Chapter 385: Chapter 385: Hey, That’s Not How You Use a Wide-Area Attack!

"Ah..."

"Why isn’t anyone coming to pick a fight with me?"

Standing not far from Jimbei, Meiser looked helplessly at the Fish-men in the distance.

Upon hearing this, Jimbei immediately wore an exasperated expression.

With your combat power, who in their right mind would dare to cause trouble for you?

If it weren’t for Hody’s tyranny, these guys would probably have turned tail and run long ago.

"You could just take the initiative and attack them yourself," Usopp said.

As he spoke, he took out several special seeds and then launched them forward.

"Special Attack: Green Star Demon Swarm!!"

"Bang"

"Boom!!"

In the next moment, the seeds suddenly expanded, transforming in the blink of an eye into enormous, monstrous man-eating flowers.

"Roar!"

After letting out a roar, the man-eating flowers opened their gaping maws and charged toward the nearby Fish-men, biting down on them with their mouths!

"Ah!"

"We’re going to be eaten!"

Seeing this, Usopp’s lips began to curl upward uncontrollably.

Now... they know his power!

Meiser chuckled at the sight and replied, "You’re right."

If the enemies weren’t coming to him... then he’d just go to them!

With that thought, Meiser turned to look at the Fish-men not far away, giving them a particularly ’friendly’ smile.

"Eek!"

The Fish-men under Meiser’s gaze immediately showed expressions of terror. What did this human, who could alter the terrain with a wave of his hand, intend to do?

Was he planning to attack them?

Thinking this, the Fish-men immediately took several steps back in fright.

"They’re really timid," Meiser muttered.

Usopp: —

Is this really about being timid or not?

It’s because you’re too terrifying!

"Whatever, I’ll just fight first and think later," Meiser said.

But before he could make a move, he noticed the sky suddenly darkening, as if something had covered it.

"Clouds?" Meiser looked up at the sky in surprise, then turned to Nami behind him and asked, "Did you do this?"

"Correct."

Nami, who was releasing clouds into the sky, smiled and said, "Using the power of the Cloud-Cloud Fruit, I can create a massive Cumulonimbus Cloud!"

"This way, I can do whatever I want."

With that, Nami raised her head to look at the sky, focusing her mind to manipulate the clouds above.

In the next moment—

"Zzzzt"

"Boom!!"

A terrifying rumble of thunder echoed, causing the Fish-men below to tremble in fear.

"What’s happening this time?"

"Look up! There are dark clouds in the sky!"

"No, why are there dark clouds? Aren’t these things only supposed to appear on land?"

Watching the clouds in the sky grow larger and larger, the Fish-men were completely stunned.

With their limited understanding, they couldn’t comprehend why such a change was happening in the sky.

"Hey, it’s that woman’s doing!"

A Fish-man who noticed the change on Nami’s side anxiously shouted, "It’s that woman’s Devil Fruit ability!"

"Devil Fruit..."

"Although we don’t know what this woman is planning, don’t let her succeed!"

"Hurry, blast her with cannons!"

"Right!"

Some Fish-men holding cannons immediately ran over with their weapons upon hearing their companions’ words, then aimed the cannons at Nami and pulled the triggers.

"Whoosh"

"Whoosh"

"Whoosh"

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!"

The terrifying cannonballs engulfed Nami, exploding into a cloud of dust!

"Did we succeed?!"

"Not sure..."

The area was covered in dust, and he couldn’t clearly see whether the woman had been blown to pieces or not.

"But we can go check..."

Before he could finish his words, Nami’s voice was heard.

"Sorry, but your attacks are useless against me." As her voice fell, Nami walked out of the dust completely unharmed, her expression full of mischief.

"What?!"

"Dammit, how is she fine?!"

The Fish-men were going crazy. Wasn’t this Devil Fruit ability user a bit too unreasonable?

Looking at the dumbfounded Fish-men, Nami curled her lips upward and said, "Everyone... the weather forecast informs you that there will be thunderstorms today. Please be careful."

"Thunderstorms?"

Hearing Nami’s words, these Fish-men instinctively looked up at the sky, clearly not understanding what threat thunderstorms could pose to them.

