Chapter 48: 'Swarm King' Huaben
"It hurts so much!"
"Hey, were they just toying with the *Spearhead*?"
"That Marine... Who is he?"
On the *Spearhead*, chaos reigned at this moment.
Almost without exception, the injured on the ship had been violently thrown onto the deck just now—they were fortunate, as this spared them from being instantly killed by that strike.
However, at the same time, many of their existing wounds had ripped open.
Meanwhile, the few who could still move stared, astonished, at the figure on the distant Marine battleship slowly retracting his fist.
To them, that figure seemed like a towering mountain.
They knew that on their journey along the Grand Line, they had, of course, encountered the Marines many times, some of whom could even be called "powerhouses."
But to split the sea with one punch, then obliterate Captain Ace's wall of fire, and completely wipe out everything on the *Spearhead*'s deck?
Such a feat was beyond their imagination.
"Speaking of which, where's Captain Ace?"
Then, a crew member's words jolted everyone awake.
"Indeed, Captain Ace... could he have been caught by that last strike?"
"How is that possible? That's Captain Ace."
They frantically realized that Captain Ace had vanished in that last attack.
But then—
"Crack!" "Crack!"
The sound of splintering wood echoed.
Then—
"Whoosh!"
Amidst the scorching flames, Ace's figure rose from the wreckage of the ship's stern.
"Captain Ace!"
"I knew Captain Ace would be fine!"
The crowd erupted in cheers again—for those who had followed Ace to this point, he was virtually the embodiment of "invincibility."
So as long as their captain was still standing, they didn't believe they could lose.
But only a moment later, they realized something was amiss.
For Ace was clearly injured.
Purplish bruises marred his abdomen and both arms, his forehead was visibly bleeding, and even his signature cowboy hat had fallen off.
This sight left all members of the Spade Pirates utterly horrified.
Their captain, injured to this extent by just one attack!
Even when directly confronting the pursuit of the Seven Warlords of the Sea previously, their captain had never sustained wounds of this level.
"Deuce!?"
Deuce rushed to Ace's side, looking at him worriedly: "Let me treat your wounds."
"Thanks, Deuce."
Ace thanked him, his gaze still fixed on the distant Marine battleship. "Apologies, I couldn't block that guy's attack just now—he's like a monster. It's a good thing everyone is fine."
As he spoke, a hint of lingering fear was even present in Ace's voice.
In that previous strike, he had forgone the chance to elementalize and dodge, opting instead to clash head-on with his ability.
But clearly, he had overestimated himself and underestimated Loy.
Even with his full power, his flames completely failed to stop the opponent; he himself was injured as a result.
"That Marine... Loy Amos, a name I've never heard."
Ace stared at the name written on the battleship's sails in the distance, a hint of self-doubt filling his heart.
A punch with such power would be understandable if its user were a Marine Admiral or some renowned Vice Admiral.
But the truth was, he had never heard that name.
"How could a man like that be unknown in this vast ocean?"
He didn't understand.
But clearly, that no longer mattered.
"It doesn't matter, no matter who the opponent is..."
With this thought, Ace, who had quickly treated his injuries, stood up: "I will win."
Only then could he surpass that guy—his father, to whom he was tied by blood.
But just as Ace was about to resume fighting—
"Ace!"
Deuce, however, cut Ace off.
"Captain!"
This original member of the Spade Pirates looked at his captain.
"We can't keep fighting."
He said in a deep voice: "Huaben is still chasing us... We have to escape!"
Escape?!
Ace was naturally stunned for a moment at these words.
As a Supernova on the Grand Line, a man whose goal was to become the Pirate King—
He would not fear clashing with any strong opponent—he was confident he could defeat anyone.
He freely chose to do what he wanted, without fear.
But now...
"..."
Looking at his bandaged comrades on the deck, many with still-bleeding wounds.
After a brief stunned silence, Ace let out a deep breath.
"...Alright."
He nodded lightly.
He understood Deuce's intention.
If they continued to fight that terrifying Marine here, it would inevitably drag on for a considerable time.
And let's not forget, behind them, a Seven Warlord of the Sea was relentlessly pursuing them.
Once a real fight broke out, regardless of victory or defeat, many of them would surely die.
And clearly...
Ace could not accept such an outcome.
He wanted to surpass his father, to prove that his existence was not without value.
But if it meant exchanging the precious lives of his comrades...
"We're escaping!"
As the words left his mouth, he immediately stood up.
