CHAPTER 89: CHAPTER 89: AN UNDISPUTED ROUT, KARINA’S RUTHLESSNESS

"Negative, negative... negative, negative..."

Under the azure sky, nine warships advanced in a fan formation.

Just then, on the warship carrying the five Vice Admirals, the Marine officers and soldiers who were either training, resting with their eyes closed, or conserving their energy for the upcoming battle, a chilling, childlike voice suddenly reached their ears.

"Enemy attack! All troops, on alert!"

Although several days had passed since the harassment by Karl and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, after experiencing the terror of two pinnacle monsters, the psychological resilience of the accompanying officers and the nearly ten thousand Marine soldiers had increased countless times.

To be precise, they had been scared into a state of heightened alert.

At the shout of a captain, all the Marine soldiers, whether they were training or resting, immediately opened their eyes, grabbed their weapons, and tensely searched for the source of the voice.

"Negative, negative... negative, negative..."

As the childlike voice drew closer and became clearer, over a thousand pairs of eyes on the warship carrying the officers looked up and saw several white, transparent, sausage-lipped Negative Hollows descending from the sky.

Behind them, high in the air, a platform floated, upon which stood three women.

"...The Paramecia Hollow-Hollow Fruit. Everyone, do not let these ghosts touch you."

"The ’Demon Child’ Nico Robin, the ’Phantom Thief’ Karina, and an unknown young girl. They are all companions of the Dragon Rider."

Some of the more knowledgeable Marine officers recognized the origin of the Negative Hollows’ ability.

At the same time, others identified the three women.

"Ready to fire—Fire!"

Bang bang bang bang bang...

Several Marine officers of the rank of commander immediately ordered their squads to open fire at the sky.

But the bullets were not aimed at the descending Negative Hollows, but at Karina and the other two women, who were floating in the air on a platform by some unknown means.

As the saying goes: to catch bandits, first catch the king.

Any ability will disappear once its user is dead.

As the bullets left the chambers, a curtain of fire shot up towards the three women.

Without a doubt, if they were engulfed by this barrage, the three of them would be instantly turned into beehives.

Among them, a dozen sniper bullets mixed in with the barrage were the first to fly towards their foreheads.

Clang clang clang...

The sniper bullets were incredibly fast. The instant after the gunshots rang out, they were in front of the three women.

Unfortunately, when they were about thirty centimeters from their foreheads, these sniper bullets, moving so fast they were almost invisible to the naked eye, all stopped in mid-air.

Then, a dazzling spark erupted from the tips of the bullets as they ricocheted off what seemed to be an indestructible metal surface, flying back over a hundred meters.

Fortunately, the direction of the ricochet was not towards the warship below. Otherwise, any Marine soldier hit by a ricocheting sniper bullet would have been unlucky enough to die at the hands of their own comrades.

"...All hands, cease fire."

Seeing this, Vice Admiral Momonga, who had gone from second-in-command to temporary commander-in-chief, quickly shouted.

After halting his subordinates’ second round of fire, Momonga and his fellow officers, who had seemingly come to the same conclusion, broke out in a cold sweat.

This was a reaction they hadn’t even had when facing Karl or the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

It wasn’t because they no longer had a Marine Admiral by their side and had lost their sense of security.

The more knowledgeable among them had discovered something extremely terrifying.

"The Rumble-Rumble Fruit, the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, the Barrier-Barrier Fruit... is this entire crew made up of monsters?!"

A similarly knowledgeable Marine captain, terrified, took a few steps back, swallowed hard, and voiced the thoughts of the five Vice Admirals with a trembling voice.

"All troops, listen to my command! All warships, disperse and advance! We will rendezvous in the waters where Gran Tesoro is located!"

Without the slightest hesitation, before the Negative Hollows could make their move, Vice Admiral Momonga opened the Den Den Mushi on his wrist and shouted into it.

After giving the order, he turned to his colleagues and said, "We’ll split up too!"

Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh—

Almost the instant Momonga finished speaking, the other four accompanying Vice Admirals, without even time to reply, immediately used Soru to disappear in a blur. They then used Geppo to head to the other warships and command them to split up.

"Horohorohoro... you can’t escape. Let’s start with this side!"

At that moment, Perona, in her barrier sphere in the sky, also commanded her Negative Hollows to begin their attack.