But before they could say anything else, they saw Nami take out a strange rod.

"Feel it properly."

Holding the Clima-Tact, Nami gently swung it downward and said, "This power of lightning!"

"Crack"

"Boom!!"

The next moment, an incredibly terrifying bolt of lightning fell from the sky, directly striking the battlefield!

Fish-men: !

Straw Hat Pirates members: !

Those struck by the lightning were instantly electrocuted into X-ray images, their bones clearly visible.

"Ugh..."

The Fish-men hit by the lightning spat out black smoke, then collapsed to the ground with their eyes rolled back.

As for the Straw Hat Pirates members who were struck, they stared dumbfoundedly at Nami, not understanding why this woman would launch an attack without distinguishing friend from foe.

"Hey, Nami!" Usopp, whose hair was standing on end from the shock, opened his shark-like mouth and roared, "What the hell are you doing?!"

Using lightning was one thing, but why electrocute your own allies too?!

"Nami, whose side are you on anyway?" Zoro also looked at Nami unhappily.

At this moment, smoke was rising from his body as well.

"Nami..."

Merry, who had been struck down from the air by the lightning, spat out black smoke and said, "Why did you have to hit me too..."

At this moment, Merry felt like crying.

Meiser also looked at Nami speechlessly. If he hadn’t used Armament Haki in time to protect his body,

he would have been smoking from electrocution too.

Thinking of this,

Meiser complained, "Large-scale attacks aren’t meant to be used like this, Nami."

"Sorry, sorry..." Nami, who had taken in her companions’ appearances, said awkwardly, "I just acquired this ability and I’m not very skilled with it yet..."

After saying this, Nami immediately ran to Merry’s side to check on her. Only after confirming she was fine did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"Nami..."

Merry looked at Nami with teary eyes and said, "Maybe you shouldn’t use this ability today."

"Or at least not on such a large scale..."

At the very least, they shouldn’t be caught in the attack range themselves...

"Alright."

Nami nodded awkwardly, then used her ability to reduce the size of the cloud layer, controlling it to a range of about thirty meters.

That way, she wouldn’t end up hitting her own people, Nami thought to herself.

Seeing this, Merry also breathed a sigh of relief.

She really didn’t want to experience the feeling of being struck by lightning again.

Just then, Luffy, who was busy beating up enemies in the distance, looked up and said, "Huh? Why did it get smaller?"

"Nami, make the cloud bigger again!"

That way, they could take out as many enemies as possible!!

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting, you idiot!" Zoro roared with a shark-like expression. "Do you think we’re all Rubber Men like you?!"

"We can’t just shrug off lightning strikes!"

If the cloud got any bigger... a few more thunderbolts would probably leave even him lying on the ground.

Hearing this, Luffy blinked, realizing that was true.

"Nami’s getting more and more impressive," said Franky, who hadn’t been struck by lightning, laughing heartily. "In that case, I’ll show off my latest newly developed weapon too!"

"New weapon?!"

As soon as Usopp and Chopper heard the words "new weapon," their eyes lit up.

"You’ve got another new weapon, Franky?!"

"Yep!"

"During my two years of training, I built two powerful new weapons!" Franky grinned. "Anyone want to give them a try?"

"Yes!"

The two cheered in unison, then excitedly ran up to Franky and asked, "What kind of new weapons are they?"

"Tell us, quick!"

"You’ll find out soon enough~" Franky said, giving a thumbs-up. "For now, let your imaginations run wild!"

"Whoa!!"

"Me too, me too!"

Merry, who had recovered from the paralysis, quickly flew over to Franky’s side, looking at him with the same excited expression. "I could sense those two things earlier. Are you planning to bring them out now?"

"That’s right!"

"Then let’s go!"

As she spoke, Merry used her wind power to lift everyone up, then flew toward the direction of the Thousand Sunny, clearly unable to wait any longer.

"Take me too!" Pappag said.

He was pretty weak too!

"Okay!"

Merry nodded and brought Pappag along as well.

Seeing this,

Nami sighed in relief. "Looks like Merry’s fine..."

That’s good... that’s really good!

