On the shore, a group of slaves who had narrowly escaped the chaotic battlefield stumbled toward the sea.
"Look! Warships!" one slave pointed ahead.
Over a dozen Marine warships were anchored in the shallow bay, their Navy Flags flapping loudly in the sea breeze.
For those who had just escaped death, those flags symbolized order and refuge.
"Hurry! Get over there!"
Everyone staggered toward the shore.
"Marines! Please, let us escape this island too!"
The slaves knelt on the beach, clasping their hands together, using their last bit of strength to plead for help.
On the warship decks, Marine soldiers watched coldly.
To them, these people were merely slaves, not civilians, and thus not entitled to their protection.
Just then, the doors to the warship cabins opened.
Over a dozen Celestial Dragons filed out, standing at the railings and looking down at the slaves on the shore as if observing an amusing swarm of insects.
"How noisy," said the lead Celestial Dragon, Charlos, picking at his ear. "Where did all these filthy slaves come from?"
Beside him, the female Celestial Dragon Shalria covered her mouth and nose with a silk handkerchief:
"How disgusting. These lowly creatures aren't fit to approach our ships."
The slaves on the shore froze.
They recognized those outfits—the Celestial Dragons who had captured them and brought them to this hell, hunting them like prey.
Charlos sneered, "Marines!"
"Sir!" a Marine Rear Admiral nearby immediately straightened up.
"Can't you see these slaves are polluting my sight?" Charlos pointed at the shore.
"Open fire! Clean up this trash!"
"Yes, sir!" The Rear Admiral saluted.
Cannons turned, aiming at the unarmed slaves on the shore.
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared in midair between the warships and the coast.
It was Raiver.
Most suffocating was the invisible Gravity Wall behind him—
Nearly two hundred Celestial Dragons, their limbs severed and eyes gouged out, were stuck to it like broken dolls.
Silently suspended, they bore witness to an absolute power and judgment.
"That's..." The Marine Rear Admiral's pupils contracted sharply. "The Pirate Raiver!"
Raiver's gaze swept calmly over the sea.
His Space Perception had long enveloped the entire island.
Apart from those who had already fled to the warships, there were no more Celestial Dragon presences left on the island.
Now, it was time to close the net.
He raised his right hand, fingers slightly spread.
"All Creation of Attraction."
The next second, the Celestial Dragons on the warships discovered in horror that their bodies were floating uncontrollably.
Not just those on the decks, but other Celestial Dragons inside the cabins were also pulled out.
Glass shattered, wooden doors splintered.
The Celestial Dragons screamed as an invisible force dragged them from their comfortable safe zones, pulling them toward the black-clad figure in midair.
"What's happening? Guards! Guards!"
"My body... release me at once!"
"Marines! What are you doing? Stop him!"
More and more Celestial Dragons were pulled from the various warships.
Some clung to railings until their fingers were torn off.
Some tried to hide deep within the ship's cabins, only to be dragged out along with the walls.
When they all hung suspended before Raiver, their curses and commands turned into fearful groans.
Because now, they finally saw the faces of their "Human Swine" counterparts on the Gravity Wall.
Though they no longer had eyes, those twisted visages could still be recognized as once-familiar identities.
Charlos's face turned deathly pale behind his glass helmet. "You... how dare you..."
Raiver didn't look at him, merely slowly clenching his right hand.
"Space—Strangulation."
Before the words faded, within a hundred-meter radius centered on Raiver, space began to shatter, reorganize, and rotate.
Countless transparent Space Shards, like laser beams, precisely pierced through every Celestial Dragon's body.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—
Swish! Swish! Swish—
In an instant, whether freshly pulled from the warships or already hanging on the Gravity Wall, all were strangled into minced meat by the spatial force.
Then, a downpour of blood rained down.
Deathly silence enveloped the coast.
"Ding! Mission Complete: Hunt 200 Celestial Dragons!"
"Reward Issued: Congratulations, you have obtained Supreme King Haki!"
The system's notification echoed in Raiver's mind, as an immensely powerful force surged from deep within him.
It was Supreme Conqueror Haki, capable of crushing reality with tangible force and intimidating all things.
Below, the Marines stood frozen in shock.
After an unknown length of time, one Marine soldier suddenly vomited.
Then a second, and a third.
The Marine Rear Admiral's lips trembled, finally mustering all his strength to roar:
"Fire! All batteries fire! Target—Raiver!"
The command awakened the numb soldiers.
Cannons roared in unison, muzzles from over a dozen warships spewing flames as shells rained toward Raiver in mid-air.
But Raiver merely raised his left hand slightly.
An invisible barrier unfolded before him. All shells halted upon contact, deformed, and finally scattered as iron dust.
Then he drew his sword.
Swish—
A straight, massive black Wave Cut swept horizontally across the sea, passing over all the warships.
Immediately after, over a dozen warships neatly split in half.
The next moment, explosions erupted from the fractures, rapidly spreading throughout the ships.
Flames engulfed the hulls, Shockwaves blasting the wreckage into fragments.
Raiver sheathed his sword, glanced at the surviving slaves on the shore, then his figure faded and vanished into the air.
On the coast, the slaves helped each other up, gazing at the empty sea, sinking into deeper despair.
"The ships... all gone..."
"We can't escape..." An old slave knelt on the ground. "Without ships, we'll all die here."
Just then, a gentle voice sounded from behind them:
"Everyone, let me help you leave this island."
They turned and saw three figures.
"I am Bartholomew Kuma." Kuma stepped before the crowd. "These are my companions, Ivankov and Ginny. We will help everyone leave here."
Little Ivankov struck an exaggerated pose. "Don't worry! Kuma's Paw-Paw Fruit has the strongest teleportation ability!"
Little Ginny ran to a female slave, standing on tiptoe to look at the unconscious child. "Kuma, send this mother and child first."
Kuma nodded, walked to the female slave, crouched down to meet her eye level:
"Please tell me, where would you like to go?"
The female slave looked at him blankly. "Go... go where? Anywhere is fine, as long as we can leave this place..."
"Then, go to a peaceful island," Kuma said with a smile, extending his massive hands and gently pressing them against the backs of the female slave and the child.
"Sleep peacefully. When you wake up, you'll be safe."
Pop
With a soft sound, the two turned into specks of light and vanished into the air.
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