't your previous world. Perhaps the Pteranodons here really did hunt like that. And maybe the Great Apes of the Age of Gods actually traveled between islands using their tails as propellers.]
"…." Zechs wanted to argue.
But then he paused.
This was a world where magic and absurdity were normal. People's hair could change color from emotional trauma. Entire landscapes could shift from a single step forward of the collective crowd. Physics bent itself around willpower and Haki.
With that in mind…
Maybe Pteranodons really did have bizarre hunting techniques here.
And maybe, just maybe, the Great Apes of the Age of Gods really had flown from island to island using their spinning tails as propellers.
In any case, that wasn't what mattered right now; what mattered was that Kong was back in the air, and that fact irritated both Zechs and Linlin greatly.
"It seems… this fight isn't over yet," Linlin muttered as she knocked her fiery fists together again.
To her, that wasn't a problem. She was still brimming with energy and felt she could keep fighting for days if necessary.
Zechs could keep going as well. With Linlin's Steel Balloon physique integrated into his body, stamina wasn't a major concern for him either.
After a brief moment of thought, he made up his mind, "If you still want to fight instead of letting us leave peacefully, then fine," he said coldly. "I'll use this chance to completely master ACOC… and then kill you."
With that, he shot toward Kong once more.
Linlin followed immediately while complaining, "Hey… don't rush ahead on your own!"
Seeing the two of them rush him again, Kong's expression darkened with fury.
"Kill me?" he snarled. "Boy… you're getting ahead of yourself. Yes, being able to infuse Conqueror's Haki makes you dangerous. But don't think that just because you can do it, you're capable of killing me."
He propelled himself forward at the highest speed he could muster, attacking Zechs and Linlin in rapid succession with both fists.
They met him head-on.
Surprisingly, none of their weapons or fists actually touched.
A clear gap remained between them.
Within that narrow space between them, black lightning erupted violently, crackling as if it were tearing through the air itself, perhaps even space.
Boom! Rumble!
A massive explosion followed, red, black, and blue thunder rolling across the ocean. The sky and sea reacted instantly. For a brief moment, the rain stopped entirely, as if forced back by sheer will. The waves churned wildly, and the surrounding ships were shoved away in all directions by the shockwave.
Marines and pirates alike clung to their vessels as though their lives depended on it. The decks tilted and groaned beneath them as the ships were pushed farther from the epicenter of the clash. Even as they struggled to stay upright, their eyes remained fixed on the sky.
"T-the heavens… l-look at the heavens…"
When everyone looked up, their jaws dropped.
The sky itself appeared to split in three directions under the pressure of their colliding wills.
Shock rippled through both sides.
Most of the pirates had never witnessed anything like this before.
On the Marine side, however, several veterans aboard Kong's flagship recognized the phenomenon immediately.
"It's a collision of Conqueror's Haki…" one Marine muttered, swallowing hard. "But this is insane… both Asmodeus Zechs and Charlotte Linlin can infuse it just like Admiral Kong…?"
Another Marine added quietly, "Still… they don't seem as experienced as the Admiral, right?"
He said it while noting that Kong's side clearly dominated the clash, but even so, he couldn't ignore the other two presences.
Zechs and Linlin's wills were far from small.
…
High above, Zechs narrowed his eyes, "So… you can infuse Conqueror's Haki too."
"Of course I can," Kong replied with a wild smirk. "They don't call me 'King' Kong for nothing."
Zechs didn't argue, "Yeah… it makes more sense…"
Kong is someone who would go on to become Fleet Admiral and later the Commander-in-Chief of the World Government. Positions like that weren't handed out to ordinary men. A Fleet Admiral typically possessed Conqueror's Haki; Sengoku did. Akainu did. It would have been strange if their predecessor, the man with the epithet 'King' Kong, hadn't.
'An awakened Mythical Zoan… and Conqueror's infusion too,' Zechs thought. 'Yeah… this guy's no joke. He's a monster.'
Then again, the other Admirals were probably just as terrifying, especially the one known as the King of Monsters.
But that didn't matter right now.
He pushed those thoughts aside and refocused on the fight as they clashed again.
'Netori Thrust!'
'Linlin's Fiery Fist!'
Kong let out a mocking laugh. "Hah? The same attacks again? You really think they're going to work now?"
And he was right.
What had worked moments earlier no longer had the same effect.
Now that Kong was coating himself in Conqueror's Haki as well, using it for defense, neither Zechs' nor Linlin's attacks could properly break through his defenses. Meanwhile, Kong's counterattacks began landing with increasing force.
His mastery of Haki far surpassed both of theirs. Worse, he took every opportunity to use Internal Destruction, forcing his Haki into their bodies to bypass the toughness of the Steel Balloon physique. Combined with Conqueror's infusion, the result was overwhelming.
It was too much for relative novices like Zechs and Linlin to handle cleanly.
