"Die, you Marine Bastard!!"
"Cannonballs! Bring the cannonballs over!"
The barrage wasn't wave after wave, but rather a continuous onslaught forming a line of fire. Thick smoke billowed in the sky, and the deafening sound of cannon fire shattered the tranquility of Angel Island.
"Noisy!"
Suddenly, amidst the explosion's fiery glow, a disdainful snort emanated from the smoky haze. Countless streaks of thunderlight surged like living dragons, instantly striking the surrounding Pirate Ships.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The lightning was incredibly fast, and the dozen or so Pirate Ships around had no time to react before they were bitten by the lightning dragons. The surging electric light shattered them into bursts of fireworks.
Even though they employed aircraft technology, Golden Lion clearly didn't have the resources to replace all the ships in his fleet with metal hulls. Faced with Rowen's furious thunderstorm, ordinary wooden ships were utterly defenseless.
Bang… Rumble!!
Sinking the Pirate Ships around him, Rowen took a step forward, leaving an afterimage in his wake, and he was already airborne.
Here, a pitch-black thunderball had condensed at some point, its diameter spanning over a hundred meters, shrouding the sky. If not for Rowen's presence, an ordinary person would have mistaken it for an oddly shaped dark cloud.
Zii Zii!
Streaks of startling thunder converged in the sky. Rowen moved behind the Thunderball and extended his hand downward.
Boom!!!
Boundless thunderlight surged within, enveloping a large portion of the flying pirate fleet. When the thunderlight dissipated, only a fraction of the Pirate Ships remained in the area covered by the electric onslaught.
With just one move, the flying ship fleet suffered heavy losses! This was the overwhelming power of a peak-level combatant in warfare! In a battle, unless one had every advantage, sheer numbers were utterly meaningless.
"Not everyone is suited for aerial combat like you, Golden Lion."
"If you don't want to face me alone, come out!"
Dazzling thunderlight swirled around, and the sky was densely covered in dark clouds, casting Rowen's tall and imposing figure in a godlike, almost demonic light.
"Jihahahahahaha! Interesting!"
In the flagship's cabin, Golden Lion's face was twisted in a sinister grin as he spoke.
He wasn't moved by the losses of the ship fleet. In his eyes, these people were merely tools for his future world domination. And tools, if broken, could always be replaced.
He was now very interested in Rowen. Just with this move, Raigo – Thunder Greeting, Rowen was worth recruiting.
But before that…
"Young Marine, take this move of mine!"
Buzz!!
Suddenly, two majestic golden streaks shot out from the cabin, their presence so overwhelming that it gave the misconception of being torn apart just by looking at them.
Zanpa – Slash Wave!
"Even with such strength, Golden Lion, to think that two years later you'd be defeated by Luffy, who doesn't even know Haki… It's fate and timing."
He wasn't defeated by Luffy; he was defeated by nature, by the fearsome lightning. Just like he didn't lose to Roger, he lost to nature, to the terrifying tsunami.
Facing this boundless and overwhelmingly imposing Sword Energy, Rowen sighed, making no attempt to dodge.
Hiss! Hiss!
The two Zanpa-Slash Waves passed through his body like a cross, cutting Rowen into four pieces. However, before the pirates could get excited, the sliced-up Rowen instantly recombined.
Elementalization!
"Too slow!"
Electricity surged in the air as Rowen took a step forward, blinking above the flagship where Golden Lion was. His right foot was enveloped in a dazzling thunderstorm, and he stomped downward.
With a step, the thunderstorm that filled the sky was harnessed by Rowen, forming a gigantic foot.
Bang!!
Golden Lion had the ability to evade the attack, but there was no way his flagship underneath could do the same.
Just as Rowen had said, they were too slow!
Boom… Rumble!!
The massive flagship was stomped into countless wooden splinters by Rowen's foot, and the explosion's flames reached for the sky. In the falling debris, mutated beasts scorched by lightning wailed in agony, emitting the stench of burnt flesh.
These were experimental subjects that Golden Lion deliberately brought from Merveille's Isle. From the hundreds of Pirate Ships to these beasts, it was clear that Golden Lion's visit to Angel Island wasn't just about plundering.
Rather than cleaning up the mess afterward, Rowen preferred to take the initiative.