Thud thud thud thud thud...

The scene that followed explained why the four Vice Admirals hadn’t even had time to reply to Momonga.

With a series of heavy thuds, it was an undisputed rout...

Regardless of their strength, whether they had mastered a move or two of Rokushiki, or had awakened and mastered Haki, all the Marine soldiers and officers who were hit by the Negative Hollows while frantically trying to dodge... fell to their knees on the deck in a manner different from being knocked out by Conqueror’s Haki. A deeply negative aura emanated from them as they spoke in weak, listless voices:

"I’m sorry... if there’s a next life, I want to be a crab."

"I’m so sorry for this world..."

"..."

In less than three minutes, except for those Marines proficient in Soru and Geppo, over a thousand Marine soldiers had all had their fighting spirit stripped away by Perona.

"Damn it, they’re too fast..."

However, Perona, who had instantly neutralized so many Marines, was not satisfied at all. Instead, she stared with her unique, beautiful eyes at the Marine officers who were constantly changing positions with Soru, moving so fast that not only her Negative Hollows but even her own eyes couldn’t track them, and said angrily.

"Damn you, Hollow-Hollow Fruit user!"

As if hearing Perona’s extremely insulting words, Vice Admiral Momonga looked up at the three women in the sky, filled with both anger and a sense of powerlessness.

The Hollow-Hollow Fruit and the Barrier-Barrier Fruit—why did such disgusting abilities exist in this world?

And what was even more disgusting was, why did these two abilities appear in the same group?!

Adding the man and the dragon, this small crew of just a few people was a force in the New World, this sea of the strongest, second only to the Four Emperors’ crews, wasn’t it?!

At this moment, Momonga wanted nothing more than to cut down the three women with a single slash.

But having read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, he knew just how unbeatable the Barrier-Barrier Fruit’s ability was.

The stronger the slash, the stronger the rebound.

Unless one possessed an ability that could ignore barriers, it was impossible to attack the person inside.

But abilities that could ignore absolute defense were extremely rare in this world.

Clearly, among the nearly ten thousand Marines and their officers, no such ability user or powerhouse existed.

Even one proficient in Rokushiki and Life Return, who had mastered a move like the Rokuogan similar to Lucci’s, could not break the defense of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit.

After all, even the King’s Punch, which could destroy a fortress in one hit, couldn’t even budge the barrier. A mere Rokushiki ultimate technique was even more useless.

If it were just that he couldn’t break the barrier, Momonga wouldn’t be so frustrated.

Because that was the nature of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit’s ability.

Once the absolute defense of the barrier sphere was deployed, those outside couldn’t attack those inside, and those inside couldn’t attack those outside either.

But unfortunately, besides the Barrier-Barrier Fruit, the other side also had the Paramecia Hollow-Hollow Fruit.

And ghosts just happened to be one of the things that could ignore barriers.

What was even more terrifying was that these ghosts were even more unbeatable than elementalization. While being immune to all attacks, they could also strip enemies of their will to fight.

Therefore... besides dodging, there was nothing Momonga could do.

The other Vice Admirals had realized this as well, which was why they had immediately split up. They planned to lead the other warships to disperse before this one was completely wiped out, to avoid being taken out all at once by this unbeatable combination.

"Seis Fleur: Clutch!"

After Perona had neutralized almost all the Marine soldiers, Robin, who had excellent chemistry with her and Karina, immediately used her Flower-Flower Fruit ability, preparing to completely incapacitate the soldiers.

"...An opportunity!"

But in the next second, a scene that sent a cold sweat down the three women’s spines occurred.

Just as six arms sprouted from the body of a subordinate not far away, Vice Admiral Momonga used Soru to instantly appear and slash at the six arms with his longsword.

Fortunately, Robin dispelled her ability in time, and the longsword hit nothing but air.

Puchi—

But in the next second, a bloody gash appeared on Robin’s arm.

This showed that Momonga’s slash just now had actually grazed her.

"This guy..."

Seeing this, the three women looked with lingering fear at Vice Admiral Momonga, who also had a look of regret on his face.

Especially Robin, who was usually calm, showed a rare look of remorse.

Had she, after joining for only a few months under Karl’s protection, forgotten to be vigilant?

She had to remember, what she was facing was the Buster Call that had woken her from countless nightmares for over a decade.