"Gah—!"
"Haaahnn—!"
Kong struck them in succession, his blows landing with brutal precision. Both were driven back, blood spilling from their mouths as they struggled to regain balance.
"Haaah… haaah… this bastard… he cracked several of my fingers…" Linlin muttered, a rare trace of unease creeping into her voice.
The advantage they had briefly gained had completely vanished.
Even so, Linlin's condition was still better than Zechs'.
Having turned parts of her bones and muscles into homies, she could command them to mend and stabilize themselves, accelerating her recovery mid-battle.
Zechs, however, didn't have that luxury.
Unlike Linlin, Zechs couldn't simply will his injuries to heal. He pressed a hand against his ribs and winced. The sharp pain in his chest made it clear that more than a few of them were cracked.
He coughed up blood and muttered, "We need to think of something…"
"But what?" Linlin demanded. "Do you still have any technique that can deal with this bastard?"
For all her pride, she was looking at him with a trace of hope. So far, he had performed far better than she had expected, guiding her in battle, suggesting new approaches, even demonstrating Conqueror's infusion before she was even aware of it herself.
She didn't want to admit it, but a thought did surface in her mind, 'No wonder he wasn't afraid of me back then… Maybe he knew he was stronger than me.'
She had assumed that Zechs's lack of fear and his audacity to toy with her came from arrogance or madness or something.
But now, another possibility took root.
Perhaps he had never been intimidated because he understood his own strength.
The idea irritated her, yet she couldn't deny it entirely.
Even so, she kept her eyes on him, wondering if he still had one more hidden trick, something they could use to overpower Kong and turn the tide of the battle.
Unfortunately, Zechs shook his head, "I'm out of cards."
He did know about something more advanced, pushing Conqueror's infusion to a critical mass to bypass even the defense provided by the Conqueror's infusion, but that was far beyond him right now. He had only just grasped the threshold of the advanced Conqueror's Haki.
Attempting something like that in this state would be suicide.
"Can't you use your tail to restrain him as you did with me?" Linlin asked, unhappy to hear that. When it came to toying with her, he didn't say that he was out of cards… But against Kong, he seemed cornered.
"He'd rip my tail off," Zechs replied bluntly.
"Then what now?" she asked.
He exhaled slowly, "With the options we have… we run."
Fighting any longer was pointless. They couldn't decisively defeat Kong, and there was no telling when Marine reinforcements might arrive. In their current condition, retreat was the most rational choice.
Linlin fell silent for a moment before nodding reluctantly, "But that bastard… will he even let us retreat? He'll definitely chase us."
She had barely finished speaking when Kong appeared in front of them, grinning. "What are you two whispering about? You're not planning to run away now, are you?"
Zechs and Linlin immediately moved to block his attack. Steel clashed, Haki crackled, and the air trembled as they held him off.
Even while fighting, Zechs continued analyzing the situation. No matter how he examined it, the conclusion remained the same: retreat was their only viable option, especially with his pirate ship already heavily damaged.
After a quick calculation, Zechs made his decision. Whether Kong could hear him or not didn't matter.
"Linlin," he said sharply, "order Zeus to destroy the two remaining Marine warships, but make sure no one on board dies. Sink the ships, not the sailors."
Kong raised an eyebrow. "Hey… I can hear you, you know."
"So what?" Zechs shot back. "It's not like you can stop it while both of us are keeping you busy."
Ignoring the pain from his fractured bones, Zechs pushed harder, increasing the intensity of his attacks and forcing Kong to focus entirely on him.
Linlin didn't question the order. She understood his intention immediately. While continuing to coordinate her strikes with Zechs, she called out, "Zeus!"
The cloud homie crackled in response. "Yes, Mama?!"
"Destroy those two warships," she ordered firmly. "But try not to kill the sailors. Sink the ships, leave the men alive."
"Got it!!" Zeus swelled instantly, arcs of white-hot lightning coiling violently within his body until he looked ready to explode.
Kong's pupils shrank. He immediately tried to break past them and intercept the cloud.
But Zechs and Linlin had no intention of letting him interfere. They pressed him harder, fighting with renewed desperation to keep him pinned in place.
Held back by the two of them, Kong could do nothing as Zeus released the charged thunder.
Rumble!
A blinding pillar of white lightning crashed down from the sky, thicker than a battleship's main mast. The bolt struck the Marine warship dead center, obliterating the mast instantly. The lightning burned straight through the deck, tearing through the hull and reaching all the way to the ship's bottom while electrocuting the sailors on board with light current, paralyzing them.
When the light finally faded, the warship was nothing more than a charred wreck. Flames licked across the sails, and the splintered remains began sinking. Steam hissed violently where the superheated water churned around it.
Kong's heart twisted as he watched yet another warship go down, its sailors paralyzed and slowly getting swallowed by the sea.
