This bastard!
Seeing the unrestrained grin on Daren's face, Marco felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.
If their last encounter had shown him Daren's ruthlessness, then this incident at the auction laid bare the man's outright madness!
Even Shiki—a Great Pirate on par with his own Oyaji—Daren had dared to plot against without hesitation!
And not only that—he had effortlessly wiped out Shiki's invincible flying fleet!
This Marine was terrifying.
In terms of strength, cunning, composure, foresight, and his grasp of the situation, Daren far outclassed anyone Marco had ever met.
Once someone like that had you in his sights, even sleeping peacefully would be a luxury.
"Damn it..."
Marco gritted his teeth and shot Daren a vicious glare. Blue-green flames erupted from his hands, transforming into blazing wings as he soared into the sky.
King also cast a long, wary glance at Daren. A flicker of unease flashed deep in his eyes before he, too, shifted into his Pteranodon form. His wings ignited with crimson flames, and with a powerful flap, he took off.
The two figures streaked across the clouds and quickly vanished into the distant horizon.
They knew full well—if they didn't retreat now, once Sengoku and Borsalino finished dealing with the remaining pirates, there wouldn't be another chance.
Daren watched them flee without making a move.
Not that he could stop them even if he wanted to.
Just now, unleashing his Devil Fruit ability to obliterate the port and sink every pirate ship had completely drained the last of his strength.
At this point, staying upright was already a struggle.
His body was on the brink of collapse.
The move "Electromagnetic Entanglement: Ten Thousand Cannons" had an immense area of effect and overwhelming power, instantly annihilating Shiki's fleet. But the cost to his body was massive.
And much of its effectiveness relied on the unique terrain of Coin Island. It was a move that couldn't easily be repeated.
"Well... looks like it's just about over."
Daren withdrew his gaze from the sky and swept it across the battlefield, finally locking eyes with Shiki, still floating midair in the distance.
By now, most of the pirates had been dealt with, and the remaining ones were being taken down one by one by the Marines.
Especially under Borsalino's full-area "clean sweep" attacks—even pirates with bounties over 100 million couldn't survive a single laser blast.
When that guy wasn't slacking off, he was actually pretty reliable.
The ground still burned with scattered flames, thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
Within several kilometers of the auction house, everything had been reduced to scorched earth. Pirates groaned and screamed in agony, lying sprawled across the ground.
"Shiki, it's over!"
Sengoku had reverted to human form, panting heavily as he stared coldly at Shiki.
He took a step sideways, blocking Shiki's murderous glare from reaching Daren.
Borsalino also materialized beside him, raising a finger with a mocking smile as he pointed lazily at Shiki.
Shiki's expression twisted unpredictably.
He glanced at Bullet, still wreaking havoc in the distance, then let out a low chuckle.
"Well, well... Sengoku, I never expected the Marines to produce someone like this."
His bloodshot eyes—seething with malice and murderous intent—seemed to pierce through Sengoku and Borsalino, locking straight onto Daren.
"You think you can protect him forever?"
Sengoku's heart sank.
He knew Shiki's personality all too well.
Cruel, bloodthirsty, completely insane... and worst of all—he never let go of a grudge!
"Threats mean nothing to me..."
Daren suddenly let out a cold, mocking laugh.
"There are already too many people who want to kill me. You're just another name on the list."
Grinning provocatively, he even raised his hand and started counting on his fingers.
"Byrnndi World wanted to kill me—he's already dead."
"Gol D. Roger tried to take me out—but he lost his pants."
"I blew up Kaidou of the Beasts' base, so yeah, he probably wants to rip me apart and feed me to his beasts."
"As for Whitebeard, I chopped off the arm of his sworn brother and nearly sank the main ship of the Whitebeard Pirates. And yet, I'm still alive and kicking..."
At first, Sengoku stood beside him with a proud expression, but the longer he listened, the darker his face grew.
Had this brat Daren really gone and pissed off every notorious Great Pirate on the sea!?
"And you, Shiki..."
Daren was still sneering, acting like a cocky delinquent, his attitude so infuriating Sengoku nearly reached out to cover his mouth.
"Forty pirate ships, nearly fifty thousand crew—your flying fleet was blasted into fireworks in an instant. So what can you do to me?"
"And then there's the Moa Moa no Mi..."
He raised his hand.
