Chapter 575: Katakuri's Request
Brett saw it — far across the sea, the surface was rising. Something enormous was climbing slowly up from the seafloor.
Massive curtains of seawater cascaded off its frame and struck the surface below, adding to the already churning swells.
Brett's vision was sharp. Even across that distance, he could see water pouring out through the gaps in that colossal form.
Hm?
Something wasn't quite right.
Brett narrowed his eyes.
Even with shock and fury working through him, he hadn't stopped thinking.
It really was strange. That thing supposedly had an energy barrier capable of absorbing direct hits from Pluton. So why couldn't it move freely through the deep sea?
If it could come and go through the deep water at will, Fish-Man Island would have been leveled long ago.
And what was happening right now — it looked as though water had gotten inside the thing.
"You've noticed, have you?"
Imu's voice came at an easy pace. "Getting this ambush into position cost my side quite a bit."
Brett didn't respond immediately. He sent his Observation Haki spreading outward.
The beam that had torn through the sky was fading. The sea remained in chaos.
And somewhere between those heaving waves, a black ship was drifting in and out of sight.
Pluton.
Pluton was in a terrible state. Melted scoring covered the hull, and craters of varying sizes riddled it from end to end, leaving it looking like a honeycomb. The worst of it was the starboard side, where an enormous hole had been punched through. The compartments inside that breach were a complete ruin.
The shield had held just barely — but that shot was clearly no ordinary attack. The barrier had not fully absorbed it. The penetrating force had gotten through and dealt Pluton a catastrophic wound.
Imu had played them perfectly this time.
Before the battle had even properly begun, one of their most critical assets had taken a devastating hit.
Pluton had taken the full force of that weapon's strongest shot with almost no warning.
They had meant to spring that surprise on Imu. Both sides had pushed their firepower to the absolute limit, and the one who fired first would hold the advantage. Unfortunately, it was their side that received the shock.
"What's the situation?" Brett asked quietly.
The communication device on his body transmitted the reply from his allies inside Pluton almost immediately.
"Nearly lost us, but we made it through!" Dragon's voice came back, heavy and tense. "But Pluton says the starboard side took severe damage — close to half the gun emplacements are out of action."
"Even the main cannon's energy lines are critically damaged. Firing the main gun is essentially off the table."
Brett's brow lowered.
Genuinely bad news.
"Now we can fight on even terms again, can't we, Brett?"
Imu's voice carried a smile. His face wore one as well.
Brett turned back to meet his gaze directly. Yes — they had nearly come full circle to where they started. His side had Hades, but Uranus was still immature, and Pluton was now severely crippled. Against Imu's ultimate weapon, the scales had come roughly back into balance.
Brett exhaled slowly, then smiled with a slight shake of his head. "Fine. If the weapons can't settle it between them, then the two of us will."
Destroying that floating fortress wasn't necessary. As long as Imu himself could be taken down, the war was won regardless.
"Fair enough."
The smile faded from Imu's face. Black Haki coiled up from his palms, wrapping around his arms like dark smoke rising.
"As it happens — that's exactly what I was thinking."
Whoosh.
The air was punched through in an instant. Two fists — one large, one lean — collided across open space once more.
At the same time, far in the distance, the floating fortress was closing in toward the battlefield at tremendous speed.
Inside the flying vessel, the Five Elders were watching through the same type of monitoring equipment as aboard Pluton. All five of them were visibly alight with excitement, color rising in their faces beyond any ability to suppress.
"Magnificent! Imu-sama's plan worked!"
Saint Mars had clenched his fist without realizing it, his entire bearing transformed with elation.
This could be won.
There was no longer any reason to fear.
The war had swung back to an even footing. Now all they had to do was go all in.
"Here they come!"
Inside Pluton, Brett's allies were already bracing themselves.
Zephyr's voice rang out loudly. "Brett is dealing with Imu — we can't let him down!"
"This thing is ours to handle!"
"Understood!"
Two different voices came back through two separate communication devices set nearby.
One was from Hades above — still carrying that measured, mechanical quality.
The other was from Shanks.
He wasn't in Pluton's command room.
Up in the sky, Uranus circled overhead, baring teeth at the rapidly approaching floating fortress in the distance.
And atop that creature's head, the one-armed man with red hair already had his blade drawn.
Uranus had extraordinary combat capability, but his experience in battle was still limited. He needed someone fighting alongside him.
"Can we please just run away?!" On what remained of the ruined Navy base below, Pizarro was fighting to push the hair off his face from the constant wind. He spoke as carefully as he could manage. "Just — get away from here."
The shockwaves from Brett and Imu's exchange alone were nearly enough to knock them all off their feet. And now that floating city was about to arrive directly overhead. If it and Brett's ancient weapons started trading fire right above them, they could be vaporized by a stray shot at any moment.
And then —
"Wait!!"
Katakuri suddenly leaped upward, vaulting into the air, and shouted toward the massive floating ship passing overhead.
"Take us aboard! This place is too dangerous!!"
Pizarro blinked first, then his expression went sharp.
Has this man lost his mind?
Yes, getting inside that ship would be comparatively safe — but who knew which side would win this war? In a situation like this, the obviously correct move was to get as far away as possible.
But Katakuri's voice had reached the Five Elders.