The pirates weren't the only ones who were well-prepared. The seven Marine warships also rolled out their new-generation cannons, ready for battle.
Bege's rocket launchers were a bestseller across the seas, and their proliferation had greatly enhanced the naval combat capabilities of pirates. In the early days, the Marines had been caught off guard, but with their formidable scientific resources, they had easily reverse-engineered the rockets. Now, the Marines were also equipped with their own self-developed rocket launchers, which were equally devastating.
The distance between the fleets continued to shrink. On board the ships, both Marines and pirates held their breath, a tangible tension hanging in the air as they awaited the imminent life-or-death struggle.
"The wind is at our backs today. It seems even the heavens are on our side," Golden Tiger Raikoshin said, sticking out his tongue to feel the direction of the sea breeze, a pleased look on his face. "This distance is good enough! Fire! Blast those Marines into the sea!" he roared at his gunnery crew.
The pirates immediately lit the fuses. With a thunderous roar, a volley of conventional cannonballs and rockets flew toward the Marine warships.
"Vice Admiral, the pirates have opened fire!" a Rear Admiral on the flagship reported, his eye pressed to a pair of binoculars. The violent boom and the swarm of black projectiles streaking toward them made his scalp tingle. "They have rocket launchers!"
"They're still outside our effective range, Vice Admiral! Should we lay down covering fire to detonate their shells mid-air?" the Rear Admiral asked Onigumo urgently.
Vice Admiral Onigumo's face was a cold mask. He drew the two swords from his waist and said flatly, "No. Our ammunition is for sinking their ships. Wasting a single shell will put us at a disadvantage later. I will block them."
He used Moon Walk to launch himself into the air, leaping several times until he was positioned in front of his flagship, his fierce gaze fixed on the incoming rockets.
The hair on the back of his head began to float, as if it had a life of its own. It separated into strands that coiled together, the tips fanning out to form hand-like shapes. From a distance, it looked as though he had grown six extra arms. And these hair-arms were remarkably dexterous; they reached down to his waist and drew his remaining six swords. With a total of eight arms, he resembled a spider.
This was the origin of Vice Admiral Onigumo's epithet. He was a master of hand-to-hand combat and proficient in the Six Powers, with a particular specialty in Life Return. Users of Life Return could freely control their body, hair, and even internal organs by infusing them with their consciousness. Onigumo's primary application was controlling his hair, effectively giving himself six extra arms. Combined with his arduously practiced Eight-Sword Style, his combat prowess was formidable.
In an instant, Vice Admiral Onigumo moved. His eight swords swung out, unleashing eight slashes of sword-light. The slashes formed an intricate pattern, like a spider's web, that shot forward. It collided with the rockets, slicing them apart and causing them to detonate prematurely.
A series of explosions rocked the sky. The shockwaves disturbed the air currents, causing the cannonballs following behind to either explode or veer off course, plunging into the sea.
Vice Admiral Onigumo leaped back onto his warship. The eyes of the Marines on deck shone with admiration and awe.
"Warships, maintain maximum speed! Prepare to fire!" Onigumo ordered into a Den Den Mushi, his expression stern as he raised one hand high.
On the pirate ships, the three captains had all witnessed Onigumo's display.
"He blocked it all. He's pretty capable, isn't he?" Golden Tiger Raikoshin said, raising an eyebrow.
"I didn't expect our opponent to be Onigumo. I've heard he's quite strong," Red-Eye Squafo mused.
"I've fought him before. He's tough, no doubt," the grim voice of Raging Bull Fossum came through the Den Den Mushi. "But with the three of us working together, we can definitely grind him into the dust."
"Keep firing! We can't waste this advantage!" Raikoshin waved his hand, signaling his crew to continue the bombardment. This time, it wasn't just his crew; the other two pirate fleets also opened fire. In an instant, hundreds of projectiles filled the sky, a black curtain of death descending upon the Marine fleet.
The warships remained silent, still closing the distance at high speed.
"The enemy is within range!" the Rear Admiral suddenly shouted.
Vice Admiral Onigumo's eyes sharpened. "For Justice! Sink these dregs!" he roared, his face a mask of killing intent as he swept his hand down. The order to fire was instantly relayed to the other warships. In unison, the Marine gunners lit and pulled their fuses.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The simultaneous roar of the cannons was deafening. The massive recoil shook all seven warships. Hundreds of their own cannonballs soared into the sky, meeting the incoming pirate volley head-on. A continuous chain of explosions bloomed like fireworks, covering the sky in a blanket of fire. The powerful shockwaves blew the flames apart, and rolling waves of air blasted outwards, whipping the sea into a turbulent frenzy.
"Don't stop! Ten-round volley! Continue firing!" Onigumo commanded from the swaying deck, his eyes cold.
The Marine crews quickly readjusted their cannons and fired again, sending another dense barrage into the air.
The pirates returned fire with equal ferocity. Cannonballs collided constantly in the sea between the two fleets. A few rockets managed to break through the curtain of fire, but Onigumo and his officers intercepted them.
"Their cannon fire is this intense?" Raikoshin's expression changed. The seven Marine warships were putting out more firepower than their ten pirate ships, which was completely unexpected.
"Quick, spread the fleet out! Harassing fire! We have the numbers advantage, we can tie them down!" Raikoshin shouted into the Den Den Mushi.
His ships immediately began to pull away from the others. The other two crews understood the tactic and quickly spread out, forming a wide, arcing encirclement to stretch the battlefield. With only seven warships, the Marines couldn't possibly deal with cannon fire coming from ten ships from different directions at once.
"Warships, spread out! Left and right flanks, intercept their fire! Center ships, concentrate all cannons on the Golden Tiger Pirates' ships and sink them!" Onigumo was watching the pirates' movements closely. The moment they began to spread out, he knew their plan and immediately countered, intending to use the bulk of his firepower to eliminate some of their ships and negate their numerical advantage.
"Damn it, they're coming for me! Defend! Full defense!" Raikoshin's face paled as he saw the black curtain of cannonballs descending on his fleet. He roared at his crewmen, who scrambled across the four ships, gripping their rifles and nervously watching the incoming projectiles.
At the same time, he yelled into the Den Den Mushi, "Red-Eye, Raging Bull, I'm drawing their fire! Give them everything you've got, now!"
"Heh heh heh, we won't miss an opportunity like this!"
The Red-Eye and Oudu Pirates immediately opened fire, covering the Marine warships in a massive barrage.
The commanders of the left and right flank warships roared, "Shoot down that volley!" Their cannons fired rapidly, intercepting a large portion of the pirates' shells in a series of violent explosions. However, a significant number of cannonballs still flew toward the warships. The Marines on deck opened fire with their rifles, creating a dense curtain of bullets that stopped some of them, while the general and commissioned officers also leaped into action, cutting down projectiles.