Chapter 580: Battle in the Open Sky
"Ignore the one in the sky — concentrate all fire on the Pluton on the surface!!"
Inside the floating fortress, Saint Mars shouted. "It survived the ambush, but that ship took heavy damage — it likely can't move freely anymore!"
Strike at the weak point. That was the only correct move.
Destroy Pluton, and the initiative swung back to their side.
So the countless gun barrels had ignored the steel bird circling above and trained entirely on the great ship below. The sea beast guarding it fell within that range as well. If it didn't flee, it would simply be destroyed alongside the ship.
But then — at exactly that moment — Pluton, which they had assumed was crippled and incapable of the agility it had shown before, abruptly lifted into the air.
"What?!"
The Five Elders stared.
How? Had Pluton been fitted with the same anti-gravity system as their vessel?
That was impossible.
Even in the hands of the Bircans themselves that technology had been cutting-edge. It was built from minerals found only on the moon. Without those raw materials, there was no way to replicate it on the Blue Sea.
In truth, Pluton had not left the surface through any technology at all.
Inside the battered ship, an old man with wild blond hair was roaring with laughter.
"SKHAHAHAHA!! I never once imagined I'd live to fight beside people like you!!"
"Who among us imagined any of this?" Zephyr sighed.
Garp stood across from him with his arms folded and said nothing. He and his old friend had personally been the ones who put the man currently laughing in front of him into Impel Down all those years ago. Since they were now being forced to fight side by side, the less said the better.
"Don't get the wrong idea, you old fossils. The only reason I'm here is because Brett invited me — because I want to watch this world get turned upside down!"
The man known as the Golden Lion threw his head back and laughed.
He had been invited by Brett, naturally. An arrangement made long before. He had agreed to be part of this war well in advance.
And his role in it was significant.
With Brett occupied fighting Imu, there was no one to carry Pluton into the sky. That left the ship completely at a disadvantage against the aerial fortress.
This was exactly where the Golden Lion came in.
With the Float-Float Fruit in play, even something as impossibly heavy as Pluton could be lifted freely into the sky.
"Save the speeches — the attack is coming!" Zephyr cut him off loudly. "Take a direct hit from that thing and we're gone in an instant!"
"I know that — stop telling me what to do!"
The Golden Lion gave a cold snort, then brought the Float-Float Fruit to full strength.
Pluton began shifting through the air at extraordinary speed. Not matching the pace Brett had set when he carried it himself, but remarkable by any other measure — not something that could be easily aimed at.
And at that moment, shafts of light rained down from above.
The Golden Lion maneuvered Pluton hard, weaving through them.
But there were too many, and the floating fortress's targeting was clearly exceptional — several beams still cut toward them on converging paths.
Pluton was heavily damaged, its main cannon completely offline. But that didn't mean it had no way to fight back.
Light gathered at several of the remaining emplacements. A volley of cannon fire answered back.
Great bursts of fire bloomed across the sky.
On Uranus's back, Shanks's red hair was whipping in the wind. He watched Poseidon weaving and banking below and his brow tightened.
"This constant evasion isn't a solution." His voice was low and deliberate. "Uranus — we go up. We attack that thing together with Hades. Keep it too busy to focus on Pluton."
The best defense was offense.
If Uranus stayed below guarding Pluton, the enemy would simply act freely overhead.
"ROAAAAAR!!"
Uranus snarled and beat its wings, shooting up into the open sky.
A shaft of light screamed straight at it.
The dragon opened its mouth. Flame was already building inside.
It fired a concentrated beam.
BOOM!!
Another violent explosion lit up the sky like a new sun.
And through the heart of that sun, a dark shape punched out.
Uranus roared and drove forward, crashing headlong into the barrier on the underside of the floating fortress.
Ripple after ripple spread outward across the light-formed shield.
"Damn it — Uranus!!"
Inside the floating fortress, the Five Elders erupted in fury.
Immature as it still was, Uranus already had enough of the ancient weapon's bearing to make itself felt. Its strength was genuinely terrifying.
At the same time, Hades kept firing from above — shot after shot landing on the fortress's upper surface, each one sending fresh waves rippling across the barrier.
"Excellent!" Inside Pluton below, Zephyr pumped his fist with undisguised satisfaction. "Now we can breathe!"
"Shiki — the timing's right. You'd better be holding this ship steady!"
Garp shouted across the deck.
"Don't tell me what to do, you old bastard!"
The Golden Lion snorted and kept his full concentration on the controls.
The situation was genuinely better now. Pluton was moving fast. With Uranus and Hades keeping the fortress occupied above, incoming fire had grown harder to land.
More than that —
"The moment to counterattack has arrived." Pluton said.
A shaft of light rose from the battered ship and shot into the sky, positioning itself directly beneath the floating fortress.
The fortress was now being struck from three directions at once — front, below, above. The indestructible barrier shuddered and rippled under each blow.
"Looks like things have steadied out." Brett said pleasantly, after another exchange of blows with Imu.
"I have to say — you really are impossible to deal with." Imu sighed, and with no particular gentleness sent a whip kick flying.
Brett caught Imu's leg in both hands and hurled him away.
Then opened his mouth and fired.
A lightning-fire beam raked past Imu's side. The man glimpsed the future and moved aside in time.
But Brett didn't just see the future. He could hear the heart.
A slight tilt of his head and the beam adjusted — and hit.
The explosion that followed was unlike anything before it.
More than steadied, actually.
Brett was smiling as he tore through the air, becoming lightning itself for an instant.
The distance to victory was closing.
Then I'd better not waste any time.
The power stored within him began its transformation.
Secret technique —