"You infuriated me, you wretched Marine brat!"
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a golden figure shot out from the fireworks, with Golden Lion gripping a trembling Dr. Indigo, who was corroded by lightning and had a pitch-black complexion.
Too fast!
Fast to the point of being incomprehensible!
In almost an instant, the thunderstorm destroyed the flying pirate fleet's flagship, leaving no chance for rescue. This forced Dr. Indigo to abandon the ship and flee.
With a casual toss of Dr. Indigo, who now clutched a piece of suspended wood, Golden Lion elevated himself to the same level as Rowen.
"Now, can you tell me the purpose of your visit, Golden Lion?" Rowen looked at him calmly, his thunderstorm ready to unleash its full force.
Fuwa Fuwa no Mi (Float-Float Fruit) ability user, the legendary Sea pirate Golden Lion, was finally facing off against Rowen.
"Go ask the Death God, you asshole!"
Having constantly underestimated Rowen, leading to his own significant losses, Golden Lion was too angry to hear reason. Kogarashi and Oto, positioned under his knees, were lifted in tandem, unleashing waves of Sword Energy!
Even without the Fuwa Fuwa no Mi (Float-Float Fruit), Golden Lion was undoubtedly a Great Swordsman!
Lion · Thousand Slice Valley!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Densely packed Sword Energy formed an instant storm, blanketing the high sky and raining down on Rowen. The Sword Energy was incredibly fast, tearing Rowen into fragments in an instant.
A simple vacuum slash, no matter how powerful, couldn't harm Rowen in his Elementalization state. He wasn't like Monet, a weakling who would lose control of his body due to overwhelming fear. But being passively attacked wasn't Rowen's style.
'Blink!'
Rowen vanished into thin air, only to abruptly reappear at Golden Lion's side the next moment.
Overload·Thunderlight Fist!!
Crash!
The flickering thunderlight fist clashed with Kogarashi's pitch-black blade, producing a deafening clang like that of colliding iron and steel. Feeling the sword's mournful resonance, Golden Lion drew in a sharp breath.
"You're a Devil Fruit Ability user, aren't you? How do you have this kind of strength?!"
Rowen's punch made him feel like he was facing Garp again, that unreasonable monstrous power numbing his legs. He had almost failed to block this punch.
"Go ask the Death God, you asshole!"
Rowen's mouth curled up, returning the favor in kind.
"You Bastard!!"
Furious, Golden Lion, with Kogarashi blocked, lifted Oto in a sweeping motion. The condensed Sword Energy instantly enveloped Oto, carrying boundless Killing Intentions as it swept toward Rowen.
In Golden Lion's era, there were also monstrous Logia users, but in the end, only the three of them stood at the pinnacle. As long as they forced a Logia user to be unable to Elementalize, with Sword Technique alone, Golden Lion was confident to take on anyone!
However, he had underestimated Rowen. From an ordinary person to his present state, Rowen had never stopped honing his physique, never overly relying on Elementalization.
Now, with lightning and physique fused together, combined with the BUG-level Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) Cover Range, Rowen was a balanced powerhouse with almost no discernible weaknesses.
Kami-e!
Plain and ordinary, as the sword light swept towards him, Rowen's body became as flexible as boneless, lightly tilting his hips backward, allowing the blade's edge to pass in front of his waist.
Tekkai!
Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), hardening!
Evading this fatal strike, Rowen quickly clenched his fist. Leveraging the Thunder-Lightning Human's special physique, he seized the opportunity like a thunderbolt, delivering a punch.
Military Wrist·Deep Gate!
Boom!!!
"Wu Wa!!"
This punch landed squarely on Golden Lion's chest, creating a bowl-sized depression on it, causing Golden Lion to spit out a mouthful of dark blood, his eyes filled with astonishment.
"Zephyr's Military Wrist strike? Are you his disciple?!"
"You got it!"
Rowen grinned, taking a step forward to catch up with the airborne Golden Lion, and delivered an incredibly fierce upward kick.
Overload·Lightning Kick!!
"This isn't Marine cleaning up pirates. It's a disciple seeking revenge for Sensei!"
Crash!!
The lightning-fast attack landed heavily on Golden Lion. He only managed to barely raise Kogarashi and Oto in defense before being sent flying by Rowen's kick!
(End of this chapter)
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