Chapter 96: Shattered Strategies and Shifting Tides

While the battle on the island raged on, Rocks found himself in a completely different situation.

He arrived at the designated sea area and intercepted a pirate ship, but there was barely any resistance to be found on board.

“Kill them!”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Boom!”

Most of the people on the ship were Navy soldiers, not a single real powerhouse among them. There was barely any resistance at all.

The entire fight wrapped up in less than twenty minutes.

Good.

“Captain Rocks, there’s nothing on this ship,” someone reported.

Rocks realized he’d been tricked. He clenched his fist, crushing the intelligence report in his hand as an inexplicable strength surged through him.

“Hmph, Navy!”

“Go. Bring me my Transponder Snail. I want to check if everyone else ran into the same thing.”

The pirate before him rushed to fetch the Transponder Snail as soon as he heard Captain Rocks’ command.

“Pururururu!”

“Shiki, how’s it going on your end?”

Shiki’s situation was much the same as Rocks’.

No resistance to speak of, nothing of value on board. It was clear they’d all been fooled.

“Captain Rocks, where did your intel come from? There’s nothing on this vessel either.”

“Alright, I got it.”

After ending the call, he immediately dialed Karl’s Transponder Snail.

“Hello, is this Karl?”

“Captain Rocks, this is Yor, communications officer for Captain Karl.”

Rocks noted it wasn’t Karl himself picking up, which meant the information was at least genuine.

Still, he decided to double-check just in case.

“What’s your current situation?”

Yor didn’t dare delay even a moment and quickly responded.

“Reporting, Captain Rocks. Captain Karl is already fighting the Navy.”

“The opposition is none other than Garp, Sengoku and their crew.”

Hearing it was Garp and Sengoku leading the charge, Rocks figured they must be there to protect the Heavenly Gold.

“Good. Pass along my message. We’ll head his way now.”

“Understood, Captain Rocks.”

With that, Rocks hung up and instantly ordered Shiki to move toward Karl’s location.

…

“Shockwave!”

“Fist Bone Impact!”

Sengoku might have been unaware that Rocks and the others were approaching, but he knew they couldn’t waste any time here.

Luckily, his plan was perfectly laid out. As long as they stalled Karl’s group and the distant Navy warships sailed away, they could retreat as well.

Karl eyed his two opponents. This was their third clash.

Every time, he’d reached a new level of strength.

Now, he could go toe-to-toe with both of them at once.

“You two aren’t going to cut it anymore.”

“Tiger and Dragon, Scale the Mountain!”

There was a thunderous crash as the trio exchanged blows.

“Boom!”

Dust filled the air, thick and choking.

From the force of their strikes, Karl could tell they were stalling for time.

He wasn’t sure what exactly they were waiting for, but if he beat them down, whatever scheme they had would fall apart.

“Doesn’t matter what you’re plotting. As long as I put you both out of commission, I won’t consider this a loss.”

Sengoku couldn’t risk Karl realizing the real reason for their delay—that the ship carrying the Heavenly Gold was sneaking away.

“If beating us was as easy as talking us to death, you’d have won already.”

Seeing Sengoku still had the energy to joke, Karl dove in with another vicious assault.

“Titan—Heaven-Piercing Cannon!”

The relentless attacks left deep cracks all over the island, the ground barely able to hold together.

Clouds gathered overhead, summoned by Charlotte Linlin as Zeus drove in banks of dark storm clouds.

“Emperor’s Sword—Shattering Edge!”

“Six Powers Secret Technique: Great King’s Spear!”

Zephyr had seen right through Charlotte Linlin’s ploy with the clouds and wasn’t about to let her finish charging up.

Of all the chaos, the fight between Fields and Bogart was the most eye-catching after the two main battlefields.

“What I love most is fighting!”

“Clang! Clang! Clang!”

Fields, cloaked in Armament Haki, was exchanging ever-wider blows with Bogart.

