Chapter 18 Night attack! enjoy shadows of Paramecia!
The mission to Elbaf lasted ten days.
The Navy, represented by the veteran Vice Admiral Karl, reached a preliminary cooperation agreement with the giant country of Elbaf. The agreement stipulated that every four years, just giants willing to join the Navy would be recruited and would report to the Naval Headquarters.
The journey to Elbaf ended successfully, with a warm welcome from the giants of the royal capital.
The warship set sail and returned to Naval Headquarters.
....
||One Week Later||
The night was dark and a large warship was sailing at full speed across the vast sea in a specific direction. On deck, the watchful sailors kept a lookout in all directions.
Suddenly, a dense fog rose without warning, causing visibility to plummet. Soon, it reached the point where fingers couldn't even be seen.
In the cabin, Ryuu's eyes suddenly opened. He quickly got up, dressed, and quietly went to the adjacent room, where he gently stroked Tia's soft face.
Opening her eyes confusedly and then opening them wide in surprise upon seeing Ryuu right in front of her, Tia almost screamed, but Ryuu's fingers landed on her lips, indicating she should stay quiet and pointing outside.
Rear Admiral Tia, surprised, knew that Ryuu wasn't there to attack her but understood the urgency.
Quickly, she dressed and went out on deck with Ryuu, where Vice Admiral Carl was already waiting.
"Master Karl, Ryuu, what happened?" Tia asked cautiously.
"Don't look with your eyes, use your senses to feel and listen," instructed Vice Admiral Karl.
Rear Admiral Tia closed her eyes, allowing her Observation Haki to extend, capturing the uninvited guests silently approaching in the thick fog.
"Almost within range!" announced Vice Admiral Karl, speaking into a Den Den Mushi.
"Fire!" he ordered.
The next second, the sound of continuous artillery fire was heard as dozens and hundreds of cannonballs were fired.
Initially, the first round of bombardments didn't achieve much, hitting only a few ships sporadically. Their main objective was to pierce through the thick fog and gain visibility.
A second bombardment followed, precisely targeting the attacker's ships hidden in the fog. Each cannonball found its mark, sinking ship after ship. This was the strength of the veteran unit of the Navy Vice Admiral!
"What do you think, Brother Ryuu? These guys under my command aren't bad, are they?" Vice Admiral Karl stroked his beard and smiled.
"Brother Karl, of course, has elite generals and soldiers!" Ryuu nodded.
"Master Karl, Ryuu, stop chatting. It looks like something's coming from the sk... the sky!" Rear Admiral Tia spoke anxiously, sweat rolling down her face.
"Even the sky can feel it, Tia. Your Observation Haki has improved very quickly!" Vice Admiral Karl nodded happily, although his smile faltered as he noticed the dense crowd of attackers approaching from above.
"Damn it, everyone, get back to the cabin!" ordered Vice Admiral Karl urgently.
The attackers pierced through the fog, revealing an overwhelming number of armed crows. Each bird had a beak sharp as a sword and a blood-red ring around its neck, with eyes shining a bloodthirsty red.
Suddenly, a flute sounded in the noisy night, causing the crows to freeze and retract their wings, aiming their beaks downward, launching a suicidal attack on the warship's deck.
Vice Admiral Karl crossed his arms, covering them with the powerful Armament Haki, ready to face the descending crows, while Rear Admiral Tia unsheathed her sword, also covered with Armament Haki, and cut down the crows as other officers and marines covered the retreat of the common sailors.
Ryuu, not inactive, extended his fingers, using his Fly Finger Pistol technique, fired invisible air bullets from his fingertips, taking down crow after crow. However, unfortunately, the number of crows far exceeded the speed at which they could be taken down.
The relentless attack of the crow army caused significant damage to the warship's deck.
"What is happening with these crows? Who trained them?" exclaimed Tia in shock.
"This is not good!" Vice Admiral Karl's expression changed as he ran to the ship's railing, looking out to sea.
Dozens of barbed steel cable spears pierced the hull, dragging the warship deeper into the fog. The attackers didn't intend to board the warship but to anchor it.
"Master Karl!" Tia looked at Vice Admiral Karl, who quickly ordered, "Go ahead, cut the cable!"
Rear Admiral Tia and a few others, capable of cutting the special steel cables, began their task, although the efficiency was low due to the high speed of the towing.
"Attention everyone, something's coming along the steel cable!" warned Tia.
Under the cover of dense fog, figures with a rotten smell quickly crawled along the steel cables, invading through the cabin holes.
"Zombies! They're zombies! They're the undead of the sea!" the sailors screamed in horror.
Vice Admiral Karl struck a zombie in the head, his face extremely grim as he guessed the attacker's identity.
"One of the six super pirates of the New World! Barbossa, the Lord of the Undead! That bastard..."
"Lord of the Dead!"- Ryuu arched his eyebrows, familiar with the name but not the reason.
Now, seeing the undead and decomposing zombies, he understood.
The Lord of the Dead's ability was the same as the later Shichibukai Gekko Moria: the Paramecia Shadow Fruit ability!
"Interesting!" Ryuu chuckled, abandoning the idea of cutting all the cables by himself and helping Karl deal with the invading zombies. Since the other party wanted to invite them, Ryuu didn't mind seeing the strength of this generation's Shadow Fruit user!
Since the other party wanted to invite them, Ryuu didn't mind seeing the strength of this generation's Shadow Fruit user!
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End of the chapter
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Note; I had to edit it twice because of a page error, but luckily I finished it. I had thought to make a double chapter, but I prefer to do that in the chapters of fights, and besides I thought it was good to leave in a moment of tension, now without further ado I leave you, Chau~.
[1061 Words]