But before he could roar in fury, Zechs spoke up with a sly smile. "Good job, Zeus. Now… destroy Admiral Kong's warship too."
"Understood, Papa!" Zeus replied enthusiastically, using the title he had been taught.
"Papa?" Linlin's eyes narrowed slightly.
A faint blush crept onto her cheeks, but she didn't comment on it.
After all… if she was Mama, then as her future husband, Zechs being Papa only made sense, didn't it?
Putting that aside, Zechs and Linlin continued holding Kong off while Zeus drifted toward the Admiral's warship.
The Marines aboard opened fire on the cloud, bullets and cannon blasts tearing through it. But homies were notoriously difficult to kill. Unless it was a soul-based attack, ordinary weapons, even Haki-infused strikes, couldn't truly harm them. No matter how much the Marines attacked, Zeus only grinned viciously as electricity swelled within his body.
"Second helping, coming right up!!"
"Don't do it, bastard!!!" Kong roared, struggling once more to break free. Many of his long-time subordinates were on that ship. If it went down, they might all die.
But Zeus had no intention of listening to him. The only one he obeyed was Mama, and perhaps Papa, since Mama seemed to take his words seriously as well.
Without hesitation, Zeus unleashed another apocalyptic lance of lightning.
RUMBLE!!!!
The same devastating spectacle unfolded.
The crew aboard the warship screamed as streaks of current struck them, paralyzing their bodies while high-voltage lightning engulfed the mast. The hull glowed cherry red for a split second before collapsing inward like burning paper.
A secondary explosion from the powder magazines flared bright orange through the rain. The vessel began sinking rapidly, dragged under by its shattered structure.
Within moments, the second Marine warship was going down, along with the paralyzed sailors still aboard.
The ocean churned violently as massive whirlpools formed where superheated water met the cold depths below.
Kong snarled, veins bulging along his red-furred neck.
"Damn you—!"
He was furious, truly furious.
Two Marine warships had already sunk, and now the remaining two were on the verge of the same fate. He didn't even know what had become of the sailors from the earlier ships, and now hundreds more were about to drown.
The Marines might never run out of recruits; there would always be people willing to enlist, but that didn't make these deaths insignificant.
Many of the men sinking now were his long-time subordinates, sailors who had served under him for years. He could not simply stand by and watch them die.
"Fufu… Admiral Kong… now you have a choice," Zechs said with a low laugh. "You can keep fighting us… or you can save those Marines." He tilted his head slightly before adding, "But think carefully. If no one rescues them… they're definitely going to die."
If this had been someone like Admiral Sakazuki who follows the Absolute Justice, the choice would have been simple: discard the lives of the subordinates and focus on eliminating the pirates.
But Kong was not that kind of man.
Although he cared about bananas more than anything else, Kong still possessed a sense of justice. He cared about his subordinates as well, of course, not as much as Banana, but only slightly.
So, in this situation, where he had to choose between continuing to fight Asmodeus Zechs and Charlotte Linlin in order to capture/kill them or rescuing the lives of his subordinates, the choice was obvious.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, he made his choice and gave up pressing Zechs and Linlin, for now.
But he was also unwilling to accept defeat so easily…
Of course, he hasn't really been defeated… but the four warships he was commanding had all but destroyed, in a sense, this is indeed a defeat which he was unwilling to accept.
'At the very least, Asmodeus Zechs and Charlotte Linlin's ships have to be destroyed…!!!'
He shifted his gaze toward Zechs' pirate ship. It was closer to him and already very close to collapse.
Just a small attack and it could be sunk…
"If you're going to play like that…" he muttered with a smirk, "then don't blame me either…"
With that said, he suddenly opened his mouth and unleashed a concentrated breath attack toward the battered pirate vessel.
Shingggg—
BOOOOM!!!!
It happened too fast.
Zechs, lacking future sight, had no warning.
Right before his eyes, his already damaged ship was struck by the energy blast. The hull exploded, flames erupting across the deck as the structure began to break apart.
"!!!" Zechs' eyes widened in shock, and rage flooded his veins.
"Fucker… I'll kill you!!!!"
"Zechs, wait—!" Linlin tried to stop him.
But he wasn't listening.
Consumed by fury, Zechs raised his sword and charged at Kong, unleashing a full-powered strike infused with Conqueror's Haki.
'Netori Slash!'
Boom!
The impact was so violent that even Kong sensed the danger instantly. Though he managed to block the attack, the force behind it sent shockwaves rippling through the air, and for a brief moment, even he was shaken.
As he resisted the blade and held Zechs back, he noticed the boy's loss of composure.
A grim smile spread across his face.
"You should be careful, Asmodeus Zechs," Kong said with a mocking laugh, repeating the very words Zechs had thrown at him earlier. "The people on your ship… your crew… they're all going to die if you don't rescue them."
