As Brook's haunting song echoed through the air, the Hell Pirates surged forward alongside his ghostly army, their momentum like a tidal wave crashing into the Port Islands.
Charlotte Linlin's overwhelming presence loomed like a demoness. Her terrifying aura alone was enough to make the fighters of the World Transport Company tremble and retreat. And when they witnessed her casually ripping the souls from their comrades like plucking fruit from a tree—leaving behind shriveled, lifeless husks—panic erupted in full force.
The wicked soul-devouring empress cackled gleefully as she marched, every step leaving a trail of corpses in her wake.
Among the chaos, the man in black with the gladiator mask spotted her—Charlotte Linlin in all her monstrous glory—and even he flinched.
This man was Antman, a notorious officer of the Diger Pirates with a bounty of 400 million berries. In the New World, that made him a heavyweight. But now? He was just another name facing death.
And that wasn't even the worst part.
Antman eyes darted across the battlefield and locked onto the one thing he feared most—the ghost army. A cold sweat broke out on his back. Only one person commanded that kind of army:
King of Hell Brook, one of the three dominant Overlords of the sea.
Why had a dispute in the underground world escalated into a full-blown clash between two of the strongest pirate crews?
And more terrifying—why did it feel like the Hell Pirates had deployed their entire force?
These weren't the kind of people who took prisoners. To them, killing was no different than breathing. Swift, easy, and terrifyingly clean.
Antman first instinct?
Run.
He reached for his Den Den Mushi to report this disaster to Captain Diger—but before he could even dial, a bolt of lightning arced down from the sky, incinerating the device into blackened ash. His hand burned, but the pain was nothing compared to the fear gripping his chest.
That lightning… That wasn't random.
Redfield.
The second-in-command of the Hell Pirates. Wielder of the Thunder-Thunder Fruit. A man so dangerous, Antman doubted he'd even last a second against him.
All thoughts vanished from his mind—except one:
Escape.
He had to get out. He had to warn Diger. This wasn't a skirmish—it was a massacre.
And then it hit him. If the Hell Pirates were wiping out the World Transport Company to eliminate witnesses...
Wouldn't they do the same to the Diger Pirates' officers?
Wouldn't that include him?
And Xiao Feng?
As that realization dawned, Xiao Feng himself was already acting on instinct. When Brook's ghost energy surged toward him, he immediately launched himself skyward.
The Wind Control Fruit at full throttle, he propelled himself into the sky, using the swirling currents to flee. His plan: escape through the air, beyond reach.
But of course, the skies were not safe either.
A figure shot into the air behind him, cloaked in black and gold.
Though he wore a dark robe and a gilded mask, Xiao Feng recognized him instantly:
Golden Lion Shiki.
The twin swords in his hands—Oto and Kugarashi—were unmistakable.
Did they think Xiao Feng was blind? One glance at the weapons, and anyone who knew the New World would know Shiki. Besides, there were only a handful of people who could fly—and even fewer who matched Shiki's terrifying aura.
Xiao Feng gritted his teeth.
His Wind Control Fruit could only push air in one direction at a time. Right now, he channeled the wind to blast Shiki backward while using a technique similar to Geppo (Moonwalk) to leap through the sky himself.
The Wind-Control ability had a natural advantage over the Float-Float Fruit. Shiki staggered in midair, caught off-guard by the violent gusts, and was sent spiraling down.
But before Xiao Feng could relax, another figure soared toward him—riding a somersault cloud.
Brook.
The Hell King himself. And he wasn't about to let Xiao Feng get away.
"Yohoho~ Xiao Feng, running already? That's not like you," Brook's voice rang out with eerie amusement.
Slashing waves of sword energy flew toward Xiao Feng, golden and green strikes slicing through the sky. Behind him, Shiki had recovered and resumed pursuit.
The scene looked like something out of a Thunder Fighter arcade game. Xiao Feng dodging in panic while Brook and Shiki unleashed slashing barrages like twin bosses on his tail.
"Shit!" Xiao Feng cursed, zig-zagging to dodge the attacks. Just moments ago, he was bullying the Umit family like a final boss. Now he was the one being hunted.
