Chapter 350: So Terrifying
Time slowly passed. By the time Eriri and her group had nearly finished enjoying all the attractions in the amusement park, Admiral Kizaru finally arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, leading reinforcements from Marine Headquarters.
Due to the urgency of the situation, Kizaru wasted no time and headed straight for Area 33, where the amusement park was located.
Beside him was a giant man, wearing a belly warmer and wielding a massive axe.
Behind them, a large contingent of Marines ran with serious expressions. Along the way, whenever they encountered fleeing pirates, they attacked without hesitation.
...
At Area 13 of the Sabaody Archipelago, inside a bar named "Shakky's Rip-off Bar", the Straw Hat Pirates had gathered.
Earlier, when Eriri's group was approaching Area 24, their mermaid companion, Camie, had been kidnapped by a human trafficking group at the amusement park and sent toward the Human Auction House in Area 1.
However, due to the chaos caused by Eriri killing the Celestial Dragon, the traffickers never managed to deliver Camie to Area 1. Instead, they held her in their hideout in Area 8, planning to sell her later when things calmed down.
This allowed Luffy and his crew to track them down and rescue her.
Afterward, they abandoned their search for Rayleigh, the man responsible for coating their ship, and immediately returned to Shakky's Rip-off Bar with Camie.
"Things aren't looking good. I think it'd be best if you all left the Sabaody Archipelago as soon as possible," the bar's owner, Shakky, exhaled a puff of smoke and said seriously to Luffy.
"Why? The Thousand Sunny hasn't been coated yet," Luffy, who was sitting at the bar, asked in confusion.
Beside him, the orange-haired navigator, Nami, also wore a serious expression and asked, "On our way here, we saw pirates rushing to set sail, and they all looked extremely anxious. Did something happen?"
"That's right. I got word that about half an hour ago, a Celestial Dragon was killed in Area 24. It won't be long before at least one Admiral arrives to capture the culprits. When that happens, most of the pirates here will get caught up in it too."
"What?! A Marine Admiral is coming?!"
At those words, Nami, Usopp, and Chopper immediately screamed in shock.
"An Admiral? Like Aokiji?" Luffy's expression turned unusually serious upon hearing the term Admiral.
He had witnessed Admiral Aokiji's overwhelming strength firsthand—something their crew had absolutely no chance of defeating at their current level.
"That's right. The Marines have three Admirals: Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu. We just don't know which one is coming this time."
"W-W-What should we do, Luffy?! A Marine Admiral is coming! Shouldn't we run?!" Usopp said, his face full of fear.
"Yeah, Luffy! Let's get out of here! We can come back and coat the ship later, after things calm down," Nami and Chopper quickly agreed.
While the Straw Hat crew was panicking about the Admiral's arrival, the nearby Hatchan (the octopus fish-man), Pappag (the starfish), and Camie were utterly shocked by the news of the Celestial Dragon's death.
"A Celestial Dragon… was killed? That's impossible…" Hatchan muttered in disbelief.
"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true," Shakky said with a serious expression.
Her words left the three speechless, but their faces were filled with extreme shock.
...
Sabaody Archipelago, Area 33 – Amusement Park
With a flash of golden light, Admiral Kizaru appeared in the amusement park. He wore a yellow and white striped suit, draped with a "Justice" cape, and sported sunglasses on his face.
The surrounding Marines became visibly excited at his sudden arrival.
A Marine officer saluted Kizaru respectfully before reporting loudly, "Admiral Kizaru, the enemies are all inside the amusement park."
"Mm, I see." Kizaru responded indifferently, listening to the laughter coming from inside the amusement park.
Then, he extended his finger and fired a golden laser beam directly at the pirate ship ride, which was swaying up and down.
At that moment, Enju and the others were on the pirate ship ride, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Their guard was down, as they had not been paying attention to any external threats, which allowed Kizaru's attack to take effect.
With a loud explosion, the pirate ship ride instantly shattered into pieces, as if struck by a cannon blast.
However, Enju and the others, who were at the center of the explosion, remained completely unharmed—even their clothes remained intact.
Despite being unscathed, their mood was instantly ruined. Their amusement had been rudely interrupted, and they were furious at whoever had attacked the ride.
Without hesitation, they flew out of the amusement park and appeared directly before Kizaru.
"Yellow-skinned monkey, was it you who blew up our pirate ship ride?!" Enju demanded angrily, pointing at Kizaru with a displeased expression.
Upon hearing her insulting nickname, Kizaru's expression stiffened slightly—but he quickly returned to his usual demeanor.
"Oh my~ My attack didn't work? How terrifying~" Kizaru spoke in his usual slow, mocking tone.
Looking at Kizaru's sleazy and insincere expression, Enju suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to kick him in the face.
"Terrifying? Let me show you something even more terrifying."
As she spoke, she instantly charged at Kizaru, appearing right in front of him in the blink of an eye, and threw a powerful kick at him.
Since Enju's attack was purely physical, without any energy infused, it dealt no actual damage—and Kizaru effortlessly dodged it by transforming into light.
Kizaru, having the power of the Glint-Glint Fruit (Pika Pika no Mi), was a Logia user, meaning normal physical attacks couldn't hurt him.
However, what truly shocked him was Enju's speed—it was just as fast as his own.
For Kizaru, who possessed the fastest speed in the world due to his Glint-Glint Fruit, encountering someone just as fast as him—especially a young girl—was utterly unbelievable.
"So this is what Eriri-nee called 'elementalization'? Interesting."
Failing to land her attack, Enju wasn't disappointed at all. Eriri had already explained the power system of this world to them, so Kizaru's Logia intangibility wasn't much of a surprise.
Without hesitation, she launched another attack, but this time, she infused a trace of energy into her strikes.
