The flying squirrel—who had just returned to the warship after blocking a terrifying slash—not even thirty seconds in, found himself facing a nightmare all over again.
Back in the Sabaody Archipelago...
Another blade of sword energy came hurtling toward his warship at blinding speed.
The moment he saw it, his heart sank.
What the hell was going on with the top swordsman in Sabaody? Was he intentionally making his life difficult?
Damn it!
He quickly coated his weapon with Armament Haki, adding both hardening and the advanced entangling properties, then charged toward the oncoming strike.
But the instant his blade met that arc of sword energy...
He realized just how wrong he was to underestimate it.
This attack...
It wasn't even in the same league as the previous one.
If the earlier slash was a casual swipe, then this was a calculated strike—a blow charged for a long time, enhanced with the devastating power of Conqueror's Haki.
And even before the attack physically touched him, just the pressure of it—the suffocating aura—
It felt like being crushed under a tyrant's wrath.
If he hadn't been a Vice Admiral...
He'd have probably fainted from the pressure alone.
"Conqueror's Haki Infusion...!"
Only then did the Flying Squirrel grasp the nature of the attack he was up against.
As a veteran Vice Admiral of the Navy Headquarters, he had heard stories about such overwhelming techniques. And even more—his old teacher, Admiral Zephyr, had drilled into them:
No one below an Emperor-tier combatant can use Conqueror's Haki entanglement!
Which meant...
Right now...
Here in Sabaody Archipelago...
This person was not only a top-level swordsman but also someone who had mastered the power of an Emperor—able to use it freely and at will.
Goddammit!
Had he known this mission would be such a complete disaster from the start, he would've definitely taken sick leave to skip the damn Buster Call.
How foolish of him...
The whole world feared the Buster Call.
But what they didn't realize was—it was devastating to the weak and entirely ineffective against the truly strong.
BOOM!!!
This time, the Flying Squirrel managed to block the sword energy for only two seconds.
That was it.
The sword energy tore through him.
It slammed into the warship behind him.
And in the next instant, the warship was cleaved cleanly in two by the devastating force of the strike.
Each half drifted apart—edges smooth like they'd been polished.
The Flying Squirrel, who had tried to tank the slash, was hurled into the ocean.
He had managed to shield himself using Armament Haki, absorbing most of the damage.
But even so, a gruesome gash split open across his torso, and blood streamed into the sea, dyeing the water red.
Armament Haki was powerful.
But that didn't mean it could block everything in the world.
Faced with Kairos Flint's ghostly aura and Conqueror's-infused slash—just surviving the hit proved how tough the Flying Squirrel truly was.
Of course...
Another big reason he survived was because it wasn't a direct, melee sword strike from Kairos.
Though the sword energy was terrifying, it still wasn't as destructive as an actual sword clash up close.
"Flying Squirrel!!!"
On the nearby warships, Huo Shaoshan and the others were stunned.
They had seen the first slash get blocked, and naturally assumed the second would be the same.
But they were dead wrong.
And before they could react further—multiple arcs of sword energy came flying at them again from the shores of Sabaody Archipelago, all directed toward the Flying Squirrel's sinking position.
"Shit! Not good!"
Huo Shaoshan and the other Vice Admirals immediately realized the danger and activated Moonwalk, launching themselves toward the incoming sword energy.
If those attacks landed...
The navy soldiers thrown into the sea after the warship was split—most of them wouldn't survive.
Huo Shaoshan, Stoloberry, Ghost Spider, and Doberman moved fast—each intercepting one of the incoming sword strikes.
But Kairos Flint hadn't just sent four slashes this time.
He sent seven.
And though four were blocked...
Three still came crashing down.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Screams erupted from the sea—but were quickly silenced.
Moments later, the water turned red with blood.
Thousands of marines—
In just one burst of sword energy—
Wiped out.
The Vice Admirals, barely managing to hold off their own attacks, could feel the breath leave their lungs.
Kairos's slashes this time weren't as charged as the first. They emphasized quantity over power.
And that was the only reason the Vice Admirals even managed to block them at all.
Shores of the Sabaody Archipelago
"Robin, stay here and don't move. I'm going to grab an orange—be right back."
With that, Kairos Flint headed straight toward the incoming navy warships.
Robin blinked, confused.
Thankfully, that joke didn't exist in this world. If it had—and she knew what it implied—she might've slapped him right there.
But as she watched Kairos casually send out several slashes from the shore—destroying a Buster Call warship and killing navy officers like it was nothing—her fear of the operation melted away.
Even she couldn't deny...
There was something magnetic about his presence.
Meanwhile...
