Chapter 100: Sabaody Archipelago – Battle with Akainu (Part 1)
Thanks to Chiron's farsight ability, he easily spotted what Eric couldn't see with the naked eye. Eric didn't even know where the warship was.
"Oh? The Admiral this time is Akainu… That's actually the best outcome," Eric said after hearing Chiron's description, immediately realizing it was the infamous "Red Dog."
Why infamous? Because in the Paramount War, Akainu deceived Squard into stabbing Whitebeard, exploited Whitebeard's heart attack to land a heavy blow, and—most of all—killed Ace, a fan-favorite character.
Even if his actions in that war weren't wrong per se, combined with his destruction of the refugee ship at Ohara, he earned the ire of many fans.
Eric included.
'Luckily it's Akainu. If it were Kizaru or Aokiji, it'd be more troublesome. Aokiji would freeze the sea, making escape by ship difficult. Kizaru's Yasakani no Magatama is hard to dodge, and his Yata no Kagami movement is too fast for a safe retreat.'
'But Akainu, despite having the highest offensive power, lacks crowd control and mobility. That's an advantage for Eric .'
It was clear Eric was still leaning toward fighting-and-fleeing tactics. His initial plan was just to test an Admiral's strength… and release some frustration by killing a Celestial Dragon.
But he completely forgot that Esdeath—known for her battle obsession—and Scáthach—whose desire to fight was just as strong—wouldn't let this end at "just testing."
In fact, with Esdeath and Scáthach's power, Eric 's lightning abilities, Kurumi's versatile support, and Chiron's ranged cover, the team had overall strength comparable to an Admiral. A counter-kill wasn't out of the question.
"Chiron, what's the location of that warship?"
"11 o'clock, 11,000 meters away."
"Da Vinci, you heard that? Fire a full volley in that direction."
"Leave it to the perfect me!" Da Vinci swiftly operated the fire control system. Auto-loading and auto-charging made it blazing fast.
"To be honest, we've never used this ship's guns before. I'm so excited." Eric loved the giant battleship cannons of WWII—modern missile destroyers didn't excite him. That 180mm gun up front? Not nearly macho enough. (Even if missiles are more powerful.)
"Hehehe~ Don't drop your jaw in awe, alright? I'm going with high-explosive shells this time~"
The twin triple-barrel turrets at the front and rear slowly rotated, 20-meter-long barrels protruding from the sides. Then they began to elevate and lock onto the target.
"Captain~ issue the fire order~" Da Vinci beamed.
"FIRE!" (In Li Yunlong voice.)
Boom boom boom! The forward turrets roared first. The ignition propelled 1.5-ton shells down rifled barrels, spiraling toward their target.
Ten seconds later, the rear turrets fired. The first three shells hadn't even landed yet.
"Hm?" Standing on the warship's bow, Akainu sensed the incoming projectiles with Observation Haki. He looked up. These weren't round cannonballs—these were conical-nosed shells with cylindrical bases.
And they were huge. One of them was on a direct course for his ship. Without hesitation, he turned his fist into magma and punched the incoming shell.
BOOM! The shell exploded on contact with his enlarged magma fist. The blast shattered the lava and scattered fragments across the deck—sparking fires.
The shockwave collapsed the sails that had been billowing with wind.
BOOM BOOM The other two shells missed narrowly, landing beside the ship and sending up towering columns of seawater, dousing nearby sailors.
"Extinguish the fires immediately!" A Marine officer led the emergency response.
"Grrr!" Akainu growled through gritted teeth as more shells approached. This time, they were even more accurate—two of them would've hit the ship directly.
From the previous blast's power, he knew the ship wouldn't survive another hit. He activated Haki—infusing and hardening his magma—to punch them away.
BOOM BOOM! The backlash forced Akainu back several centimeters across the deck.
"Where are these attacks coming from? I can't even see the enemy!" he snarled.
...
"Captain, three hits total. One from the first volley, two from the second. Akainu blocked them all. Looks like he's unharmed."
"No surprise—it's an Admiral. Even a direct hit from a 406mm HE shell didn't hurt him. That thing can flip a tank within 50 meters!" Da Vinci reported. "Captain, what now?"
"Keep blasting! Akainu's made of magma. Without Haki, we can't hurt him—but to protect his ship, he's forced to take our shelling!"
"Haha, I love it when the enemy can't hit me but I can hit them!"
"Let's try the railgun this time. Scáthach, can you wrap the shell with Haki?"
"Sure. I'll also add a rune seal while I'm at it."
Two long electromagnetic rails extended from the hidden compartments of the ship. The charge indicator lit up, followed by the sequential illumination of the rails.
The shell accelerated inside the rail—breaking the sound barrier. The sonic boom screamed across the water, echoing toward the distant Navy warship.
Four seconds later, the shell reached Akainu.
Even with his Haki, Akainu was shocked by its sheer speed.
"What the hell is this weapon?! Darren Eric 's crew…!" he roared, punching the railgun shell with a massive lava fist.
But it didn't explode—it pierced. Wrapped in Scáthach's Haki and etched with rune marks, the shell penetrated ten meters into his lava body before melting down.
Scáthach's Haki wasn't as strong as Akainu's, but the shell's momentum broke through the outer hardened magma and Haki layer.
"They learned Haki infusion… without even reaching the New World? If I let these seedlings grow, they'll become unstoppable."
Akainu vowed to end them on Sabaody.
"We've got visual confirmation now. We can hit with 100% accuracy!" Da Vinci cheered. Long-range was cool, but without Chiron's vision, they couldn't track impacts. Luckily, the enemy's naval guns only had a 1 km range. Their side vastly outranged them—no need to keep firing blindly. Closer meant stronger impact too.
"Let's keep firing. I want to see what kind of mess Akainu turns into under artillery fire."
"OK! Watch my flawless gunnery!"
BOOM! This time, a three-shell salvo. The recoil was so strong it pushed the ship a full meter sideways.
"Da Vinci dear, is this much force safe for the ship's keel?"
"Of course! This ship was crafted by my genius hands. The recoil's fully distributed through the hull."
"Damn you! Darren Eric 's crew!" Akainu growled, shielding his warship under a rain of 406mm HE shells.
"Not even scratched by the enemy's cannons! Admiral Sakazuki is invincible!" the bystanding Marines sang his praises.
Akainu could only think, 'Screw this.'
(END CHAPTER)
Get 30% off on my Patreon and enjoy early access to new chapters.
You can also purchase the next 100 chapters of the novel directly from my Patreon page.
Hurry up! The promotion ends on January 2, 2026.
Read 40 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/johanssen10