One Piece: Blue Scale Admiral

Sera looked at her spirited grandfather and complained impatiently.

Two days ago, her grandfather, Jonathan, the president of the Bounty Hunter Guild, brought these people from Spring Queen City. He said that after the war between the Marine Headquarters and the Whitebeard Pirates ended, they would take advantage of the chaos here to loot and capture some of the Whitebeard Pirates' defeated soldiers.

"What did you say? How dare you speak to your grandfather like that?"

Jonathan glared at Sera, then tapped her on the forehead. Sera cried out in pain and crouched down, clutching her forehead.

"Are you in such a hurry to curse me to die so that your little lover can take over my position as president sooner?"

Jonathan grinned mischievously, his gaze passing over Sera and landing on Zoro on the deck behind her, where he was frantically working out with a huge barbell.

Sera noticed his gaze, her face flushed, and she spat, giving Zoro, who was covered in sweat, a disdainful look. "Grandpa, what are you saying? He... he's not my little lover! He's a dim-witted, directionally challenged guy who only knows how to exercise and sleep all day. I like men like Vice Admiral Rorschach, okay?"

"Really? Then why do I always see you bringing food to Zoro?" Jonathan chuckled slyly.

"What's wrong with...bringing him food? You're the one who said he should inherit the Bounty Hunter Guild! I'm only bringing him food so he can have time to train and get stronger quickly so he can achieve the goal you set for him." Sera fiddled with the silver chain hanging from the hem of her clothes, her voice lacking confidence.

Seeing Jonathan's grinning face, she stomped her foot and said angrily, "Don't try to change the subject, okay? I was just talking about the Whitebeard Pirates."

Seeing his granddaughter become embarrassed and annoyed, Jonathan stopped teasing her. Instead, he pointed to the image of Marineford projected on the ship and laughed, "Do you think the Whitebeard Pirates can successfully achieve their goal of rescuing people and returning safely to the New World under the scale of the Marine Headquarters' encirclement?"

Sera glanced at the Sengoku depicted on the screen, the four tall figures lined up below the execution platform, and the dense white crowd in Oris Square, but still stubbornly said, "Who knows? Whitebeard is known as the strongest man in the world, possessing the ability to destroy the world, a king of the sea who is on par with the Pirate King Roger."

Upon hearing her voice, Zoro paused slightly in his barbell swing, asking curiously, "The strongest man in the world? Stronger than Mihawk?"

"Of course! That's Whitebeard! Green moss head, do you even know what the name Whitebeard represents? Let alone Whitebeard, just the great swordsman Vista on his ship, Hawkeye would probably need a lot of time to defeat him. Moreover, Whitebeard's weapon, like Hawkeye's black sword Yoru, is one of the twelve Supreme Grade Swords."

Sera said with a look of awe.

Listening to Sera's story, Zoro felt a surge of heroic spirit welling up inside him.

Another one who claims to be the strongest in the world.

The powerful beings on this vast sea are truly as numerous as carp crossing a river.

There are countless beings stronger than myself now.

Not to mention the Navy Admirals and the Four Emperors of the New World who stand at the pinnacle of the world.

I am still too weak.

When will I be able to stand at the top of this ocean like the boy in the picture before me, and fight openly with Hawkeye and Whitebeard?

With that thought in mind, Zoro resumed swinging the heavy barbell in his hands.

I must train even harder!

"What a blockhead! I'm going to work you to death! You don't even know to take a break." Sera muttered to herself as she watched Zoro swing the barbell.

Suddenly, the boat beneath their feet began to rock violently.

"What's going on here?"

Sera looked out of the ship in confusion.

Then, her pupils dilated little by little, and she murmured absentmindedly, "Sea...tsunami? Are you kidding me? How could it happen so suddenly..."

"Oh no, it's Whitebeard's tsunami!" Jonathan's expression changed slightly, and he shouted in his aged voice to warn the bounty hunters on the other two ships, "Everyone, grab your things and hold on tight! Don't let the tsunami capsize you and throw you into the sea! Hold on to the ship! We can make it through!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than an even larger tsunami crest rapidly approached from afar, lifting their three ships high and carrying them toward the open sea, far from Marineford.

