Almost at the same time that Sage and the others found Tesoro, the Navy and Government officials who had been avoiding the Disaster Pirates started attacking the Pirates who were wandering around and looting in the city center.
Bang bang bang!
The sound of gunfire echoed nonstop on this Giant Ship that was basically a floating city.
"Take them out and rescue Saint Karma!"
The Navy soldiers swung their weapons and charged at the Pirates, and the latter weren't afraid at all. Some used vehicles as cover to exchange fire with the Navy, while others licked the blades of their knives and rushed in viciously to fight.
A Pirates crew under a Four Emperors wouldn't fear the Navy, obviously.
Clang clang clang!
In the crowd, Sipher flicked his twin blades, sparks bursting from the edges as he knocked away the incoming lead bullets. His whole body shot forward, spun once, and a cloud of blood mist exploded around him.
The bodies of the Navy soldiers each bore a deep slash, and they all collapsed.
Sipher flicked his twin blades, just about to grin, when several gunshots rang nearby. His pupils shrank, red dots symbolizing his Observation Haki danger-sense reflecting in his eyes as he slashed to the side.
Clang!!
Sparks scattered everywhere, and a sharp bullet whose tip had been chopped flat bounced off his blade and clattered onto the ground.
"A long-range sniper rifle?" Sipher blurted.
The danger premonition brought by his Observation made every hair on his body stand on end.
Guns on the sea are absolutely not useless. If they were truly completely ineffective against those proficient in Haki, firearms wouldn't have survived on the seas for so long.
A true master of firearms can sink an entire ship with a single shot.
Those who can completely ignore bullets—there are only a handful on the sea. Sipher clearly hadn't reached that realm, especially here in the New World. Navy snipers dedicated to long-range fire would definitely coat their bullets with Haki.
These long-range, high-powered firearms are more than threatening enough in the middle of a melee.
Bang!
Another gunshot cracked out, and as it rang, a Navy colonel also lunged at him.
Under threat, Sipher instinctively swung forward, his blade slicing across the man's chest.
"Tekkai!"
Shhh!
At that moment, the colonel tensed his body, letting the blade chop into his shoulder. Within the tightened flesh that should have been easily sliced through, the blade actually stalled for an instant.
That instant was enough for the long-range-sniping Vice Admiral to unleash his power!
"Crap!"
Sipher, sensing the intent as well, changed expression. Haki flared along the long blade in his hand as he hacked the colonel down with one stroke, then lifted both blades up while his body retreated.
Even if he got hit, he had to minimize the damage as much as possible...
Whoosh!!
Just as that spindle-shaped bullet slipped past Sipher's raised blades and was about to reach his face, an arrow coiled with airflow streaked past his eyes and precisely nailed into the spindle-shaped bullet he could see.
In that instant, time seemed to slow down.
Boom!
The arrow shot out, carrying the bullet it had struck along with it, and the two together blasted into a nearby building, punching a hole through it.
Sipher turned his eyes and saw Misty floating in midair, bow drawn and arrow nocked. Airflow wrapped around the shaft on the bowstring, forming a spiraling air force, and with a twang it shot rapidly into the distance.
Rumble!
A building in the distance was blown open with a giant hole by that arrow, and that annoying feeling of threat faded in that moment.
Air currents coiled around Misty's body, making the ends of her hair dance. She glanced at Sipher on the ground and said flatly, "Don't get careless."
As an Airflow Person who ate the Air-Air Fruit, she could not only manipulate air currents for attacks and flight, but also, thanks to the airflow, gauge the direction of incoming attacks.
As for accuracy...
As an Archer, reading the wind for direction was her signature skill; she could absolutely guarantee precision.
And sometimes, when it comes to speed versus precision, choosing speed in battle is what really matters.
Just draw and loose. As long as the shot is powerful enough, a little margin of error doesn't matter. Anywhere in that area is a target. Hitting an arm or hitting a head isn't that different; seizing the initiative is what counts.
As she finished speaking, Sipher's steps blurred into an afterimage as he rushed to the space beneath Misty. With a hiss, his twin blades cut down a Navy Officer below who was aiming his gun to fire.
He pulled a die from his pocket, tossed it into the air, then caught it. Six pips showed on top.
"Fate really does have us saving each other," Sipher said.
Misty said nothing. She pulled four arrows from the quiver at her waist, wrapped them in airflow, then aimed upward. "Scattering Wind Arrow."
The arrows shot out, suddenly splitting apart with the air currents. As the four shafts descended, they split again into several streams of air, spreading out like a rain of arrows over the area around them.
Below, Sipher brandished his twin blades and charged in one direction, like a fish slipping into water, smoothly weaving through the crowd. With every step forward, he carved down a swath of people.
"Fish Water Swim."
For two rookies with an initial bounty of three hundred million, their real strength was far more than this. Faced with these clearly elite Navy troops, after a moment of initial adjustment they immediately slipped into their familiar combat rhythm.
Elsewhere, things were even more explosive.
Baby-5 clenched a cigarette between her teeth as both her hands transformed into Gatling guns, laying down suppressive fire on the Navy.
In front of her, Buffalo spun a huge machete like a propeller, his whole body rotating as he charged into the Navy like a spinning top covered in blades, hacking away like a madman.
Dellinger stood to the side as support. Whenever an enemy tried to slip past Buffalo to attack Baby-5, he would strike—either kicking the Navy soldier flying or using the horns on his head to skewer them through.