Then, Nami realized something else: wasn’t Merry’s resilience a bit too exaggerated?

She recovered so quickly after being struck by her lightning?

Is this the power of a spirit?

Lost in thought, Nami fell into contemplation.

Meanwhile, Perona watched the group on the Thousand Sunny with curiosity and asked, "What could it be that has them so excited?"

Hearing this, Nami glanced up at Perona and said, "Probably some weird machines or something like that."

"Machines?"

Upon hearing this, Perona curled her lip and said, "That doesn’t sound interesting at all."

Compared to robots or the like, she preferred strange and unusual creatures.

For example... zombies and ghosts!

Just then, Perona noticed Hody’s movements in the distance.

She saw the man suddenly stand up, looking as if he was about to take action.

"Is this guy finally going to make a move?" Perona frowned.

However, she had no intention of taking action against him herself. After all... the enemy’s captain should only be dealt with by Luffy, the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates!

"What a bunch of useless trash," Hody said with a grim expression as he stared at the battlefield ahead. "They’ve lost over eighty thousand people and haven’t managed to kill a single one of them..."

Are these bastards just too incompetent?

For a moment, Hody even began to doubt whether recruiting these guys under his command was a mistake.

After all... they’re too weak!

Then, Hody shifted his gaze to Shirahoshi and muttered, "Although I can’t wipe out the Straw Hat Pirates right now... killing such a huge mermaid shouldn’t be a problem!"

A mermaid of that size was nothing but a living target to him!

With that thought, Hody raised his hand and assumed an attacking stance.

"Die, Shirahoshi!"

"Water Shot!"

"Whoosh!"

A powerful blast of water shot from Hody’s hand, heading straight for Shirahoshi’s head!

"Hmm?"

Noticing Hody’s attack, Meiser looked up at the sky and prepared to intercept it.

However, after seeing Jimbei’s movements, Meiser stopped.

"Using the same move to counterattack," Meiser thought to himself, using his Sharingan to track the trajectory of Jimbei’s Water Shot. "As expected of you, Jimbei."

The next moment...

"Boom!!"

The two Water Shots collided violently, producing a tremendous roar that sounded like two cannonballs exploding in mid-air.

"Hey, hey, hey, is this for real?" Nami exclaimed, looking up at the sky in shock. "Did they just collide with water droplets?"

"Isn’t this a bit too much of a commotion?"

Could water droplets really produce such power?

Glancing at Jimbei, whose hands were still dripping with water, Nami’s eyes were filled with astonishment.

"That’s just how the Fish-Man race is," Nico Robin said with a smile. "Their ability to manipulate water is quite formidable."

Although they can’t achieve the level of freely controlling the sea like Meiser, it’s more than enough for combat!

At the very least, Devil Fruit Ability Users are very afraid of it.

"The Fish-Man race..."

Nami thought for a moment, then turned to Nico Robin with curiosity and said, "I get the feeling you know quite a bit about the Fish-Man race."

"Because I’ve seen them before," Nico Robin replied with a smile. "During the two years of training, I witnessed battles involving masters of Fish-Man Karate."

Although those two weren’t as strong as Jimbei, their techniques were similar, so it’s normal for her to know about these things.

"I see..."

Nami nodded, then smiled and said, "It seems you went to quite an extraordinary place too."

If she remembered correctly, Robin said she spent those two years with the Revolutionaries, didn’t she?

"It truly is an extraordinary place," Nico Robin remarked with some emotion.

"Yohohohoho!"

"Though I’d rather not interrupt your chat, I think it’s best we deal with the enemies first," Brook said cheerfully, having just knocked down several foes. "Otherwise, they’ll start firing at you."

Hearing this, Nico Robin and Nami exchanged a smile before continuing their forward assault.

"Damn it..." Hody glared at Jimbei with an ugly expression. "What a meddlesome fellow."

At that moment, Hody found Jimbei even more irritating.

"This guy actually blocked Captain Hody’s incredibly powerful Water Shot with the same technique..." Daruma stared at Jimbei in shock. "It seems this man is also a monster-level figure."

Listening to Daruma’s words, Hody’s expression grew even darker.