Back in the day, he was strong enough to decapitate Brook with a single slash. Now? Now he was running for his life from a man who'd risen from pseudo-overlord to full-fledged Overlord.
Fate was a cruel joke.
"Brook! Are you trying to start a war between two pirate groups?! Do you want Rocks to benefit from this?!"
Xiao Feng shouted desperately. He had no intention of fighting to the death anymore. Not with these monsters.
"We'll leave! We won't say a word about the Umit family! Not a single whisper will leak out!"
They could still cover their tracks. If the Umit family was wiped clean, no one would know they were even here.
Brook, however, wasn't worried about exposure.
Diger had forced Jack into a non-stop breeding mission. Everyone knew the old man had lost his fire. The Diger Pirates were fading. Their glory days were behind them.
Brook wasn't chasing power anymore.
He was chasing dominance.
He would trample over the Diger Pirates' corpses to cement his rise as the new power capable of challenging even the Rocks Pirates.
The Rocks crew, after all, had long lost their heavy-hitters: Whitebeard Newgate, Shiki the Golden Lion, and Charlotte Linlin—all now part of Brook's crew.
Even if Brook couldn't take Rocks in a one-on-one, his crew could. Their strength was his strength.
Meanwhile, down below at the Rokuxia Port Islands, the battle had already shifted.
With the full force of the Hell Pirates joining the fight, the World Transport Company and their hired muscle from the Diger Pirates were crushed like ants.
Watching his forces crumble, Kawase Posha—the president of World Transport Company —was in disbelief.
"How?! Why is the Umit family so powerful?!"
Then realization hit.
It wasn't the Umit family.
It was Brook. It was the Hell Pirates.
They were the real storm.
"Hahaha~ Kawase, keep talking! Curse me again and I'll send you to hell myself!" Ummid shouted, laughing madly from across the battlefield. "And don't worry—I'll make sure your wife and daughter are well taken care of!"
Xiao Feng, the one who had hunted Ummid just moments ago, had now become the hunted. The tide had turned completely. Brook's subordinates were monsters in their own right—even the two young kids, barely taller than three meters, fought like veteran beasts.
Among them, Kaido and Tiger stood out with terrifying performances. Their youth didn't temper their strength or their fearlessness. They charged like berserkers, crashing into the enemy ranks without hesitation.
-----------------------
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Redfield had subdued Antman, the Diger Pirates' officer with a 400 million berries bounty. At this point, Antman body was scorched and still smoking, but he was clinging to life.
Redfield hadn't finished him off for one simple reason—Hell Pirates didn't waste potential. A cadre this strong could be milked for everything he was worth by the "devil capitalists" within the crew. Whether through ransom, information, or soul extraction, they'd make use of him.
Meanwhile, Whitebeard Newgate stood on the outer perimeter of the island, casually intercepting anyone trying to flee. Maybe he didn't realize that there was something crueler than dying in a hopeless battlefield: dying after catching a glimpse of escape. The agony of hope crushed at the shoreline created a deeper resentment.
Shakky and Charlotte Linlin both turned their eyes toward Antman in Redfield's grasp. It was a nice prize—though they'd wait for Brook to return before feasting on their spoils.
In the sky above, the hunt was nearing its end.
Brook unleashed Soul Slash—a move that had once injured even the Admiral Kong despite his formidable Armament Haki defenses. To use it on Xiao Feng was to recognize him as a real threat.
Xiao Feng clutched his skull, screaming in pain as his very soul trembled. He plummeted from the sky like a broken kite. Thankfully, Golden Lion Shiki swooped in just in time to catch him before he hit the ocean.
Shiki looked over at Brook in shock. Not only had the Captain used Soul Slash externally, but he didn't even seem fatigued afterward. Back when he'd fought Kong, that move had drained him to the brink. Now? It seemed Brook's power had reached a new threshold.
That slash was more than just an attack—it was a judgment.
Only those with high-level Armament Haki could resist it. For anyone else, it was a death sentence. Those without mastery over Haki were like infants before Brook—helpless and already half-dead the moment their souls were touched.
