One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

The shell trailed a long plume of flame, tracing a brilliant path across the dark night sky as it hurtled straight toward Drake's ship.

Drake's ship was a very ordinary pirate ship, which could only sail by wind and manpower and had no steam power. If the sails were destroyed, they would become sitting ducks for Lakwal's warship.

Unfortunately, unless artillery shells are produced on a certain scale, they are unlikely to pose much of a threat to a powerful individual.

Even pirates with bounties of tens of millions can easily unleash attacks from a distance using pure power, let alone a master of martial arts like Drake who is proficient in the Six Powers.

Faced with the whistling rockets, he simply swung his sword, and an arc-shaped slash swept across the void, cleaving the incoming cannonballs in mid-air. The shells exploded on the sea surface a dozen meters away from the pirate ship. The impact of the explosion did not damage their ship; instead, it provided a shock to the sails, propelling their ship to escape even faster.

"Damn it! What are you all dawdling about? Aim and fire the shells!"

Lakwal roared as he loaded the shells.

As he finished speaking, the double-layered cannons on the warship finally began to unleash their power.

On Drake's pirate ship, the pirates only saw a row of bright orbs of light appear on the pursuing warship in the distance, followed by a deafening roar that exploded on the sea.

Boom! Boom boom boom!

With just one volley, dozens of heavy cannonballs whizzed toward Drake's ship, leaving the pirates in despair.

Drake's heart sank as well.

As a Rear Admiral in the Navy Headquarters, no one knew better than him how overwhelmingly superior the firepower of the Navy's warships was compared to that of ordinary pirate ships.

Whether it's the power of the cannonballs, the quality of the cannons themselves, or the well-trained naval warriors, they can inflict devastating blows on any pirate ships they encounter during naval battles.

"This can't go on. We have to destroy the warship that Lakvar is on, otherwise we might not be able to escape. Ugh, what a mess this is."

Drake was inwardly groaning.

It's just defection, isn't it?

Why is it so difficult?

Because it was a pitch-black night, most of the warship's first calibrating shelling missed. Only three or four shells were lucky enough to fly towards Drake, where they were detonated in mid-air by the several slashing attacks he launched with his Storm Kick.

With the second round of shelling about to begin, Drake made a decision.

The pirates panicked and used their inferior weapons and cannons to launch disruptive attacks on the warship. Drake transformed into his beast form, drew his sword and axe, and leaped into the darkness like a ghost. Using Moonwalk, he nimbly shifted and moved in mid-air, quickly reaching the side of the warship where Lacval was located.

"Lieutenant General Lakwal! He's on the broadside! He wants to board the warship!"

Before Drake could even land on the deck, he heard shouts from the observer in the watchtower overhead, making Drake curse inwardly.

That damn navy is really troublesome.

Upon hearing the size of the observer, Lakwal was not alarmed but delighted, and turned to charge at Drake with his longsword.

"Alright! I'll take you back right now..."

"There's no time to linger here. If we wait for the main force to arrive, my mission as a traitor will be a complete failure."

Drake gritted his teeth, his arm muscles bulged, and the power within him exploded. He crushed the air in front of him with a sword and an axe, and blasted them towards the charging Lakwal.

The violent and fierce energy directly tore through the sails of the warship that was right next to it, cutting deep dents into the masts of the warship.

Two thick slashes, one horizontal and one vertical, came crashing down in Lakwal's shocked and furious gaze.

"X! Hunting Grounds!"

Clang!

With a deafening clang of metal clashing, Lakwal's thick arms went numb with a spasm, and the huge longsword he was wielding was severed in two.

Drake's feet exploded with air, and his figure moved forward like a phantom, crashing into Lacval's arms. He transformed his sword into a foot and kicked Lacval in the chest.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, Lakvar's face turned pale, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His massive body staggered a couple of steps, his eyes bloodshot.

"Drake!"

He gritted his bloodied teeth, feeling betrayed. Anger and regret filled Lakwal's chest. Ignoring the heaviness in his chest, he clenched his huge fist and punched Drake in mid-air.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant General Lakwal!"

Drake gritted his teeth, sheathed his two weapons at his waist, and black Haki appeared on his right hand as he punched the huge fist that Lakwal was throwing.

"Armament Haki Hardening! Crushing Blast!"

boom!

A chaotic gas explosion erupted above the deck of the warship. Lakwal's right arm snapped off with a crack, and his massive body flew backward, crashing through the bow railing and plunging into the sea.

Drake was also in bad shape, feeling as if his entire right arm was about to fall apart. He was sent spinning five or six times in mid-air by Lakwal's powerful punch, which dissipated the immense force. He then drew his sword again and slashed at the deck below.

The slash, several meters long, effortlessly pierced the deck, allowing Drake to charge inside. He unleashed a brutal attack on the naval soldiers loading cannons, destroying dozens of cannons before finally piercing the side of the ship with his sword and charging towards his own pirate ship.

Just then, he heard an excited shout from the naval observer on the warship's watchtower.

"Hold on! Reinforcements have arrived! It's... it's Major General Rorschach and General Aokiji!"

"puff!"

Drake, who was in mid-air, nearly plunged into the sea.

In the distance, a howling wind swept across the darkness, and then a huge, light blue warship with outstretched wings, like a giant dragon breaking through the darkness, descended from the sky towards Drake's location.

