"No! Stop!"
The CP leader, a step too late, felt his mind go completely blank.
But at the critical moment, a blood-soaked figure darted in from the side, slamming into Daffyloons and knocking him away at an angle.
The two figures, one large and one small, tumbled across the ground, carving a long trench into the grassy field.
This unexpected turn of events snapped the CP leader out of his daze, and a wave of uncontrollable relief washed over him.
"Saved... we're saved! Who are you?"
He rushed over to the unconscious Rozwad family, quickly checking their condition. Seeing no additional injuries, he let out a long sigh of relief.
"Bang!"
The massive bear roared as it swiped its paw at the figure who had collided with it. The strike sent a tall, silver-haired figure flying like a cannonball, landing heavily at the CP leader's feet.
The CP leader looked down to see a silver-haired, blue-eyed young man lying before him, his body covered in horrific wounds.
Deep gashes crisscrossed his bare chest, clearly inflicted by sharp and deadly blades. His flesh was bruised and mangled, blood and torn tissue visible all over.
"Huff... huff... I am Navy Headquarters Lieutenant Commander Rorschach," the young man said, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.
Rorschach's unwavering gaze was fixed on the rampaging bear charging toward them again. Noticing the CP leader still frozen in shock, he roared in anger:
"You idiot! What are you standing around for? Take the great Rozwad family and run! I'll hold off Daffyloons!"
"Ah? Understood!"
The CP leader hesitated for a moment, then felt a surge of gratitude as he watched the blood-soaked silver-haired boy rise to face the giant bear again.
What loyalty!
"Hold on! As long as the Rozwad family escapes safely, even if I die, I'll make sure the World Government knows of your heroism, Navy Lieutenant Commander Rorschach!"
The CP leader growled, grabbing Rozwad and Charlulia in his arms before sprinting into the dense forest. Charlos was protected by three CP operatives, who followed closely behind.
Behind them, the surviving guards stared as the silver-haired, bloodied Navy officer bravely battled the enraged bear.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
"Slash! Slash! Slash!"
Rorschach clenched his teeth, throwing punch after punch at the bear, forcing it to roar in pain. However, each swipe of the bear's massive claws left deep, bone-exposing wounds on the young man's body.
Blood poured from Rorschach in torrents, drenching the ground beneath him.
The guards could even see bits of flesh being torn from his body by the bear's claws.
The scene was harrowing beyond words.
This display of courage deeply moved the Celestial Dragons' guards.
"If the Navy can fight so valiantly, how can we, as the Celestial Dragons' guards, fall short? Charge! Give your lives to stop Daffyloons!"
With reddened eyes, the guards let out battle cries and surged forward.
In the midst of the chaos, Daffyloons could feel the increasing electricity coursing through his body.
The lightning energy Rorschach had channeled into him pushed his physical vitality to its absolute peak.
Any further, and his body would explode from the overload.
The immense power surging within him felt like an unstoppable tidal wave.
"Pirate! I won't let you harm the great Celestial Dragons! If you want to hurt Rozwad Saint, you'll have to step over my dead body first!"
The silver-haired Navy officer spread his arms wide, roaring with determination.
Daffyloons stared at the boy for a moment before a sinister grin spread across his bloodied bear-like face.
"Then die, you Celestial Dragon lapdog! You hypocritical Navy!"
The bear's terrifying claw came crashing down with overwhelming force.
"Slash!"
Blood sprayed into the air in an instant.
The guards' eyes widened in horror as they watched the Navy officer's chest get torn open, his body flung hundreds of meters away like a meteor before crashing into the ground.
This time, the valiant Navy officer didn't get back up.
"Ahhh! Damn you, pirate!"
The guards charged forward in a fury, but Daffyloons had become unstoppable.
At this moment, he was like a supercharged race car, its engine pushed to the limit, about to explode.
Everything in his path was crushed to pieces.
"Boom!"
The ground shattered as the giant bear plowed through the guards, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake as he pursued the CP leader, who was desperately fleeing with the Rozwad family.
Somehow, the crackling electricity that had filled the air for kilometers had disappeared.
One of the fleeing CP guards suddenly showed a look of joy.
Holding up his transponder snail, he shouted to the CP leader ahead:
"The line is connected! The line is connected!"
"Then call for reinforcements from the Holy Land immediately! Summon the Knights of God! As fast as possible!"
The CP leader roared back, already feeling the imminent danger closing in from behind.
The heroic Navy Lieutenant Commander had failed to stop the ferocious Daffyloons after all.
This Supernova pirate was far too powerful!