The ground in front of him suddenly writhed, then split open like a mouth.
From it emerged a Devil Fruit radiating a mysterious aura, which floated gently into Daren's hand.
"…In the end, you couldn't even lay a finger on me."
Shiki's eyes instantly turned blood-red.
"You little brat—looking to die?!"
With a sudden wave of his hand—
Boom!!
The ground beneath him surged upward, forming three colossal lions, each hundreds of meters tall. Their gaping jaws roared open as they came crashing down toward Daren!
Shishi Odoshi: Gosho Chimaki!
"Daren, you bastard, can't you ever shut up!?"
Sengoku cursed, furious, as golden light burst from his body.
Borsalino sighed and spread his arms with resignation.
The next second—
A massive explosion ripped through Coin Island, shaking the earth and splitting the sky.
...
No one knew how long it took for the chaos to subside.
Smoke and dust billowed across the ruined land. Corpses were strewn everywhere.
Sengoku, covered in dirt, patted the dust off his clothes. Looking at the empty, desolate ruins ahead, he quietly let out a breath of relief.
"He got away... What a shame."
Countless photons gathered beside him as Borsalino's figure reformed, speaking slowly in his usual laid-back tone.
Sengoku rolled his eyes at the man's spotless uniform, clearly annoyed.
He glanced into the distance.
What remained of the battlefield was a crater-riddled wasteland filled with the corpses of pirates. As for Douglas Bullet—he had vanished.
Clearly, he had taken advantage of the chaos Shiki stirred up to slip away unnoticed.
Just then, a heavy thud echoed behind him.
Sengoku turned to see Daren collapsed on the ground, limbs sprawled, gasping for breath with a face pale as ash.
The Commodore looked up at Sengoku, worn and drained, and gave a faint smile.
"Didn't expect him to see through it in the end."
Sengoku shook his head and dropped to the ground beside him, slumping without care for his dignity.
"That Shiki is too crafty. Sure, it looks like he took a huge hit this time—his fleet completely wiped out—but honestly, it doesn't hurt him that much... He's always seen his subordinates as nothing more than tools."
"Trying to provoke him into an all-out fight right here? That's easier said than done."
And if it really had come to that... I'm not sure I could've kept you safe, Daren.
But Sengoku didn't say that last part out loud.
Daren gave a tired chuckle.
"Nothing wrong with trying… But at the very least, we achieved our goal this time, Admiral Sengoku."
Sengoku paused, then broke into a smile.
He looked around at the scorched and broken land, the countless pirate corpses, the wreckage of airships still falling from the sky...
Not far away, the skull-and-crossbones flag of the Flying Sky Pirates was burning to ashes in the flames.
"Yeah... You did damn well, Daren."
Sengoku clenched his fists tightly.
To defeat Shiki's entire aerial fleet single-handedly, and with zero losses...
He could hardly believe it. Once this news reached Marine Headquarters—no, once it spread across the seas—it would shake the world to its core.
An unprecedented military feat!
This might very well be the greatest victory the Marines had achieved since the legendary Battle of God Valley!
Sure, the raid on the Beasts Pirates' base had been a huge success—but compared to the threat posed by Shiki?
There was no comparison.
"Daren... there's no doubt you'll be promoted this time."
Sengoku said with deep emotion—but there was no reply.
He turned to look and saw that Daren had fallen fast asleep at some point, already snoring.
A faint smile tugged at his lips, as if he were having a pleasant dream. He even mumbled in his sleep:
"Toki... you're so beautiful today..."
Sengoku couldn't help but smile. This brat really lived up to his "scoundrel" nickname... Even now, he was dreaming about women?
"Mmm... Gion, you're beautiful too."
Sengoku: "..."
His smile froze. His face darkened.
"Ahem, we didn't hear a thing."
Borsalino chimed in with a grin.
The nearby Marines paused, then all nodded vigorously.
"Yes, yes! We heard nothing!"
Sengoku's eye twitched. He clenched his teeth, tempted to smack Daren awake and give him a serious scolding.
But when he looked at the injuries covering the young man's body, and remembered the incredible achievement he had just pulled off...
Sengoku took a deep breath and forced a stiff smile.
"Yeah... just dreaming."
...
That day, Commodore Rogers Daren of Marine Headquarters single-handedly destroyed the legendary Great Pirate Shiki's invincible flying fleet...
His name echoed across the world!