One Piece: A Warlord's Path

Chapter 829: War with the Kid Pirates

"What?!"

Kid, Killer, Heat, and the rest were struck with disbelief. Panic surged through the ranks of the subordinate pirates, causing their cannon fire to veer wildly off course.

The crew scrambled to the stern, where they saw a black wolf-headed warship, over a hundred meters long, looming in the distance. A triple-mounted turret stood at the bow and a dual-mounted turret at the stern. The Golden Ring Jolly Roger fluttered high from the mast, mirrored by the massive emblem on the sails. With rows of cannons lining its sides, the vessel looked like a floating fortress.

"It’s a subsidiary vessel of the Chris, a standard-issue warship of the Clifford Kingdom!" Heat’s zombie-like face grew grim. He spoke in a low, heavy voice: "There’s no mistake. It’s a Chris Pirates ship. There might even be a high-ranking combatant or officer-level member on board!"

Seeing his crew in a state of alarm, Kid’s irritation flared. He let out an angry roar, "What are you panicking for? It’s just a single ship from the Chris Pirates! It’s not like we haven’t clashed with the Yonko’s fleets before!"

Hearing Kid’s shout, the pirates managed to regain some composure.

"That’s right! It’s just the Chris Pirates!"

"Exactly! We even sent two of Big Mom’s ships to the bottom!"

"Capture that ship, and all those cannons will be ours!"

Bravado quickly replaced fear as the Kid Pirates began to jeer, their morale surging back.

"Close in on that merchant ship for melee combat! If we stay close to them, that warship behind us won’t dare fire indiscriminately!" Kid knew their firepower was vastly inferior, so he decisively ordered a boarding action.

However, he had no idea what kind of monster he was truly facing.

"Yo... I don’t believe we have any personal grudge, Eustass ’Captain’ Kid!"

Suddenly, a relaxed, leisurely voice drifted across the entire ship.

"Who’s there?!"

The sudden voice sent a jolt through the Kid Pirates. Everyone began frantically looking around, weapons drawn.

"The mast! There’s someone on the mainmast!"

Someone pointed upward and screamed. Kid looked up to see a man crouching on the mainmast with a sunny, effortless smile. He wore a heavy coat with a black-and-white wave pattern, and the golden earrings dangling from his ears glinted brilliantly in the sunlight.

"T-This guy..."

As the man’s face came into focus, Kid’s mouth hung open. A cold sweat instantly drenched his back.

"Hey... you’ve got to be kidding me, right?"

"Is this some kind of mistake?"

"Why... why is this man here?"

"’Golden Ring’ Aeridar!!!"

In an instant, every soul on the ship stared at the man above them in utter disbelief, unable to wrap their heads around the reality of the situation.

"Was provoking Big Mom not enough for you?" Aeridar looked down at Kid with a faint, amused smile. "Eustass Kid... your target was supposed to be Red-Haired Shanks, yet here you are provoking me. You certainly are a cocky one, aren’t you?"

"A mere merchant ship shouldn’t be worth you coming out personally to protect!" Kid asked, his face pale and sweat pouring down his forehead. "Why are you here?"

"That... was a coincidence," Aeridar replied, casually flicking his fingers. "Though, it does involve a few brats from your same generation."

"I see. Talk about bad luck," Kid’s lip twitched as he groaned inwardly.

Facing this man at sea was a nightmare. Moreover, facing an existence of this caliber was a bit too early for him.

"Well then, since you chose to attack a merchant guild under my flag, let the war begin."

"The Chris Pirates vs. The Kid Pirates!"

Aeridar leaned his upper body forward slightly, and his tone abruptly turned as cold as a winter gale.

Whoosh—!

A terrifying wave of killing intent swept out like a tide, causing the ambient temperature to drop several degrees in an instant. The Kid Pirates were horrified, their bodies reacting instinctively as they raised their blades and guns in terror.

The sheer pressure of that killing intent made their hair stand on end. They felt as though they were being stared down by an ancient, predatory beast, a bone-chilling sensation of impending doom.

"Kid, move!"

Killer knew there was no turning back. He decisively deployed the scythes from the metal gauntlets on his hands and roared a warning to Kid.

BAM—!

Killer kicked off the deck, launching himself into the air like a bolt, his dual scythes spinning into a blur.

"A 200-million-Berry bounty, ’Massacre Soldier’ Killer... you’ve got some spirit!" Aeridar noted, offering a silent nod of approval at Killer’s decisiveness.

Screech—!

A flash of steel sliced through the air. The wooden spar of the mainmast was severed, and the sail was ripped wide open.

CRASH!

A massive section of the mast slammed onto the deck, dragging a portion of the torn sail with it.

"Nice attack, but you’re still a bit lacking!"

Aeridar stood effortlessly on the remaining stump of the mast, looking entirely unbothered by Killer’s assault.

"Dammit!"

Killer crouched in the crow’s nest, cursing under his breath. He hadn’t just missed the man; he hadn’t even been able to see how he moved.

"My turn!"

Aeridar chuckled and vanished into thin air.

"So fast...!"

Killer’s vision blurred as Aeridar suddenly appeared right in front of him.

POW—!

In the next moment, an agonizing pain exploded in Killer’s abdomen. A massive force propelled his body, turning him into a black blur as he was sent flying backward.

CRASH!

Across dozens of meters in a heartbeat, Killer smashed into the stern deck. The sheer force of the impact shattered the two-inch-thick solid wood planks, sending him crashing into the cabins below.

"Killer!"

"Killer-sama!"

The crew gasped in shock. They couldn’t believe their second-in-command hadn’t even lasted a single exchange before being blown away.

"You bastard!"

Kid roared, raising his right hand as purple electrical arcs danced in his palm. Invisible magnetic forces radiated outward, and one by one, cannonballs from the crates on deck began to float into the air.

"Oh? The Magnet-Magnet Fruit... a power not to be underestimated!" Aeridar raised an eyebrow.

"Die!"

Kid swung his hand violently. Dozens of levitating cannonballs shot upward like guided missiles.

Whiz, whiz, whiz, whiz...

The shells shrieked through the air, turning red-hot from the friction. Aside from the lack of a cannon’s roar, they were indistinguishable from shots fired from a barrel.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A series of dense explosions enveloped the mainmast. Searing flames and rolling black smoke billowed into the sky, completely obliterating the mast.

"Haha! Hit by dozens of shells, he’s dead for sure!"

"That’ll teach you, you bastard!"

"Long live Captain Kid!"

The shockwaves buffeted the ship, and the pirates began to cheer wildly at the sight.

"You ’Worst Generation’ brats really aren’t to be taken lightly, are you?"

Suddenly, a calm voice drifted out from the thick smoke. The cheering stopped instantly, the pirates looking like ducks being choked by the neck.

Whoosh—!

A gust of wind cleared the smoke. Aeridar stood suspended in mid-air, completely unharmed. A visible wall of compressed air shimmered in front of him, acting as a shield.

"However, you’re still far from my level, Eustass Kid!"

Aeridar raised his arm with a cold expression and threw a punch downward through the air.

VROOOOM—!

In an instant, the air trembled. A blinding white halo erupted, and three visible, ring-shaped shockwaves blasted outward!