"Hmph, Hody..." Jimbei sneered. "Your Fish-Man Karate still has a long way to go!"

Hearing Jimbei’s words, the nearby fish-men instinctively gulped.

"Come to think of it, this one is also a powerful monster..."

"That’s true. After all, he was the first of the Fish-Man race to become one of the Royal Seven Warlords of the Sea..."

"After leaving the Warlords, his bounty reportedly exceeded 400 million, almost catching up to that Straw Hat Boy!"

"How could we possibly defeat someone like that!"

Staring at the man who was fixated on them, fear surfaced in the eyes of these fish-men.

Not only are the Straw Hat Pirates’ members strong, but Boss Jimbei is too... How are we supposed to fight this?

"If you want to take the princess’s life, you’ll have to get through us first!" Jimbei shouted.

"This..."

"What are you hesitating for?"

Hody cast a cold glance at the fearful fish-men. "You never had any way out from the beginning!"

If this operation fails, what awaits them is imprisonment... or death.

So from the very start, there was no retreat!

Understanding what Hody meant, the fish-men’s eyes gradually steadied.

Yes, if they fail this time, neither Jimbei nor the Neptune clan will let them go. So... they have to fight with everything they’ve got. If they can win this battle, their future will be bright!

With this thought, the fish-men reignited their fighting spirit.

"Charge! Take them down!"

"Ooh!"

The fish-men roared and then charged toward Princess Shirahoshi, howling as they went.

"Die, Three-Sword Style Swordsman!" some weapon-wielding fish-men yelled.

As they spoke, they raised their large blades and swung down.

"Clang!"

"Wha..."

Seeing Zoro slice through their weapons with a single strike, the fish-men were utterly stunned.

"Our swords actually..."

"How is this possible!"

Why does a swordsman exist in this world who can cut through others’ blades?

Seeing their reactions, Zoro immediately showed a bored expression.

"How dull," Zoro said, frowning. "Aren’t there any stronger opponents?"

These guys aren’t even worthy of being called swordsmen. Cutting them down is no fun at all.

"Don’t get cocky, you bastard," Gecko said coldly, glaring at Zoro. "Save that talk for after you’ve managed to cut through the Iron Wall Unit of our New Fish-Man Pirates!"

A mere swordsman... could never cut through steel!

Then, Gecko turned to the fish-men holding steel shields nearby and ordered, "Go on, shatter his swords!"

"Then... finish him off!"

The execution of the Straw Hat Pirates will begin with this Three-Sword Style Swordsman!

"Ooh!"

The fish-men roared in response to the command, then began advancing step by step toward Zoro, shields in hand.

"Steel shields, huh..."

Looking at the steel shields in their hands, Zoro couldn’t help but recall the scenes from his two years of training.

After all he’d been through... how could weapons like these possibly shatter his blades?

With that thought, Zoro assumed his attack stance.

"Three-Sword Style—Black Rope: Great Tornado!"

"Boom!!"

An incredibly terrifying tornado slash shot out from around Zoro, rushing straight toward the Iron Wall Unit ahead.

The next moment—

"Thwack!!"

"Thwack!!"

"Thwack!!"

Like cutting through vegetables, the fearsome tornado effortlessly sliced through the steel shields in their hands!

"Wha..."

Staring at the shield fragments scattered on the ground, the fish-men in the distance exclaimed in shock, "The Iron Wall Unit’s steel shields were cut apart like fruit..."

"Dammit, what the hell is that huge tornado? The scythe of the Grim Reaper?"

"Not good, it’s coming for us!"

"Ah!!"

The next moment, these fish-men were swept up by the slashing tornado, spinning uncontrollably in the air while enduring intermittent slashes that struck their bodies—utterly agonizing!

Seeing this, the fish-men farther away were immediately terrified and began to flee.

"Damn it, don’t come any closer!"

"It’s a tornado that cuts people! Everyone, run!"

"Damn it, how long is this thing going to chase us?!"

"How long?" Zoro calmly said, removing the sword from his mouth. "Until the very depths of hell!"

"Gah!"

Hearing Zoro’s words, the fleeing fish-men were utterly terrified.

