Boom! Crack—!
Demon Rocks crushed the scorched earth, brutally smashing through giant trees that several people couldn't encircle along the way, his blood-red eyes locked tightly onto the tiny presence ahead.
The roar of falling trees and the earth-shaking footsteps rang out urgently behind Alice like a death knell from the Grim Reaper.
Alice looked back in panic, tears instantly blurring her vision.
Through the gaps in the trees, she saw the husband who once stood tall and made her proud and enamored, now transformed into such a hideous and terrifying form—dark gray skin, twisted muscles, black bat wings piercing through his spine, and those pale eyes that held nothing but pure killing intent.
"Gibeck... that form..." Alice said, trembling. She did not fear death; she was heartbroken by her lover's fall.
"You... lost..."
"I'm sorry... it was all to save us... that you had to encounter that monster..."
Alice tightly hugged the uncomprehending Teach, who just stared with wide eyes.
"It's... still too early..."
The last hope of the davy clan, the unfulfilled dream of Davi D. Xebec, now weighed heavily upon her and this young child.
This bloodline must not end here!
"Teach!" Alice wiped away her tears with sudden determination, her eyes full of resolve as she rushed toward the coast.
"We're heading for the sea! No matter what—the Davy bloodline must not go extinct!!"
"Live! You must live, no matter what—!!!"
She burst forth with unprecedented speed, passing through the last sparse patch of trees, and her vision suddenly opened up—the surging sea was right ahead!
But the light of hope only flashed for an instant before being swallowed by even greater despair!
By the shore, several Marine warships were clearly visible!
The warships were pulling away to avoid the risk of the island collapsing, but they had not completely abandoned their surveillance of the coast.
At that moment, the lookouts clearly spotted the "fugitives" running out of the forest.
"Unidentified fugitives spotted! Calibrate the cannons—!" The cold command was transmitted via signal flags and transponder snails.
The dark cannon barrels slowly turned, aiming at the mother and son on the coastline.
Deadly cannon fire ahead, and a life-claiming demon behind.
There was no path to heaven, no way into the earth... only the silent sea.
Everything seemed poised to meet its darkest end at this moment, on this cursed beach.
Alice's footsteps didn't falter for a second; instead, the light in her eyes grew more intense—even if she was to die, she would die on the path to freedom! Die ahead of her son to secure that sliver of life for him!
Just as the muzzle of the first ship's cannon lit up with fire and the shell was about to leave the barrel—
Swoosh—Boom!!!!
In the next instant, it wasn't a shell from the warship that fired, but a terrifying sword qi that spanned the sky like a divine punishment, sweeping across the sea and slamming hard into the warship's hull!
Crack—Rumble!!!
The sturdy steel warship was split in two! The piercing sound of tearing metal and the roar of explosions rang out simultaneously. Flames shot into the sky as the broken hull quickly tilted and sank! The Marines on deck cried out as they fell into the water.
"Three Sword Style: Dragon Hunt: Nine Fang Flash!"
A clear and domineering female voice came from high above!
Following that, a massive pink dragon condensed out of thin air, letting out a silent roar as it dove down from the sky!
With a momentum that could swallow everything, it bit into Demon Rocks just as he was about to pounce on Alice, the immense impact pushing him away from the coast!
"Roar—!!" Demon Rocks let out a furious howl, flapping his bat wings and using his claws to try and tear the energy dragon apart, but the dragon held on tight, pushing him all the way into the high sky before suddenly shifting direction and slamming Demon Rocks hard against a scorched cliff in the distance like a swinging meteor hammer!
Bang—!!!
The cliff collapsed, and dust rose like a Mushroom cloud.
The white dragon lady retracted her wings and landed with a thud on the beach between the shaken Alice and the wreckage of the warship, kicking up clouds of sand. Her three long blades hummed in her hands as she stared coldly toward the dust on the cliffside.
Charlotte Linlin turned her gaze toward the demonic figure slowly standing up in the dust, her voice carrying a hint of complexity:
"Although This lady has no idea why you bastard are hunting down this mother and son..."
She tightened her grip on the hilts, her gaze sharp:
"The Rocks I know was a guy proud to his very bones! His blade only swings toward the strong and the challengers! Attacking a defenseless woman and child? Ptui! Such a low-class thing is definitely not his style!"
At this moment, the last trace of doubt in Charlotte Linlin's heart vanished. Rocks was absolutely being controlled by that monster in some inconceivable way.