It had to be said—normally, for a ship with all three masts broken, escape would be almost impossible.
But for the *Spearhead*, it was clearly not so.
He moved to a spot on the deck and stomped both feet forcefully.
The next moment, two hollow openings appeared beneath the deck, seemingly connected to pipes below.
"Clank!" "Clank!"
Accompanied by the sounds of gears and machinery transforming, two massive exhaust ports suddenly extended from beneath the *Spearhead*.
Then—
"Whoosh!"
Flames erupted beneath Ace's feet.
The flames spread along the pipes, then burst out from the exhaust ports.
The next moment, the entire *Spearhead* shot forward like a rocket, speeding off into the distance!
"A ship that can be propelled by a Devil Fruit ability?"
At the same time, Loy looked at the *Spearhead* as it sped away.
He wasn't surprised by this sight—in the future, after Ace joined the Whitebeard Pirates, he would indeed have a single-person small boat propelled by his ability, named the "Striker."
It now seemed that this *Spearhead* might be the origin of that small boat.
But clearly, he didn't really care.
"..."
At this moment, Loy merely clenched his fist, a clear excitement in his eyes.
He was very satisfied with that punch just now.
The Great Buddha Devil Fruit truly lived up to its name as a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit exclusively used by a Marine Fleet Admiral; its offensive wave power after reaching LV3 was practically legendary.
And this wasn't even its full power—if he didn't have to worry about exposing his identity, Loy could still transform into a true "Great Buddha," and the power unleashed by this Devil Fruit would be even stronger!
But for Loy, the most exciting part wasn't this.
"Even with such an attack, the drain on my stamina is still minimal... No, the drain isn't actually small; it's just that I've genuinely grown stronger."
This was what excited him the most.
This was the mark of his arduous training during this period.
Zephyr's "Black Armament Flow" held great significance for him.
The reason for this lay in the fact that although Loy's physical attributes were gained through equipping Devil Fruits, the training he underwent was genuine.
The muscle and physical enhancements he gained from training would not disappear even after he changed Devil Fruit effects; instead, they would be retained to a certain extent.
If speaking in game terms—although Loy gained 100 points of physical attributes through Devil Fruit abilities, allowing him to undertake the extremely difficult training challenge of "bearing the ocean currents 5,000 meters deep," each training session could increase his physical attributes by 5 points.
So even after Loy changed Devil Fruits and his physical attributes returned to their original level, those 5 points of physical attributes gained beforehand would still remain.
And for Loy, whose original strength was not particularly outstanding, this improvement was already immense!
This led to his physical attributes and strength increasing significantly in just one month, and his Devil Fruit ability control became even more proficient.
This was the fundamental improvement based on his Devil Fruit ability.
"...This way, I can totally try out those two moves."
Murmuring to himself, Loy turned around: "Hans, Fahr, prepare to pursue—"
His words stopped in his throat before they could finish.
Because when he turned around, he saw a group of dazed faces.
Yes, the Marines of the Escort Unit were all still in a dazed state, not yet recovered from that punch.
"..."
Seeing this scene, Loy also sighed.
Forget it, he couldn't rely on these guys.
So, he once again stood on the ship's rail.
"Buzz!"
In his hand, a strong fluctuation gathered once more.
But at this very moment—
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
From behind him, continuous gigantic sounds erupted.
It was the roar of cannon fire.
The next moment, Loy clearly saw cannonballs flying one after another, landing on the sea surface where the *Spearhead* had sped away, stirring up gigantic water columns.
Loy hadn't even reacted yet.
"Boom!"
The entire battleship instantly trembled, and a huge flash of fire erupted from its stern.
And it was only then—
Loy finally saw the fleet that had appeared on the sea surface behind them.
The number of ships in the fleet wasn't large; there were only seven colossal ships in total.
Marine battleships were actually considered relatively large, but in front of those seven ships, they were still less than one-third the size of the opposing vessels.
Those seven ships, without exception, all shared the same design—hulls like dinosaurs, and sails like pterodactyl wings.
On their masts, the same pirate flag was hoisted.
That flag, a skull with a protruding jaw like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, along with the figure standing at the very front of the pirate ship, clearly identified the fleet's affiliation.
Loy could see that the opponent was wearing a pitch-black hooded cloak, the exterior of his hood resembling a dinosaur's head.
In his hand, he held a weapon—its front end was a scythe, while its back end hung a meteor hammer.
That was none other than the Seven Warlord of the Sea—
"'Swarm King' Huaben!"
(end of chapter)