Ginny raised her sniper rifle and began to aim.
Uncertain of Aramaki's identity, she did not aim for his vital points.
With a bang, a gunshot broke the silence, and the bullet flew towards Aramaki's thigh.
Aramaki, however, did not dodge, allowing the bullet to strike his thigh.
Then, the spot where he was hit turned into splinters and slowly began to heal.
"Logia?"
Ginny's gun barrel smoked as she looked at Aramaki with a solemn expression.
If just now she had thought it highly unlikely that he was targeting the Revolutionary Army, the situation had now completely reversed.
Although Mythical Zoans were said to be rarer than Logias, in terms of sheer numbers in the later stages, Logias were actually slightly fewer.
A rare Logia user appearing here at this time—if it was a coincidence, it was too much of one.
Just as Ginny was about to order the others to prepare for battle, a slightly mocking voice came from the ship opposite.
"Oh dear, greeting someone with a lead bullet isn't a very polite gesture, is it?"
Aramaki lazily stood up, and giant tree roots suddenly grew from the deck beneath him, enveloping the entire ship and turning it into a moving forest.
"Hurry up and go!"
Ginny quickly ordered the others to set sail, while she herself raised her sniper rifle again.
Bang, bang, bang!
Three continuous gunshots rang out, the bullets aimed at Aramaki's eyes, throat, and heart respectively.
But Aramaki merely raised a hand and waved, and tree trunks that shot up from the ground swallowed all the bullets.
"Ironwood Shield!"
He grinned:
"Your bullets can't even scratch my bark."
As he spoke, the ship beneath Aramaki's feet suddenly accelerated, drawing closer and closer to the Revolutionary Army's ship.
Ginny gritted her teeth:
"Don't you dare look down on me here!"
She threw a smoke bomb into the sea.
It was unclear what principle this smoke bomb operated on, but it created a dense fog area on the open sea.
The sea fog, which had begun to thin, also seemed to thicken again with it.
"Oh?"
Aramaki let out a soft sound of surprise, but didn't take it too seriously; this kind of smoke had little effect on Observation Haki's perception.
The Revolutionary Army's ship used the cover of the fog to accelerate, preparing to escape this area.
As long as they could reach the whirlpool siphon zone near Degalt, they would be safe.
Ginny had already moved to the stern, using her sniping ability to provide cover for the others.
Her bullets, imbued with Armament Haki, were powerful enough to pierce steel as they flew towards Aramaki.
Aramaki didn't even blink; at the moment the bullet reached him, a carnivorous plant grew on his body and bit through the bullet head.
Ginny's pupils constricted, and she finally realized that the opponent was completely out of her league.
Aramaki, however, gave her no time to be surprised; once the two ships closed to a certain distance, his right arm suddenly transformed into a giant wooden hammer.
"Forest-Forest: Great Hammer!"
The name was simple and crude, but the power of the move was not to be underestimated.
Boom!
Giant waves surged on the sea as the wooden hammer slammed fiercely onto the opponent's deck.
Crack!
Although the Revolutionary Army's warship, which had undergone multiple modifications, did not immediately shatter, it was smashed in half from the middle and looked about to sink.
Ginny barely managed to jump away, preparing to stand on the broken warship, but her feet were suddenly bound by creeping vines.
"Got you!"
Ginny looked up at the sound, only to see that Aramaki had appeared above her head at some point, standing on the treetop in mid-air!
Ginny gritted her teeth, pulling out a self-defense dagger from her bosom to try and cut the vines, but more branches surged from all directions.
Seeing the dire situation, Ginny used Moonwalk, preparing to escape first, but Aramaki snapped his fingers.
With a crisp sound, a thorny net suddenly descended from the sky, slamming her heavily onto the sea surface.
"You thugs who attempt to resist the World Government..."
Aramaki slowly approached, stepping on a tree trunk, his Armament Haki-covered fist glowing green:
"Always think that with a little cleverness, you can contend with absolute power."
Aramaki punched Ginny in the abdomen; the terrifying impact made her spit out a mouthful of blood, her consciousness almost fading.
"Don't worry, I won't kill you."
"After all, Saint Black prefers live toys."
Before losing consciousness, Ginny vaguely heard these words.
Aramaki bound Ginny into a cocoon with vines and held her in his hand.
He no longer paid attention to the Revolutionary Army cadres struggling in the sea, and directly stepped on the tree trunk to return to his ship.
After all, Blake's request was to make a big show.
If there wasn't even a single survivor, who would know he did it?
However, Aramaki decided to quickly send the opponent to Mary Geoise.
After all, the Revolutionary Army wouldn't dare charge the Red Line, but would they dare charge him?
Long after Aramaki left, the fleet from Degalt finally arrived in this sea area.
Leading them was Mori, the giant from Degalt.
They had originally been waiting at the edge of the whirlpool siphon zone, but Ginny's fleet had been late, and even communication had been cut off.
Realizing something was wrong, Mori immediately decided to provide support.
Seeing the scattered fragments of ships on the sea, and the Revolutionary Army cadres clinging to planks and drifting with the current, Mori's face showed surprise, and he hastily ordered:
"Quickly rescue them!"
After much effort, they finally learned what had happened earlier from the rescued Revolutionary Army members.
Mori hastily took out a transponder snail to contact Dragon.
After hearing the news from here, Dragon's tone remained calm:
"I understand. I will find a way to rescue Ginny."
His steady voice gave Mori a bit more confidence.
"If it's the leader, Ginny will definitely be fine, right?"
Little did he know—
Dragon started sweating after hanging up the transponder snail.
The area he was currently in was very far from West Blue; by the time he arrived, Ginny might have already been sent somewhere else.
He could only silently pray:
"I hope Ginny can be safe and sound."
Ginny, of course, couldn't be safe and sound.
By the time she woke up, it was already deep night.
Ginny tried to move her body, but found herself still tightly bound by branches.
"Hey! Is anyone there? Is anyone there?"
Ginny's shouts finally drew Aramaki over:
"What do you want?"
Aramaki's tone was not as friendly as when he faced Olvia.
Clearly, his impression of the Revolutionary Army was even worse than of archaeologists.
Ginny's face showed an awkward smile:
"Um... where are we? And where are you planning to take me?"
She decided to play along for now, try to gather some information about the opponent, then lower their guard, and finally... "Eh, eh, eh?"
Ginny's perfect plan hadn't even been fully formed when Aramaki hoisted her up with vines:
"You'd better stay put and not cause me any trouble."
With that, Aramaki turned to leave.
Ginny's eyes widened, and then she began to curse loudly.
Aramaki, who was leaving, twitched his face, raised a hand and waved it; the vines binding Ginny instantly grew, sealing her mouth as well.
The air finally became quiet.