"Damn it…!!!" Forced back by the clash, Zechs cursed under his breath. Without giving Kong another glance, he turned and flew toward his burning, collapsing ship.
He had to save his crew before the waves swallowed them whole.
"…" Linlin remained where she was, watching Kong carefully. She didn't dare turn her back on him, wary that he might launch another attack.
Kong noticed that Charlotte Linlin was still guarding him and clicked his tongue in annoyance. He had intended to target her ship next, but that option no longer seemed viable. Her vessel was farther away, beyond the effective range of his breath attack, and it wasn't nearly as damaged as Asmodeus Zechs' ship. Even if he struck it, the result might not be decisive.
Given the situation, Kong abandoned the idea and cast Linlin a sharp look. "This isn't over yet, Charlotte Linlin…"
"It certainly isn't," Linlin replied coldly. "Sooner or later, I'll rip your soul right out of your body."
Kong let out a dismissive snort. Without another word, he descended toward the sea to rescue his subordinates.
Seeing Kong turn away and begin his retreat, Linlin let out a breath. "Phew…"
She had been tense the entire time, ready to react at any moment. Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened.
Relieved, she turned toward Zechs' burning ship and rode Zeus in that direction. His crew would need rescuing as well, and she intended to help.
…
Meanwhile, when Zechs reached the ship, he was greeted by pure chaos.
The vessel was burning, half-broken and collapsing into the sea. Crew members scrambled desperately to survive. Some screamed in fear as flames licked across the wreckage, while others cried out in pain from burns. Those who had already jumped into the water were being dragged away by the violent currents.
The only silver lining was that almost none of his crew were Devil Fruit users. They weren't sinking helplessly like Pudding would have. After sailing with him for more than five years, they had become capable pirates. Though not particularly strong, they were experienced enough to cling to floating debris and keep themselves afloat amid the raging sea.
Seeing this, Zechs felt a small measure of relief.
He turned toward Linlin, who had just arrived, "Linlin… I'll need your help rescuing them."
"I know," she replied with a nod before turning to Zeus. "Help them all."
The plan was simple. The crew could climb onto Zeus, who would keep them above the waves.
And so the rescue began.
Those who had already been saved immediately joined in, helping pull others from the water.
While the operation continued, Zechs searched for Pudding.
When he didn't find her on the ship or among the survivors already gathered, his expression darkened.
"She's a Devil Fruit user… if she fell into water… then she can't swim," he muttered grimly. "She must have sunk… maybe even been carried away by the currents…"
Without hesitation, he spread his Observation Haki.
At first, he sensed nothing, so he expanded his range further.
Still nothing.
"Damn it… Pudding-chan… where are you?" he thought anxiously.
If someone died, their 'voice' vanished. It becomes impossible to find them even via the Observation Haki.
Being unable to 'hear' Pudding's voice, Zechs wondered if she had died.
'N-no… she can't be dead…' Refusing to accept that possibility, he pushed his Observation Haki even farther, several times beyond the range he could normally maintain as his body began to tremble a little, and his forehead was covered in sweat.
But he didn't care about the exertion at the moment and kept expanding until he felt it.
A faint, fading 'voice' several miles away. Hearing that voice both relieved him and also made him tense. 'There she is, but she's dying.'
He turned to Linlin immediately, "Linlin, one of my crewmates drifted farther away. She is a Devil Fruit user and can't swim… so she needs to be rescued too, otherwise, she'd die. You, please, keep rescuing the others here. I'll go get her."
"Hey, wait, you're not in any condition to—" Linlin began, noticing his injuries.
She wanted to stop him, especially because if the person he was trying to rescue was a Devil Fruit user, then Zechs would have to dive into the sea to retrieve her.
And diving into waters like these, with such violent currents, was extremely dangerous, particularly in his already battered condition.
But Zechs didn't wait for her to finish. "Sorry," he said simply. "I have to rescue her."
Then, ignoring the pain in his body, he flapped his somewhat torn wings and launched into the storm, "I'll be back quickly. Don't worry."
"Tch…" Linlin clicked her tongue and glanced toward Kong in the distance, a hint of unease creeping in. With Zechs gone, she was alone. If Kong decided to make an attack now, she would be at a clear disadvantage.
The thought irritated her.
Suppressing her frustration, she turned back to the survivors, "Hurry up, all of you! We don't have much time!"
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Nice, this time, although we didn't reach the PS goal, we came quite close to completing it. Which is good, and I ask that we keep the same momentum so that I can stay motivated and keep the momentum of churning out chapters.
The new PS goal is to reach 230 PS within the next 24 hours. You guys, please help me reach it!!!
And don't forget to leave comments and reviews to keep me motivated.
Of course, if the readers wish, they can certainly read up to 20 advanced Chapters on p-a-t-r-e-o-n: Knockturn_Alley