Even so, she still wasn't using her full strength—she intended to play around for a while before finishing him off.
Standing behind her, Tina, Mibu Asaka, and the others did not intervene. They simply watched with amusement, enjoying the fight between Enju and Kizaru.
None of them were worried about Enju getting hurt.
After all, every single one of them had already reached Level 4—whereas the sleazy man before them was barely at Level 3, early stage at best.
Sensing that something was wrong, Kizaru did not receive Enju's attack head-on like before. Instead, he relied on his exceptional speed to dodge it.
Both of them were incredibly fast, to the point that their figures became invisible during the battle, leaving behind only afterimages and the sound of air being torn apart.
Kizaru was not a merciful person—he certainly wouldn't hold back just because Enju was a child. Moreover, he had no room to go easy in this fight.
While dodging, he continuously fired golden laser beams from his palm toward Enju.
However, every single attack missed. Enju effortlessly evaded the laser blasts, causing them to scatter in all directions, triggering massive explosions around them.
While Kizaru and Enju were locked in combat, the other Marines did not just stand idly by.
With an Admiral leading them, they felt emboldened. Without hesitation, they fired their rifles at Tina and the others, while the artillery units launched cannon fire toward them.
However, these small-scale attacks were completely ineffective against Tina and her companions.
With their sheer physical durability, they could have stood still and allowed the bullets and cannonballs to hit them without suffering a single scratch.
Naturally, Tina and the others retaliated.
But to them, the Marines were far too weak—a single move was enough to wipe out entire groups.
Under their overwhelming assault, it didn't take long before every single one of the thousand-plus Marines had collapsed on the ground.
Since Tina and the others had held back, the Marines were not killed—instead, they had lost all ability to fight.
Kizaru saw everything, but though he wanted to help them, he was completely powerless to do so.
Just defending against Enju's attacks had already pushed him to his limits.
Even with his immense speed and combat experience, Kizaru could not avoid being struck once by Enju.
This time, her kick was infused with energy—unlike her previous attack, which had passed through his Logia body.
As a result, the strike connected directly, sending Kizaru flying backward while he coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
After successfully landing the kick, Enju did not follow up. Instead, she stopped her movements and returned to her original position.
Kizaru's body reappeared, no longer in his light-transformed state.
Glancing around at the countless fallen Marines, Kizaru looked deeply troubled.
Even before meeting the leader of this group, the entire Marine force had already been wiped out.
"How terrifying… Each and every one of them is like a monster."
Wiping away the blood from the corner of his mouth, Kizaru muttered helplessly.
At this moment, he truly realized how frightening Eriri and her group were.
If even these few young girls had surpassed Admiral-level strength, then how powerful was their leader?
Kizaru didn't dare to imagine it—but one thing was certain:
The Marines and the World Government were in serious trouble.
Just then, Eriri and the rest of the group finished their amusement park fun and gathered together beside Enju and the others.
"Oh? It's over already? I expected more. A Marine Admiral, and this is all you've got? That's so lame."
Eriri smirked as she spoke, her tone light—but the mockery in her expression was unmistakable.
Meanwhile, in other areas of the Sabaody Archipelago, Sentomaru, wearing his signature belly warmer, led several Pacifistas and a large number of Marines in capturing the pirate crews scattered across the island.
Among those targeted was the Straw Hat Pirates.
Earlier, Luffy had taken Shakky's advice and planned to temporarily leave the Sabaody Archipelago with his crew.
However, they were a step too late. By the time they headed for Area 41 to board the Thousand Sunny, reinforcements from Marine Headquarters had already arrived in full force.
On their way, they encountered a Pacifista, and an intense battle ensued.
As a weapon created by the World Government, a Pacifista's combat abilities were extremely formidable.
At first, the Straw Hat Pirates were completely overwhelmed, unable to put up any resistance.
Their battle took place in Area 29, which was very close to the amusement park where Eriri and her group were located.
If their fight continued along its current path, it wouldn't be long before they reached Eriri's location.
...
Standing before the breathtakingly beautiful girl, Kizaru involuntarily held his breath.
Even though he didn't quite understand what she meant by "so lame", his instincts told him that it wasn't a compliment.
However, before Kizaru could respond, Eriri's voice rang out once more.
"So, you're a Marine Admiral, huh? Listen carefully—I'm giving you two choices."
As she spoke, Eriri slowly raised one finger.
"Option one: Tuck your tail between your legs and return to Marine Headquarters. As long as you don't do anything stupid and provoke us again, I won't mind letting you off the hook."
Then, she raised a second finger.
"Option two: Continue parading around in front of us as the World Nobles' lapdog. If that's the case, I guarantee that not a single Marine will leave the Sabaody Archipelago alive today."
After finishing her words, Eriri cast a casual glance at Kizaru.
In an instant, an overwhelming pressure descended upon him, forcing him to the ground, completely immobilized.
At that moment, Kizaru's heart filled with terror.
With just one look, he—a Marine Admiral—had been rendered completely powerless.
He could feel it clearly—as though at any moment, he might be crushed to death by this sheer pressure.
"Alright, make your choice."
Eriri spoke lightly, her tone calm and unbothered.
"You have ten seconds. If you fail to decide within that time, I'll assume you chose the second option by default."
Then, a faint smirk formed on her lips.
"But… even an idiot should know which choice to make, right?"
To be honest, Eriri preferred the Marines over pirates.
She had no interest in ending the era of pirates in this world.
That meant the Marines, as the only force capable of counterbalancing the pirates, were necessary.
Of course, she only acknowledged a Navy that was free from the World Government's control.
For that reason, Eriri was willing to give Kizaru a chance—a chance for the Marines to choose their own path.
If they failed to grasp it, then they had no one but themselves to blame.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven