Chapter Nine: The Phantom Squad! Elbaf!

Aboard the Rocks Pirates’ ship.

“Ha ha ha ha!” Rocks gazed out over the distant ocean scene, bursting into laughter. “Isn’t this utterly ridiculous, Newgate? Even meteors are coming down!”

Beside him, Whitebeard quietly sipped his drink, saying nothing.

“Your quake power should fall within Loya’s abilities, right?” Rocks said. “Though that kid probably can’t create vacuum tremors, earthquakes are easy for him.”

“Even for a Mythical Zoan, that’s a bit over the top, isn’t it?” Whitebeard gradually spoke. “A crazed little brat with the most insane power of all.”

Loya, who craved calamity, just happened to possess the ability to unleash disaster with every movement.

“That’s right! A mad power!” Rocks said with keen interest. “I wonder which is stronger—Loya’s ability or the legendary Sun God Nika’s?”

“Isn’t it fascinating? The legendary Nika is the liberator, a god who brings hope to the world. Meanwhile, our little Loya feeds on human suffering, a demon child spreading disaster across the world!”

Whitebeard remained silent.

“Ha ha ha ha! But this brat was born too late!” Rocks laughed heartily. “This world no longer has a stage for him to show off his tricks! I’ll end it all!”

Meanwhile, on the warship, Loya was unaware of what the captain was saying. He merely looked disappointed at the meteor crashing down.

The meteor was only about a dozen meters in diameter. At his current level, this was the scale of meteor he could summon—far behind Fujitora, and not to mention the neighboring set where Madara was.

His stats just weren’t enough.

While Loya felt his power was insufficient, the Navy below was nearly in despair.

“Are you kidding me?!” A Navy colonel barely holding back Loya’s malevolent aura tried to stay calm but grew desperate. “What kind of monster is this guy?!”

As his mind was shaken, blackness began spreading within his eyes.

Another Navy rear admiral shouted, “Vice Admiral! It’s up to you!”

“...” Vice Admiral Johnson leapt up, his long blade instantly covered in dark Haki. “Cut it down!”

A brilliant azure blade blossomed, aimed straight at the massive meteor descending from the sky.

Truly worthy of a Navy Headquarters vice admiral—the sword cleaved the meteor, about a dozen meters across, clean in two. The spreading blue blade light lit up the sky.

“Nice skill! Flying Slash!” Loya praised repeatedly.

With the Iron-Willed Sword Technique combined with Armament Haki, it was clear—better not get too close to this guy, or he wouldn’t know if his body could withstand it.

But still, it wasn’t enough. The two halves of the meteor continued to plummet toward the warship.

Johnson gritted his teeth and swung his sword to smash the two halves into fragments.

At that moment—

*Crack!*

A dazzling blue-white lightning bolt struck suddenly, hitting the unprepared and sluggish Johnson midair.

“Waaah!” he screamed. Despite defending with Armament Haki, Johnson was thrown directly into the sea.

---

Then—

*Boom!*

The two meteor halves crashed onto the front and rear decks of the warship.

The sturdy decks could not withstand the tremendous kinetic energy and were pierced through instantly.

The entire ship began to break apart, with numerous Navy personnel falling into the sea.

“Such a waste of effort,” Loya muttered.

His ability was flashy but consumed a great deal of energy.

Fortunately, thick black mist billowed upward.

Loya took a deep breath; the black mist he inhaled rapidly restored his strength.

“Loya! What in the world have you done?!” roared an angry voice.

Looking down, Loya saw the Navy vice admiral, burned all over, stepping on a shattered plank and soaring skyward.

“Scary!” Loya flapped his wings happily, flying higher.

“Moon Step! Don’t think you can run, you bastard! I’ll kill you!” Johnson chased after him, blackness spreading through his eyes.

“Such strong killing intent. Don’t say scary things to a seven-year-old, and besides, getting so worked up for a fight isn’t good,” Loya said.

Suddenly, fierce winds whipped up, spiraling into a turbulent vortex that swallowed Johnson.

“Ugh!” Johnson’s face changed drastically; the chaotic air currents caused him to lose control of his Moon Step.

At the same time, thunderclouds overhead began to rumble, sending down bolt after bolt of lightning.

The Navy vice admiral, already unable to leverage the air currents, was struck repeatedly and then hurled back into the sea.

“Is this guy okay?” Loya gasped. “What’s wrong with the people of this world?”

They all seemed to have superhuman endurance!

Though his eyes couldn’t penetrate the sea, Loya could see the vice admiral’s malevolent aura clearly.

“Damn you!!” The vice admiral surfaced, dark Haki gradually fading, but his body was still charred from the continuous lightning strikes.

He looked around at the devastation.

“I’ll kill you! I will definitely kill you!!”

Veins bulged on his forehead as he roared with madness, “You brat! I’ll kill you!!”

His rage grew more frenzied. “Brat! Scum! Die! Die! Just die already! Why won’t you die?!”

The vice admiral wildly swung his blade, releasing a flurry of erratic Flying Slash attacks.

Unfortunately for him, Loya was flying a hundred meters above, easily dodging the attacks.

Loya sighed, “Such great skill, but poor emotional control—this is over.”

Blackness filled over half of the vice admiral’s eyes.

Anger and murderous intent completely shook his will, and Loya amplified these emotions even more.

Regrettably, the vice admiral seemed unable to suppress his spiraling rage.

---

Soon, the sea calmed.

Later, on the deck:

“How’s that, Captain!” Loya proudly showed Rocks the puppets he had just acquired. “My demon squad!”

Five figures stood before him.

At the forefront was Vice Admiral Johnson, flanked by a Navy rear admiral and three colonels.

Their eyes were pitch black—completely turned into Loya’s puppets.

“It’s my first time collecting Navy puppets!” Loya grinned.

“Disgusting ability,” Whitebeard said with disdain. “Even for enemies, there’s no need to humiliate them to this extent.”

“Heh,” Loya scratched his head sheepishly, a tactical smile on his face.

“He’s still just a child, Newgate,” Rocks ruffled Loya’s hair. “Don’t be too harsh.”

Yes, he was just a child, but already so vicious—what would he be like when he grew up?

Whitebeard shook his head and dismissed it. This wasn’t his concern anyway. What business did a pirate have caring so much?

“Not bad, Loya!” The captain glanced at the Navy puppets and nodded with satisfaction. “Your ability will shine in the upcoming great war!”

The boy’s direct combat skills still had a long way to go, but his puppet-creating power was indeed interesting.

“Heh heh.”

Loya quietly chuckled.

The next day, the pirate ship finally sailed near the shores of Elbaf.

“Truly magnificent!” Loya stood at the bow, gazing at the distant Elbaf. “Is this the land of war? The world’s strongest nation?”

Before them stood a colossal tree that shaded the sky, its canopy split into two layers with numerous waterfalls cascading down.

This was the world’s largest Adam tree and the home of Elbaf!

The two canopies plus the ground formed Elbaf’s three-tiered territory, known from bottom to top as the Underworld, the Living World, and the Heavenly Realm.

Loya also spotted an enormous, exaggerated sword slanting through the middle canopy and piercing into the earth—a relic of unknown origin.

Meanwhile, on Elbaf’s coast, at the harbor, the giants noticed the approaching ship.

“That’s... the Rocks Pirates’ ship!”

“The Rocks Pirates are attacking! Prepare for battle!”

“Quickly inform King Harald the Great!”

Thus, as the ship sailed into the harbor, Loya saw several giants standing ready with weapons drawn.

“Captain, the locals don’t seem very friendly, do they?”