What exactly does Conqueror's Haki represent in this world?
Overwhelming talent, crushing strength, the qualities of a king?
Different people might have different answers, but one thing was certain.
Conqueror's Haki was absolutely not as common or ordinary as Chinjao of the Happo Navy claimed it was in the New World. On the contrary, no matter where one went on this sea, those who possessed Conqueror's Haki were extremely rare.
During the Battle of Marineford in the original story, when Luffy unconsciously unleashed his Conqueror's Haki, the tension shown by the Marines, the shock from the Whitebeard Pirates, and especially the cold sweat on Sengoku's face all proved that point.
If Conqueror's Haki were truly as common in the New World as Chinjao had said, then that kind of tension would have been completely unnecessary.
And now, aside from Fire Dragon Yemu and Thunder God Enel, the two Conqueror's Haki users already among the Sky Pirates, another woman had appeared. That meant the Sky Pirates' threat level to the world had risen by another step. Even more troublesome was the fact that all three of them looked so young, far from having reached their limits.
Of course, that was something to worry about in the future. For now, the real problem was the Marines collapsing one after another under the impact of those two Conqueror's Haki.
"Thud... thud..."
Across the battlefield, starting from Enel and Anne, the Marines in front of them began rolling their eyes back and dropping to the ground one after another under the force of their overwhelming Conqueror's Haki.
It had to be said that Conqueror's Haki was an extremely useful move for clearing a battlefield.
Even though the Marines deployed this time could all be considered elites, among the best in the Marines in both strength and willpower, they still began fainting in waves under the impact of Conqueror's Haki.
Especially the Marines closest to them.
Of course, the three future Marine Admirals standing at the very front took the brunt of it.
However, with the strength and willpower those three possessed, this level of Conqueror's Haki only made their expressions shift slightly at most.
"How scary."
"Ara ra... what terrifying Conqueror's Haki..."
"How embarrassing. Throw them into the seawater and wake them up!"
That could be considered one of the weaknesses of Conqueror's Haki. It could only make people faint and did not cause any real damage.
But that was already enough.
The Marine ranks immediately began to fall into chaos.
At that moment, Enel and Anne, having unleashed their Conqueror's Haki, also moved.
Enel raised the golden staff in his hand. As lightning flashed, clusters of dark clouds flew out from the staff and shot straight into the sky.
This sight was all too familiar to the Marines.
Golden light flashed across Borsalino's glasses.
"Not happening!"
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
In an instant, Borsalino reacted. His entire body turned into golden light as he flew into the sky and began bombarding the three of them indiscriminately.
"Saw that coming."
"Vari: 100 Million Volts!"
Starting from Enel's body, countless sparks of electricity burst outward, turning into bolts of lightning that shot toward the golden light in the sky and the Marines in front of him without distinction.
"Boom... boom... boom..."
In an instant, blue lightning and dazzling golden light intertwined across the battlefield, illuminating everything.
As if they had the same idea, the two users of the Goro Goro no Mi and the Pika Pika no Mi, who possessed the greatest speed in the world, both chose the sky as their battlefield.
Below their battle, Erik and Anne exchanged a glance. Anne was the first to speak.
"I'll leave this place to you."
As soon as she finished speaking, Anne's body began to change rapidly.
Her whole body ignited with raging flames. Her long black hair grew swiftly and turned golden, like a lion's mane draped over her body. A pair of fangs extended from her mouth, her hands became tiger claws, a snake-like tail grew from her back, and fluffy patterns like those of a tanuki appeared across her body.
Seeing this, everyone on the battlefield understood.
"She's actually a Mythical Zoan!"
Kuzan, who had already realized that this woman was his opponent, grew even more cautious.
That was a Devil Fruit even rarer than a Logia.
And she was a Conqueror's Haki user on top of that. One careless mistake, and he might really lose.
But at that moment, Anne did not even look at him. She leaped into the sky.
With flame clouds appearing beneath her feet, she charged straight toward the distant Marines.
Seeing this, Kuzan also jumped up. Ice stairs formed in midair beneath him as he chased after her at high speed.
After the two of them left, only Erik and Sakazuki remained at the center of the battlefield.
"Well then, Vice Admiral Sakazuki, this battlefield belongs to the two of us now..."
Sakazuki showed no intention of answering him. The only response he gave Erik was a single strike.
"Meigo!"
...
With the Sky Pirates' three main forces facing the Marines' future three Admirals, the war gradually began to reach its climax.
A battle between monsters of this level was not something ordinary people could take part in, so all the Marines obediently gave up the battlefield.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
High in the sky, the figures of the fighters could no longer be seen. Only lightning and flashes of light collided and exploded.
Not far away, on the empty ice field, flames clashed with ice, sending white steam surging into the sky.
On the battlefield to the left, Erik swung out slash after slash, constantly facing Akainu's magma, which seethed with killing intent.
No matter how one looked at it, every one of these battles looked like a natural disaster. Watching this, the Marines had no desire to get involved at all. There was nothing they could do. In the face of such terrifying scenes, they were as insignificant as ants. Some of them even said it aloud.
"You've got to be kidding me..."
"Whether we join this war or not doesn't matter at all..."
"Yeah... this isn't a fight we can take part in..."
"There's no need to get involved. Just getting close feels like we'd be caught in the aftermath and killed..."
Seeing this, Sengoku had no other choice. He turned his head and looked over.
"Looks like the plan has failed. Zephyr, we still haven't seen any sign of Fisher Tiger. The Fish-Man Corps is still hiding in the shadows, and there are other forces too, not to mention Fire Dragon Yemu. It seems we can only have you move out..."
"No problem."
Zephyr slowly took off his Marine coat.
"Leave the rest to me. At the very least..."
He looked toward Yemu in the distance, who was still calmly controlling the entire situation.
"At the very least, this time, I'll make that kid move."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zephyr leaped into the air, descended from the sky, and slammed heavily onto the ice. His gaze locked firmly on the Twin Goddesses ahead, Armament Haki winding around both of his wrists.
"Follow behind me and charge through!"
"Oh!"
"It's Admiral Zephyr!"
"Charge!"
Seeing the Admiral who represented the Marines' highest combat power, the Zephyr-sensei whom everyone respected, finally take action, the Marines' wavering hearts became firm once again. They followed closely behind Zephyr, crossing the battlefield that looked like a natural disaster as they charged toward the Twin Goddesses on Golden Crow Island.
And as Zephyr left, Hammond of CP0 also vanished from the Marines' flagship.
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