As Brook evolved, his Fruit abilities became increasingly lethal—not just to homies like Linlin's creations, but to the very souls of living beings. Even Shiki sometimes felt as if Brook was no longer a man, but something higher—a grim reaper cloaked in elegance, floating just above the mortal coil.
"Brother Brook," Shiki muttered as he adjusted the unconscious Xiao Feng over his shoulder, "are we really going to war with the Diger Pirates? Capturing this guy is basically a declaration."
Though Shiki personally had no issue with the idea—he'd love to see the Diger Pirates burn—he knew the Hell Pirates didn't yet have the manpower to hold what they'd taken.
They had already seized over 40 islands from the Diger Pirates. But what came next? How would they maintain and defend these holdings without spreading themselves too thin?
It was a problem Rocks himself was facing. His crew controlled over 90 islands now, but lacked enough high-level officers to secure them. Even as he recruited relentlessly, true monsters—those with bounties over 300 million—remained rare.
Meanwhile, new rookie Overlord were constantly rising. Pirates with bounties ranging from 100 to 200 million emerged every year. Even the "weaker" ones had cracked 300 million by the time they entered the New World.
Brook, however, wasn't concerned.
"With Xiao Feng's Wind Control Fruit, we'll have the core of an aerial fleet," he said calmly. "Once we master high-speed mobility, the entire New World will be under our wings. Even Rocks won't be able to touch us."
Air supremacy was no small thing. The Wind Control Fruit filled the gap left by the Float-Float Fruit, allowing Brook to create a fleet capable of swift air raids, long-distance deployments, and instant retreats.
With such speed, no one could corner them. The Four Seas, the Grand Line—even Marineford would become reachable at will. That meant more Devil Fruits, more rare materials, more skilled pirates, more territory. Everything.
That's why Brook couldn't let Xiao Feng die.
The first time he let him go was to learn the secret of Conqueror's Haki Entanglement. But this time? He would take the fruit.
"Yohohoho~" Brook's voice rang out as he drifted toward the island on Hera's Somersault Cloud. "Today's harvest is quite rich."
"Hahaha! That's what I like to hear!" Shiki grinned as he followed, hauling the limp Xiao Feng like a sack of treasure. "Let's start recruiting and building again when we return. This time, only elites. No cannon fodder. Every ship, a fortress!"
If Antonio, one of their shipwrights, heard this, he might've smashed his Den Den Mushi in despair. It wasn't his fault half the recruits had no bounty!
Back on the island, the fighting had died down. Brook's forces had crushed the World Transport Company and captured multiple commanders from the Diger Pirates. But the biggest catch was Xiao Feng—and it wasn't even close.
This operation had turned out to be a windfall.
The Diger Pirates had sent three powerful officers:
Xiao Feng, king of Kazeshima Island and possessor of the Wind Control Fruit
Antman, king of Blackwater Island
Willanniu, king of Adriatic Island
All three were elite commanders of Ten Kings Island. Now, one-third of Diger's core commanders had been neutralized. The old man would probably vomit blood when he found out.
Brook knew that Xiao Feng's Wind Control ability had always been the key to the Diger Pirates' mobility. Without him, their tactical speed would collapse. Expanding or defending territory would become a slow, clumsy affair.
As for Kawase—he didn't even get the chance to beg for his life.
Before Brook returned, Ummid personally executed him. He feared Brook would claim him too, and with him, a chunk of power and territory. Ummid wasn't about to let his own influence be "balanced" by Brook's growing control.
He knew the game too well.
He'd been playing politics in the New World for decades, carefully dividing responsibilities among his subordinates to prevent any one of them from becoming too strong. A little paranoia was healthy—after all, many pirates had built empires, only to watch them get hijacked from within.
That's why Ummid never allowed all three of his family leaders to appear together. Today, he and his second brother, Umile, were present. Their third brother, Umina, was kept out of sight.
In war or alliance, never place all your heirs in one place. If one branch falls, the bloodline lives on.
This wasn't just pirate instinct. This was dynastic strategy.
Even Oda knew this trick—splitting the Monkey D. family into three powers: the Marines, the Revolutionaries, and the Pirates. That's how the will of D lived on.
When Brook landed back on the Port Islands, Ummid and Umile were already waiting, respectful and silent.
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