On the warships, the surviving Vice Admirals were furious.
One warship gone. Dozens of men dead.
And now—
From the shore—they saw him coming.
A lone figure. Calm. Walking toward them.
Did they even need to guess who he was?
Of course not.
It was the same guy who'd just shredded them apart.
"Bastard! He's going after the warships!"
Huo Shaoshan immediately grasped Kairos's objective.
The Buster Call relied on the heavy artillery of these ships for its destructive bombardment.
But if all the ships were destroyed—
There would be no bombardment to begin with.
A flurry of Vice Admirals launched into action, desperate to stop him.
But they were too late.
Kairos swung his blade.
A massive arc of energy tore through the next warship—splitting it in half before its cannons could even aim.
Another flurry of sword strikes followed.
The wounded ship and its crew were annihilated.
Then came the next.
And the next.
By the time the Vice Admirals caught up, Kairos had already destroyed two more ships and slaughtered most of the marines aboard.
"Eight-Blade Style—Armed Barrage!"
Ghost Spider was the first to charge, hair transforming into tendril-like extensions that wielded eight swords in total—his signature Eight-Blade Style.
Unlike Octopus Hachi's Six-Blade Style, Ghost Spider's technique focused on speed, precision, and overwhelming pressure.
Each blade targeted a vital spot.
If Kairos didn't defend properly, he could actually die.
But—
"One-Blade Style—Ghost Aura: Clarity."
Kairos's katana was wrapped in Armament Haki and—
CLANG!!!
With one elegant slash, all of Ghost Spider's swords shattered.
Kairos's blade then carved through his body.
A clean, brutal strike.
Ghost Spider fell, lifeless—split in half mid-air.
There was no hope of rescue.
"Ghost Spider!!!"
His comrades shouted—but it was too late.
One of their own had been killed in a single move.
And the killer showed no mercy.
"If you've got time to grieve—use it to think about how you're going to survive."
Kairos said coldly.
Mercy?
That didn't exist in his vocabulary today.
Stoloberry, Doberman, and Huo Shaoshan charged him in unison, using Shave to close the distance.
Three veteran Vice Admirals.
Together.
Even a fleet admiral might struggle here.
But—
They weren't fighting just anyone.
They were fighting Kairos Flint.
"One-Blade Style—Ghost Aura: Frost!"
He moved like lightning.
Before Stoloberry could react, Kairos cut him down just like Ghost Spider—effortlessly.
Next—
Ghost Aura: Piercing Fang.
He twisted and struck Doberman.
The blade—wrapped in Haki—pierced straight through Doberman's chest.
Dead.
Two more Vice Admirals down.
"AHHHH!!"
Huo Shaoshan roared in fury, channeling all his Haki into one final swing.
The power behind it was immense.
But—
Kairos wrapped his sword—the Third Generation Kitetsu—with Conqueror's Haki, and met the strike.
The shockwave of their Haki clash exploded in the air.
But in less than a second—
Kairos's blade overwhelmed him.
Huo Shaoshan was blasted hundreds of meters back, slamming into the ocean.
Kairos didn't chase him.
Instead, he turned back toward the warships.
More navy soldiers tried to resist.
Didn't matter.
One sword swing—
The ship split.
A few quick follow-ups—and the soldiers in the water were turned into red foam.
It was that fast.
That decisive.
The fourth ship.
The fifth.
The sixth...
Up to the tenth warship—
All obliterated in a matter of moments.
The navy—
Was devastated.
They hadn't even fired a single barrage.
The Buster Call...
Had been shut down before it could begin.
Three Vice Admirals killed in action.
Two more left drifting in the sea.
And Kairos?
He didn't even break a sweat.
As he picked up the glowing Ability Crystal left behind, he glanced toward the Archipelago again.
He could see the mushroom clouds rising from the distance.
He sighed.
If he didn't stop this...
The fight between Vivi and Kizaru might reduce all of Sabaody to rubble.
That woman...
She definitely lost control.
Which is why he had cleaned up the Buster Call so quickly.
With a flash, he returned to the shoreline.
"I've taken care of the Buster Call."
"Vivi's gone berserk."
"Take care of yourselves. I'll stabilize the situation when we meet."
With that, he left Nami and the others and sprinted toward the source of the explosions.
Another massive blast echoed.
Two smaller mushroom clouds bloomed in the distance.
Damn it!
If he didn't rein Vivi in, she'd demolish the entire archipelago!
*********************************************************************************************************Hey everyone! Want to read ahead and unlock up to 100 early-access chapters? 📖Plus, enjoy even more exclusive novels! Join my Patreon now and dive into the adventure!
patreon.com/Rawink00