But knowing was one thing; how to break the control? If even Rocks himself couldn't resist it, what could she do? This was a headache-inducing new problem.
"Hmm?"
Charlotte Linlin suddenly noticed movement at the edge of the nearby forest. From the corner of her eye, she saw a tall figure cautiously peeking out from the trees with an anxious expression—it was Kuma, whom she had saved earlier.
"Ah! It's the powerful auntie from before!" Kuma also saw Charlotte Linlin, a grateful smile appearing on his honest face as he hurriedly bowed.
"Earlier... thank you very much!"
"Au—Auntie?!" Charlotte Linlin's eyes twitched violently, and veins popped on her forehead.
She was so young, beautiful, and peerless; this brat actually called her auntie?!
A surge of inexplicable annoyance rose in her heart. She wanted to correct this disrespectful form of address, but the violent aura coming from the cliff immediately made her alert. Clearly, now was not the time to dwell on this.
"Fine, forget it!" She waved her hand irritably, as Demon Rocks had already risen again in the dust, his pale eyes still fixed on Alice's direction, seemingly indifferent to Charlotte Linlin's obstruction—or rather, the priority of clearing the 'target' was higher than everything else.
"Brat, where are you heading back to? Once I'm done with this mess, I'll go find you for a 'good chat'!"
"Sorbet Kingdom! The Sorbet Kingdom in the South Blue!" Kuma answered loudly, then turned to the panicked Alice and her son. He raised his hands, and soft white spherical membranes appeared on his palms—the manifestation of the Paw-Paw Fruit's ability.
"It's too dangerous here," Kuma tried to make his voice sound reliable, "I'll send you to a safe place."
As a former pirate, Alice immediately understood this was a Devil Fruit ability. Without any hesitation, she hugged Teach tightly and looked at Kuma gratefully: "Thank you! Also, help me thank Linlin for saving our lives!"
Hearing their conversation, Alice knew Charlotte Linlin would look for this young savior later, and as Rocks' woman, she also knew Charlotte Linlin was a Crew member of the Rocks Pirates.
Then, she turned and shouted with all her might toward Charlotte Linlin, who was fighting Demon Rocks:
"Charlotte Linlin!!"
"Gibeck is being controlled by that monster! It's a mental corrosion! We... have no way to break it right now!"
"Don't get tangled up with him! Leave this place—!!"
After shouting, she nodded to Kuma.
Kuma looked solemn and first tapped Alice lightly on the back.
"If you were to go on a trip, where would you like to go?"
Pop!
With a soft sound, Alice and Teach were enveloped in a strange transparent bear-paw-shaped bubble and instantly turned into a streak of light, flying toward the horizon of the open sea at a speed faster than the eye could track, vanishing in the blink of an eye!
"Auntie! Thanks again! Take care!" Kuma shouted one last time, then slapped his own chest.
Pop!
A bubble enveloped him, carrying him away as a streak of light, rapidly leaving this hellish island that was about to completely collapse.
It all happened extremely fast. Having lost his primary target, Demon Rocks let out a violent roar, pouring all his current killing intent toward the "obstacle" in front of him—Charlotte Linlin!
"Don't even think about it!!" Charlotte Linlin's eyes sharpened as her three blades struck out together, red light weaving into a web of destruction. The two sides collided violently again, setting off towering waves of air and dust.
Using the dust as cover, Charlotte Linlin retreated quickly, her mind racing.
Alice said there was no way to break the control... even she, as his wife, was helpless.
In that case, continuing to fight this controlled Rocks, who had lost his reason and knew only slaughter, was meaningless and would only waste her stamina.
Her gaze passed over the violent Demon Rocks and toward the horizon, where the ornately decorated ships of the Celestial Dragons were accelerating their escape.
The source... the source of the control over Rocks was that monster attached to Saturn Saint—Imu!
Since she couldn't save Rocks for now... then another way to solve the problem was to deal with the person who created it!
A cold glint, mixed with anger, flashed in Charlotte Linlin's eyes.
She took a slow breath, her Dragon Wings fully unfurling, as a dangerous light glowed on her three blades once more.
"Since I can't turn you back to normal for now, Rocks..."
She whispered to herself, like a final farewell and a new declaration of war:
"Then let This lady go see..."
"After I slaughter that old monster hiding behind the scenes..."
"If you can... wake up!"
With those words, she flapped her wings powerfully, her massive body taking off and turning into a streak of pink-purple light that tore through the sky, chasing after the fleet of the Celestial Dragons!
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