"What? The ships are under attack?"
On the outskirts of Elbaf's Underworld, the vice admiral in charge of guarding Harald frowned when he heard the message from the coast.
"How many enemies?""J-just one!""One of the old Giant Pirates?""No… it's… it's a child!"
The transponder snail even made a crying Marine face."Right now Vice Admiral Honitz is engaging that giant child, b-but… it looks like Vice Admiral Honitz can't win!"
…
For a moment, not only did the Marines guarding the ships fall silent, even the ones stationed around Harald stayed quiet.
"How the hell did Honitz make vice admiral?""Seniority?""Don't talk nonsense. Honitz is a master of kenbunshoku haki. His busoshoku might be weak, but he's at least got the basics."
To become a Marine vice admiral, you needed at least basic mastery of both hakis.
Yet Honitz just felt suffocated.
Last time at Sphinx he ran into Rocks, who just defended without fighting back, neutralizing his kenbunshoku completely.And now… he met a monster his busoshoku couldn't even scratch.
What use was foreseeing the opponent's attacks if they just charged forward ignoring him?
"I want to eat!"
The sun had already set. Were it not for Magnus and the giants launching their surprise attack, this would've been dinnertime for the Marines.
The aroma of food on the ships made Linlin even more certain these bad people had stolen their food!
"You're all bad people! I'll beat the bad people!"
The six-year-old Linlin clambered up the Marine ship, her size already equal to a giant child, making the Marines look at her like she was a monster.
"Open fire!"
A Marine yelled, "Fire at that monster!"
"Don't blame me!"
They'd meant to just capture the child.But seeing her already climbing aboard, they couldn't hesitate — they began shelling her.
But Linlin, her belly long since empty, didn't even think about it.
She waved her hand — the shells flying at her were swatted away.
"What is this thing?!""Does she know busoshoku?!""Request reinforcements! Damn it — Vice Admiral Honitz just got smashed into the deck!"
…
Watching the chaos Linlin created, Carmel's face lit up.
"That's it, Linlin, a little more!"
She could already feel the fear welling up from many of the Marines.
Awaken.
Using the soul mark she'd planted on Linlin, Carmel drew on the fear of those Marines.
One year… two months… six months…Depending on the intensity of their fear, she harvested varying amounts of life and soul.
But dozens of elite Marines together…
"Just enough!"
"Bestow!"
Carmel ran quickly toward the coast, pouring the harvested souls into the sea beneath the ships.
Then the Marines noticed in horror — the sea beneath them seemed to come alive!
"Drown them, Scylla!"
The legendary sailor-devouring sea monster came to life as Carmel bestowed it with souls. The coastal waters became Scylla's hunting ground.
Amid the carnage, Carmel harvested another round of souls and lifespans.
"Huff, huff…"
Even this simple double transformation left her winded. Seeing Linlin still eating even as the ships sank, Carmel shouted, "Linlin, time to go!"
She gathered the remaining souls into a single mass and flung it into the air.
"Boreas!"
Bestowing a soul into a wisp of wind, Carmel commanded it to lift Linlin from the water and whisk her and herself away.
Linlin's rampage drew Marine attention. The soul-animated sea devoured all three ships, leaving Marines scrambling ashore.
But these constructs, powered only by a portion of stolen souls, couldn't kill officer-level Marines outright.
Once Boreas carried them to safety, Carmel ordered the living wind to head for Magnus's battlefield.
"Boreas — go help Magnus!"
On this island, only King Harald could intervene in Magnus's fight — and right now Harald himself was on death's door.
So Carmel's only contribution was her soul constructs.
—
Elbaf outskirts.
The prison of Giant King Harald.
The fierce assault by several powerful giants finally drew the attention of the vice admirals stationed here.
"The target really is the king, huh?""We can't spare more men. Tell Barin to come back!""Let Honitz deal with his own mess!"
Twenty minutes had passed since the giants' attack began.
Many giants had already begun to retreat.
But at the site of King Harald's imprisonment, the giants only pressed harder.
Even so — three vice admirals still stood guard around Harald, not giving an inch.
"It's been long enough — we can't delay anymore!""We have to move now!"
"Rocks, you and Newgate each take one vice admiral. Uncle Kashi, Uncle Oimo — you two each hold one as well. I'll rescue His Majesty Harald, then come support you!"
The vice admirals guarding Harald were all among the stronger ones.
Even Rocks and Newgate alone couldn't beat one, let alone the two older giants, who were once Giant Pirates but not truly strong.
Everyone was gambling with their lives now.
But time was running out. The giants tying down the Marine main force were already being slaughtered — victory was impossible at this rate.
Just then, the supposedly gravely wounded Harald opened his eyes.
"Come!"
His low growl drew the three vice admirals' attention.
There would be no better chance than this.
Under the effect of the mini-mini fruit, shrunk to tiny size, Ripley and her group moved without hesitation.
Three tall and two short figures appeared all at once.
Launching their ambush.
(End of Chapter)
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