Catching an opening in Bogart’s defenses, Fields lashed out with a spinning side kick.

Bogart was sent flying into the air.

“Pfft!”

Fields wasn’t about to let the opportunity go to waste.

He leaped up after Bogart, who was still airborne, and swung his Armament-clad right hand with force.

“Clang!”

Bogart reacted fast, drawing his longsword to block the strike, but with nothing to brace against midair,

he was slammed hard into the ground anyway.

“Boom!”

Tradis, who was closest, used Notty’s attack as cover to rush over, propping up Bogart.

“You alright?”

Bogart stood and wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, determination etched across his face as he looked at Tradis.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

Notty saw Tradis had time to chitchat, and instantly his temper flared.

“Eight-Level Fist—Twin Drop Hammers!”

Seeing Notty charging toward him in a rage, Tradis simply shot Bogart a few words before darting off to intercept.

“Stay safe out there.”

“I will. Don’t worry.”

After Tradis left, Bogart turned to face the approaching Fields, lowering his stance.

“One Sword Style—Wind Caress!”

“Golden Light Spell!”

Sensing the force behind that slash, Fields’ expression grew grave.

He cast the Golden Light Spell across his body, then shifted into an Eight Extremities Fist opening stance.

“Eight-Level Fist—Iron Mountain Lean!”

Just as the sword energy reached him, Fields became like a massive golden shield, completely blocking the attack.

Despite the intensity, the skirmish hadn’t gone on long; barely two hours had passed since they’d met and started fighting.

Sengoku watched as the Navy ships behind Karl faded into the distance. He signaled Garp with a nod.

Garp caught the cue.

He knew it was time to wrap things up.

Their job was complete.

All that was left was to get out of these waters safely.

“Buddha Shockwave!”

“Fist Bone—Mountain Shatter!”

Karl grinned with excitement as the two threw themselves at him with everything they had.

“Come on, that’s more like it!”

“Boom!”

When he saw them strike at the ground instead of him, Karl was thrown off.

“Hm?”

Huge fissures tore through the ground. This little island couldn’t take much more.

“Crack! Crack!”

Bogart and the others fighting on the shore realized the island was about to collapse and quickly led everyone back to their ship.

“Move!”

Davis and his crew didn’t hesitate either, racing for the pirate ship as the island gave way.

“Sovereign Nation!”

“Iron Fist!”

“Bang!”

Zephyr also noticed what was happening to the ground. After trading one last blow with Linlin, he immediately flew toward the warship.

If they didn’t escape in time, they might all be caught in the destruction.

“Karl, till next time!”

High in the air, Karl watched the ships vanish over the horizon.

“Sengoku, you really are the master tactician.”

“Can’t believe I actually fell for your plan.”

Sengoku and Garp had already hopped aboard the ship with Moonwalk, laughing aloud in Karl’s direction.

They roared with laughter at Karl as they sailed away.

“Goodbye, Karl!”

With the ship carrying the Heavenly Gold out of sight, there was no point fighting them any longer.

Karl didn’t give chase. He just stood at the bow, watching as Garp, Sengoku, and the others disappeared into the distance.

Linlin descended from above, landing next to Karl.

“Mamamama!”

“Mission failed.”

Karl chuckled.

“Yeah, we sure got a surprise today.”

Sengoku, Garp, Zephyr—future Admirals—had all been on one ship. If even one of them hadn’t been there, they might’ve managed to steal the Heavenly Gold.

“No use ruminating on it. Let’s think about how to deal with Rocks now.”

“Mamamama!”

“You won’t have to face him alone.”

Karl pulled Linlin into his arms.

“Actually, I plan to use this as my chance too.”

“Maybe we ought to thank Sengoku and the others.”

Linlin blinked in surprise. The Heavenly Gold was gone—how could that be an opportunity?

“What chance?”

Karl watched a fleet approaching on the horizon.

“You’ll know soon enough.”