Amidst these towering waves, Jonathan had no way to free the boat and could only resign himself to fate, drifting with the current.

After they had been sailing at high speed for an hour or two, swept along by the tsunami waves, and just when they thought the tsunami had passed and were preparing to turn back and return to their original position, the vast sea outside the ship suddenly transformed into a glacial land to the astonished and shocked gazes of the bounty hunters.

"What is this?" Sera, who had fallen into Zoro's arms due to the violent jolting, was too ashamed to care about the shyness that welled up in her heart. She looked at the silver-clad sea outside with a shocked expression.

"It's Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit ability. This frozen sea is his masterpiece. Have you witnessed it? This is the power of one of the world's top fighters."

Jonathan explained to everyone with a smile.

"Aokiji? A Marine Admiral? To be able to do something like that, that's terrifying power."

Zoro felt a bit cold, so he quickly went to the cabin to get some clothes to put on.

From another ship not far ahead, Brook's voice came, "Mr. Jonathan, our ship is frozen. How are we supposed to hunt the Whitebeard Pirates now?"

Upon hearing this, Jonathan pondered for a moment, then decisively waved his hand and shouted, "This ice surface is unlikely to melt anytime soon, which conveniently provides us with a platform for battle. Everyone, listen up, grab your weapons and food, and follow me back to the outer sea of ​​Marineford to await the defeat and rout of the Whitebeard Pirates."

"Yes, Chairman!"

Upon hearing this, the bounty hunters grabbed their weapons and leaped off the ship, noisily following Jonathan, Sauron, Sera, Hawkins, Brook, and the others. The group of over a thousand people marched in a grand procession across the vast ice surface toward Marineford.

However, after two hours of arduous progress along the smooth, cold ice, two hazy ship silhouettes suddenly appeared in their sight.

From a distance, they appeared to be two large warships.

Brooke asked curiously, "Huh? Why are there warships here? Isn't the sea over there frozen?"

"That seems to be the direction of Impel Down; the warships came from the Calm Belt."

Hawkins frowned slightly and said softly.

For some reason, he felt somewhat uneasy.

Sera was also surprised.

But of all the people, the one who reacted the most was Jonathan, the leader of the association.

Zoro only saw the smile that had been on his old face covered in orange peel vanish in an instant.

Then, immediately afterward, Jonathan swiftly pulled out the great sword Shura, which originally belonged to him and was tucked into his waistband. Together with the long sword wrapped around his waist, which resembled a spine, he held it in his left and right hands.

With twin swords in hand, Jonathan's aura suddenly shifted, transforming him from a hunched, weary old man into a peerless swordsman with a sharp, imposing presence, as if he could cleave the icy ground before him.

Moreover, wisps of black ghostly energy were constantly emanating from his not-so-tall body, spreading and coiling around the twin swords Jonathan held in his hands.

"Attention everyone! Prepare for battle immediately! Zoro! Hawkins! Brook! Sera! Andrei! Get into formation!"

Jonathan's chilling voice rang in the ears of the bounty hunters, and everyone could hear the gravity in his tone.

No one asked why. As soon as Jonathan finished speaking, Sera, Sauron, and the others quickly drew their weapons and began to direct the bounty hunters into five groups of about two hundred people each. Each of the five of them led a team and set up a formation that combined offense and defense.

Jonathan, wielding two swords, stood at the very front of the formation, his face grim as he looked at the two approaching warships.

Only then did Sera have a chance to ask nervously, "Grandpa, what happened? Are those navy people over there... enemies?"

“No, that’s not the Navy.” Jonathan shook his head with a stern face.

"Not the navy?" The hunters were stunned.

"They are pirates, and a group of great pirates who have been imprisoned in Impel Down for decades."

"what?"

Before Sera, Solon, and the others could process the astonishing amount of information contained in Jonathan's words, the two warships ahead, blocked by the ice, came to a stop.

Then, Sera and the others saw figures dressed in black and white prison uniforms leaping off the two warships and landing on the ice.

A series of malevolent and vicious gazes were cast towards us from the other side.

Before the fight even started, the terrifying aura of cruelty and brutality made the bounty hunters behind Jonathan tremble with fear.

"Hmm? I was wondering who this was. The aura was so familiar, and I could smell your stench from afar. It turns out to be our old friend. The esteemed King of Hunters, Lord Gouki."

Chapter 686 Only through hardship can one become a demon.

A mocking voice drifted from afar across the still-chilly ice.

Jonathan gripped his longsword even tighter when he saw the person walking straight toward him.

"Wald, as expected, it was a mistake for Garp to capture you and lock you up in Impel Down. You should have gone straight to hell. Even if the power of the Multiply Fruit is dangerous, it's not as dangerous as a destructive maniac like you."

"Hell? Hahahaha, I really just crawled out of hell."

Wald walked a few meters in front of Jonathan and stood calmly, showing no fear despite the killing intent emanating from Jonathan, nor did he look at the thousands of bounty hunters who were arrayed behind Jonathan.

However, the twenty-odd prisoners who had come with him were all eyeing the female bounty hunters behind Jonathan with naked greed, especially Sera, whose figure and face were of superior quality. These prisoners, who hadn't tasted the pleasures of a woman in decades, now had their eyes turn red.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the heavily breathing prisoner behind him, and a silent smile crept onto Wald's lips.

The phrase "full of pride and satisfaction" perfectly describes his mood at this moment.

Because the twenty-odd prisoners following him, who had come out of the Infinite Hell with him, had been persuaded to follow him from now on.

Despite their emaciated and weakened appearance, even someone as proud and arrogant as him dared not underestimate their fighting prowess.

The criminals who are imprisoned in the Infinite Hell are all extraordinary individuals.

Not to mention those who have been imprisoned for more than ten or even several decades and still managed to survive, before going to prison, they were either notorious pirates or thugs who committed the crimes of massacring cities and destroying countries.

Wald believed that once they arrived in the New World, these people would recover their former health after a period of recuperation. At that time, he would have a powerful force under his command, which would allow him to once again shake the world as the destroyer of the world and become a powerful ally of the Emperor of the Sea.

Unfortunately, despite his efforts, he only managed to recruit fewer than thirty people.

Meanwhile, Barrett and Ryder had gathered over a hundred people.

Unlike the various promises he made on the warship, those two arrogant guys didn't even say a word. Those brain-damaged idiots automatically scurried over, truly showing no backbone whatsoever of their former strength.

Thinking of this, Wald glanced subtly in the direction of Barrett.

Barrett seemed to have no interest in Jonathan and the others. Surrounded by a group of prisoners, he strode along the ice and headed into the distance.

The remaining prisoners who had not joined any side scattered in all directions.

They were all quite fast, and it seems they were still very afraid of being captured by the navy again.

Wald scoffed at this.

If the Navy still has the resources to capture them at this point, then Whitebeard will truly become a joke.

The navy today is probably struggling to protect itself.

As Wald was thinking this, he suddenly noticed that from the Barrett team that was gradually moving away from here, an old man with a full head of silver hair and a face full of wrinkles, who looked about the same age as Jonathan, suddenly walked out, looked in his direction, and then walked towards him without saying a word.

The old man walked slowly, but he covered the distance of several hundred meters in the blink of an eye, arriving in front of Wald and the others in the blink of an eye.

Wald subtly gripped the flintlock pistol he'd brought from Impel Down at his waist, watching the other man warily. "Ryder, what are you doing here?"

The newcomer was none other than the Red Earl, whom Barrett had released, and the only person in the entire Infinite Hell who had caught Barrett's eye.

Ryder seemed not to hear Wald's question, but calmly looked at Jonathan and the strangely shaped long knife in his left hand, which resembled a complete spine.

"The Demon Blade Dragon Spine of the Western Sea?"

“That’s right, it’s Dragonspine. What, you want it?” Jonathan glanced at the longsword he was holding in his left hand, which he had always used as a belt.