On the island's watchtower, Barolome also used a telescope to see the situation on the sea. The rendezvous of two ships flying the Hundred Beasts Pirate flag was not good news for him. After all, it meant reinforcements for the enemy.
"De Dekas and Kuran haven't sent any messages yet?"
"No, Barolome, since the battle started, they cut off communication with us on their own initiative, it seems they don't intend to provide support."
"Those bastards, turning on Captain Shiki the moment he got into trouble..."
The Golden Lion commanded the seas for many years, and of course, he had many loyal subordinates, Barolome being one of them.
Even after receiving news of the Golden Lion's imprisonment, he persisted in guarding this island, because it was an order from the Golden Lion.
Previously, Dr. Indigo asked him to leave with them, but he refused, as he only takes orders from Shiki. With Shiki imprisoned, his next task is to safeguard this island until the Golden Lion resurfaces.
So he refused Dr. Indigo's request.
But not everyone was as loyal to the Golden Lion as he was. When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Many under the Golden Lion were there because they admired his strength. With the Golden Lion gone, they naturally wouldn't remain loyal to someone imprisoned.
Currently, Impel Down still holds an unbroken myth; no one has ever successfully escaped from it, and to them, the Golden Lion is as good as dead.
After the Golden Lion's imprisonment and the onset of the Great Pirate Era, this island frequently encountered troubles.
Previously, those incidents were minor issues until Whitebeard, Kaidou, and others got involved, which was a major blow to these remnants of the Golden Lion.
Without the Golden Lion, no one could keep others in check. If everyone could unite, they would still have power to resist outsiders, as the cadres under the Golden Lion were formidable too.
Though they lost the ace power of the Golden Lion, without direct involvement from people like Charlotte Linlin or Whitebeard, they could handle most situations.
But the reality was they split into numerous small factions based on usual relationships. Forget about helping each other; not backstabbing was already good enough.
Thus, the Golden Lion's territory gradually got divided among others.
"Lord Barolome, can we still hold out? Or perhaps we should retreat first; Dr. Indigo said it was also Lord Shiki's order."
"How could Lord Shiki make such a cowardly decision? Don't worry, no matter how many of them there are, they cannot break through this poisonous fog. I've defended here for over twenty years, this island is my home ground, defeating me won't be so easy."
....
In the outer sea area, a day later Ken and Queen successfully awaited the arrival of Zeraora and Setsuna's ship, but Olga's ship never arrived.
In the end, there was only a phone call.
"Sorry everyone, I got caught up with the Navy earlier, so I might not be able to join you guys for a while." Although the Navy's activities in the New World were quite rare, they weren't non-existent.
Olga currently was being pursued by a battleship led by an old school Vice Admiral. This time, her illusion abilities surprisingly couldn't shake them off.
It was Elizabeth who dived and damaged their rudder, allowing her to escape. She would have tried if it was just the Vice Admiral, but there was also a person on board capable of using magma, and she and Elizabeth were no match for these two.
"We're missing her and that lizard, but it should still be fine."
"Setsuna's arm is injured; she can't participate in this operation."
"Zeraora, it's my left hand that's hurt, it's not much of a problem, I can still draw a bow."
"No way, it was a full moon yesterday, you can't use Moon Lion now. You'll be responsible for guarding the ship this time."
Zeraora directly assigned Setsuna her task. They didn't plan on bringing too many people this time, Ken, Queen, and Zeraora would handle the assault.
They all had flight capabilities, making an assault more suitable.
"By the way, Ken, how wide can your move's range last?"
"Which move are you talking about?"
"The one taught by Lord Arceus that can change the weather, I've sparred with him before.
The high heat from Solar Beam can kill those poisonous spores, but the light here is too poor, that Barolome guy won't give me another chance to charge."
Most of the time, the island was shrouded in clouds, making Queen's charge time for Solar Beam longer. Barolome reached this bounty, and being a cadre under the Golden Lion naturally showed his strength.
Last time, Queen made a mistake in his intel, nearly hitting him with a Solar Beam, but with that experience, he wouldn't give Queen another charging opportunity.
"The clouds are pretty thick here, but letting you charge shouldn't be a problem."
"Then it's simple, the plan is this: you distract him in the sky while using Sunny Day to change the sunlight, and I will use Solar Beam to eliminate those poisonous spores.
Zeraora, you're the fastest, take this chance to break through and deal with him. This should be fine, right?"
Although antidotes can detoxify, without clearing the poisonous spores, the poison will persist unless the person inside consistently takes antidotes; otherwise, they'll still be affected by the toxins, fighting after getting poisoned is a big no.
"That guy's bounty exceeds six hundred million, can Zeraora handle it alone? Besides using poison, what other abilities does he have?"
"Not weak, about on par with me."
However, as soon as these words were spoken, the people around not only didn't get nervous, but they even breathed a sigh of relief. Ken even directly affirmed the feasibility of this plan, leaving Queen feeling somewhat insulted.
Around noon, the cannons on the three ships started bombarding the island again. The people on the island seemed to have gotten used to it, until Ken's Aerodactyl figure appeared in the sky, causing them to become alert.
"Flame Disaster Ken, the reinforcements from the Hundred Beasts have arrived? What a trouble indeed."
The island had sturdy fortifications; mere bombardment posed no threat to them, as for those plants, they were fast-growing fungi. As long as he was alive, even if all plants on the island got destroyed, he could rapidly regrow them.
As Ken flew over the island, a large number of Fire Meteors rained onto the island's ground. At the same time, the charging Queen unapologetically appeared in his line of sight.
Previously, he had witnessed Queen's Solar Beam, such an attack would indeed disperse the poison gas temporarily; refilling it would take some time. If the opponent seized the opportunity to land during this time, it would cause him quite a hassle.
He clearly knew that reinforcements wouldn't be coming, and these confidants couldn't suffer unnecessary losses. Based on Queen's last attack, his charge would still need some time.
So, he decided to interrupt Queen's charging. But as soon as he appeared in Queen's view, his Solar Beam suddenly ended its charge and was launched at a greater power than before.
Under the Sunny Day, a Solar Beam required no charge to unleash its full power. This was the combo attack of Ken and Queen.
Compared to Queen's Bowling move, albeit Queen was the main character essentially, the outcome was entirely different.
Ken and Queen quarreled often, but their teamwork was surprisingly seamless.
At the same time as Queen's Solar Beam was launched, Ken's flames enveloped his entire body, and the Flame Wing Dragon charged downwards, accompanied by the thunder light-transformed Zeraora...