Humans are so scary—they just want to go home!

"You idiots, use your brains!" Daruma shouted. "Only one of them can fly in the sky right now. Use bubbles to attack Shirahoshi from above!"

Although that Ghost Woman is troublesome... if there are enough of us, we shouldn’t have to fear her ghosts anymore!

"That’s right!"

Some male merfolk snapped to their senses, then took out Bubble Coral to create a Bubble Ring around their fish tails.

Immediately after, they charged upward into the sky.

"Kill! Attack from the air and take out Princess Shirahoshi!"

"Ooh!!"

"Planning to attack Princess Shirahoshi from the air right in front of me..." Perona, hovering in mid-air, scowled darkly. "Are you all not taking me seriously enough?"

"You’re just one person. What can you do?"

"Don’t be afraid, everyone! This woman’s ghosts only make us extremely depressed—they won’t kill us!"

"That’s right, with bubbles on us, even if we become negative, we won’t sink!"

"Charge, take them down!"

"Ooh!!"

The Fish-Men, convinced they had figured out how Perona’s ability worked, roared and then charged toward her with wild cries.

"I’m really being underestimated..." Perona murmured.

Do these guys really think she can only make people negative?

Don’t be ridiculous!

"Fine then, let me show you my other abilities."

As soon as the words fell, a large number of ghosts flew out from behind Perona, circling around her body!

Seeing this, the Fish-Men immediately became alert.

"Everyone, be careful, prepare to be made negative!"

"Right!"

The Fish-Men nodded in agreement, simultaneously increasing the frequency of their tail swings, intending to charge toward Princess Shirahoshi at the fastest speed.

"Hmph, do you really think you’ve seen through my abilities?"

Perona snorted and said, "Don’t get too cocky, you guys!"

After saying that, Perona paused for a moment, then raised her finger and pointed at the Fish-Men not far away, continuing, "Go, my little darlings!"

"Buzz—" In the next moment, the Explosion Ghosts that had received Perona’s command quickly sprang into action, rushing toward the distant group of Fish-Men at an incredible speed.

"Everyone, be careful, they’re coming!"

"Right!"

"Come on, I’m not afraid of you!" an eel Fish-man said, "I—"

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard the sounds made by the ghosts.

"Explosion, explosion, explosion..."

"Explosion?"

The eel Fish-man was momentarily stunned. Weren’t they Negative Spirits? What did "explosion" mean?

Did it mean exploding someone’s emotions?

But before he could figure it out, the Explosion Ghost grabbed onto his body, firmly attaching itself to his shoulder.

Eel Fish-man: ?

Looking at the Explosion Ghost obediently perched on his shoulder, several question marks immediately popped up above the eel Fish-man’s head.

Wasn’t it supposed to be negative? Why didn’t he feel anything at all?

The others were also staring blankly at the Explosion Ghosts on their bodies, not understanding what was going on.

Just then, a clever Merfolk seemed to realize something and immediately showed a look of horror, saying, "Could this be..."

"That’s right!"

Understanding what he meant, Perona gently raised a finger and said, "Feel the power of this explosion properly."

"Explode for me!"

As soon as the words fell, the Explosion Ghosts clinging to the Fish-Men emitted a dazzling light, followed by a terrifying explosion!

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!"

"Ah!!"

The Fish-Men who were hit immediately let out agonizing screams, then fell from the sky like dumplings dropping into a pot.

"So... so amazing!"

Watching Perona effortlessly wipe out a large group of enemies with a wave of her hand, Shirahoshi immediately covered her mouth.

Is this person’s strength also this formidable?

"It seems we don’t need to worry about the enemies in the sky," Zoro said with a chuckle.

With Perona here, those guys in the sky won’t even think about getting close to Princess Shirahoshi!

"Indeed," Sanji, who had just lit a cigarette for himself, nodded and said, "Then the enemies in the sky are left to her."

With Perona around, there’s no need for me to join the commotion in the sky.

Hmm, the top priority right now is to surpass that bastard Zoro!

Thinking this, Sanji glanced sideways at Zoro and said, "Moss Head, our competition starts now!"