And that guy, who seemed so pathetic, unable to attack and only able to dodge, was a Vice Admiral from Headquarters, second only to the top combatants!

"Perona, end this quickly!"

Realizing that this person was not some small fry, Karina immediately said to Perona.

"Right!"

Perona nodded quickly and created several more small, white ghosts.

The white ghosts passed through the barrier and flew down to the warship.

Instead of attacking the nearby Marine soldiers who were recovering from their negative state, they seeped into the deck, passed through the several cabins below, and reached the ship’s keel.

"Special Hollow: Kamikaze Bomb!"

Perona snapped her fingers, as if pressing the remote for a time bomb.

At the ship’s keel, the few small, white ghosts instantly swelled up like balloons.

BOOM BOOM BOOM...

Deafening explosions echoed from the lower cabins.

The violent explosions created several powerful shockwaves that shattered the ship’s keel and all the windows in the lower cabins.

Standing on the deck, Vice Admiral Momonga only felt a tremor from beneath his feet.

CRACK!

A cracking sound, almost like an illusion, came from below.

As if his Observation Haki had seen it, Momonga’s face suddenly turned extremely ugly.

The keel was destroyed, and several holes had been blown in the bottom of the ship. Seawater was pouring in frantically.

At this rate of flooding, the warship would sink in less than half an hour.

"Karina, Nico Robin, and..."

Looking up at the three women in the sky, Vice Admiral Momonga deeply etched their figures into his mind.

"We’ll meet again, Vice Admiral..."

As if sensing the killing intent in Momonga’s eyes, Karina, who was also angry that he had hurt Robin, deliberately greeted him. Then, a rare look of ruthlessness appeared on her pretty face. "That is, if you’re still alive."

After speaking, Karina took out a Den Den Mushi, tilted her head to the sky, and said, "Nami, you can do it now."

"OK!"

From the Den Den Mushi’s mouth came a voice that made Momonga’s face change once again.

Could it be that there was a fourth person hidden?

Then, as if someone were controlling it remotely, the platform carrying the three women suddenly flew away from above the warship, heading in the direction the other warships had fled.

"Impossible... this ability, could it be..."

As the platform grew smaller and smaller in his vision, Momonga, as if seeing an impossible sight, had his face change drastically. He looked up at the sky in terror.

This look of terror was something that had not appeared even when facing Karl and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, or even the combination of Perona and Karina.

As the platform departed, a golden speck of light suddenly appeared in the azure sky.

If one looked closely, they would see that it was not a speck of light at all.

It was a giant, gilded meteor, its entire body covered in a layer of gold!

The fact that the golden meteor was not generating flames from friction with the air meant that it had not been pulled from outer space.

Someone had moved it into the sky and then released its buoyancy, sending it crashing down.

Recalling the scene of the platform flying away, and combining it with this sight, Momonga could almost see an imposing figure, roaring like a lion, above the meteor.

But the female voice that came from the Den Den Mushi made it clear that the person above was not that legendary great pirate.

Could it be...

That legend was dead, and his fruit ability had long been reborn in the world, eaten by someone in this crew?

"...Damn you, pirates!!!"

Pushing aside his shock and his speculation about whether this was the work of the Float-Float Fruit, Momonga looked at the falling golden meteor and then at the over one thousand Marine soldiers on the deck.

In a fit of helpless rage, he couldn’t help but curse Karl’s crew.

Then, without hesitation, Momonga, holding his longsword, shot into the sky with Geppo, determined to block this golden meteor, even if it cost him his life.

BOOM—!

The outcome was unknown.

From the platform, which was now an unknown distance away, Karina and the others looked at the sea where the warship was no longer visible.

There, a giant pillar of water had erupted, a sight so massive it could be seen even from their great distance.

To this, Karina only said faintly, "Don’t blame me. You were the ones who started the Buster Call."

Karina, who had grown up with Karl, was very similar to him in some ways.

For example, she would show mercy to ordinary fools, giving them a chance to turn over a new leaf.

But for truly hopeless idiots, she would annihilate them completely.

In a battle like this, where if it wasn’t them, it would be Gran Tesoro and themselves turned to ashes, Karina felt no guilt for the decision that had likely killed over a thousand Marine soldiers who maintained order on the seas.

Because her stance had long since changed.

Just as Vice Admiral Momonga had cursed.

She was now a pirate.

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