Drake's face twitched violently as he looked at several familiar faces standing on the warship's prow, staring in his direction with astonishment.

Isn't that Rorschach, Rorschach, and Kuzan?

On the Kirin, Rorschach was also a little confused when he saw Drake.

He turned to look at Kuzan beside him. "Uncle Kuzan, what's going on? So, the pirate who attacked the Navy warship was Drake?"

"Oh dear, I didn't expect him to choose Sabaody as the starting point for his defection. This is troublesome. They've already accepted the plea for help, so we have no choice but to fight."

Kuzan pressed his forehead, looking like he had a headache.

"Defect? ​​Is Major General Drake going to defect? ​​Why?" Hibari blinked his bright eyes, completely oblivious to what Kuzan was saying.

Luo, however, seemed to understand something, and looked down at Drake, who was being blown away in a sorry state by the gale stirred up by the Kirin, with a strange expression.

That guy is really unlucky.

Unfortunately, it was Rorschach who came to their aid.

Oh, and there's also a naval admiral...

Just as the Qilin was about to swat Drake in the face like a fly, Luo Xia waved his hand at the right moment, making the gale in the sky more intense. This caused the Qilin to accelerate forward and rush a distance before crashing into the sea with a loud bang.

Drake, who had escaped unscathed, finally returned to his pirate ship, staring blankly at the scene before him.

On the Lakwal's warship, one after another, the naval soldiers rushed to the ship's deck with excited expressions. Looking at the extremely cool Kirin warship, looking at the extremely powerful colleagues who appeared on it, and looking at Kuzan, Rorschach and others at the head, they couldn't help but raise the weapons in their hands and let out a deafening cheer.

"It's Admiral Aokiji!"

"And Major General Luo Xia!"

"This is so exciting! That silver-haired man is Rear Admiral Luo Xia! Amazing! So the rumors about flying warships are true! This warship is our Navy's Wind and Thunder Kirin! Rear Admiral Luo Xia's warship!"

In the sea, Lakwal, clutching a severed arm, surfaced and looked up at the crew of the Kirin, shouting, "Admiral Aokiji! Rear Admiral Rorschach! Seize Drake! That damned naval traitor has openly colluded with pirates to plunder a huge amount of tax money from the base! Seize him!"

“Uh…” Rorschach turned to look at Kuzan, “Uncle Kuzan, why don’t you do it? Drake is your subordinate after all, it’s not really appropriate for me to take action.”

"Do you want the mission that Sengoku-san arranged to fall through right now? Hurry up and go." Kuzan remained calm and composed, showing no intention of moving at all.

Just kidding, even if you send Major General Rorschach, he'd still be 'no match' for Drake and accidentally let him escape.

If he were to intervene and Drake were to escape, it wouldn't just be him, as a Marine Admiral, who would lose face, but the entire Marine Headquarters.

"Can I arrest him?" Luo Xia made a hesitant gesture.

"Sure, as long as you're not afraid of being scolded to death by Sengoku-san." Kuzan rolled his eyes, too lazy to pay attention to Rorschach.

"Sigh, that's really difficult. With this lineup, how am I supposed to go easy on them?"

Luo Xia sighed, and with a flash, disappeared from the Qilin.

In the next instant, they had already darted above the pirate ship where Drake was.

Drake's throat bobbed as he looked at Rorschach, who had appeared above him as if by teleportation.

When did Luo Xia's aura become so terrifying?

If Drake hadn't seen Rorschach's familiar face, he would have almost thought it was Kuzan himself.

"Drake! Prepare to die!"

Rorschach coughed and raised his right hand high. Thick bolts of lightning crackled and shot from his palm, tearing through the darkness and unleashing a thunderous spectacle on the sea outside the Sabaody Archipelago.

The thunder of the riot shook the heavens and illuminated the sea and sky.

"Rorschach, are you fucking serious? I... I surrender, I won't defect anymore, okay?"

On the bow of the pirate ship, Drake's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he stared dumbfounded at the lightning net that covered an area more than ten times larger than the pirate ship beneath his feet. He was completely stunned.

What did this kid eat to grow up like this?

Is this even human?

How come after just a few months, the moves he's unleashed look like an apocalyptic disaster?

The pirates standing behind Drake were terrified.

Under the stunned gazes of countless people, Rorschach, suspended in mid-air, seemed to be dragging lightning that filled half the sky as he crashed into the sea surface where Drake's pirate ship was located.

Rumble!

The sea surface, spanning several kilometers in radius, was shattered and exploded by the lightning strike, illuminating the sea for dozens of miles in a pure white light.

The sky was filled with terrifying lightning, leaving Lakwal and the naval soldiers behind him mesmerized.

After the thunderous explosions lasted for more than ten seconds, Drake and his pirate ship could no longer be seen on the vast ocean outside Sabaody Archipelago, except for Rorschach floating alone above the sea.

Lakwal's throat bobbed, and he swallowed hard.

Where are the Drakes?

Vanished into thin air?

Seeing Rorschach fly back onto the Kirin, Lakwal couldn't help but cautiously ask, "Major General Rorschach, where is Drake? Could he already be...?"

Luo Xia sighed and shook his head: "No, he got away."

"Huh? It ran away? No way."