Meanwhile, in the Holy Land of Mariejois, along the grand avenue of Pangaea Castle, a middle-aged man in a suit picked up a transponder snail.
"Moshi moshi, this is—"
"Director Spandine! It's an emergency! Pirate Daffyloons is chasing us—chasing the Rozwad family! Help! The situation is critical! Requesting reinforcements!"
From the transponder snail came a sharp, frantic shout that nearly deafened Spandine and left the surrounding CP agents stunned and horrified.
"What did you just say?" Spandine's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Help! Please help! No… No! Charlos Saint! That bastard! He killed Charlos Saint!"
Clatter.
The transponder snail slipped from Spandine's trembling hand, falling onto the alabaster streets of Pangaea Castle with a crisp sound.
Spandine's body shook violently. His lips quivered, and after a moment of struggle, he forced a panicked scream from his throat.
"Priority Alert! A Celestial Dragon has been killed!"
A few seconds later, the vast Holy Land of Mariejois erupted into chaos.
Piercing alarm sirens echoed across the Red Line, resonating at the pinnacle of the world's power.
Meanwhile, at Grove 67 of the Sabaody Archipelago:
"Boom!"
Daffyloons, his body now swollen with raw power, descended from the sky. With one massive swipe, he tore apart the three CP guards carrying Charlos, along with Charlos himself, reducing them to a rain of shredded flesh and blood.
Charlos's bloated, grotesque face, still unconscious, separated from his corpulent body, spinning through the air before flying past the CP leader's stunned face.
"Whoosh!"
A gust of wind followed as Daffyloons's sharp claws severed the CP leader's entire left arm. In the same motion, they sliced through Rozwad Saint and Shalulia's legs, leaving all four limbs and the arm to fall to the ground simultaneously.
Without his left arm for support, the CP leader lost his balance and tumbled forward, dropping Rozwad and Shalulia from mid-air. All three crashed heavily onto the ground.
"Ahhh!"
The excruciating pain of their severed legs jolted Rozwad Saint and Shalulia awake from unconsciousness. Their faces twisted in agony as they looked down at their severed limbs.
Blood gushed relentlessly from their stumps, pooling beneath them.
Shalulia's once-beautiful face, previously adorned with an air of haughty sanctity, was now contorted in a grotesque mix of pain, tears, and mucus.
"You beast! Daffyloons! You insolent bastard! You'll die for this! Not just you—your family, your brothers, your village, your entire country will pay for your crimes!"
The CP leader staggered to his feet, his remaining arm swinging wildly as he charged at Daffyloons.
Standing over the terrified Rozwad Saint and Shalulia, Daffyloons raised his massive foot and stomped down mercilessly.
"My family and brothers are already dead," he said, laughing maniacally. Tears rolled down his face in large droplets.
"They've been dead for a long time!"
"Smash!"
Rozwad Saint's head crumpled and burst into a bloody pulp beneath the enormous foot.
"Six Powers Ultimate Technique: Finger Gun!"
Blood vessels across the CP leader's body ruptured as he channeled all his strength into his remaining arm. With fingers tightly pressed together, he drove his hand into Daffyloons's back, piercing his heart and emerging through his chest.
Scarlet fragments of the bear's heart scattered to the ground before him.
"My family... My wife... My child... My older brother..."
Daffyloons's vision darkened, yet his right hand rose high into the air, poised to strike at Shalulia.
"No! Stop!"
The CP leader's eyes filled with despair as he struggled to withdraw his hand from Daffyloons's heart, only for the bear's massive left hand to clamp down tightly on his wrist.
Murky blood spurted from Daffyloons's chest, staining the ground beneath him.
"Boom!"
With a deafening impact, Shalulia's entire upper body was crushed into the ground beneath Daffyloons's black-and-white paw.
The sensation of mangled flesh under his paw made Daffyloons's body tremble as he burst into hysterical laughter.
"Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha!"
"So this is what these so-called gods are—fragile and pathetic!"
From a great distance, Rayleigh stared at the scene unfolding before him, his face full of shock.
"This is bad. Three Celestial Dragons dead in one go. This is undoubtedly the worst incident to occur in the past 32 years!"
His gaze shifted from Daffyloons to another figure being carried away by the surviving guards—a silver-haired boy. Something about the boy seemed off, though Rayleigh couldn't quite place it.
"The tides of the Great Pirate Era are about to shift!"
"Boom!"
Thunder rumbled through the heavens, lightning tearing through the gathering storm clouds above.
An unprecedented storm was brewing.
(End of Chapter)
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