Roar!!
With a surge of fury and a flash of intent, Page One unleashed a thunderous dragon roar that echoed through the sky.
In the blink of an eye, his body morphed, bones cracking and muscles swelling—Spinosaurus form, fully awakened.
Fwoosh!
Page One launched into the air, his clawed arms raised in a defensive stance. From his posture alone, it was clear—he intended to take the brunt of the incoming Air Cannon with raw strength alone.
The moment he rose skyward—
BOOM!!
The first compressed blast of air exploded against him with staggering force.
The air cannon struck Page One's scaly body squarely, and the powerful shockwave rippled through his thick arms, jarring him back slightly in mid-air.
He felt it.
The impact force was monstrous.
Roar!!
Page One roared again, not from pain—but surprise. That single strike clarified why an entire pirate ship had been blown apart in one shot. That kind of concussive power wasn't something a regular hull—nor many pirates—could withstand.
He clenched his jaw and channeled every ounce of strength from his Zoan-enhanced physique.
With a burst of fury, his razor-sharp claws slashed through the air in a cross-motion—
FWOO-BOOM!!
A loud tearing sound rang out as Page One cleaved the air cannon apart, dissipating its compressed force.
"Hmph! That's all?"
Successfully breaking the cannon's blast, a smirk formed across Page One's reptilian face.
He surged forward again—directly into the path of the next two shots.
---
Meanwhile…
While Page One held the front line, the Beasts Pirates' ship continued to advance toward Impel Down's first gate.
Back in the skies—
BOOM!!
Another air cannon collided with Page One's armored body. The sheer resistance of his Zoan form absorbed the strike, and he pressed forward through the gusting shockwave, trying to stabilize.
---
On the battlements above the gate—
"Gunners, ready!" Bai Yu shouted.
Clack-clack-clack!
The thirty elite gunmen behind the mounted fortress cannons raised their modified rifles in unison.
"Fire at will!!" Bai Yu commanded.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thirty rifles fired simultaneously, a coordinated hailstorm of custom bullets slicing through the air.
Each shot pierced forward with staggering speed, practically ignoring air resistance.
High above, Page One, still focused on the next air cannon, felt the sudden shift in atmosphere.
He sensed the bullets but sneered—bullets wouldn't harm a body like his.
With full faith in his Spinosaurus form's durability, he braced.
But reality proved cruel.
BOOM! PUFF! SPLAT!
One after another, the bullets tore through his scales and sunk deep into his flesh, releasing explosive internal force.
In an instant, thirty impacts riddled his body—blood mist erupted from every wound.
"Sea-Prism Stone?!" Page One's eyes widened.
He could feel it—his Devil Fruit power weakening. The foreign force inside him was unmistakable. His body… was being suppressed.
Each bullet had been forged with Seastone alloy—nullifying his Zoan transformation and draining his strength.
His confidence turned to panic.
BOOM!
Another air cannon struck.
Already bleeding and suppressed, Page One could no longer hold his stance. He plummeted, spiraling through the sky.
CRASH!!
His massive body crashed back down on the Beasts Pirates' deck, smashing through the planks and creating a gaping dent.
Before he could even gather himself—
BOOM!!
The third air cannon arrived, striking the weakened ship with devastating force.
With Page One no longer shielding it, the hull took the full brunt of the attack—
SHRAAAK!!
The pirate ship splintered apart, debris and bodies sent flying.
Page One, wounded and weighed down by Seastone, was flung into the sea.
---
Devil Fruit users and seawater never mix.
The moment Page One hit the ocean, his strength drained rapidly. His limbs refused to move. His massive form began to sink like stone, powerless to stop it.
The once-charged momentum of the Beasts Pirates was halted.
Page One—one of the Flying Six—was taken out in a matter of minutes.
---
On the ramparts, Magellan and Hannyabal stood speechless.
They had watched it unfold with their own eyes: Page One had been sent forward as a living battering ram.
And yet… he was torn apart and dumped into the sea like discarded cargo—completely overwhelmed by Bai Yu's elite squad.
"This… this is unreal…" Hannyabal muttered, breaking the silence.
---
Elsewhere, aboard the central ship of the Beasts Pirates—
"MOVE!! NOW!!"
"Rescue Page One!!"
Ulti—Page One's older sister and fellow member of the Flying Six—shouted orders in a panic.
Her expression was unhinged, eyes wide with rage and worry.
She immediately took command of the nearest pirate ships, leading a frantic rescue mission toward her sinking brother.
Her fury ignited a new wave of aggression.
Now that Ulti was moving, the remaining Beasts Pirates joined the assault, surging forward.
The battlefront, already chaotic, turned frantic and brutal.
---
Pirate ships from the other two allied factions also began their full assault.
Ship after ship charged recklessly toward the gate.
On Bai Yu's side, the counter-siege did not falter.
Cannons roared. Bullets rained.
Bai Yu's forces met every advance with unwavering strength.
The battle raged for two whole hours.
Amid the storm of cannonfire and sea spray, one of the pirate ships finally managed to close in on the first-level sea gate of Impel Down.
Bai Yu, still standing tall at the top of the entrance, calmly placed his hand on the cherrywood katana at his waist.
He was ready.
---
BOOM!!
A sudden explosion erupted behind him.
Bai Yu's head snapped around in alarm.
The new air fortress turret, manned by Maya and her engineering crew, had just exploded!
The enormous steel barrel had warped and cracked from within, breaking apart under its own recoil.
Thankfully, the crew had backed away just in time. No injuries.
Maya quickly stepped forward, coughing through the smoke.
"Vice Admiral Bai Yu!" she reported, "The air cannon overheated! Its structure couldn't handle continuous fire! We were warned by Commander Lie Qing—long-term bombardment exceeds the safe limit!"
Koby arrived seconds later, face grim.
"Same goes for the muskets. Their internal mechanisms are starting to warp from the feedback force."
---
Bai Yu's eyes narrowed.
It was just as Lie Qing had warned during the weapon test phases. While the new tech was powerful, it wasn't ready for sustained deployment.
Still—they had held off the pirates long enough.
Now, it was time for the sword to speak.
End of Chapter.
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