"You think I’m afraid of you?" Zoro snorted and said, "I’m definitely the one who’ll win in the end!"

"It’s me!"

"It’s me!"

"Zzzz..."

The two glared fiercely at each other, as if electric sparks were colliding in the air!

Then, they both turned and charged toward the distant Fish-men, their eyes even fiercer than before.

That look alone was enough to frighten the Fish-men.

The next moment...

"Boom!!"

"Ah!!"

With a single strike each, they sent a large group of Fish-men flying!

Jimbei: ?

Watching the two excitedly charging into the distance, several question marks popped up above Jimbei’s head.

"So, what exactly are they competing over?"

"Don’t mind them," Nico Robin said with a smile. "They’re always like this."

Always wanting to settle who’s better—she was long used to it.

Jimbei blinked. Was that so?

Though he didn’t understand what was going on, since Nico Robin of the Straw Hat Crew said so, Jimbei didn’t press further.

"You’ll get used to it," Nami remarked, then turned her gaze to Perona in the sky. "It seems I don’t need to worry about the enemies in the air."

In that case... she wouldn’t need to use lightning to strike those guys in the sky.

Hearing this, Meiser glanced at Nami and said, "If you launch another large-scale attack like that, someone on our side will end up lying down."

"You’re so naggy!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Damn it, isn’t it just Negative Power?!" The Fish-men in the sky who hadn’t been hit by the Explosion Ghosts stared at Perona in shock. "What’s with these explosions?"

Being able to make people feel negative was one thing, but to have such powerful attack power too... wasn’t this ability a bit too unreasonable?

How were they supposed to fight this?!

"Who told you I only have Negative Power?" Perona sneered at the Fish-men. "That’s just one aspect of my ability."

After saying this, as if remembering something, she added, "I recall encountering some of your people before. Didn’t they tell you about me?"

As she spoke, Perona glanced at Ranzou beside Hody, her expression gradually turning strange.

If she remembered correctly, this guy was there at the time. Did he not say anything?

Was it intentional or an accident?

The Fish-men:

When did this happen? They had no idea.

"Oh, I think there was something like that," the drunken Ranzou said. "This woman has explosive abilities."

Hearing this, the others fell into stunned silence.

So, why didn’t you share such important information earlier?

Did you forget because you were drunk?

"Any other intel?" Hody asked with a grim expression.

If it weren’t for the fact that this guy was a powerful swordsman he had hired, he’d have wanted to kill this bastard right then and there.

"Nothing else," Ranzou shook his head.

Only this woman had attacked them back then, so that was all he knew.

Hearing this, Hody fell silent, feeling like he’d asked a pointless question.

"Now that we know she has explosive abilities, it’s easier to deal with," Gecko looked up and said. "Spread out and attack her with your weapons simultaneously. Try to get past her and kill Shirahoshi!"

As long as someone could approach Shirahoshi from the air, they could kill her!

"Right!!"

Upon receiving the order, the Fish-Men nodded and then dispersed, closing in on Shirahoshi.

"We outnumber her, so we’re not afraid of her using Negative Spirits and Explosion Ghosts to attack us!"

"That’s right! I don’t believe she has that many Ghosts to use!"

"Charge! Kill Shirahoshi!"

"Roar!!"

The Fish-Men, their fighting spirit reignited, roared and began charging toward Shirahoshi with wild cries.

"It seems you still haven’t grasped reality..." Perona, who had taken in their reactions with a cold gaze, said icily, "Do you really think this is all I’m capable of?"

"You can only release a few dozen Ghosts at a time! How can you kill hundreds of us with that!"

This time, Perona didn’t answer the question. Instead, she began unleashing her ability.

In the next moment, a massive swarm of Ghosts appeared around Perona, circling and flying around her.

Unlike before, this time it wasn’t just Explosion Ghosts or Negative Spirits alone—both types were mixed together, weaving through the air.

And the number of Ghosts this time... exceeded a hundred!

"They entrusted the sky to me with such confidence—how could I betray their trust?" Perona raised her hand and declared coldly, "You lot, savor this move!"

"Multi-Ghost Swarm!"

"Bzzz!"

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!"

"Boom!!"

"Ah!!"

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